March Entry: Wrong Turn Cellar

[RobA]

Try working with the texture in this thread:

http://www.dundjinni.com/forums/foru...s.asp?TID=6813

-Rob A>

[Midgardsormr]

That may just be what I needed. How's this look?

I think I need to be more sparse with it.

[RobA]

Judging by your previous description

the "walls" there are actually densely-packed root systems

I'd say that captures it well...

-Rob A>

[Midgardsormr]

I've finished off the root-mining textures now, and my next step will be to put the finishing details on Room 3. Here's the story of what happened there:

Among the swine (a term applied jokingly to the slaves, comparing them to truffle-hunting pigs) there were three gnomish brothers with stronger-than-average wills. Their spirits unbroken, they began immediately preparing for their escape. It took them almost a year to gather the supplies they needed, melting down all the metal objects they could coax away from the other slaves, filching a few nails from every crate they were given, and carefully sculpting the stones turned up by the excavation. They constructed a secret tunnel that went deep into the earth and protected it with cunning traps, both mundane and magical.

Eventually the time came for a mass escape. The swine vanished into the tunnel, leaving just enough clues for their captors to find it. The villains opened the hidden door and were consumed by a blast of flame from a magical stone cannon the gnomes had prepared.

[Midgardsormr]

And here's the finalized Room 3. If I didn't think I was going to run out of time, I'd probably do some more in this room. Scatter some pebbles around, certainly, and indicate some bedrock.

[Midgardsormr]

So, the gnomes and co. lived in the dungeon for a few years, continuing to harvest the fungus for trade and digging out some more room for themselves. Their digging eventually attracted the attention of a hive of Formians, though, who chased the former slaves from their lair and started taking the fungus for themselves.

The gnomes wanted their home back, so they used the bulk of their wealth to hire an adventuring party to drive the Formians out. The adventurers weren't quite up to the task, though. They managed to kill some warriors and a Taskmaster, which had been using a dominated krenshar to defend the lair, but they took many wounds in the process. The elf Himool broke his leg and could not make it out of the dungeon, so he elected to stay behind while the group looks for a cleric. They barricaded two of the doors to the room he is in, and he covers the last with his bow, ready to skewer any Formians that poke their heads into the room.

So here are the elf's room, the Formians' entry point, and another shot of the entire dungeon.

[Midgardsormr]

As much as I'd love to take a couple more days to finish this out, I am out of time. So, the gnomes' forge and the former slaves' dining hall are complete, and this challenge is finished. I estimate I probably spent about 16 hours on it, but I learned a lot of new techniques, so I could quite possibly knock out something similar in five or six now.

Once again, C & C are welcome. Although I won't be updating this map, I will gladly try new things with the next one.

Cheers, and good luck with the voting, everyone!