December entry: Dear Santa...

[Ramah]

This is a placeholder post to state my intention of joining this month's challenge.
This will be the first time I've joined in, even though I've fancied having a go before now but inspiration never seems to strike me in time with these things.
Anyhoos, I just had a bit of an idea so I'll run with it and see what comes out. It will be nothing like any map I've ever attempted so I have no idea as to what the finished product will be like. Hopefully it won't be too embarrassing.

I'm not quite sure as to the definite style of the map yet but I'll sketch a few tests out and once I've plumped for one I'll post up a very rough version so it can be seen at its earliest.

[Ramah]

Ok... I whipped something up to sorta show my intentions...



This will be a map of an orc lair in the bowels of a mountain, showing the chimneys and which direction Santa has to take to get to the bunk of a desperate orc. It will include a note to Santa, asking him for a present and telling him how good the orc has been this year.

My indecision at the moment is how rough to make the map. I'm not sure whether to go for completely hand-scrawled map like above (but better of course) or to go for a half-decent map that has been tampered with (I doubt even an official map of their home would include chimney flows).

[Xyll]

This looks really good. I think you should try a hand drawn antique style.

[ravells]

This looks like it will be fun!

[Ascension]

I like kiddie style drawings so if you stay with this then I'll love it...but that's just 1 vote, I guess.

[Xyll]

Make that 2 votes : )

[Coyotemax]

Oooh, I look forward to this.

And points for bravery, some of the maps I've loved working on most have been the challenge maps where I push my limits right out of my typical styles (oten-jo, GOLD, etc)

Go for it! (and yeah, I think handscrawled antiqued is a good idea)

I love the concept on this one

[Ramah]

Nothing much extra to show on this yet. This is the first night I've been able to really put some more thought into this so I have nothing down on paper... er... screen other than a few more doodles for ideas.

I have locked down some extra ideas to incorporate into it which I kinda like which will hopefully make it a little more interactive for those with a notion to join in.

I'm still umming and arring about whether to do it full on slapdash kiddy style or make it more of an official map of the lair that our orc has tampered with to show the chimneys (although the official map will still be very rough by normal mapping standards). It does seem from the comments that kiddy style is favoured so I guess once I've got a layout finallized I'll just draw it out real rough and quickly and see if it looks ok like that.

Anyway, I'm gonna put my other mapping projects on hold for the next day or two and see if I can get something more concrete to show you guys for the next post.

Btw... it seems to be de rigeur to write a poem to go with your map this challenge but I just ain't doing it!

[Ramah]

Ah well, I was really hoping to actually get an entry into this month's challenge but I just haven't found the time to make more than a few scribbles towards it. I had some nice plans for the map but just couldn't synchronize my free time with my inclination towards it.
Ah well, as they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

I think next time I try to enter the challenge I'll work on the map first to make sure it is at least part-way to being complete before I announce my participation.

Good luck to all the others who entered.