Formula D test track
Formula D is one of my favorite board games and by nature it lends itself very well to custom race tracks. Here's a layout I put together in Illustrator the other day, just to figure out the process of duplicating the squares and road styling of the game.
I still have to add the starting grid and finish line, but I think it turned out pretty well. I have plans to take it into Photoshop and render the off-track areas too; should be interesting.
One path for the shape, offset that path twice to make 3 tracks, then use multiple stroke styles? Nice! Did you place the numbers manually?
One Illustrator holygrail trick I haven't figured out how to do yet is to have a path with multiple stroke styles but also with text along it. It would be awesomely useful for street maps. If Illustrator had anything like 3DSmax's instanced geometry, it'd be simple (if if if).
Venus Public Transit, Map Of Ceres, Jack Vance's Ports Of Call & Lurulu ... why do I only have 3 maps here?
Essentially, yep! The spaces themselves are a pattern brush, but I did place all the type manually. The arrows in the corners actually took the longest, since I had to cut the path into many, many little strips before applying arrowheads. I then manually added all the extra arrows for the 2-direction exit spaces.Originally Posted by töff
I use expand appearance alot to create shapes and regular strokes once I offset the paths, so in this case all I'd have to do is offset a second path and use it for type. I think I'd still prefer to set my type manually though; it never looks quite right when the computer does it.
Updated with a pit lane, as per Ascension's comment.
It's now a fully-functional track for gameplay purposes. I'll see about adding some detail to the surroundings later.
That is a great map!
Could you accomplish this type of map with Inkscape? Or are the tools needed only in Illustrator?
Looks awesome!
matt
Thanks. I'm pretty sure Inkscape has something similar to Illustrator's "offset path" command, but since I don't use Inkscape I can't say for sure.
You need a pit lane. Oh and some RV's, babes, and mulletsOh wait, that'd mean NASCAR would have to add a new road course (that ain't gonna happen). Doing the stands might be easier in Illustrator too and then leave the coloring, shading, and texturing for Photoshop, but I dunno.
If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
-J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)
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I knew I forgot something...You need a pit lane. Oh and some RV's, babes, and mullets
About the stands, I'll probably do all of the linework for the token-type objects in Illustrator but do most of the work in Photoshop.
Nice to see something different from the norm...
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That's a great map. Nice work, and thanks for the break down of how it was created.
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