July / Aug 2016 Lite Challenge: Map a Bandit Hideout

[Bogie]

July / Aug 2016 Lite Challenge: Map a Bandit Hideout

This time the challenge is for you to map a Bandit Hideout. Any kind of Hideout, any genre, any location, any scale. You could do the classic fantasy Bandit Campsite in the forest, or a small cave complex, or a small village they have taken over, or a pirate's cove, or a space pirate's asteroid or a regional map showing locations of Bandit Hideouts on the trade routes or a group of three mountain trolls who have been stealing ponies from dwarves and have a nearby cave.
Use your imagination. Use your skills. Have some fun. Win a pile of Bandit Loot,,, OK, 1 silver compass. Still worth it!

The Challenge will run until the 14th of August (more or less) and then there will be 3 days of voting. Someone is going to win a Shiny Silver Compass.

As usual, title your threads: " July / Aug 2016 Lite Challenge: << your title here >> "

Don't forget to put the hashtag: ### Latest WIP ### in front of all WIP pictures, and especially in front of your final map.
And remember, if you put more than one image on the same post, only one of them gets picked up.

Quick rules reminder: The Lite Challenge is open to anyone who has not already won 3 Silver compasses, 1 Gold Compass, or been selected as a featured Cartographer's Choice Map.
Also, the map has to be started after the first day of the challenge, no reusing older maps even if they were not finished.

[ladiestorm]

Ohh! Now this sounds interesting! I may actually have to work around my Cathoulla City map... I'm intrigued

[7Sided]

Hey, I'm new here (well, I was here before but it was a long time ago) and I'm really excited to jump on this challenge!

[mixerbach]

Do it, 7Sided! You too, ladiestorm!
This makes me number three, I suppose. I've followed the last two or three Lite Challenges and even voted on the last one. I think it's time I hold my breath, close my eyes and jump in head first!

Now if I could just figure out any idea of what to do ...

[ChickPea]

I hope all of you decide to take the plunge and join in. I was a little nervous the first time I took part, but I've found the challenges to be so rewarding and worth all the time I've spent on them. Not only will your skills improve (I guarantee it!) you also get to know people and there's a real sense of community spirit among participants. The challenges are probably my favourite bit of the Guild. Don't focus on whether you're good enough to win - that's not what matters - just focus on having fun and making the best map you can. And you'll surprise yourself with what you achieve too.

I can't say enough good things about taking part, so go for it!

[mixerbach]

Yay! Thanks very much for the encouraging words, ChickPea! I was/am a little nervous about joining the challenge, but that's not a good reason not to do something. Thanks again!

[Bogie]

I agree 100% with what ChickPea said. Join in and have fun. In the past there have been a few people who got upset because they didn't win or didn't get as many votes as they thought they should have. It is unfortunate because they really missed the point of this challenge. Notice, we call it a challenge and not a contest. Even though it is run just like a contest, it really is more about challenging yourself to do better. To improve, to push your limits and to have fun. Of course it is nice to win, we are built that way, but no where else will you see a "contest" where your competitors spend so much time and give such good advice trying to help you do better.
So don't worry about if you are good enough to enter, we all started at the bottom ( with a few notable exceptions ) but we will do our best to lift you up. And mainly, just have fun!

[ladiestorm]

Bogie and ChickPea are right. I've actually taken part in a couple challenges, and they were so much fun! Plus, they pushed me out of my comfort zone, and got me thinking about how to improvise and create things in a way I wouldn't have considered otherwise.

In fact, I would have joined last month's challenge if I hadn't had two commission maps I had to get done! Those are complete, and the ones I have now aren't on a time limit, so I think I can take part in this one!

[7Sided]

Thanks a lot for the encouraging words! I have a couple newbie questions:

• I'm supposed to create my thread under the "Current Lite Mapping Challenge" sub-forum, right?
• I'm supposed to use ### Latest WIP ### inside of my thread for any posts where I'm including updated images of my submission, right?
• Are there any restrictions or guidelines on using royalty free textures?
• I can sell my map after it's done, right?

Thanks!

[ChickPea]

Hey 7Sided! To answer your questions...

1) Yup, you create your thread in the Lite Challenge folder here: https://cartographersguild.com/forumdisplay.php?f=62
2) When you're ready to add an image to your comment, type ### Latest WIP ### then put your image underneath it. We have a thumbnail scraper that will pick up the latest image in each thread but it needs that text to work (you can see the thumbnail scraper link at the top of the main lite challenge folder, but there aren't any images posted yet. For comparison, here's the current regular challenge thumbnails picked up by the scraper).
3) You can use any assets you want in your map, assuming it's all legal and you're not violating anyone else's copyright.
4) You will always own the copyright to your map. You give the Guild permission to repost however for site promotion etc. There's more info on the rules here.