That gave it some good definition and depth.
That gave it some good definition and depth.
My Battlemaps Gallery http://www.cartographersguild.com/al...p?albumid=3407
Thanks Bogie. More work on the stairs (I am starting to absolutely hate this map now - why did I do this?)
amphi overview1.jpg
EDIT: Did some clever jiggery-jiggery using digital photographs of colloseums set of overlay to add texture. I think the stands and surroundings are now as good as I am ever going to get them - certainly the colours and shading are fine. They are not supposed to be absolutely accurate - the idea is to give the sense that the action is taking place inside an amphiteatre after all - and I really need to focus on the water now.
On that subject, I have an idea: rather than water flooding into the amphitheatre, what if the sandy floor was actually a wooden platform supported on massive beams. Someone presses a button and the floor folds away, revealing the flooded underbelly of the arena.
amphi overview1.jpg
EDIT2: fixed some of the errors and brightened up the arena - this is coming together now for me:
### LATEST WIP ###
amphi overview1.jpg
Last edited by Jacktannery; 04-07-2012 at 01:26 PM.
Ok - time for a comparison with the real thing: Rome's Colosseum. As you can see, my version is much more realistic.
Colosseum-www.wonders-world-003_thumb.jpg
I've been using photos of the Colosseum to draw this map (obviously) but I have suddenly realised that the upper area on my map (with the columns) are actually areas of ruined seating, and should not have been visible at all. Oh well - you can't win them all.
Some quick attemps to see if I could easily add a crowd to the amphitheatre. I've just stuck on two images from google images 'crowds' onto the map to see if it could work.
Gladiator crowd1.jpg Gladiator crowd2.jpg
I think the first one is ok; the second one not so good. I'd need to check that it is open for use first, then I could cut and paste and rotate the crowd image to fill the stadium. However, in order to look good I will have to delete parts of each of the crowd segments so that the underlying step seating shows through, but to do this I would need to very carefully delete individual people from each copied image. That would take a LONG time, and I'm not sure it is worth the effort.
EDIT: also experimenting with an elephant (! yay !) and some dead gladiators. These are not by me: the elephant is by Alynnalizza, and the gladiators by totte and ProBono. I'm just trying to get a feeling for the scale.
Gladiator dead1.jpg
Last edited by Jacktannery; 04-08-2012 at 07:01 PM.
I think it's definitely worth the effort. Or maybe just cut'n'paste in smaller sections of crowd. You put work into the steps and seats... They should be seen!My only complaint about the first image's crowd is that it looks like a large number of people are looking up at the sky (i.e., toward the viewer) instead of into the arena.
Yes, I'm colorblind. But my pink fields and orange forests are avant garde!!
Ok, here goes. First attempt at water and the flooded amphitheatre.
### LATEST WIP ###
amphi overview1.jpg
Looking back on my water, it probably looks too bright and pleasant - like that of a wonderful swimming pool. I think I need to desaturate it, darken it, and generally make it look more threatening. I also want to try and suggest that the water surface starts much lower down below the seats, and that it continues beyond the arena edges under the seating tiers. I'm not sure how to do that.
Here is my concept for the change from normal arena to flooded arena:
Untitled.jpg
I got the idea fom looking at photographs of the vast underbelly of the Roman Colloseum. So my next step will be to try and make these beams and show the transformation of the stadium.
New improved water with less saturation and darker hue. Hopefully its a little better.
### LATEST WIP ###
amphi overview1.jpg
And the first WIP of the steel beams that run under and support the arena platform. You can see the shading is off from where I cut and pasted many short beams into a long one - this I will need to fix up somehow (any ideas? smudge won't work here).
amphi overview2.jpg
Transformation.
### LATEST WIP ###
amphi overview1.jpg
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