Argona - my first city map (WIP)

[ravells]

This is just superb. I love the textures and the feel of it. I think it works great without any drop shadows at all. The floating effect is usually a problem but if you make the shadow 100% opaque and use a very small spread in a darker colour of the building colour it can sometimes look good. Your map looks so fabulous I don't think it needs it though as the textures are so well done.

[Jalyha]

Alright, so... glad you had fun!

The shadowy looks a lot better. I think for the light, maybe make an "overlay" (rather, "underlay"?) type layer... dark, almost black, but in a yellow-family, if that makes sense... and I'd do it over the entire underground area, but make it a gradient-ish thing toward the "light" areas... up to a soft, nearly orange-y yellow... like...

Trying to think of something besides distant candlelight that has that color....

Maybe I will find it in my palette >.<

Anyway... any fade to white, I think, is going to make it look too bright for underground... and as Lyrillies mentioned, I think the change is too... abrupt?


Either way, it looks great (better than I could do, lol, even though I'm picking at you/it!)

[Ilanthar]

Thanks a lot Ravells! I'm flattered

By Ravells
I think it works great without any drop shadows at all

You mean like the very first version? I get used to the shadows now, and it's a good tool to spot the higher/lower buildings... so I'll keep it that way.

By Ravells
as the textures are so well done

Funny, I can't have much credit for that since I mostly used the "base textures" of PSP7. Just a matter of settings in a way.

By Jalyha
maybe make an "overlay" (rather, "underlay"?)

The yellowish light more or less present is composed by two overlayers in fact

And you and Lyrillies are absolutely right about the "light coming from the stairs". So, here's a new test which I think works better.

Dokheim test.jpg

[Jalyha]

That's IT!


But yeah, that's what I was thinking of. Maybe it looked whiter cause it was small? D:


Anyway that's exactly what I was thinking of ^.^

And I was trying to find some more stuff to nag at you about and I can't, so..... I'll just.... HERE HAVE A REP..


*runs awayyyyyyyyyyy*

[Ilanthar]

After relaxing my poor ears for a moment...

Thanks to you both, Jalyha and Seredemia! All the contributions here are very supportive and keep me working on it, though it's more long and complex than I expected (even for a first try).

Some lights are still a bit small and white, just because of the shadows and narrow streets. But I can do nothing with that, so very glad you like it!

Now, I just have a mountain of labels to put all over the city!

[ravells]

Ha Ha, sorry I was replying to a much earlier post without noticing that the thread and the design had moved on by a couple of pages!

[Jalyha]

Ha Ha, sorry I was replying to a much earlier post without noticing that the thread and the design had moved on by a couple of pages!

I was so confused...

[Ilanthar]

Hum, I already said I have a ton of labels to put on the map, but also beside it... And I am not sure what is better. As always, I worked hastily into what came first to me by putting as below. But maybe, I should put that on the side... does it looks overloaded?
Argo labels.jpg
I'll have to put a legend, title and emblem too... so I think I'll have to put something on the side anyhow, but I don't know what is the most relevant.
I used the Dominican font which I recently found thanks to the guild Oh, and I added a shadow over some domes and the Adyton.

[Jalyha]

w......ow.

that's a lot of words.


I don't know what's relevant either since I don't understand it, but it doesn't look *bad*.

I get the feeling I'm looking at some government, zoning-board, informational map...

Or a really good tourist map

idk. it doesn't look out of place to me, but then, IDK what it saays so...



Edit: Also, you have the Adyton, which is written "L'Adyton" which to my very english-speaking brain reads "Ladyton". Weird twist...

[seredemia]

I like all the text! But then again, I might be a bit biased since I love maps with lots of text on anyway... I don't think it looks overloaded though. But hhmmm, have you tried putting the text below the map instead?? Unless you plan on putting the legend and other stuff below the map, maybe adding the labels there might be better?