Commission available for surreal overworld map

[njerpe]

Hello!

I'm the author of a fantasy CRPG in beta titled Legerdemain, available for free from my website at http://roguelikefiction.com. It is written in Java so all major platforms are supported. Feel free to give it a spin!

To promote this game I am looking to produce a hand-drawn, black and white, 11x17 printed map of the game's (immense) overworld. The overworld consists of twenty or so distinct areas: frozen isles, haunted forests, swamps, holy labyrinths, and the like. I have .png files that the game has generated that can give a feel for each of these areas. I also have some hand-drawn notes and sketches indicating how these locations interlock, where the towns and villages are nestled, etc. The resultant overworld map will have all these areas blending together, of course, but knowing a bit about each one might guide your hand (and stoke your interest in the game!)

If any folks out there are interested you can contact me via these forums, or you can respond to my original call at:

http://roguelikefiction.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=248

I am willing to pay $100 for this work. I plan to be attending DragonCon this fall as an exhibitor and will be able to get literally thousands of eyes on it.

If you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask.

Cheers!
Nathan D. Jerpe

[töff]

Is this a competition? Will you take submissions and pay the $100 to your fave?

[njerpe]

Well, I figure there are two ways to describe the map I want. The first is a high-level concept sketch, which I will provide below.

The second is a more detailed specification, with names, places, inhabitants, etc. This I would rather send only to the selected candidate, since it will contain tons of spoilers that I'd rather not publicize.

From the first I was hoping to solicit applicants who could point me to sample work they've done. This work should capture the spirit that I am groping for. From these samples I could then select a candidate to send the detailed spec.

If I can find more than one standout from the sample work, then yes, I'd be willing to send out the detailed spec to each standout, and solicit maps from each of them to determine a winner.

I hope this answers your question?

In the meantime, here is a high-level sketch. I encourage you also to visit my website and play the game or check out screenshots to get a better feel.

-11x17 or so, suitable for paper printing, folding so it can be affixed to an 8.5x5.5 trade paperback
-hand-drawn, black and white, ink, etc.
-bird's eye rendering of a world, or most of a world, or several parts of a world
-one main continent plus a couple mini-continents/islands/archipelagoes to the south
-the words fantasy, surreal and kaleidoscopic come to mind
-the game world is called (The Kingdom of) Phenomedom, although nobody really remembers whether they have a king or not
-there are two moons. One is tidally-locked and the other is not. The one that is not is large and horrible.
-the capital of Phenomedom is a city called Divinity. It is surrounded by an enormous labyrinth.
-there are vortexes, whirlpools, and singularities in this world
-in the clouds to the north lies an ancient observatory
-there are badgers, squirrels, daemons, and fat creatures that love porridge
-there are scarred alchemists and legions of killer wasps
-there's a beautiful meadow and a sunken city
-there are toruses, cylinders, and tesseracts
-there are drinking songs

You can send messages to legerdemain at bellsouth dot net.

Thanks!
Nathan

http://roguelikefiction.com

[loydb]

BTW, I'm hoping the people who asked about making a living at cartography full time are looking at this thread. It's pretty typical in terms of compensation vs. amount of work (e.g., below minimum wage).

[njerpe]

Well, how many hours of work do you think this is? What do you consider a fair price for this kind of project?

Bear in mind this is just me, my laptop, and a shoestring budget. Based on the number of hours I've spent on this, my own rate is far more dismal than what I'm offering.

Also, if you could point me to one of the threads that discusses cartography for a living, I'd like to take a peek.

Thanks!
Nathan

[loydb]

Sorry, that came out as an attack against you and your project, and it wasn't meant to be. Your rate is low for a "pro" gaming company, but is very typical for what you find in the small publisher market. There simply isn't a whole lot of money in it.

I would expect, including background reading, back-and-forth and revisioning, etc., for someone to put in 15-40 hours in a quality "world" map, depending on their speed and their passion for the project.

My bad, turns out the "for a living" discussion was on Profantasy's board, not here (http://forum.profantasy.com/comments...&page=1#Item_8).

loyd

[njerpe]

Ahh, no sweat, you were just being honest. Thanks for the link.

[Badger]

http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=1841
http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=1842
http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=1849
http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=1624

Some of my handdrawn pen and ink ... if something along this style suited you I would be interested

[njerpe]

Hi... just so you guys know DelgonDahntelius has done a great job on this!

[Midgardsormr]

Do we get to see any samples? I was wondering what was keeping Del so busy.