Menzheim [an unusual commission]

[J.Edward]

Awesome!! Beside the very high-quality of your maps, I just love the illustrations you often add (man, that shield! ).

I need to draw some new shields... otherwise I won't have any to recycle for other maps.

[Domino44]

This is amazing! The amount of detail that you are able to show is incredible. I really love the way you did the forest and those standing stones look really nice too. I'm glad I could rep this!

[J.Edward]

Thank you Domino.
Did you notice the Henge is also a compass rose?
Maybe it's too subtle...

[Abu Lafia]

Wow, another magnificent (not so unusual! ) city map John! The city-layout and the surroundings are fantastic (can only second Domino, regarding the spectacular stone circle). The only nitpick in my view would be the splitted title. But it isn't diminishing the map at all. As a "dark-eye" player and GM i can only be very thankful to Chris and his decision to commision you (and to you to actually make it a complete city map! ). The cartographic side of this world is really on the rise with you (and ofc Steffen!) doing these wonderful atmospheric maps. It's a real pleasure to see parts of this world "materializing" in such an artful way!

[tainotim]

Well, what can I say, I love it.

So much to love and explore in this map. Your really are turning into the master of top-down city maps. Each one better then the next (except Frosthaven ofc, can't beat that ). The Compass stone-circle really is the creative cherry on top the cake!

To add some creative criticism (as I tend to do, I hope you don't mind ). The only thing I dislike is how the shield is above the map – or even that it is in there at all. In itself it is a stunning design, however, I don't think it adds anything to the work as a whole. It might even have a negative impact as it distracts from the sense of freedom one can feel when exploring a map. Would it have been outside the map, it would probably have felt more "peripheral", and less distracting. Perhaps it's a "less is more" thing, or it might stem from the fact that the shield is so well designed that it as a peripheral object feels more central then it should.

I'm rambling. This is a great map – a amazing piece of art – but, amazing pieces of art tend to bring out the critic in me

Cheers,
Tainotim

[SteffenBrand]

This is brilliant, J.Edward! I love this *__* I mean: EVERYTHING about it! Wonderfull work, I always appreciate the detailed thought you gave on everything in every piece I know of you (I love to do this, too ). I will rep you if I can =)
One little nitpick: Nearly fell for this, too - if there isn't a specific reason, try to avoid putting a building directly on the outer side of a city-wall. It makes this area more weak during a siege, since the opponent may use this to climb the wall. A little nitpick, nothing more.

Edit: Can't rep atm, but I guess it's a good sign. Man, all this good work of yours...
Sometimes I wish I could hang out with some of you just to chat and share thoughs.

[AzurePlanet]

Wonderful!
Another masterpiece from your hat.
I especially like the 3D effect that you give to your map with shadows.

[Deadshade]

I am not a fan of town maps but this one almost converted me.
Great sense of detail at every imaginable level. Impressive.
What impressed me most were the shadows - how did you do it ? By hand or using some vector program ? If it was by hand then it is a really great performance - I checked a few points and it was always correct.

[J.Edward]

Yay, multi-quote to the rescue.

Wow, another magnificent (not so unusual! ) city map John! The city-layout and the surroundings are fantastic (can only second Domino, regarding the spectacular stone circle). The only nitpick in my view would be the splitted title. But it isn't diminishing the map at all. As a "dark-eye" player and GM i can only be very thankful to Chris and his decision to commision you (and to you to actually make it a complete city map! ). The cartographic side of this world is really on the rise with you (and ofc Steffen!) doing these wonderful atmospheric maps. It's a real pleasure to see parts of this world "materializing" in such an artful way!

Thanks Abu. I'd concede that point. It was a graphic design choice. I actually thought about it when I was splitting the word 'Menzheim' and knew it would likely be an issue for some.
I had a few people on DA ask about using it for their Dark Eye campaigns. That's pretty cool. It's fun knowing people are gaming some of these maps.

Well, what can I say, I love it.

So much to love and explore in this map. Your really are turning into the master of top-down city maps. Each one better then the next (except Frosthaven ofc, can't beat that ). The Compass stone-circle really is the creative cherry on top the cake!

To add some creative criticism (as I tend to do, I hope you don't mind ). The only thing I dislike is how the shield is above the map – or even that it is in there at all. In itself it is a stunning design, however, I don't think it adds anything to the work as a whole. It might even have a negative impact as it distracts from the sense of freedom one can feel when exploring a map. Would it have been outside the map, it would probably have felt more "peripheral", and less distracting. Perhaps it's a "less is more" thing, or it might stem from the fact that the shield is so well designed that it as a peripheral object feels more central then it should.

I'm rambling. This is a great map – a amazing piece of art – but, amazing pieces of art tend to bring out the critic in me

Cheers,
Tainotim

Thank you T. Yes, I can accept what you're saying too. I knew I wanted to put in a shield but I'll fully admit that laziness and a desire to get this finished led me to recycle an older shield [and other items] and it isn't truly what the shield I planned would have looked like. I still like it though. I did notice it's slightly off center from the title text though - I'll have to fix that.
Maybe I'll see about reducing it a bit and see if that plays it down some.

This is brilliant, J.Edward! I love this *__* I mean: EVERYTHING about it! Wonderfull work, I always appreciate the detailed thought you gave on everything in every piece I know of you (I love to do this, too ). I will rep you if I can =)
One little nitpick: Nearly fell for this, too - if there isn't a specific reason, try to avoid putting a building directly on the outer side of a city-wall. It makes this area more weak during a siege, since the opponent may use this to climb the wall. A little nitpick, nothing more.

Edit: Can't rep atm, but I guess it's a good sign. Man, all this good work of yours...
Sometimes I wish I could hang out with some of you just to chat and share thoughts.

Thank you Steffen. I hear you - I wish there was some virtual bar we could all hang out in and chat. That would be very cool.
I'd love to sit and talk with you about world building, mapping and graphic design.

Regarding the buildings outside the wall - I will concede that Chris did bring up that point when I sketched it and in the version I sent him those buildings were not present.
Perhaps if I was playing Dark Eye and knew more about the situations in the game it would change things for me. I had someone on DA say something similar.
I'll say this - if the city is in a state of war or is frequently attacked then I can see the point. But a successful thriving city that is growing will have buildings outside the walls and from what I've seen in many historical reconstructions the city often pushes past it's walls and does build near the walls... often it takes a while before they build new outer walls.
I think it also depends on what those walls are defending the city from - outside attackers, wolves, rampaging were-rabbits....

Wonderful!
Another masterpiece from your hat.
I especially like the 3D effect that you give to your map with shadows.

Thanks Azure. That part takes a large amount of time to produce but is one of the most satisfying parts.
I should show a shot of the city without the shadow - it's like night and day.

I am not a fan of town maps but this one almost converted me.
Great sense of detail at every imaginable level. Impressive.
What impressed me most were the shadows - how did you do it ? By hand or using some vector program ? If it was by hand then it is a really great performance - I checked a few points and it was always correct.

Thanks Deadshade. Glad to hear I almost made a fan of you. [Haha]
All the shadows are hand drawn in photoshop. I start by making a lightray that I move around when doing shadows to make sure that it is as accurate as I can make it.
There are some small areas that may be inaccurate but largely it should be right. It does take a long time to do though. Makes doing big cities very time consuming.

I'm going to do a few progress shots to put up so people can see the progression.

[J.Edward]

This will really show the power of shadows and shading...
Behold the power of the dark side... or, um, well, the lack of power without the dark side maybe.
Menzheim with no shadows...
JS Menzheim - no shading [L].jpg
It's pretty dramatic. Now with shadows.
JS Menzheim [final-L] by sirinkman.jpg
So doing shadows makes a HUGE difference.