Aug/Sep Lite Entry - Well of the Golden Maiden

[Coyotemax]

Works perfectly with multiply. I slapped it over one of my parchments just to see what would happen..

[Steel General]

That's pretty durn cool lookin'!

[Greason Wolfe]

Funny thing is, I realized that (the multiply blending mode) last night at work, and promptly slapped myself in the forehead for being so dense. Think it was a case of being awake way too long, and being too focused on other things. Go figure.

But thanks for the recommendation, both Ascension and CM. Now it's off to plot some rivers, plant some trees and grass, maybe do a little flooding. It's so much fun being God.

GW

[Greason Wolfe]

So it's been a whacky few days for me at work, eating up lots of my free time, but finally managed to get back to work on this. Spent a bit of time this evening experimenting with textures. Think I about have the forests down. Will have to "enlarge" the trees a little bit, then outline things to make them stand out a bit better, but I'm feeling pretty good about things. Grass, I think, is gonna be a bit tougher, but I've got a couple ideas.

One other thing I think I'm gonna have to do is set up some shading masks to better define the higher slopes. Still having a minor problem in those areas where slopes should be hidden by ridge lines. If I add a little manual shading, that should solve the problem.

So here's a test render of the forest texture laid over some simple white parchment.

GW

### Latest WIP ###

[Coyotemax]

i like the progress.

[Greason Wolfe]

Blah, this is turning into such a bear of a project, not, however, because of the map. Too many problems at work are dragging me away from being able to work on it, but, if I'm lucky, I should be able to finish it up later today and, if I'm lucky again, get the finalized version posted this evening before the cut-off time (fingers crossed).

Finally got my forests looking "right" and managed (again, thanks to wilbur) to drop in the main structures so that they actually looked like structures. Running a test render now just to make sure everything looks the way it is supposed to, then I'll start the detailed render. I did change the perspective a bit and zoomed in on the primary area of the map. I'll have to add in the final touches before posting (namely the GOLD theme) though it isn't going to be as intricate as I had first hoped. A bummer, yes, but at least it looks as though I'll actually finish this map!!!!

GW

[Coyotemax]

YAY!

I was getting worried about you, hadn't heard from you in some time..

[Greason Wolfe]

Yeah, I was getting worried about me too.

Unfortunately, as "Second in Command," I get the unenviable task of being the "mean" boss, and over these last couple of weeks, I've had to be exceptionally mean. While it isn't a task I particularly enjoy, I am (thanks to several years in the military) exceptionally good at it. The true downside is, however, that letting someone go means somebody else (namely me) has to cover those hours. It's gonna be a good paycheck this time round, but I'd rather it be from a raise than several extra hours of work.

So anyways, I've got a render running, probably another hour or so to go since it is a fairly large render. Once it's done, I'll post it, then go back and see if I can settle out the embellishments for a finalized product. Gotta go digging for a bit though as I lost several "frames" that I used to use with PSP. If I'm lucky, I'll find them again and be able to slap everything together before the deadline.

GW

[Greason Wolfe]

Alas, it seems there is some terracing that I'm not going to have time to get rid of. That being the case, I'm not sure what else I am going to try to accomplish with this map. Probably a bit of labeling and some "gold" embellishments. More than likely, however, I won't be able to finish them before the deadline. In general terms, however, the map is done. I would have liked better results with both the forested areas and that pesky terracing. Perhaps I'll continue to work with this map even after the challenge is over with just to see if I can correct those issues.

Oddly enough, as I've worked on this, I've tried some colorized versions of the map that had the mountains appearing very "goldish" in color. Perhaps I should have called this "Mountains of Gold" and pursued that route instead of pursuing the "hand-drawn" look. Go figure.

GW

### Latest WIP ###

[Steel General]

We can always change the title of the the thread if you'd like, just let us know.