Aldamiir
Alright, this is a city map I am working on for a potential publication. Within the setting, a moon of sorts collided with the planet, leaving behind extremely magnetic rock. With the rise of civilization, the ability to use these rocks in conjunction with water to levitate was discovered and soon small scale flying vessels were introduced. This technology was called Magnatech.
This city is suppose to be the culminating masterpiece of a magnatech architect, and the greatest city of it's kind in the world. For the most part I was told to do what I wanted on this map however a few points were put down.
- The city is currently a City-State and Well protected, but has been fought over and sustained heavy damages in the past.
- At least two Tiers of Floating Sections.
- The city survives off trade, so even though large sections float it needs to be very accessible.
In this case I choose to go with the idea of the city over water, utilizing pipes that run to the river below to feed the magnatech system used to keep it afloat. Below on one side of the river is the original city before the floating sections were constructed and is now a bustling port and the entry point for all trade into the city.
I did several sketch designs, and then went ahead and created this rough design. On it, Red/Blue squares are lift stations(think subways but vertical), Glowing yellow dots are lighthouses for flyers, Big red dotted lines are trade routes. I can't decide how I want to do buildings, or if I just want to color "sections" of the city. I have uploaded the full Map, then each level separately.
Let me know what you think, it's still pretty rough, and would love any feedback that you guys have!
Way cool maps! The idea is novel and the execution is intriguing. I might suggest you put some shadows underneath your floating platforms to draw attention to their height. Since you used shadows to define the hills around the city, it will be consistent. It will be extra good if you make sure to space the shadows out given that the platforms are different heights.
Neat idea.. and a great start.
One suggestion...I think I would change the stroke on the river bank/coast from black to a brown/tan/sandy color.
My Finished Maps | My Challenge Maps | Still poking around occasionally...
Unless otherwise stated by me in the post, all work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
Interesting concept. I'm going to assume that the civ is of a sufficient technology, more inline with sci-fi than fantasy. Taking my cue from the forests it looks like the buildings would be quite small...1 to 5 pixels, but looking at the size of the river I might go as high as 10. With that in mind I'd probably focus more on putting in a bunch of streets and let the buildings grow from that. Overall, I might suggest that the city sections be larger to accommodate larger buildings or leave the buildings off and just say that the river is huge and color sections for various things. Otherwise you could just render up a solid noise layer and have the white pixels be the buildings. Personally I like the lil fort thing the most and the stepped hills are cool too.
If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
-J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)
My Maps ~ My Brushes ~ My Tutorials ~ My Challenge Maps
What a fantastic premise. I'm excited to see what comes of it
Alright, I started working on the buildings for Aldamiir. I have been messing around with brush scattering and lighting effects trying to get something that looks right. There is also green areas on the floating sections that are dedicated parks. I will work on getting the other sections up, but wanted to get some feedback before I got to far
As a side note i played with the water border colors and added some blur effects, let me know what you think about it.
Thanks for the feedback before guys, always love it.
Coastlines/riverbanks definitely look better now, they are not so dark and blend better with the terrain.
My Finished Maps | My Challenge Maps | Still poking around occasionally...
Unless otherwise stated by me in the post, all work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
Alright, I re-did the trees on the floating sections because the felt like they stuck out to much, not a huge difference, just toned down a little. I've also populated the other sections with buildings and more roads.
Let me know what you think! I kinda think I want the buildings to pop a little bit more, so I'm working with my shadowing and colors at the moment.
I really like what you've done with the rough area in the water around the coast, looks great. I like the little outer bevel there as well but for one thing...I can't tell if it's a function of the bevel or if you added a drop shadow there. The land looks a bit like it's floating cuz of the dark shadows. If it's due to the bevel then I'd make both of the colors white instead of black and white. If it's a drop shadow then I'd get rid of that.
If you want your building to pop more then add a drop shadow to them or maybe a low opacity stroke. You could also try darkening up the "ground" that the cites float on so that the gray shapes show up more or lighten the gray more towards white. All in all, it's progressing nicely so keep at it
If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
-J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)
My Maps ~ My Brushes ~ My Tutorials ~ My Challenge Maps
Alright, this map is coming to it's final steps I believe. I have finished adding buildings to all levels and cleaned everything up a bit. I'm still playing with levels to get the right feel, adding some text, and probably adding several important buildings to the design that are different form the rest.
I have uploaded the full map, then split up versions of each level.
Let me know what you think! ^_^
Thanks!
::EDIT:: Oh I also played with the bevel on the water a little. Softening and lowering the height. What do you think?
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