*** March/April Challenge VOTING - Ink blots ***

[Fury]

March/April 2012 Lite Challenge Entry: Wreck of the ISS Titanic by Fury: What a cool idea. Thank goodness for the inset though because it was a little hard to see the ship in the larger picture until I knew what it was shaped like (not unusual for a crash site I suppose). For me I just felt like the provided shapes were not capitalized on as much as with some of the other entries.

Eh, the concept can only be taken so far

While the 3D perspective differs from the perspective of the ink blot image, it is an exact match because it was loaded as a heightfield map. Look for the smallest ink blot dot and it can be found rendered. Hope no one thinks this was a cut and paste It took 3 hours to render and several tries before that to get it right, not to mention having to create the shaders first.

Got 4 reps for this so far (thanks) which didn't translate into votes but then I'm even losing to a cut and paste

[Bogie]

That's the unfortunate thing about the voting process where everyone gets just 1 vote. You could have been a bunch of people's second choice and still never get a single vote. As far as how much went into making a map I have learned to never make assumptions. For example, my map might just look like a picture to some people, but it was several hours of layering together, and then shading in, lighting effects from about 8 to 10 random texture pictures.

[Jaxilon]

@Fury - Bogie is right that we tend to have blow outs when there is only one vote. That's why we like it when there are a lot of entries, so we get more votes. It could be just one little thing that captures the eye and that piece gets all the votes. It may only be a tiny bit better than the rest but that's all it takes.

Also, just in case, I didn't think your entry was "a cut and paste" and sorry if I gave that impression. By the same token I did not mean to infer Bogie's was either. It takes a certain skill to use layers correctly to pull that off and it is something that has taken me quite a while to get down myself. I think everyone in this community likes hand drawn/painted stuff over cut/paste.

I don't think you are offended or anything but maybe I can explain myself a little better:

What I meant by my comment regarding the shapes on your piece was that I found them harder to see. Now maybe it's my crappy eyesight or the settings on my monitor but the base shapes seemed more of a background to me. My critiques on these things are just little nit picks because that's the only way I can get myself down to one vote. I feel it's only fair if I can share what went on in my mind while determining where I cast my vote because otherwise there is no feedback. I have lost a bunch of these challenges but the only times I really learned anything about how my stuff was coming across was when someone actually explained what pathetic excuse they had for not voting for me

At times I have felt frustrated that the feedback didn't come until after the fact but I understand that sometimes life keeps folks busy and they may only have analyzed things when it was time to vote. I guess late feedback is still better than none, eh?

One of the special things about your picture is that I feel it's the only real science fiction entry in the lot.

I expect you will get a lot more rep in the days to come and as the challenge voting ends. I sure hope to see more of your work in future and that goes for all of you.

[Joshua]

I agree on the tough choices... But <i>Ocean's End</i> invoked a sense of, "How on Earth..." Only in a very good way. It's something I'd love to see but would be somewhat terrified to, simultaneously. It defies being, but the beauty of it brings it right back home. I suppose I love epic, dangerous, but lovely things too much to not vote for it.

Sorry for not finishing mine. I haven't touched a map in a while. I started a new job (thank goodness!) so I've been really busy, and then I decided to spend free time on different arts. Painting, mostly. Coming back to learning cartography soon, though.

[Jaxilon]

Hey if you are up for it take a picture so we can see what you have been painting. I know this is a Cartographer's guild but we do from time to time like to see the other things our members can do.

[Bogie]

Congratulations Octopod, great map!

[Lukc]

Congratulations Octopod and well done!

[TheBigBlueFrog]

Congrats, Octopod. I was on vacation when the voting first ended.

Thanks, Jaxilon, for your comments.

[Jaxilon]

Congratulations to Octopod on his excellent win for this challenge. He is the new owner of a shiny silver compass. Wear it with pride!

At least he is if I did the pinning ceremony correctly

[Troedel]

Congrats! Nice job!