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Thread: Ice Tower WIP

  1. #1

    Post Ice Tower WIP

    Ok, here's some WIP. I haven't posted it before because I've been juggling this stuff between computers, but I've finally got there.


    The first pictures are drafts of a map I posted in the requests forum. I haven't done any more with it because the guy hasn't got back to me yet to say if it was any good to him.

    The first draft looked a bit 'square' and obviously tiled, so I tried to make some of the edges between objects a bit more natural - rounded them off, covered them up with smaller patches and objects, etc.


    The next pictures are of a fantasy castle/tower that I'm intending to floorplan out. It's located in the frozen north. Redrobes kindly created some snow patches for me and I've used them to transform a basic castle into a snow-laden one. I'm quite pleased with the results, but I have a naive beginners eye. I'm sure the experts will see a few potential improvements.

    I particularly like the way the 'blizzard' overlay works, the way the snow seems to 'soften' the picture, and the way the snow patches, when reduced down and pathed, give a trodden trail effect across the larger snow patches. That was an unexpected bonus.

    I still need to get a better effect of snow on the rock the castle is built on. I have some ideas for that, but since my only tools at present are Viewingdale and MS Paint, I'm struggling a bit. There's plenty of time though, I've had this castle in my mind's eye for over twenty years, and never had the skill or software to reproduce it.

    I'm going to search around here a bit for info on something one step but no more above Paint. I really don't have time to learn the likes of PS, Gimp or CC3!

    I'm also doing a Traveller starmap for my upcoming Pocket Empires campaign. http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...13&postcount=1
    This is also early WIP.
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    Mapping a Traveller ATU.

    See my (fantasy-based) apprenticeship blog at:

    http://www.viewing.ltd.uk/cgi-bin/vi...forums&sx=1024

    Look for Chit Chat, Sandmann's blog. Enjoy.

  2. #2
    Community Leader Facebook Connected Steel General's Avatar
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    I think your 'winterized' maps are coming along very nicely.
    My Finished Maps | My Challenge Maps | Still poking around occasionally...

    Unless otherwise stated by me in the post, all work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.



  3. #3
    Community Leader Facebook Connected Ascension's Avatar
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    RR did a great job on that snow indeed. Smokin.
    If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
    -J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)


    My Maps ~ My Brushes ~ My Tutorials ~ My Challenge Maps

  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by icosahedron View Post
    I'm going to search around here a bit for info on something one step but no more above Paint. I really don't have time to learn the likes of PS, Gimp or CC3!
    How about Paint.Net?

    -Rob A>

  5. #5
    Guild Artisan Hoel's Avatar
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    Very nice snow.
    FOr the rocks, they could be quite bare, snow doesn't settle well on vertical surfaces. You could have ice thou.

  6. #6
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    Both look quite nice.

    Though, I am a little confused on that first one; is the building raised up or surrounded by a mound of dirt? I ask because the road seems to behave a little strangely; I'm refering to that kink in the middle. It makes sense if the lighter tan area around the building is a mound, but if everything is essentially flat, then that kink seems out of place.

    I particularly like the path in the snow for the castle. Something that you may have already considered is other foot-paths. Specifically, if there are any guards walking patrol, there'd be paths from that (and if this is for a game, as it sort of looks like it might be, clever players could use that information to determine patrol routes).

  7. #7
    Administrator Redrobes's Avatar
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    The snowy castle does look good. I find snow hard work probably because I dont get to see it all that often to know what its supposed to look like.

    After some immense digging and google fu I dug up one of Vry's maps. Hes a great artists and has been over here once or twice. Anyway I remember he had a great snow scene so [url=http://magist.com/vry/v/misc/MapPreviews/StandAlone/Kaltiar+Revisted.jpg.html]heres a link[/url to that.

    He seems to be able to get snow looking right. So see if you can take some tips from him. He uses Photoshop and has said a map can take weeks so don't think this is a normal standard - this is pretty exceptional.

    The other thing is to tell us what it is your after with the castle cliff. I could try to get my terrain prog to gen up some rough cliff with snow on it. Its pretty good at that. In fact most terrain apps seem to be ok with snowscapes but that might again be more to do with the fact that I don't have the familiarity to see the issues in them.

    If it comes out ok ill post it.

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by Redrobes View Post
    The snowy castle does look good. I find snow hard work probably because I dont get to see it all that often to know what its supposed to look like.

    After some immense digging and google fu I dug up one of Vry's maps. Hes a great artists and has been over here once or twice. Anyway I remember he had a great snow scene so heres a link to that.

    He seems to be able to get snow looking right. So see if you can take some tips from him. He uses Photoshop and has said a map can take weeks so don't think this is a normal standard - this is pretty exceptional.

    The other thing is to tell us what it is your after with the castle cliff. I could try to get my terrain prog to gen up some rough cliff with snow on it. Its pretty good at that. In fact most terrain apps seem to be ok with snowscapes but that might again be more to do with the fact that I don't have the familiarity to see the issues in them.

    If it comes out ok ill post it.
    Hmm, that url wasn't working, I've closed the final bracket, so let's see if this works...

    Edit: yes, that's better.

    That looks like the effect I'm after, thanks for the link. I want a few more black rocks protruding like that. I'll have to see if I can get a really hi-def image of that map so I can examine the 'brush strokes' and learn from the master.

    As for the cliffs, like you, I don't see enough snow to be sure, but I'll know it when I see it.
    I feel that when snow falls on sharp rock, it will tend to calf off abruptly, taking the edgy shape of the rock, whereas the current snow patches are roundeed and faded out and are ideal for larger expanses of snow. That's why I suggested that your 'scattered snow' effect might be good if it could be scaled up over small objects.

    For someone who doesn't see much snow, I'd say you've done a great job there, Redrobes, all I've done is plonked it down on top of a castle.
    Last edited by icosahedron; 03-09-2009 at 05:45 PM.
    Mapping a Traveller ATU.

    See my (fantasy-based) apprenticeship blog at:

    http://www.viewing.ltd.uk/cgi-bin/vi...forums&sx=1024

    Look for Chit Chat, Sandmann's blog. Enjoy.

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Thought View Post
    Both look quite nice.

    Though, I am a little confused on that first one; is the building raised up or surrounded by a mound of dirt? I ask because the road seems to behave a little strangely; I'm refering to that kink in the middle. It makes sense if the lighter tan area around the building is a mound, but if everything is essentially flat, then that kink seems out of place.

    I particularly like the path in the snow for the castle. Something that you may have already considered is other foot-paths. Specifically, if there are any guards walking patrol, there'd be paths from that (and if this is for a game, as it sort of looks like it might be, clever players could use that information to determine patrol routes).
    The building is raised up. The kink is just a kink. This was a first experiment with the software and I just wanted to make the path 'not straight'.

    Yes, when I expand the map I might put some more paths in the snow.
    Mapping a Traveller ATU.

    See my (fantasy-based) apprenticeship blog at:

    http://www.viewing.ltd.uk/cgi-bin/vi...forums&sx=1024

    Look for Chit Chat, Sandmann's blog. Enjoy.

  10. #10
    Administrator Redrobes's Avatar
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    I tried to get it tonight though I didn't have a lot of time. I don't think I got it tho. Its not right and could have had better cliffs. Was having a bit of a fight with GTS tonight and I think it won this time. I'll get it next time tho Anyways, see what you think.

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