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Thread: Marauder's Isles - Small Test Map

  1. #1
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    Map Marauder's Isles - Small Test Map

    This is just a small test map trying to nail down a style. I'm pretty happy with it. This took about two hours with writing down my steps for a personal tutorial. Please let me know what you all think about it.
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    Community Leader jfrazierjr's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vernon View Post
    This is just a small test map trying to nail down a style. I'm pretty happy with it. This took about two hours with writing down my steps for a personal tutorial. Please let me know what you all think about it.

    Looks good, but it's hard to tell at this resolution though. Perhaps you can make a higher res version with more pixels and export to jpg to upload when time permits.
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    Quote Originally Posted by jfrazierjr View Post
    Looks good, but it's hard to tell at this resolution though. Perhaps you can make a higher res version with more pixels and export to jpg to upload when time permits.
    Ah I would but that's as big and res'd as it gets. This would just be a small island so the resolution is right on. It's just a small portion so that I could test out a style without overwhelming myself. Two small, populated, forested islands with a bit of mountains.

  4. #4

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    I like the style quite a bit, especially the look of the mountains. There is a disparity, though, between the detail level of the mountains and everything else. The mountains are excessively blurry in comparison to, say, the forests or the coastal lines.

    Also, there is a definite texture to the water that makes it look painted on canvas, but the land doesn't have that texture. I think it would be more persuasive if either the texture was applied to the entire image or the land was given a very slight bevel, to make it look like the paint is thicker there. I'm not sure how well that latter idea would work, but it would be an interesting experiment.

    I like the town icons, and most of your labels are very easy to read. Daleray should probably be moved off of the mountains--it doesn't contrast very well there, and I had to lean forward to read it.
    Bryan Ray, visual effects artist
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    Quote Originally Posted by Midgardsormr View Post
    I like the style quite a bit, especially the look of the mountains. There is a disparity, though, between the detail level of the mountains and everything else. The mountains are excessively blurry in comparison to, say, the forests or the coastal lines.

    Also, there is a definite texture to the water that makes it look painted on canvas, but the land doesn't have that texture. I think it would be more persuasive if either the texture was applied to the entire image or the land was given a very slight bevel, to make it look like the paint is thicker there. I'm not sure how well that latter idea would work, but it would be an interesting experiment.

    I like the town icons, and most of your labels are very easy to read. Daleray should probably be moved off of the mountains--it doesn't contrast very well there, and I had to lean forward to read it.
    You're right about the mountains. They're the newest thing for me and I hadn't really practiced any before. I still don't have a method down perfect. I tried making them a bit sharper in this, but I think it'll come down to the actual pointedness I draw them with pre-effects rather.

    I applied the sea texture to the land. I hadn't intended for it to look like it were on canvas, but I guess that's what I ended up with. See if you all can notice that it flows across the land now, too.

    C&C please.
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  6. #6

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    That's a big improvement to my eye. I'm not sure about the white stroke on your labels. It improves Daleroy (I now know that that's an 'o' and not an 'a', for instance), but the other labels have had their legibility reduced slightly. In this instance, I think it's appropriate to sacrifice some unity for the sake of legibility. That's just one opinion, though. I'd like to hear what some of the others have to say, especially those with better artistic sensibilities than mine.

    Are you using Photoshop for this?
    Bryan Ray, visual effects artist
    http://www.bryanray.name

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    Yes I'm using photoshop. I'm happy with most the map and the labels can be changed pretty easily. The mountains look like an eyesore to me, though. I'm not sure why. It might be that they contrast way too much... I don't know. Any suggestions welcome

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    Community Leader Facebook Connected Ascension's Avatar
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    It appears that you have a drop shadow on the mountains, so I'd nix that as the added darkness draws attention. But mainly, I think that the only thing I really see wrong with the mountains is the color, it doesn't mesh with the others. As far as fixing that, well, that's personal taste but I would go for something a lil more orange and washed out. Looks pretty good though so my 2 cents can be put in the change cup at the gas station if you like.
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    Guild Artisan landorl's Avatar
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    I think Ascension nailed it. The shadow makes it look as if the mountains are "Floating" above the ground. That should be an easy fix, but the shape of the mountains are great!

    I like your woodland texture, and your icons for the towns.

    The only thing that I would say as a criticism is that I think you should somehow show hills rising up to the mountains, because the rest of the map looks pretty flat.

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