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Thread: The New Empire - WIP

  1. #21
    Administrator waldronate's Avatar
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    I'm not sure why you would attempt to apply shading to line elements. The shaded lines around seas, for example, are a purely stylistic convention, not in any way related to the technology of woodcuts.

  2. #22
    Professional Artist Facebook Connected Coyotemax's Avatar
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    Well in this particular case, while my terminology may be off, i really liked the effect from the shoreline, and wanted to carry that over into the rest of it.

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  3. #23
    Professional Artist Facebook Connected Coyotemax's Avatar
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    After letting that observation/comment sink in for awhile, I realized that it is likely i was going a bit overboard with the effect I was using. I've toned a few things back, and I have to say it really did help improve. Thanks for bringing that up, waldronate. I'd post an updated image but the wife is hovering next to me glaring at me because I'm still on the computer while she's waiting to go out for dinner. Priorities!! Sheesh!

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  4. #24
    Community Leader Facebook Connected Ascension's Avatar
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    The nerve of some people Hi Mrs. Max.
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  5. #25
    Professional Artist Facebook Connected Coyotemax's Avatar
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    Thank you for saving me from a triple post Dinner was good. Finishing the map is even better! Well, I might be finished. I'm going to sit on it for a day or two before I make that final decision, but if it's not, it's pretty darn close. I can't see anything else that needs doing or adjusting, but that's also possibly because I'm too close to it and staring at it for too long. I DID catch an error I hadn't noticed over the last 2 or so weeks though, and it's one that made it through to the final publication of the book... From The Capital to Karlisberg is 175 on the original map, but on the second map, from Karlisberg back to The Capital is 135 miles. Woah. Anyhow, here goes, if someone sees something obvious, please say so And if anyone wants a zoomed in closeup of a particular region, let me know. The original is 4800x6600, shrunk to 2000x2750 (i think) for the upload version so it really is missing some detail.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

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    "...sometimes the most efficient way to make something look drawn by hand is to simply draw it by hand..."

  6. #26
    Professional Artist Facebook Connected Coyotemax's Avatar
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    Wip

    Totally redid forests using ramah's version of fluesopp's forest generator, and the Vaniyah tree set I chopped the forest layer into manageable parts (2 needed to be stitched together as they were about 1400+px wide) using the rivers and borders as separation points, so that worked out a lot nicer. I also went through and cleaned a few more things up, I'll likely change the background parchment tone, it's a little too orange for my liking right now. I have to say, i'm *much* happier with the forests now, and the process to create them Also including a cropped portion of the fullsize for detail comparison.
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    My finished maps
    "...sometimes the most efficient way to make something look drawn by hand is to simply draw it by hand..."

  7. #27
    Guild Expert Ramah's Avatar
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    From your fullsize images I would certainly agree that the new forests look better than the ones done from the tree layer, so I'm glad you've got the generator to work for you. However, from the zoomed in shot I can see that they also don't look right. It may just be that the problem is the shading is on the wrong side to the mountains and cities. Oops.
    I also think it might be more than that though, the lines of the trees seem too fine compare to the mountains and cities. Not dark enough. Maybe if you duplicated the layer a few times to really darken them it would work? I actually preferred your earlier trees with the woodcut effect although I agree it was a bit too much. Any way to get somewhere in between?

    Btw, if you decide to redo the forests (again :s ) to repair the wrong direction shadowing, you will obviously need edit the png files, mirroring the tress and alphas horizontally. If you do this, could you upload a zip with them in please so I can include it in the download?

    Maybe if you do them again it might look good to add a Shadow1.png to tie them to the ground more? This would mean you would also need to recreate the original brushes too, with more blank space to allow for the shadow. A little hassle but might be worth it?
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  8. #28
    Professional Artist Facebook Connected Coyotemax's Avatar
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    l;ksjflskjhkrsjhkljg I so did not catch that *slap forehead) On the first test I did with the generator, i just flipped the alpha mask before generating, as I took the shadow direction into account. I was going to do that again, but my wife made me go out for a walk with her and the dogs, and when i got back i forgot. I still have the original png's so I'll likely just set up an action to flip them and batch run it. Heck, if I do that, i could probably use it to mirror the trees and shadows too and catch everything at once And this gives me an excuse to test my idea of shrinking the mask by a few pixels -- see the automatic forester thread for more info, (bloody heck, that's 2 hours of my life I want back!!!)

    My finished maps
    "...sometimes the most efficient way to make something look drawn by hand is to simply draw it by hand..."

  9. #29
    Community Leader Gandwarf's Avatar
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    Very, very nice Coyotemax. Glad to see you more productive again
    Check out my City Designer 3 tutorials. See my fantasy (city) maps in this thread.

    Gandwarf has fallen into shadow...

  10. #30
    Professional Artist Facebook Connected Coyotemax's Avatar
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    Wip

    Thanks! Well, I fixed the forest shading, made then just a tad larger, and added a but of the shading to them to help darken them a bit. I think I was able to avoid overdoing this time Here goes nothing.. if there's nothing else that needs adjusting I'll call it done when I wake up. The sleep calls to me, and i must attend before I pass out. There is a subtle difference between falling asleep and falling unconscious.. but it is there
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

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    My finished maps
    "...sometimes the most efficient way to make something look drawn by hand is to simply draw it by hand..."

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