Jack's solutions there are great. You can also make a brush and fake a lot of cobbling and bricking by laying it over a mortar or ground texture and using layer masks: The black in my brush I simply stroke the paths with that and toss some beveling on. I used the same path to make a layer beneath it with a bit large for the ground between the cobbles. All quick and hasty but you get the idea.
I figure I should stop by and dump some more stuff, even though nothing is really finished yet. I may be starting Jade Regent soon, so I had to kick myself in the ass to get the early maps done rather than putting them off.
So two days later, I've got these both about 80% done, just needing some tweaks here and there.
First up is Walthus' shack in Brinestump Marsh, both the first and second floors. WIP.
And second is Old Megus' shack, all moldy and rotting. WIP.
Like my last few, I'm doing more and more to use real textures, just because I like the look, but I don't know how successful I'm being.
Also, Jacktannery;
I've had nothing but trouble trying to replicate the Polar Coordinates method of making straight textures fit a circle. This could be because the shape I intend to use is a thin wall, but also because I have no idea how to match a specific diameter of circle, while keeping the bricks roughly the same size as the rest of them in the image. I may end up just laying them in by hand.
I just tried it again and it works - referring to my notes:Originally Posted by Askren
.This long line of wall is on a layer which is exactly the width of the image, and about four times as tall as the image, and the image is centred on the layer (changing these parameters makes a huge difference). I then select FILTER>DISTORT>POLAR COORDINATE and press OK without checking any of the settings and I get the circular bottom image
The important thing to note is:
1) your base wall image must be long and thin. It will shrink when you turn it into a circle so its best to start with an oversized version.
2) before you press filter, make sure your base wall layer is the full with of the canvas, and that the canvas AND layer is four-times taller than the wall.
No, I got all of that. It's the process of making the end product properly scaled compared to the rest of the bricks that's the problem. I don't know how wide I need my long, thin wall to be so the end product will be exactly the right size to fit in the circle I need it to. I don't know how thick to make it so it will be the proper thickness to match the wall. I don't know how much I need to squash the bricks down so when they get stretched, they'll be somewhat proportional after the filter.
I'm sure there's math for it, but I don't know it, so the best I got is trial and error, and that didn't get me very close.
One down, three to go.
Absolutely thrilling maps!
A lot of really great maps, that's for sure.
Appreciate the props guys, it really means a lot to me. Feel free to weigh in on how I'm doing, because I know I'm not very good at this yet and kind of just feeling around in the dark as I come up with new techniques. Most of those end up just being "Insert texture, erase edges".
Anyway, this one is about 90% done. Finished the water last night, so it should be good to go as-is, but I plan on adding some more details. I realized my mold and rot stains were not very good, so I'm trying to create a new method for all of that.
I'll probably be throwing in a few props like logs in the water, plants floating on top, and other assorted stains, but I'd really like some input on what can use improving. Aside from the rocky path, I know that's terrible, but I could not figure out a way to blend that well.
Hey these are really cool! I love the combination of elements. I think you've found a great system for your textures because you've done a great job of blending them together. Props!
I love them both, looking forward to seeing numbers three and four!
I really like the way you use the texture, and I think you’re really good at grunging-up the textures and the furniture. I love the water in the last map. You really turn out your battlemaps very quickly as well, especially for so many games! I’ve been under the weather a bit, so I’ve made no progress on my maps for over a week.
I think the path just needs to be made to look more overgrown at the edges. At the moment the edges of almost all of outermost stones look too clearly defined, which would look great for a dungeon wall or a path in a well-tended garden, but looks wrong when the path should be over grown. I think it might look better if the edge of the grass texture partially covered the outermost areas of the path. Then if you added a subtle shadow along the edge of the grass (over the path texture), it would hint that the path is beneath the grass.
With your rot & mould, in the “one down, three to go” map the black grunge looks really good, the green stuff looks a little “misty”, like it’s floating rather than growing on the wood. Have you tried using grain-merge?
By the way, I just read your post in the obituary thread on the Paizo RotRL forum, glad your players finally plucked up the courage to take on Thistletop, hee-hee! (Which also reminds me that I need to get around to posting my own obituaries on there (all from Thistletop so far, what can I say – they tried a frontal assault on the fort, including charging on-mass across the bridge…)
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