May Regular Challenge : Map a Trade Route
After a short hiatus for the GuildWorld mapping extravaganza, the regular challenge was back and May's assignment was 'Map a Trade Route.' Sounds simple enough, right? Not so fast. Diamond's a hard taskmaster and he had some very specific criteria in mind. Guilders were free to create a map in a style of their choosing (e.g. fantasy, sci-fi, Western etc.) but it had to include the following items...
- An oasis, caravanserai, way station, inn, etc. (or more than one)
- Clear icons or text describing exactly what is being commonly traded on this trade route
- Some indication of the length of time it takes to transit each part of the trade route
- Clear icons or text indicating at least one danger that is common along the trade route - bandits, monsters, space anomalies, etc
Once again, we had several excellent entries in various styles, ranging from classic fantasy to space maps. The entries included everything from Mutant Uprisings, to Red Dwarf references, to a hanged man dangling from a tree. Voting was very close with only a couple of votes between the top-placed entries.
Our winner this month was Diamond himself, with an entry begun only two days before the challenge closed. Congrats to Diamond for his fantastic map 'The Kantic Peninsula'. You can check out the WIP thread here. Diamond wins an amazing seventh gold compass.
Honourable mentions to runners-up GLS with 'Blackdust Anchors' and Francissimo with 'Cross the Sea', who were just pipped at the post. We also have to give credit to Shall Teclex who didn't finish in time, but subsequently posted an absolutely gorgeous map 'Itinerarium Alchymicum' in the Finished Maps thread.
June 2016 Regular Challenge : Map a Real World Place
June's challenge is up and running. Diamond say...
Your mission this time around is to pick out any real world place (New York City, Botswana, your commute route, the Indian Ocean, whatever) and turn it into a fantasy (or scifi) map ... It doesn't have to be direct translation either; you could do a post-apocalypse version of your hometown, for example. The only stipulation is that the map has to be recognizable as showing a version of an actual place.
So let's see some unique twists on real-world geography. A shiny gold compass is at stake! You read more about the challenge and see the current entries in the challenge folder.
On the Map Interviews
Remember to check out this month's On the Map interview with Jared Blando, aka The Red Epic. Jared's interview can be read here.
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