[WIP] Castle Ravenloft 2D Battle Maps REDUX!

[wthrasherb]

Hey folks! Again, I apologize for the long silence. RL has been busy and I started my Curse of Strahd campaign and I had to focus my free time on prepping the adventure and setting up everything in Roll20. I'm also about to be travelling on a photography road trip for the next week, so I won't be able to get much work done for a while, so I'm about to try to benge work on this map. I know I've got a long way to go, but it WILL be finished! Anyway, on with the update...

I would like some feedback on the torch glows. I'm fine with the torches at the entrance doors. I did those differently. I'm wondering about the interior torches (as shown below). I'm not sure about the glow. I can do the torch without the glow if it is too distracting. I think it looks pretty good, but I'd like a second opinion.

Please comment and critique. All feedback is welcome! Thanks!

Torch_Critique.jpg

[WolfgangSho]

I'm not a massive fan of the torch glows:

Firstly, torches wouldn't produce that yellow of a glow, they'd look yellow themselves but their light wouldn't tint the surrounding area to that extent in my opinion.

Secondly, They seem brighter than the lights outside which doesn't feel like it makes much sense. Each individual torch would appear not to make as much of a difference in an already well lit environment vs being in the darkness of the outside.

Thirdly, they conflict with the lights outside which makes them feel out of place or would make the lights outside seem out of place.

Lastly, they are pretty visually distracting and really pop out. I feel like they'd draw the eye unnecessarily.

[wthrasherb]

Thanks for the feedback WolfgangSho. I agree. I'm not really attached to the torch glows. And now that I think about it, I don't think I'm going to include the torches at all. The file has a TON of layers already. I'll include some room details, but I'm not going to try to include every single detail.

[wthrasherb]

Hey folks! Sorry I've been absent for a while. I assure you I'm still working on these maps, slowly but surely. I have seen some others floating around the internet that are complete, but in my personal opinion, I haven't seen any that are that great. Functional, yes, so go buy them if you need maps now. I'm going to keep working.

So here is a quick progress update... I've taken care of the chapel and most of the dining hall, although I'm going to create my own pipe organ, so I've just got a black box as a place holder for now. I have added arrow slits where they should be, but I still need to touch those up with some masking. I also faded the transition of the floor from flagstones to mosaic in K20, just for artistic effect. There will not be any torches displayed on the map to keep from getting too cluttered.

That's all I have for now... More to come! Stay tuned!

Progress_Update_June06.jpg

EDIT: I just noticed I have to touch up the grid in a few places, so don't worry, that will be taken care of eventually.

[pelinorerevived]

Let me see if I can explain.

If you look at the position of the large staircase that goes all the way from the crypt to the top of the tower (K18 in the original module) as compared to the nearby one that goes from the dungeon upward (K21 in the original), you will notice that on the Larders of Ill Omen (and above) that the smaller staircase's center is in a different relative location to the large one. On the bottom level it is 10' west and 40' south of the larger staircase. On all of the other levels it is 30' west and 10' south.

The long hallway that leads from the brazier room doesn't also line up with the crypt that it comes up to. Here is an image that I hope helps explain it.

Attachment 81404

If you draw the western portion of Map 12 like this then stairwells K21 and K18 are in the right positions all the way up...

Capture.PNG

The problem in the original isometric maps is that the foot of stair K21 is 40' lower than the foot of stair K18. Because the first flight of stair K21 is only drawn 10' high, it appears to be in the wrong position in the map - but if you were to extend it another 30' up then it would actually appear in its correct location behind area 24.

I hope this helps.

[MagniMagnus]

Is there anyone that can print this to very heavy stock and sell for a decent price.?

[sdooweloc]

I found these in my search for some maps and they look amazing. Were they ever finished and if so where could I obtain them? They are just what I have been looking for for my upcoming CoS group.

[wthrasherb]

I found these in my search for some maps and they look amazing. Were they ever finished and if so where could I obtain them? They are just what I have been looking for for my upcoming CoS group.

Sorry buddy, I never finished them. I knew how to use photoshop, but I DIDN'T know what I was doing with every bit of the map. So I was teaching myself a lot as I went and I was slow.

By the time I actually got to playing my CoS game, other people had already finished the maps and made them better.

While I am flattered that anyone would still like my maps after all these years, I run a small business now and a local game group that tries to play as often as possible. I have very little time to work on side projects these days.

Check out these links:

http://www.dmsguild.com/product/1989...Realistic-Maps

http://www.dmsguild.com/product/1859...olour-jpg-maps

Hope that helps! Good luck!

[danteinmix]

Hi wthrasherd I´m just looking for any program or software to make similar maps like yours. As I´ve seen in the forum many of the maps are made with textures in software like gimp or photoshop, but I´ve read about other programs like Dundjinni or Fractal Mapper. Do you use any of these programs or simply you use image and textures to make your scenery? By the way I love your map and the details of the ground, stones of walls and clouds...

[wthrasherb]

Hi wthrasherd I´m just looking for any program or software to make similar maps like yours. As I´ve seen in the forum many of the maps are made with textures in software like gimp or photoshop, but I´ve read about other programs like Dundjinni or Fractal Mapper. Do you use any of these programs or simply you use image and textures to make your scenery? By the way I love your map and the details of the ground, stones of walls and clouds...

Hello, danteinmix!

I use Photoshop and Illustrator to do my artwork. I utilize some "pre-made" elements from various cartography programs such as Campaign Cartographer Annuals, Dunjinni Community, mapTool community. But I've really found that making my own stuff is the best way to go. So I have spent hours creating textures and such just for my maps. When I was creating this Castle Ravenloft map, I was just beginning to try to do as much on my own as possible. It was slow and difficult to find "pre-made" artwork that suited my needs.

Photoshop or a GIMP variant is the way to go. Illustrator or a vector image app (Inkscape maybe?) is useful for making some elements.

To "redraw" a map in a game book, or to do an original map of your own design really needs "freehand" drawing or tracing. What I mean is there are lots of "modular" cartography options on the market, but to use those you really need to create the map first THEN decide what purpose it serves. Some people like to design that way. I like to know what the purpose is first, then draw a map that is appropriate.

Since I first discovered fantasy role-playing games, I have drawn maps and thought up my own worlds and fantastic places. I truly love just to let my pen wander and come up with something and often I'll write something about it and bam... idea for later use! I have only recently (past 7-8 years) have been teaching myself how to do stuff digitally. Maps are also not my focus right now (obviously), but I'm working on balancing out the personal/day job life and some indie publishing. So I hope to be back on the map train soon.

As for what textures and such that I use: some come from cartography apps (as I mentioned above) but I have a photography hobby and take pictures of EVERYTHING. I also have tons of stock images I use for composite work and such. I take this and that and play mad scientist in Photoshop and see what happens. If I find something I really like, I save it for later use (perk of digital work). I'm also pressed for time and can be lazy when it comes to some of the more "boring" parts of the maps, so sometimes I may find a style or look of someone else or some random image and I will imitate it in my own fashion.

I sincerely appreciate your interest and your kind words. Apparently, I should have finished this map... People from all over the web (outside of this site somehow) have hit me up about it and still do (as you have) all these years later. That's AWESOME. Thank you very much. Please feel free to ask any further questions.

Peace be with you.