Introducing Kimarnock's Ruhba -- Vandy's first CG Map

[Hoel]

Nice! You really took my sketch and ran with it!
-South of the northern east gate there's a small glitch in the wall where two lines doesn't connect.
-It looks a bit like the north and east wall are below the slope of the ridge, I'd pull it back bit there
-If you use paths and stroke them instead of drawing freehand, the walls will look smoother.
-I like the size of the towers compared to the wall thickness
-A round bastion or barbican is stronger than a square one (they were square on the sketch to separate them from the wall towers)

I don't know much about PSP, but in PS you have something called blending options, with things like drop shadow, bevel and stroke. There's also a few overlays, color, gradient and pattern. I use pattern overlay with a stone texture and another stone texture on a thin stroke to get my walls.

[Redrobes]

In PSP you can flood fill with a pattern. Theres two boxes in the color tool bar one foreground and one background color. On each is a little arrow bottom right which opens up color type. They are No Color, Pattern, Solid and gradient. So choose pattern and pick one from the pattern swatch which includes all windowed images as patterns. So get some stone as an image on the screen and set it as the fill pattern and flood the walls with a nice stone.

[Hoel]

I don't know if you can use layer masks in PSP but if you can, you can make a texture layer and draw the walls in the mask, should be the same effect as redrobes tip, but you can go and change the texture and res without changing the walls.

[Vandy]

PERSONAL REPLIES

Steel General - Thanks for your input on sizing. I appreciate the information.

Redrobes - I really appreciate your explanation concerning sizing. I should have realized you had a great explanation already written. I do appreciate the information.

Okay. I understand much better now about "pattern overlay. I am well versed in PSP's fill and gradient options and should be better able to make the translation over to PhotoShop.

Hoel - I do wish to thank you for taking the time to review my WIP and point out areas of improvement. Thank you for your time and efforts. They are greatly appreciated. I've taken your comments and editied my map accordingly.

Masks are certainly something with which I need to get more familiar.

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WIP UPDATE

Okay. I've taken Hoel's suggestions and have fixed the glitch in the city walls where they didn't meet all the way; I've moved the north and east city walls onto the slope rather than in front of it and have changes some of the bastions to round shapes rather than square. As for the city walls, they will be "straightened" later in the tutorial.

I don't have a copy of my modifications with me today (at work). I'll try and post them tomorrow.


OFF TOPIC
I do apologize for this map taking so long to be completed. With my being on vacation over the holidays, time was at a bit of a premium. Also, we decided to buy a new computer over Christmas (so Christine could have hers back and I could have my own...) and I've been busy getting it set up and all my software reloaded (which is far from being done).

I purchased a Dell Studio XPS system, particulars as follows:
Intel Core i7-920 Processor (8MB L2 Cache, 2.66GHz)
Windows Vista Home Preimium Edition SP1, 64-bit
Dell 24 inch flat panel monitor
DVD-RW drive
DVD drive
8GB Tri-Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz
750GB SATA hard drive at 7200RMP, 3.0Gb/s, 16MB cache
ATI Radeon HD 4850 video card with 512MB
Integrated 7.1 Channel audio
Hauppauge HVR-1250 hybrid TV tuner with remote control
Dell USB multimedia keyboard
Dell premium laser mouse
Dell All-In-One 948 inkjet printer

I gotta say, I'm loving it!

I intend to load GIMP, Inkspace along with PhotoShop CS3 and PaintShop Pro along with any other related map-making software I have so that I can go "full speed ahead" into the map-making world.

Chat with y'all later.

Regards,

Gary

[Steel General]

Oooooh new, shiny 'puter, gotta love new toys!

[Vandy]

Hello, All.

It's high time I post an update on my map and let y'all see how it is shaping up. As I said in my previous post, I've incorporated quite a few of Hoel's suggestions.

After considering Redrobe's suggestions on sizing, I've doubled the size of the map to a working size of 4600 x 3400 pixels. I've chosed a resolution of 150 ppi.

The picture below is the redrawn city walls and change in bastion shape from square to round:

Kilmarnock's Ruhba City Walls (22-JAN-09).jpg

The picture below is with the primary roads added:

Kilmarnock's Ruhba Walls & Main Roads (22-JAN-09).jpg

The picture below is with the secondary roads added:

Kilmarnock's Ruhba Walls & Roads (22-JAN-09).jpg

Finally, the last picture shows the addition of bridges and docks:

Kilmarnock's Ruhba Complete to Date (22-JAN-09).jpg

I'm a little "iffy" about the bridges and docks. Do they look too big / wide? I would imagine a little wood texture when I'm finishing the map would be okay or, at this scale, should I leave them relatively alone and only enhance them with a small bevel / bump / shadow?

I still need to develop the castle proper and place it on the flat mount as well as start adding the city buildings. THEN, I can start shaping and smoothing the city ways, add vegetation and all the necessary items to properly finish off the map.

I will shortly be adding Klimarnock's Ruhba to my Map This! - Cartography Services thread (using a cross post link back to this thread) as this city map will have its counterpart as a regional SimCity 4 map.

As always, your comments, constructive criticisms, thoughts, etc. are actively solicited and thoughtfully considered.

Have a great day!

Regards,

Gary

[Vandy]

Hi, All.

I hope I'm not breaking any rules by double posting?

After I uploaded the above update, I did a bit more work on my map.

I've moved he southeastern bastion from the level plain to on top of the overlooking hill for a better defensive posture.

I've added four more docks:

1) A small open dock outside the south central gate
2) A dock on the northen side of the south central land mass
3) A large dock below the central plateau
4) A dock on the southern side of the north central land mass

Here is a plcture of Kimarnock's Ruhba as I've developed it to date:

Kilmarnock's Ruhba Complete to Date02 (22-JAN-09).jpg

Another question for you concerning the docks. Do you believe I should add small docks to the islands with bastions or leave them as is?

As always, your comments are welcome.

Have a great day.

Regards,

Gary

[Hoel]

I'm not exacly sure abou the scale at this point, but i think the docks look too wide. Thin them down a bit. That goes double for the bridges, they should not be wider than the roads.
Some of the walls look rough too, i'd recommend redrawing them with stroked paths to get the smooth look. Maybe it's not needed when you add some texture thou.

I think a few fishermen and maybe a pilot station out on the islands would be nice, and they would need at least a small dock to get on and off the islands.

Keep up the good work. I'll be checking up on you

[Steel General]

Definitely coming along nicely.

I agree with Hoel regarding the docks and bridges. Of course if there is a good reason to have such wide bridge(s) then leave them alone.

Smaller piers/docs on the outer islands would make sense if they are inhabited.

[Midgardsormr]

Concerning docks on the islands: It depends on the topography of the islands and the sorts of things that you need to move to and from them. If you have catapults in those bastions, and there is insufficient stone available on the island, then you're going to need docks in order to provide the artillery with ammunition.

On the other hand, ballista spears and small supplies could be brought in on smaller boats which could be pulled right up on shore--no need for docks. It's all a matter of whether or not the additional structures are considered worth the investment. If the islands aren't providing any economic benefit, then it's purely a military decision (and subject to the military budget).