The colors look really awesome torstan and I agree that the inset helps. I'm still a little confused by what is what, but it nevertheless is a beautiful map. Best of luck to you and everyone else for the win!
Yes, I realised there was no way I could show how that all fit together without an inset sketch so that was a last minute addition. So it looks like 4 entries and the others are really excellent - GP, Steel General and an unknown UK entry who we should really invite over here. Definitely worth a look. Mine's certainly the least complicated. It'll be interesting to see how we all do (or if they even let my last minute entry through!).
Thanks for the comments everyone. I really wouldn't have got through this without the encouragement. Thanks also to RP - you were dead right about the stairs - they made no sense at all. That was a final change I was very happy with. This was my first attempt at placing the greyscale values first and then laying in the colour after. It seems to be a standard technique in digital art, but I'm not there yet. Definitely some more practice - on easier subjects than a dragon in an icecube - before I'm quite comfortable with it, but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Right, off to the Finished forum and RR thumbnails with this!
The colors look really awesome torstan and I agree that the inset helps. I'm still a little confused by what is what, but it nevertheless is a beautiful map. Best of luck to you and everyone else for the win!
Yes, I agree. It was harder than I thought when your walls aren't solid and you can't really use proper shadows I should have bit the bullet and just gone with less of an attempt at realistic lighting (yes, I know, not a lot of realism in a dragon in an icicle).
This would have been an awesome isometric map - probably needs it for a really good feeling of height.
Edit: Just checked and it's up! It made it in.
Last edited by torstan; 03-02-2009 at 09:13 AM.
Oh yea! Isometric would have really been awesome for this particular map. I just wish I could have offered better advice, but I can totally see the difficulty because I was lost trying to come up with suggestions that would have helped. The inset definitely helped. Maybe not including the distant ground would have helped? I honestly don't have any suggestions, but I think that an iso version would have definitely made it clearer.
Yep, unfortunately the rules of the contest were for a top down hex grid so that was out. Thanks for pointing out the particular issues though. It's definitely better for it.
That's very cool, Torstan! Excellent work! I would rep you but I need to spread it around a bit more before I can do so again.
Cheers,
Tim
Paratime Design Cartography
"Do infants have as much fun in infancy as adults do in adultery?" - Groucho Marx