March/April Lite Challenge - Red Rock Bay

[Zarylin]

Alright, I think I've got something like the beginning of a project here.

Welcome to Red Rock Bay, an idyllic little location where a river meets the sea. In terms of natural features, the area is complete, and this would be the unspoiled wilderness as it looks now. My plan going forward is to imagine that a group of settlers moves in, and start building up the town as they would. We'll see how that goes.

### LATEST WIP ###
AprilChallenge.jpg

I feel like I should note that this map denotes a bit of a stylistic departure for me; up till now I've only done the more artistic/abstract maps with 'hand drawn' trees, mountians, and the like. For this map I'm going to be doing a straight top-down view, with what hopefully is a more realistic feel overall. I'm largely changing formats because this is also the first city-scale map I've done, and I just don't see the artistic style working out in this context.

I have what, a week? PLENTY OF TIME!!!

[- Max -]

Not sure to got it but what's organic?

[Zarylin]

Town growing up (organically) around the natural terrain.

It doesn't need to be literally grown from trees Lothlorien style to be an organic location.

[- Max -]

Oh ok sorry, seems I didn't understand well this challenge.

[Bogie]

Nice start on the map Zarylin, welcome to the challenge! I was feeling lonely and hoping more people would join in.

Max, Torstan originally said the description of "organic" was open to different interpretations. It can be a forest map like mine, a village carved out of the trees as the elves might do, a dwarven mountain village built into the side of the mountain without radically changing the mountain or in this case a man made town, but one that follows and flows with the natural terrain as it developed, instead of one that bulldozed the ground and was very structured and planned.

[- Max -]

Yea my english skills sometimes make me miss some things :/ For example for the April challenge I didn't understand you just had to use one of the landshape of that dwarvens game and not necessarily the other features provided by it...Oh well

[Bogie]

Well your English is way better than my French. And I have no excuse since my father's ancestors are from Dieppe, France.

[Zarylin]

So a quick update this morning, I may have another later today but we'll see. I've built up the town's humble beginnings, or "The Village" as it will be referred to. A small fishing community nestled in the canyon makes the most sense for new settlers, as they have easy access to food and reasonable safety from outsiders thanks to their seclusion and stairways. I imagine the houses and huts are at least partially on stilts, given the slope of their small island and the potential rising river. The scale which you can now see is actually fairly large, which means that the river and bay are comparatively small and aren't likely to get too unreasonably dangerous due to storms or extra rainfall. The canyon slopes should also protect the village from the worst of any wind gusts.

### LATEST WIP ###
AprilChallenge.jpg

Everything used in this map is completely drawn from scratch, which is definitely something to be proud of. It is surprising though to realize just how much work would have to go into having really unique looking buildings... modularity is hard, and you need a LOT of little houses! I imagine I'll be churning out more buildings and other features for most of the week if I'm to get this project where I want it... but so far I'm pleased with it!

[Zarylin]

So as it turns out, coming up with individual looking houses is even harder than it sounds. I have I think 7 or so squarish buildings, plus the round hut, and I'm really struggling to think of anything else to draw. I suppose more of the same is an option, and just try switching up the colors slightly, but I don't know. In any event, I used the handful of buildings I have now to expand the town a bit, variation be damned.

### LATEST WIP ###
AprilChallenge.jpg

The town has now grown to the point where fishing alone is no longer enough to feed the population. A few individuals tried planting crops in their carefully staked out yards, but it was the enterprising Farmer Orfe who decided to build a house across the canyon and start planting crops on a large scale. Thanks to him and his sons, the town now has an abundance of food, and Orfe himself is quickly becoming the wealthiest man in town.

I still need to draw a nice big barn for Orfe's Farm, but so far so good. Still to come: some roads as Red Rock continues to flourish into a prosperous community; a bridge to encourage trade and travel through the town, as well as aid in the transport of Orfe's grain to the market; a market; and some sort of keep/watchtower. Oh, and of course, more houses!

[foremost]

Looks great Zarylin! You have an interesting take on the challenge here. I like the look of the wooden bridges and the island in the middle is cool. My only advice to you would be to keep the houses somewhat orderly - they have a scattered look up on the hills right now. Good luck!