I'd say fewer slightly reduced, between fewer and without
Part One of a free map for VTT and print I'm working on. An ostensibly ordinary temple, dedicated for example to Helm or other lawful guardian deities. But as you enter it, you sense there's something odd to it...
Preview shown at 50%. The complete map will consist of 3 levels. This is the first.
For those of you who use VTT or have some experience with it: do you prefer your maps with shading, or without???
Full shadows:
Evil Temple Upper Level VTT.jpg
Fewer shadows:
Evil Temple Upper Level VTT - fewer shadows.jpg
No shadows:
Evil Temple Upper Level VTT - no shadows.jpg
I'd say fewer slightly reduced, between fewer and without
I think there are a few inconsistencies in the way in which different objects are shaded - the shading inside the actual objects designed to make them look 3D. Take for example the statue at the top end of the temple, which has relatively dark inner shading, and the plants in the pots either side of the statue, which don't really seem to have much inner shading at all.
Some of these objects I recognise from the days when I used to use the CSUAC collection, so I know that some have inbuilt shading that is really difficult to remove, whereas others have virtually none. This is because they were drawn by hundreds of different artists with just as many different personal styles, so its no great surprise that although they are all excellent graphics in their own right, they don't necessarily match with each other.
In my own drawings I remember that I found it easier to add inner shading to the lighter objects (like the plants in the pots) to make them as 'heavy' as the darker objects in that particular drawing (like the statue).
If the inner shading between the objects in the map is brought close enough to matched as to make no difference, then the map will look good whether you have it dark or light, and you could offer all three versions for different tastes.
Last edited by Mouse; 04-21-2017 at 06:49 AM.
Nice map Wired!! I like the middle one (Fewer), but if you wanted to print them, the no shadows version will print better.
My Battlemaps Gallery http://www.cartographersguild.com/al...p?albumid=3407
Thanks everybody. The final version is somewhere halfway between the fewer and no shadow versions. Someone actually did a test on a tabletop simulator and it worked fine.
18077400_10212552766758332_6043576541141747330_o.jpg
That does look good
Have you got a photo showing it without any players on it? I've never seen what a map really looks like on of those tabletop simulators.
No worries, Wired
I was just curious, that's all