Ethran: Merelan City

[kacey]

Thank you Kacey

Those are Profantasy CC3 buildings - they come with the software, so I can't really take any credit for how good they look, other than for the particular combination of sheet effects I have applied to them.

I've never seen anyone use cc3 quite the way you do, it just keeps looking better, and better.

[Mouse]

Thanks Kacey

I'm not doing anything special with it that no one else can do. I'm probably just using more layers and effects than anyone else can be bothered with sorting out, that's all. The current count is 130 sheets (equivalent to PS layers), and about 300 sheet effects scattered through them, based on an approximate average of 3 effects per sheet.

I also tend to experiment with different blend modes and matrices just to see what they will do, and when I find a result I like I keep it, or remember it for future use.

It might surprise you to know that I haven't even touched on about five of the effects yet - the lighting effects. That's because I haven't had any reason to use them, though I may very well do so in the next map, which will be the ruins of Urrowan Palace - either at dusk, or at night.

I'm also really enjoying the map. I find it therapeutic to loose myself in fantasy (which is probably this coward's way out of having to face reality).

[Mouse]

Version 44

My laptop decided to throw a 'KMode Exception Not Handled' blue screen at me and shut down without warning a couple of times (That's the OS kicking up a fuss about something - nothing to do with the mapping software). Not to worry - the HDD has been checked and is ok, and I've backed everything up

The upshot of this is that I have lost a significant amount of time on the map, so its not as advanced as I was hoping it would be by now. The new bits are on top of the island and the south coast.

[Mouse]

Version 45:

Its taken a while today to add all the detail to the north facing cliff beneath the observatory, complete with 90% of the paths in that area. I'm hoping to get far more done in the next 24 hrs - maybe even complete all the housing. The top of the island won't have very much on it - too dangerous to live there, except near a windmill (the movement deflects screamers in the same way that spinning DVDs deflect birds from a strawberry patch)

[- JO -]

Wow ! So precise, so much details... Now the mountain is really coming alive !
And you showed so much tenacity ! and the result is totally worth your courage !

I really love all the care you put in details, especially all the trails, as you said it was one of your favorite part ! Somnee, as you said, is full of promises, and the shipyard is great too !

I hope you're enjoying drawing that map as much as we do watching it !!!

[Mouse]

Thank you Jo

I sharpened up the tracks and paths by reversing the glow I had on them so the edges were sharper, but I'm undecided as to whether that was a very good idea, since they now seem to overpower the city with their presence in places... I could darken them a bit, but I am reluctant to tone them down since I rather like the distinctive chalk/limestone country thing of having all those very pale paths. Besides, if I did that they wouldn't show up at all in the higher regions where the grass is dead.

I think I will have a look at that today, as well as seeing if I can't get at least half the rest of the housing sorted out.

(I'm starting to really feel the drive to finish this thing and move on to another idea I've got)

[- JO -]

One map calls another one...

[Mouse]

And like a stream... they flow

[Mouse]

Version 46:

In this version I'm showing the process of planning the road structure on an area of map where they have not yet been defined. These are the thin white lines in the south west of the map. The strange colours on the land beneath them are a temporary transparent markers that help me see at a glance which of the sheets I need to place the roads and houses on when I get to the point of making everything final.

All these marks are just an idea, since many of the roads are in ridiculous or impractical places, but they help me think where I'm going when I have the snaking end of an actual road attached to my cursor, and I'm laying it down on the land - one click at a time

[darcycardinal]

Just love watching this map unfold... keep the great work up Mouse!

-darcycardinal