Flat Map style

[Ascension]

You could draw up your castle in SketchUp, switch the view to Isometric, rotate to fit properly, then export it as a jpg, and then in PS erase out the background leaving the castle. SketchUp is a free program like a cheap version of 3DS Max. Otherwise, yeah, you'll need to draw it by hand in a raster app or maybe have someone else do it and you guide them with what you want it to look like.

[neomaximus2k]

thanks ascension for the tip, the castle isn't a major problem as I have a graphics tablet and can digitize most things into photoshop it is just the background that I'm struggling with

[Ascension]

Oh, so you're wanting isometric terrain, my bad, I thought you were wanting the iso castle.

[the-golem]

You could draw up your castle in SketchUp, switch the view to Isometric, rotate to fit properly, then export it as a jpg, and then in PS erase out the background leaving the castle. SketchUp is a free program like a cheap version of 3DS Max. Otherwise, yeah, you'll need to draw it by hand in a raster app or maybe have someone else do it and you guide them with what you want it to look like.

Sorry, this just rubs me the wrong way. Maybe it's because I'm an Architecture student. First, you said "cheap," implying that the product is substandard. I'm guessing you meant more along the lines of "inexpensive," which is only half true. The "free" version isn't as featured as the Pro version, which runs $500 USD. Secondly, SketchUp is Business Information Modeling (BIM) Software, and about the only thing it really has in common with 3dsMax is the "3d" part. In truth, it's much closer to Revit. In fact, SketchUp files import seamlessly with Revit. Anyway, it's a really promising emerging software in both the architectural and engineering fields.

</soapbox>

I'll go hide in my castle before the villagers come after me with pitchforks and torches.