Southerwatch - A Bit of Town Map Practice

[arsheesh]

So this is my first crack at town mapping. Nothing too fancy, just a trial run to test out some different techniques. I think some things worked better than others. Overall I like how the river turned out and I think the textures were decent. Not as happy about the forests, but then, I have yet to figure out how to approximate anything like the forest simulacra I've seen done in town maps by Photoshop users here (GIMP does have some limitations). I used RobA's Thatch script for the little waddle and daub huts. I think for more close up detailed maps this script has some real potential, though at this resolution it doesn't really show up. Also used some of Ascension's house shapes for this trial run, so thanks A (wherever you've gotten off to these days).

If anyone has any advice or constructive criticism on things to improve or such, please let me know, I'd really like to glean whatever tips I can to improve my technique.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[aquarits]

so nice, dat farms are so cool!

If a first try, congratulations lol, is a really nice map.

[Diamond]

You know what I like best about this map? The shadow the bridge is casting on the water. It's a pretty small thing, but the attention to detail of showing the arch really sells the whole map for me.

Looks awesome, dude.

[Cunning Cartographer]

Fantastic map, technique aside this feels like a really nice little town, the layout works greats and the flow of it all is excellent. However...

You know what I like best about this map? The shadow the bridge is casting on the water. It's a pretty small thing, but the attention to detail of showing the arch really sells the whole map for me.

Looks awesome, dude.

Oddly this is the one thing that I actually didn't like. It's a general rule that unless it's murky water the light will cast a reflection, not a shadow on deep water (and if the water was murky it would be a much lighter/diffused shadow than that bridge casts). Also I think the arch is too pronounced and the shape should barely be visible; if the light source was closer to the bridge at the right angle then maybe, but from the sun it should be a more flattened out/straighter shadow that is a little tighter to the bridge. Though if there was a wall at the side of the bridge and the sun was setting on the horizon (ie. shinning directly side on) that is the shape of the shadow I imagine it would cast, at that gentle arch, so realistically I believe it would only be at that position that you would get that shadow, not from an angled top down.

Sorry to focus in on that, but as it's at the center of the map it just jumped straight out at me. Other than that I think it's an awesome map.

[vorropohaiah]

i actually quite like the trees, though perhaps a bit more variation in colour might have been better. fields are great, though the houses roofs might also benefit from some variation from one-to-another - given the thatched huts, youd expect some of the large houes to also be thatched or be made from different matrials. not sure about the amount of detail you were going for though.

very nice overall.

[arsheesh]

so nice, dat farms are so cool! If a first try, congratulations lol, is a really nice map.

Thanks!

You know what I like best about this map? The shadow the bridge is casting on the water. It's a pretty small thing, but the attention to detail of showing the arch really sells the whole map for me. Looks awesome, dude.

Thanks Diamond. The Drop-Shadow filter in GIMP is pretty limited so shadows like this have to be done manually, but they are fairly easy. I think I will be experimenting with more shadow shapes like this in future maps.

i actually quite like the trees, though perhaps a bit more variation in colour might have been better. fields are great, though the houses roofs might also benefit from some variation from one-to-another - given the thatched huts, youd expect some of the large houes to also be thatched or be made from different matrials. not sure about the amount of detail you were going for though. very nice overall.

I think I will add a bit more color variation to the trees and houses in the future, dido for the texture on the roofs of the houses.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[mystic badger]

The trees are very nice ! What did you use for them ? Your fields are great too, though I don't understand why there aren't any north of the village. And maybe you could do a few fishermen's houses...

[nyogtha]

Nice work, I love it

[arsheesh]

The trees are very nice ! What did you use for them ? Your fields are great too, though I don't understand why there aren't any north of the village. And maybe you could do a few fishermen's houses...

Thanks. I used a pattern that I had tweaked in various ways, and then applied a Bevel & Emboss to. Yeah I originally was going to put fields north of the village as well, but it was a bit time consuming and this was really just meant as a practice run. Good point about the fishermen's houses.

Nice work, I love it

Thanks so much!

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[mystic badger]

I used a pattern that I had tweaked in various ways, and then applied a Bevel & Emboss to.

Could you please share it ? I can't find any which satisfies me and yours is very gorgeous.