Test map

[Josiah VE]

I whipped this up quickly in the past few days. It's the first I've done like this, with the help of Fantastic Map's tutorial. http://www.fantasticmaps.com/2016/01...a-castle-wall/

Castle Ramparts.jpg

I made the grass by playing around with some brushes, and the paths are just a maple leaf brush. I guess the stairs coming down from the wall would have to be really tall, seeing as there are only five.

Thoughts?

[Chick]

My thought is that you have done a very nice job with a first map! The colors/textures are good, the placement and look of the buildings is great, even the stairs to the top of the wall are good Have some rep ...

[Greg]

As Chick said, it's a really nice first map! Your shadowing is nice along with the linework you've done for the buildings! My only small qualm would be that the stones in the castle wall are absolutely huge. This might meant to be the case but logistically getting stones nearly the size of some of those buildings seems unlikely.

[arsheesh]

First off, well done for a beginner trial map! I'd say you've got a lot of potential here. But allow me to offer some constructive criticism.

• Try darkening your shadows a bit more - right now they are a bit hazy and indistinct;
• Try adding a bit more subtle color variation to your grass (e.g. browns and yellows), and perhaps add patches of hilights and shadows;
• As with the shadows, so too your hilights could be brighter, especially on corners of the stone in direct sunlight;
• Pathways need a bit more work. Adding subtle color variation for things like mud and rocks would help. Likewise adding some subtle light and shadow contours would help.

But great work so far.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[Josiah VE]

Thanks everyone!

I realize that the stones are very giant. At first it was just going to the wall, then I added the grass and then the buildings. It was also a test for buildings, I haven't done a town map with textured buildings before. I had done the buildings on a separate file and decided to mash them together. The paths were also a really quick addition, I didn't really think about them too much. Thanks for the tips! I really want to do a town or castle map now, I've mostly just done world or region maps before. I'll try to remember those tips if I start working on one. Thanks!

[Ilgoth]

I like the linework on the paths though, I'm used to seeing very clean and straight lines with paths but this 'splattery' feel is nice.

[Josiah VE]

I guess I shouldn't have posted this here, in finished maps. I'm not too familiar with forums in general, but now I'm starting to get a feel for this.

P.S. This is not my first, map, this is my first map of this close up of buildings type.

[J.Edward]

Hey Josiah, if you want it moved to Town and City mapping, just let me know and we can move it for you.

[Josiah VE]

Yeah, sure. I think that would be better. Thanks!

[J.Edward]

Okay. I'll move it here in just a minute.

Edit - done.