Welcome to the weekly round-up, a summary of what's going on at the Guild over the past seven days.
Challenge News
January 2018 Challenge - Fill in the blanks
January's mapping challenge came from an idea by Chashio. Mappers were given a sheet of labels and invited to create a map around them.
This turned into one of our most popular challenges ever, with a whopping 25 entries, and the competition was tough tough tough! Voting was very close, and our congrats go to Ilanthar who wins a second gold compass for his map Anaethir.
Honourable mentions to Diamond, who came in second with 'The Great Railroad', and DanielHasenbos who was third with 'Aenarath'.
Thanks to all who entered. It was very pleasing to see so many creative entries, and I'm sure we'll try this challenge again.
February 2018 Challenge - Elevator Pitch Prophecies
February's challenge is up and running already. This month your task is to create a map based around the entertainingly-titled 'Elevator Pitch Prophecies'. We're using our favourite Donjon random generator once again, this time to generate a list of prophecies. Pick one and create a map from it. Lots more info in the thread here. February's a short month, so go generate your prophecy and start mapping!
Jan / Feb 2018 Lite Challenge - Map a mysterious entrance
You've got about a week and a half if you want to enter the Jan/Feb Lite Challenge. Your topic this month (courtesy of XCali) is 'Map a mysterious entrance'. View the entries.
Challenge Suggestions
Don't forget to vote on the challenge suggestions you like. You can see them all in this forum. The forum only shows the last month by default, so go down near the bottom of the page and look for 'Thread Display Options, just under the 'Post New Thread' button. You can view older threads from there. Leave a comment on any challenge idea you like to bump it.
Five Finished Maps
- In Remembrance of Le Guin: Gethen, by Hermit
- Two maps from Wired: 'Thyrr' and recent challenge entry 'The Ravaged Reaches'
- Northern Terrania by Sapiento
- Catalonia by 7legionarmy
- Ascilian by Greg
Five threads to check out
The latest work-in-progress threads, interesting discussions, new tutorials etc etc. It's all here.
- Which maps inspired your passion for mapmaking? Share your favourites in this thread.
- Jo's back working on The Old Watch Inn
- Gamerprinter's updated his thread Starship Deck Plans for Starfinder RPG
- An older thread, recently updated, but many might have overlooked it. Check out J.Edward's thread 'John's free stuff' for some great mapping elements.
- The archipelago of the tides by Chronist
Atlas Awards
You’ve got a month left to nominate!
- Remember you can see all eligible maps in our thumbnails thread (warning: it’s quite image heavy, and best viewed on a desktop/laptop).
- Check out the maps already nominated in each category.
- If you’ve got any questions about the Awards, or nomination process, ask them in this thread.
Guild World Community Project
Just a reminder, especially for new members, that our Guild World, Guild City and Guild Dungeon threads are still active. If you’ve got some spare time and fancy joining in a community world-building project, you’re welcome to join in. Check out the main discussion threads for each project below:
And check out the fantastic zoomy maps, put together by our admin Redrobes, for the ‘big picture’.
Around the web
Some links for your reading/viewing pleasure...
'A silk escape map', from The Bodleian's Map Room Blog, discusses maps printed on silk and carried by Allied air crews in the second world war to help them find their way home if they came down in enemy territory.
The best maps published by Canadian Geographic in 2017
If you're looking for some new fantasy or sci-fi to read, Locus Magazine has published its Recommended Reading List for books published in 2017.
In you happen to be in or around Harvard University in the next couple of months, check out 'Landmarks: Maps as Literary Illustration', an exhibition running till April 2018.
The Culture of Street Names, from Maps Mania.
Gorgeous 'bird's eye view' map of Philadelphia from 1876
From Papertowns on Reddit, The Viking fortress of Trelleborg
Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter