An Underground Temple
Hi there, this is my first post and I am eager to contribute to the community. I am working on an underground temple at the moment, and I hope to publish it soon.
There is a little bit of a twist: I've made two maps which overlay each other. The project will be published on six panels, so the idea is you can simply flip over any panel to side B to have a new map. I figure, while things like paizo flip mats are really cool, they suffer from, well, only being one map. I am hoping to create a similar project with the added bonus of the maps being reusable and having enough variety to not have the players saying "Oh, no, not this mat again."
With six double-sided panels, there will be 64 variations, so plenty to keep players busy. Right now I only have the basic floor plans and have just started work on creating furniture and decor for each room (which I am finding far more difficult than I anticipated). I obviously haven't added frills like lighting, shadows, and labeling yet, so I'll try to show a more completed version once I get a little more done.
Room plans include: library, sanctuary, crypt, alter, storage room, and maybe quarters for the devout worshipers who once lived there. I plan to make the place look a lot more weathered and dark than it currently looks, add some stairs and changes in elevation, and I'll be taking care to downplay repeating textures which are kind of obvious at the moment.
Anyway, feel free to let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions!
The images are side A, side B, and an example of the mix-and-match.
Last edited by RecklessEnthusiasm; 01-30-2010 at 05:13 AM.
That's pretty sweet looking! What program did you use for this? Dont have much comments other then the repetitive-ness of the rock and the stone tiles (which are great btw). if you use photoshop maybe u can add a cloud filter or something to polish that. Also the shades of the benches are larger then the shades of the walls, which is a bit odd I think. But I really like the look of these. cheers!
That's a really nice concept. I like the way you're going with these. Definitely keeping an eye on this one - and welcome to the Guild!
Hi guys, thanks for replying. I am actually interested in doing a different style of shadows--the ones on the pews are just a mockup to help me decorate in the mean time. I want to do more tangible shadows than just applying photoshop filters--something like DevinNight's awesome post here: http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...f-the-Mad-Monk. If anyone has any links to tutorials for shadows of that style, I'd love to see them (or just tips? I am guessing he just has a layer over top that he manually paints them in on).
Anyways, thanks for the tip on the cloud filter, I fiddled around with that a bit and I like the effect. I'll see how the project goes, but I might go that route.
To answer your question, I am using photoshop--the image is in 300dpi, which is causing some mighty slowdown, as I am just using my laptop! I am by no means a professional artist, and this was the first time I had to use photoshop's 'large document format' for files over two gig!
Library portion
Fiddling with the library portion. Not happy at all with the bookcases at the moment, but I'll keep sharing my progress.
I thought I would share some of my progress.
I am not sure if I like the red arcane symbols on the floor... But I am running low on ideas for how to fill the place up. I think the crypt area turned out well though.
Last edited by RecklessEnthusiasm; 02-06-2010 at 02:04 AM.
Sometimes less is more so don't just be adding things for the sake of adding things. The only thing that I really see is that the symbols look like carpets. I would suggest making them a gray just darker than the floor OR making a stroke line around them that's a gray just darker then the floor - make them subtle. And then add a light colored outer glow to make it look like they are glowing.
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
Thanks for the advice. Here is a closeup of the symbols--I added a gray stroke and a very light outer glow--does this strike you as any better, or did I kinda miss the effect?
Last edited by RecklessEnthusiasm; 02-03-2010 at 10:40 PM.
Well, I wrapped this one up for now. Here are a couple low-rez examples of possible setups for the final product. I added lighting, shadows, and fiddled with a couple other minor things. This was the second map I've ever made, and I had a lot of fun. I am hoping to try my hand at above-ground buildings next! Thanks for your input and advice, everyone. This is a great site for constructive criticism and sharing ideas!
The thing is available at: http://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/...-adventure-map for 12.99. I've also made one of the rooms (printable on an 8.5 x 11 sheet) available as a free PDF download. Anyone is welcome to use it. I'll attach an image of the printed sample map here too.
The Game Crafter is an awesome site, by the way, for creating resources for tabletop gaming. I would totally recommend it, even for just printing maps off on heavy card stock.
Last edited by RecklessEnthusiasm; 02-20-2010 at 03:43 AM.
You've done an awesome job there!
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