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I had to vote for Waldranate's as it gave me a good laugh. FT3 has some sample 'interrupted' projections which I could never see a use for. Finally here it was!
Year of the Metal Dragon by Azelor
Town of Leak by jbgibson
Jannah Manor by Jalyha
Fortress Scoopz by Scoopz
Distant Frontiers by schattentanz
Scribbles over Geometry by BvG
The Children of the Ouroboros by fabio p
Geometria by Waldronate
Euclid's Tomb by Bogie
Vacruel's Eyeball by rgcalsaverini
I decided I would only vote for one entry this time, because if not, I'd have voted for one more, and one more, and that one, and oh, that one too, and… well, I'd have voted for all of them, which would have been rather meaningless. So, my vote goes to Fabio, but the other entries are great as well and I'll rep all I can
I had to vote for Waldranate's as it gave me a good laugh. FT3 has some sample 'interrupted' projections which I could never see a use for. Finally here it was!
My three picks...
Jannah Manor: I voted for this because it stood out to me as incredibly detailed and unique. I love all the painstakingly obsessive attention to the tiny little details, from the statue, to the water, and the colors. It looks great and you really put a ton of work into this.
Year of the Metal Dragon: I love the aesthetic of this map. It's something I haven't seen in other maps before. The mountains, the waves.... I love those waves... This map actually inspired me to take a hard look at my personal style and experiment with a myriad of techniques.
Vacruel's Eyeball: What can I say. This is without a doubt, artistically stunning. It brings the titan mythos alive.
That said, I thought all the maps were really very good. It was difficult to vote.
Well, that is of course the quintessential question.. What is a made up map of something that does not exist good for at all?Originally Posted by Jalyha
On one side it was great fun to make, inventing the places, then populating it with cities and stories, introducing the bias of the person who made the map in the fiction of the continent itself. But then there's the question of course... why make a map that starts out so random and ends so aimless?
One could also argue that it is an inherently faulty map, beyond it's random origin. It shows four distinct temperature zones, lots of rather large islands and complex borders, and some civilisations. Nothing of which precise or based on real physiology or at least some made up physic explanation. For example why are there so few cities and roads on a continent large enough to share an icy north with a dark green vegetation on the south end? Why are there Japanese empires? and what's with the random Latin stuff? Why are some cities circles, some squares and some triangles?
In theory I have answers to some of those questions. But they're not on the map, because that's not what the map is about. the map has grown into what it is. a mess, maybe. but certainly my mess, and I'm deeply saddened that people don't vote for it in droves, because I would. Maybe I will, later on...
I'm sorry if I caused offense, it wasn't my intention, I just sometimes don't explain myself properly.
What I meant was, I still wasn't sure if it was a continent, or a world, or a vast empire.. the "details" I was referring to were things like scale and key... because I'm not very bright and without those instructions I get confused.
I didn't mean there was anything wrong with your map, just my interpretation of it. I don't think it's a mess either. It's a good map, and the fact that all of the maps are getting votes, with such stiff competition is an indication of how truly good it is.
I'm glad you had fun with your map. I'd love to hear the stories its' invention involved!
Have you "liked" a post today?
So many competitors and a series of really interesting maps, make the vote really complicated.
Nevertheless, in order to give more meaning to the vote, I preferred to choose a maximum of two maps (but since they are all good, I repped everyone I could).
So my votes go to:
Year of the Metal Dragon by Azelor.
Vacruel's Eyeball by rgccalsaverini
And my overall thoughts:
Year of the Metal Dragon by Azelor: I already showed my appreciations of this map’s mountains, but it is the whole of the map which I think is really good, form the choice of colors to the implementation of the geometric theme, with the forms integrated within the geographical features of the map. A bravo! For Azelor for the idea and the execution.
Vacruel's Eyeball: To cast this vote I had to overcome my reluctance for maps of very small places (and also a certain envy toward those who can really draw
Town of Leak by Jbgibson: a simple but nice map, with a good choice of colours and fonts. Well done.
Jannah Manor by Jalyha: I’m impressed to see how from your initial efforts, came out a so detailed, enjoyable and interesting map. A part the really good features of the map, you can see behind it all the humility that everyone needs to improve its own skills. Congratulations to Jalyha.
Fortess Scoopz by Scoopz: a fine map, I think it has hit both targets, the geometric one, and Scoopz’s one (to depict a fortress city in a dirty WWI-era artillery map style), with good results. I would have added some other features and lightened a bit the whole thing, but it’s a matter of personal tastes. Good job!
Distant Frontiers by schattentaz: A good sci fi map. I would have merged both maps you were working on though, or I would have added some more eye candy, details, features on the definitive one. As it is, it's good, in my opinion; with a little more efforts (or time) it could have been great. Anyway, good job!
Scribbles over Geometry by BvG: don’t get frustrated, there’s a chance everyone’s job may get less appreciated than we would like, even if it’s a good one. I find your map well done and interesting, and I can see the efforts you put in it. I must say that I too find the informations the map gives to be a bit cryptic; maybe in your job you followed a stream of consciousness that is clear to you, but that hasn’t completely get outside. It can happen. I think everyone can benefit from its own disappointment as an incitement to overcome difficulties. I hope that your disappointment lead you to draw more maps, and to post them here. Continue your good work without getting discouraged!
Geometria by waldronate: what to say: a really geometric map! Nice job.
Euclid's Tomb By Bogie: a good job as always, with a great choice and use of textures. Well done!
Oh noes! There's certainly no offence interpreted anywhere! Maybe my mood was a bit too whiney when i wrote my reply ;-)
I think the map is a mess, because it's so random and disconnected, and it seems that's exactly how the comments went on it, so people agree: Context given by the map is too sparse. Now that's partially on purpose, but also because I couldn't be bothered. For example, I saw your map as having too much context (for my taste), and therefore leaves not enough place for me to do my own interpretations, so I wanted to avoid that direction, and went underboard (so to say). But there's still place for that on your work, like why the maze is so incredibly simplistic... maybe someone who didn't like to be lost was asked to plant it?
As for the backstory... The map was originally found in an archeological dig, and whoever found it made a copy, with annotations based on an accompanying description. Both original Map and descriptions are lost tho. The original map would have been made after the fall of the empire (which is why there's so many -ken (province) empire successors). The south is dominated by the eastern river people, (triangles), which is a latin river society (tibflovier -> tiber (rome's river) & flovios (lat. river)). the forther west these people went, the more they mixed linguistic and culturally with the japanese empires, as well as germanic tribes living on the south-west parts (circles).
There's lot's of other informations in the text, like "Kogeki Mikai" (in the north-east) could be interpreted as "attacking barbarians/idiots", or "Baru Otokan" is a mix of Barukan (Vulcan) and Otosan (dad). Note that the translations are via google translate, so apologies to any native Japanese speakers
Here's a little letter which the archeologist wrote:
Dearest friend
Today I send you a copy of this interesting piece. It was found in one of the vaults on the south side of the valley, but a first glance makes me think it's a bit older... most likely hanging on some nobles wall for several years. This depiction of our home seems to have been based on older maps from that semi stable period, somewhere between the empire and the invasion of the elders (Remember last spring; your talk at the conference?). Or maybe before that, when they stopped using the empire roads.
No matter the exact period, it obviously must have been made in the central plains, and I still think that is where the empire originated, and not at Eienkami as you stubbornly proclaim every time we meet. And yes I do see that the eternal city is as always larger and shifted to be closer to the centre of the landmass, just as on all maps. I still have the usual reservations. These depictions are never contemporary, and you know damn well that there's never been any archeological evidence from before the invasion on this silly claim of yours and those other centralistic fools.
Anyway, what I found most interesting is the distinction of empire vs the rest of the world, look closely at the Cities! As usually the Western seafarers are lumped together, and large cities and communities are simply omitted, whereas the northern parts are mostly matching our current views of the period (I like the completely different barbarians of the isles in the west and the northern peninsular riders being lumped together tho, a clear sign of a time where the empire remnants didn't fight each other, and had time to worry about external incursions).
But look at the northern parts of the Oshanis (just south of the Folly). They are actually noted as being empire cities! Remember how our old Professor would insist on those two? This is the first record of those cities once possibly belonging to the empire, and maybe with this evidence we can convince the council of a permit, and possibly even an allowance! (One can dream...)
As a side note this map also shows the Free cities and the Tibflovians belonging to the same culture. Obviously we need to be careful with southern descriptions on a map stemming from one the successor states (as you see, prominently that oh so 'mystical' Edaicien / Appoter story again), but I think this might also help your agitating 'colleague' from the isles with his quest for connections between those two (especially that road on the southern tip).
Sincerely, your old school accomplice
Asimten
Alright, voting...
First of course I agree, all these maps are great, and it's almost impossible to compare them to each other at all. That's why I searched very hard for reasons to thin the field, and here's the result of that:
I do not want to vote for "Town of Leak", "Distant Frontiers" and "Year of the Metal Dragon", mostly because They lack the direct connection to the theme, or because I can't find one of the three required geometric forms prominently displayed (I'd also say my own map goes into this category).
I personally don't like the way "Vacruell's Eyball" and "The Children of Orobous" put the focus on borders and fluff parts instead the map itself, but of course that's a very personal decision, not so much directly about the contest itself. Still, they're out.
"Geometria" is funny and quirky, but too cheap. More work invested and It'd have made my vote easily.
"Euclids Tomb" falls into an area of no-mans land for me. It's a bit simplistic, but not overtly so. It has the theme well met, but it's a bit bland and disconnected overall. I won't vote for it because decisions are hard, and undeserved victims sometimes fall to the wayside.
I'll vote for "Jannah Manor" and "Fortress Scoopz"
Great maps, extremely diverse, amazingly hard to make any choice.
Considering there hasn't been a theme given, I take this statement as a compliment, that you didn't find the shapes
Anyway: Voting has been difficult, because - as stated before - all maps here are masterpieces. I feel a bit like having to compare the movie Iron Man to a play of McBeth.
Heck, even Geometria demonstrating once again the power of Wilbur is an incredibly cool creation I could not reproduce on the fly...
Yet, I needed to decide.
I picked:
"Year of the Metal Dragon", because I liked the idea of reading maybe the recipe for Sushi scattered among the map, without even realizing it.
"Jannah Manor", because it started out as something very simple and turned into a true beauty.
"Euclid's Tomb", because it's a battlemap, leaving just enough free space to add own fluff into, so it can be used in an own scenario.
Three picks - no more. There has to be a Limit somewhere
Kind regards,
Kai
CatZeyeS Headquarters - home of free miniature skirmsh game rules and supplements
Just wanted to say thank you to all the people who voted for me and/or repped me. Thanks a ton!
Congratulations to the apparent winner, and good job everyone! A great lite challenge as far as I can see!
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