January 2015 Challenge: Whitetemple, The Great Capital of the West

[Chick]

The terrain you have is beautiful. Why don't you see if you can get the roads looking like they aren't raised superhighways, and cut this down to a smaller village size, so you can get that much done before the deadline

THW's suggestions are always helpful and right on the mark!! It's great to have so many people around here who can give point on ways to fix what they see is wrong

[TK.]

New roads incoming...

Need moaaarrrr time to fill those goddammit spots...

### Latest WIP ###

Whitetemple finish.jpg

[TK.]

Might be my last one...not sure I can find more time


### Latest WIP ###

Whitetemple finish.jpg

[Wingshaw]

OK, it is an improvement, but, if you have the chance, there are a few things that you should try to change, before the challenge is over.
--as chick mentions, the terrain is quite well done. However, the cliff face that separates the northern and southern parts of the city should be made much more obvious. At the moment, there is only the hint of a hill, and so it makes no sense for the town to be divided like that. Unfortunately, I don't know how you can make the cliff more obvious, since I try not to use software to do terrain these days. I guess just playing with the bevel/emboss settings. It may be worthwhile creating a new layer, applying a much stronger bevel/emboss, and setting it to multiply over your existing terrain layer. In photoshop/GIMP (probably), when in doubt, try something on a new layer.
--there are a number of places where it is rather obvious that you have simply stuck the same building shape down. That large building in the slums area, most notably.
--make sure your roads layer is below your buildings layer/s. There are a places where the road overlaps the building, which is obviously nonsensical.
--make sure your forest layer is under your buildings layer/s. There is at least one place where the forest overlaps the buildings (right of the slums, above the letter 'e' in Whit<E>temple)
--what are those green and brownish blobs? The ones in the top right corner, and all along the left-hand side?
--where are the roads going to and from the town? Make them go all the way off the map.
--add some place labels. It will make a massive difference to the map, and make it look more mappy.
--your buildings are an improvement over your earlier images, but they are also rather dark. Perhaps you can work on that--or not, if you prefer it this way (personally, I rather like the high contrast you have, but it does reduce clarity)
--slums NEVER form a grid layout, as you have them!!! Even with planned cities (speaking of which, what urban planner in their right mind would create a city plan that deliberately includes slums?! That is like an engineer making a machine that purposely has a fatal flaw in it). Slums form spontaneously; if there is a grid layout in the area where they form, then their buildings will almost immediately start to encroach on the roadspace, and fill it up. This is what results in the winding lanes and dead-ends that are so loved by fantasy writers, and that make life truly hard in, say, the slums of Mumbai, or the favelas of Brazil (I think your photograph was a Brazilian favela). Anyway, that is all I will say about layout right now; as I mentioned before, I am happy to offer advice about layout when you do not have the deadline of the challenge hanging over you.

What you guys suggest for buildings in a more fantasy-like city map?

There are a few ways to do buildings in a fantasy city map (with examples):
--bevel/emboss: as I mentioned, not a good method, but relatively easy.
------Hainbianr by mearrin69

--view of roofs: hand-drawn (either on paper or on computer) can look really good.
------Renaissance City by Lingon
------Diyun City by Schley
------also check any of Larb's town maps, and anything Max did in this style

--isometric: this is the most time consuming, and requires some artistic skill, but is also just about guaranteed to look good. It is also more authentic (medieval city maps tended to do it this way), and can be good for hiding mistakes in layout.
------The Bridge District by Dain (probably the best example of this type I have ever seen)
------Val Nevan by Blaidd Drwg
------also, any of tainotim's city/town maps, and, if I say so myself, my own map of Pyrus (in my signature)

--coloured blocks: this is relatively easy, but also looks pretty good. It is, however, slightly more appropriate for a nineteenth century map or later. Anything medieval or Roman-inspired is less likely to be effective.
------Yphirion City by -Max-
------Castran by Zong (a very simple example, that nonetheless can be effective)

I have probably missed some techniques, and I have certainly missed some fantastic cartographers and their work. The above is just meant to give an idea, though.

THW's suggestions are always helpful and right on the mark!!

Thanks chick. 'ppreciate it.

THW