June/July Entry: The Tomb of King Eravyr

[Alecthar]

Alright, I started my entry into this month's contest by putting together my details as little hand-drawn things. The "calligraphy" (still working on competency in that arena) is all mine as well. I've got an idea about what I'm going to do with the map of the tomb itself, but I'm having some trouble with the execution.

I might resize and rearrange things as I go ahead, as I still plan to add a scrying vessel (a large bowl with enchantments, fill with water, cast spell, boom window out into the world and all that) to the "artefacts" that are shown in more detail.

And I just realized I neglected to add the finishing touches to the parchment itself. I'm so good at this mapping thing.

[ravells]

Looking great so far, Alecthar! Good luck in the comp! I really like the idea behind this one and hope we have a big take up.

[Alecthar]

Thanks, Ravs, I'm hoping to carry the hand-drawn look throughout the map, though I'm struggling a bit on how to execute that with the map itself. I'll get it, I'm sure.

Fixed the parchment.

[Alecthar]

Okay, a few changes. I fiddled a bit with size and alignment for various objects, changed around a few things. This is almost certainly going to be my complete set of objects in detail.

With that said, I think they're all too large. It didn't quite hit me till I finished putting this WIP together, but in the next version, they'll be smaller, to allow more space for the map, as well as open up possibilities for more interesting placement around the map. I feel like, right now, they'd easily overwhelm the map by sheer size alone.

But I'm pretty damn proud of my crystal ball.

[msa]

With that said, I think they're all too large. It didn't quite hit me till I finished putting this WIP together, but in the next version, they'll be smaller, to allow more space for the map, as well as open up possibilities for more interesting placement around the map. I feel like, right now, they'd easily overwhelm the map by sheer size alone.

I was going to comment on this but then I saw you already said it! I agree. But I would go the route of making the map larger. As I do more and more maps, I keep making them bigger and bigger. I feel like it has a significant advantage in terms of the level of control you get. You can vary the thickness of your lines more, its easier to draw, and you can add very fine detail.

I do think those icons are very well done and they will be a real asset to your final version.

[Alecthar]

The problem for me is that I'm currently working on a 3 year old laptop without an actual video card (integrated ftl), so the larger the image, the more unwieldy and difficult it is to work on. I'm thinking I can maybe get away with nearly doubling the size. I'm probably going to do that, actually, because the tiny little altars and statues I'm going to attempt will only get lost in a small map.

[Alecthar]

Alright, I sat down and did some work on this one. I decided on a bigger canvas, as msa suggested, and it does seem to have worked some minor wonders.

The basic outline of the map is pretty much what I have in mind, though the finished product will not, I assure you, be as bare. Similarly, the names are placeholders, just to give you an idea of my intent. The object placement is alright, I think, though, like a great deal else, the lines are placeholders till I decide the right interaction between wall, name, and pointing line. I intend to use the empty space in the bottom right to do a bit more justice to the major finds from each area of the tomb, and some mad, illiterate scrawling in the margins will make the map jive nicely with the background I worked up, explained somewhat in the "letter" that's also attached here.

The map is scaled down to fit the size limit.

### LATEST WIP ###

[philipstephen]

With your latest post, this is starting to look awesome.

I can't wait to see some more details develop on the map.

Phil

[msa]

Very nice. I'm not sure if this is your plan, but you might should hand-draw the map. I think the straight lines really clash against your icons right now (which look great in the new version, btw).

[Alecthar]

Very nice. I'm not sure if this is your plan, but you might should hand-draw the map. I think the straight lines really clash against your icons right now (which look great in the new version, btw).

My plan is to hand-draw the map, using the blueprint there as a kind of guide, given that I'd probably have trouble drawing a reasonably straight line without such a guide.