JUNE ENTRY: Randolph

[terrainmonkey]

okay, so here's a current project based on the latest mapping challenge. i've gone with a basic "Harn" style map here, as most of the ones i've done in the past are artistic affairs that are too big on memory, use a lot of textures and bitmaps, and gaussian blur shadows. i wanted to stay away from all that and go with a "less is more" kind of style. this map is the base for now, and i'm going to convert it for a DM map as well.

anyway, let me know what you think, if there's anything you would do different, etc. also, the scale might not be working for me. the original map that i'm working on has the buildings a lot smaller than mine, so i might have to go back and change a few things. anyways, critique away!

[Robbie]

Looks good! I know what ya mean about scale though. I'm having that same problem with my entry in the hometown map (yes I'm goign to enter too...since voting isn't biased) I would think it doesn't have to be identical to the original location, just be based on it.

As for thsi thread though...I'm going to move it to the mapping challenges forum...I wanna keep all challenge WIPs in that forum. Judging will of course be based on the final image you post in this thread.

Feel free to edit your post and change the subject so it doesn't say Randolph anymore...and replace it with what you actually wanna title it. Sorry for the confusion.

[terrainmonkey]

okay, here's an update to the map, changed the scale, and the trees. this is about 90% finished right now. i have to add the numbered locations to a key and maybe make up a few details about each place. these locations are based on the actual businesses and homes in the town as they are now, but with a fantasy feel.

first off, Cape Charles as it is today.
http://maps.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTEx...7.271577&mag=3

this is the fantasy version, maybe a DM map of the area.

i think another version will be on parchment effect and be for the players.

anyway, if anyone has any suggestions let me know. i tried to make it a kind of map anyone could do if they had basic understanding of scale, basic color fills, etc. simple is sometimes the best and has its own artistic quality. i tend to keep things at thier base level as some of the more artistic maps are nice to look at but uneccessarily "pretty".

[ravells]

I'm sorry, terrainmonkey, but I find this style of map dreadful. It says nothing about the author, the colours are (for me) way too loud and its featureless. I think you can do much better than this..put yourself into your mapping style, say something individual!

I don't mean this to be hurtful, but 'tis my view. Express your talent individually.

Ravs

[pyrandon]

I'm sorry, terrainmonkey, but I find this style of map dreadful. It says nothing about the author, the colours are (for me) way too loud and its featureless. I think you can do much better than this..put yourself into your mapping style, say something individual!

I don't mean this to be hurtful, but 'tis my view. Express your talent individually.

Hmm...while I must admit I do not care for this style of mapping either (although you have captured the style very well), there is some wonderful nostalgia piggybacking on it: looking at this reminds me of the "good old days" when I was playing D&D back in the early 80s in my parents' basement until morning light with a 2-Liter of Coke & a jumbo bag of Frito-Lay Funyuns. Ahhhhh...... (Cue Barbara Streisand's "Memmmmories...") In that sense I do like this map. Thanks!

[ravells]

I've just re-read my last post (which was put up late at night and in haste) and am shocked at how harsh it appears. My apologies, Terrainmonkey if it came accross that way.

No criticism of your abilities was intended, it was the particular style of mapping which I don't get on with, I suppose because it's been done to death. As an example of that style though, it's pretty good!

Campaign cartographer 2 is a great mapping tool but unless you make your own symbols, maps can lose their individuality.

Ravs

[terrainmonkey]

hey, here's a version i'm working on. since some people think i need to do better on my maps and make them prettier.....

this is done using corel. i wish i had photoshop but oh well one uses what he can...

[Robbie]

THERE ya go! Just to back up ravells a little bit without making him sound like an ass...I can understand where he's coming from. This is a challenge, not a mapmaking assignment. As a challenge its designed to push your limits within a short time frame...to make you expand your boundaries and learn something about mapping just by working within some constraints. Although he may have come off a bit harsh...by your latest upload I can already tell you're well on the way to taking his criticism in a positive light and turning your map around completely and making it something good.

Looking good! Throw a texture on those piers/boardwalks/docks...thats the main thing I noticed.

[RobA]

i wish i had photoshop but oh well one uses what he can...

There's always The Gimp......


-Rob A>

[pyrandon]

Okay, somebody's stepping up to the plate!!!! I love a true contender!

This is much better. My advice now is to texture--slightly, only slightly--the water & land. They are too pastel & plain right now, even for a "Harn-style" map, I think. The town itself looks much, much better; I'd like to see that happen with the land itself too.

Keep it going, keep it going! Woo hoo!