Trade City of Prithasford [WIP]

[CraftyGepetto]

Hello,

I think this might be my first post on the guild, though I'm an avid follower of the maps shared over on Twitter. This particular map was originally intended to be a trading stopover for the party in my Dungeons & Dragons (5E) game. Shenanigans ensued and the adventurers seem inclined to stick around, so I drew it out more thoroughly. The ink layer was on 11x17 paper, then scanned at 300dpi and continued in GIMP 2.10.

If you don't mind, I'd like some feedback on the map before I post it on the completed maps forum. Some feedback on other WIP maps suggests I should add labels or icons to indicate the various areas in the city, which is certainly possible.

Thanks for reading!
@Gerret
prithasford_wip_color_sm.png

[jbgibson]

Feedback 1: Niiiiiiice.
Feedback 2: Do some of the city walls seem implausibly narrow? I had to go looking for trouble to come up with that, and it’s by no means jarring.
Feedback 3: The city is only slightly above river level, yet there’s a dry quarry in the middle? How deep a hole is that supposed to be? If only ten or twenty feet, I’ll buy it. If forty or fifty - without pumps I’m not seeing it :-).
Feedback 4: I bet even the vaguest of faint blobby ground shadows from all those buildings would make it pop even better into 3D.
Fb5: did I say it looks really nice? It does.

[CraftyGepetto]

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated!

2 - probably they are a bit thin in places, could do with some strengthening.
3 - it's higher than it looks, those cliffs are meant to be higher than they probably look, but the hole is only 20 or so feet deep.
4 - agreed, that's something I can rectify, thanks!

1&5 - thanks again!

Feedback 1: Niiiiiiice.
Feedback 2: Do some of the city walls seem implausibly narrow? I had to go looking for trouble to come up with that, and it’s by no means jarring.
Feedback 3: The city is only slightly above river level, yet there’s a dry quarry in the middle? How deep a hole is that supposed to be? If only ten or twenty feet, I’ll buy it. If forty or fifty - without pumps I’m not seeing it :-).
Feedback 4: I bet even the vaguest of faint blobby ground shadows from all those buildings would make it pop even better into 3D.
Fb5: did I say it looks really nice? It does.

[XCali]

3 - it's higher than it looks, those cliffs are meant to be higher than they probably look, but the hole is only 20 or so feet deep.

If you have your MAIN direction of light figured out, then throw a big shadow on the side the cliff faces away from the sun(Be bold with the shadow, a hardly visible shadow won't work as well). And add a darker shadow closer to the bottom edge of it to make it pop even more(this is not a broad shadow. It is a core shadow. Basically a shadow that is somewhere that is the least amount of light getting there.)
Highlight on the cliff FACING the sun can really unite the effect of a cliff standing above the river.

Hope this helps

[CraftyGepetto]

A funny thing happened on the way to GIMP...

I started the map with the general idea that the sun was coming out of the southwest corner (lower left) of the map, so many of the roofs have the north/east edge lined in more shadow. Most of the building shadows were added after the inked version was scanned in, and I think maybe some bolder shadows will help as you noted - I think I was a little nervous to shade over that much of the city, but I'm going to give it a whirl! It'll be on its own layer, so not hard to undo.

Thanks again for the continued feedback, I really appreciate it.

If you have your MAIN direction of light figured out, then throw a big shadow on the side the cliff faces away from the sun(Be bold with the shadow, a hardly visible shadow won't work as well). And add a darker shadow closer to the bottom edge of it to make it pop even more(this is not a broad shadow. It is a core shadow. Basically a shadow that is somewhere that is the least amount of light getting there.)
Highlight on the cliff FACING the sun can really unite the effect of a cliff standing above the river.

Hope this helps

[XCali]

Wonderful! This is turning out great.
I agree with Jb on adding just a bit of casting shadows to the houses would make it even better.

Some slight sweeps of texture might also do the outside beyond the walls some good. (Optional though )

Regardless of that, this is a really well done map already.

[CraftyGepetto]

Thanks for the feedback - agreed on the shadows, and thanks for the ideas about the surrounding texture, I can do that.

Wonderful! This is turning out great.
I agree with Jb on adding just a bit of casting shadows to the houses would make it even better.

Some slight sweeps of texture might also do the outside beyond the walls some good. (Optional though )

Regardless of that, this is a really well done map already.

[ThomasR]

Nice to finally see this one arrive at the Guild, with you Gerret I really love the highlights effect you added in the quarry like part in the upper left quadrant.

[CraftyGepetto]

Thanks for the kind words!

Nice to finally see this one arrive at the Guild, with you Gerret I really love the highlights effect you added in the quarry like part in the upper left quadrant.

[roadkilraven]

Very well thought out design. I come from a graphic design background, so it may seem trivial, but the placement of the text on the map (the city name/website) is creating a tangeant with the edge of the river. I'd find a way to move them to a more balanced location on the map, or put them in a box. Tangeants tend to draw the idea, and I don't think that was your intent.