March 2015 entry - The Lost Blacklock Mine

[- Max -]

I feel your pain Jax, glad to hear you didn't lost everything ! Anyway, the map is looking great atm!

[Ilanthar]

Very good map! I really like the layout.

[Chick]

Because this is a good trigger to think about it, I'm going to throw in a suggestion about work process.

Any time I am about to make a change that will alter an existing previous layer, I save the .psd file first. Then I save again to a new name (usually just number them consecutively). Then I make the destructive change and save it. I work mostly non-destructively, so if I want to add something to a layer, I add it as a new layer first. Only after I am completely satisfied do I merge the two layers, and I do the save first.

Not only does this rescue you if you make a major mistake and need to go back and correct it later, but it also gives you lots of backup copies of earlier versions, in case you accidently do as Jax did.

I can't tell you the number of times I've gone back to a much earlier version to grab a layer that was subsequently changed, and now I need to redo that layer.

I believe this technique is called something like non-destructive editing, and it means you keep everything before you commit changes.

[Gamerprinter]

Luckily for me, Xara Photo & Graphic Designer has infinite undo. I can open a file that I saved "wrong" 2 days ago, and I can open the file and hit undo until before the save. I can go back to any step, even all the way beginning to the start of a map, even if that was multiple sesssions ago. Xara is very forgiving, that way.

[Meshon]

Ohhhh YEAH! I love this map with the isometric mine, yes indeed. The only thing I'm not sure about is a couple of passages between areas that are covered with the off-white background texture. I have to look close to figure where the doors are. That said, I CAN actually figure out where the doors are; you've represented the passages between areas well.

A couple of proof-reads on your text:
"The Blacklocks dug too deep..."
"Its interaction..." (It's is always a contraction of "it is" and, even though I know it, I still do it on a regular basis. Maybe slightly less regular than I used to, but still...)

This is looking really good. Way to recover from a setback.

cheers,
Meshon

Edit: I forgot, the random tables and the map key confused me a little. Could you use letters for the map so that it doesn't look like random wolves all over?

[Jaxilon]

@Meshon - thanks for the extra points you directed me to. My wife busted me on some of those this evening as well so I'll get them fixed. I have been concentrating so much on how to show the info that I forget to pay attention to my writing. Good thing I have some blocks of time tomorrow or I would be really worried about not finishing.

Also, thank you to all of you who felt my pain as well as you who have shared words of encouragement. I'll burn the candle at both ends to get this done now.... Just not tonight cuz I'm already crashing. LOL

[Jaxilon]

Well, I think I'm done. I have a day to look it over and make sure I haven't misspelled anything. If you happen to see something I missed let me know. I think I remembered everything up to now. It was a chore to fit the text on here so hopefully what I did works. I think it's ready to be sent in so I'll figure that out tomorrow since I'm tired now and might end up deleting everything if I keep poking at stuff.

### Latest WIP ###
Blacklock.jpg

edited to correct burning sheep [I had a burning lamb instead of lamp, haha]

[a.coldyham]

Well I vote this one, even if that's not how it works

[Jaxilon]

@a.coldyham Thanks for the vote of confidence.

[ChickPea]

This is fantastic! I love it. Good luck in the competition.