January Entry: City of the Old Ones

[Midgardsormr]

(does anyone know any nice methods for creating good looking shadows in Photoshop?)

It depends on how your objects are constructed. If they're built in such a way as you can apply a drop shadow to them, then you could try a motion blur technique. http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...4&postcount=18

If you just need to darken some areas, you can try out Torstan's shaded relief approach of a 50% gray layer set to overlay, and then use the dodge and burn tool. That's more useful for making hills and gentle curves, but it can do shadows, too, if you're determined.

Hoel recently mentioned a 3d approach using an extrude filter, if you happen to have one. I think Photoshop CS4 has some rudimentary 3d tools built-in, but I haven't had the chance to experiment with them, so I don't know how or how well they work.