July / Aug 2016 Lite Challenge: The Fjordenheim

[7Sided]

The Fjordenheim, Hideout of the Giant Thieves
The Fjordenheim is a secret mountain hideout for a group of treasure hunters. These daredevil looters steal treasure from the vast hoards of the cloud giants in the north.

About This Map
This is going to be a tactical battle map with a 1-inch grid. My main route into cartography is through tabletop RPGs and I played most heavily in 4th edition so I have a lingering affection for the tactical grid. However, I believe that a map should be beautiful and evoke lots of story ideas at the same time so I will try to make the grid blend naturally into the map elements so it can be ignored if needed. The finished map will be 30" x 24"

The obviously Nordic sounding name and the Nordic architectural elements were inspired by an upcoming RPG product about giants. I also hope to include some Nordic-inspired runes to add a touch of magic to the map.

First, here is the thumbnail sketch (which is literally about 3" x 2").

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Would love to hear feedback, suggestions, and advice. Thanks!

[7Sided]

And here is the initial vector artwork that I'm working with to bring into Photoshop.

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[ladiestorm]

I'm not quite sure what it is I'm seeing, yet...but it has me intrigued. I noticed what looks to be a cave e trance? Is this a path into the area?

[7Sided]

Hmm. If you can't tell what it is that's a good sign I should simplify! I fee like I may have bitten off more than I can chew for my first map anyway...

The original design had several "levels" which is probably difficult to represent so I think I'll get rid of that and focus on the layout of "long hall" building. It's good to get this kind of feedback early in the process.

Thanks for the feedback!

[ladiestorm]

Or it could be that I need a little more detail before my fuzzy brain is able to process what I'm seeing! lol

[Savage Orc]

Looks good so far. Keep at it.

[Bogie]

Great start, I really like the layout.

Glad you entered the challenge.

[7Sided]

PIVOT! Based on the feedback, I've gone back to the vector art and dramatically simplified the idea. The long hall is much larger now and I'm going to spend the rest of my time working on getting great textures, lighting effects, and adding interesting items and objects on the floor to spark story ideas.

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Ladiestorm, hopefully it's a lot clearer what's going on here?!? Thanks for the encouragement and the feedback! i think I'll save any crazy complex mapping ideas I have for my third challenge...

[kalmarjan]

Looks very nice. Make it the old school blue, and I'd think I was reading an old module.

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

[7Sided]

And here's my first pass at adding some textures to the long hall interior.

### Latest WIP ###