Extraordinarily done! How did you do the buildings, if you don't mind my asking? I really like how they turned out, especially the rooftops!
Aug/Sept 17 Lite Challenge: The Village of Aberyst
Greetings!
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and check out my map! Although the simplicity and openness of this challenge left me stunned for part of the month, I eventually fell into the rhythm of getting a map ready to go. I got much farther in the process before posting this one than I typically would, admittedly, but comments are still very much welcome. Although, admittedly, I'll not likely have much time to take any of them into account as I finish this up over the next 36 hours. -Chris (aka mixerbach)
About This Map...
The village of Aberyst is a remote fishing village known locally for it's excellent river trout and warm hospitality, but also as a pilgrimage destination for those seeking the favor of Fluunerich, God of Lakes, Rivers and Streams, whose temple is here. Located near the heart of the Shodanoan Empire, the residents of Aberyst seldom hear of the border skirmishes which concern the far off court in Shodan, nor the political maneuvering of noble houses in the nearer duchy seat of Halfraft. Ruled by the gregarious Marquee Victor al'Sabarielle, the youngest son of a minor noble house, Aberyst is home to a long tradition of fisher-folk and farmers, living out quiet, contented lives.
But what will happen today in Aberyst? A fisherman sails out from the docks, anxious to find today's catch. Sheep pace their yards, ready for the shepherds to take them out to graze. But a stranger is approaching this sleepy village from the South.
Note:
About that "stranger" mentioned above. Unfortunately, that's one thing I have not gotten to on yonder WIP. Hopefully in these next 36 hours, you'll get to see what I mean. If not, rest assured that Big things are coming to this sleepy village in the heard of quiet grasslands.
### Latest WIP ###
Extraordinarily done! How did you do the buildings, if you don't mind my asking? I really like how they turned out, especially the rooftops!
Really nice map Chris, Welcome to the Challenge.
My Battlemaps Gallery http://www.cartographersguild.com/al...p?albumid=3407
Nothing like the 11th hour, right Mr. Bogues? Regardless, your welcome and kind words are always appreciated!
What a kind complement, Taldoz! And then to ask me how I did part of it is a greater complement still. It's like two for the price of one! I really do appreciate it.
Just to give you a bit of context, GIMP is what I used for everything in the image I posted and most any other graphic work I attempt. For the roofs, I used a rectangular brush from a free set of shape brushes by PkGam on DeviantArt.com. The default shape of the rectangle was far too thick, so I elongated it by increasing the Aspect Ratio. After that, I set my foreground and background colors to a lighter "wood" and darker "wood" color, respectively. I set a brush dynamic that randomly oscillated the color anywhere between the two wood shades I picked. Next, I played a lot with the Spacing attribute on the Brushes Dialogue to make it so each "plank" was very close to the next one... almost touching. Lastly, I threw my "planks" onto a black background to reinforce the little spaces between them, and - voila! - planked roofs!
Reading back over that I realize that you would probably need to be pretty familiar with GIMP for it to make much sense. So, if it doesn't, feel free to say so and I'll try again. Maybe even with pictures!
I mostly got what you were saying! You basically took a basic shape and changed the brush's settings to provide a sort of gradient of sorts to each stroke. Neat! A pictured tutorial would be fantastic, too! I use Photoshop mehself (mostly because I get it for free from my work, thank God) so most of Gimp's controls are similar enough to translate easily to PS.
Again, though, very well done! I find something new to look at each time I view the map!
