How did I only just find this place yesterday?

[Ant]

Hello there, everyone!

My name's Ant, and I am here in hopes of not only becoming inspired, but hopefully to inspire others in some form or another. In the brief amount of time I have come to discover the existence of this place, I see that you all have some serious talent--SERIOUS TALENT! If I can be half as good as many of you, I'll be feeling pretty good.

I have always had a moderate interest in maps and cartography, even as a child, and my love of gaming (mostly RPGs) falls a similar timeline. With the evolution of the gaming industry, mostly in the past ten years or so, and a stronger push to bulk up hardware specs and graphical output, there appears to be less and less of a focus on actual game content. All big name developers seem to care about these days is how their cutscenes look, and could care less about the things that matter--gameplay, story, ability to captivate the player, etc.

Partly in an act of defiance towards this general trend, partly a process of self-exploration, partly a creative outlet, and partly just because I feel like it, I am developing an RPG of my own. My intention, when the project is as complete as I can get it, is for the game to hit each and every note of gaming nostalgia I can pack into it, while staying as true to the story I write and the genre itself. In order to do that, I am to design a world to act as the stage in which my story is set. One key way I will be able to do that is mapping, so I hope to share as much of this process with all of you that you either care to read about, or that I feel comfortable sharing.

I am excited to be a part of this community, and if any of you have managed to read this far into my thread, I commend you.

Happy Mapping to you all, and I hope all of you who are celebrating have a safe and pleasant Thanksgiving!

[DanielHasenbos]

Welcome to the guild Ant! I like the mission you have set for yourself and I can't wait to see what you're working on!

-Dan

[Abu Lafia]

Welcome Ant! I share your view on the tendencies in the gaming industry and i think you found the right place with a bunch of likeminded people Don't hesitate to start a thread to show us the stuff you're working on. There are always many friendly and helpful people around with loads of experience and great ideas.

Btw. i love your "guerilla communication approach" to tag your thread!

[SteffenBrand]

Hey Ant, you are surely welcome here and I hope to see some stuff from you soon! =)
Many come from a similar background as you are, many work for RPGs (me included). Is there any way we can see what you are working on?

I think you'll find enough maps here to navigate your way through this vast site and explore all you need to know and want to see

Best wishes,
Steffen

[Ant]

Wow! Very kind words from you all; I truly appreciate your support, even just in getting myself started. @ Dan, I intend to share any and all content I can in regards to the RPG project I'm working on currently. RPGs are near and dear to my heart, and this project, I hope, will be able to properly express that. I am still in the very early phases of things--I've only really been jamming on it for about the past 4 weeks on and off--but once I work through the initial brainstorming phase and have content I can share, I will be.

@ Abu, your suggestion to start new threads is both logical and practical, and I wholeheartedly agree. Expect those tags to appear all over the place as I continue posting stuff.

@Steffan, it is very reassuring that there are others here who stumbled upon this crown jewel of the internet, and I definitely intend to share what I can.

Thank you all for taking the time to read my post--intros, I know, are often something on the low end of people's reading list, so I appreciate that at least someone is reading mine.

Keep on rockin in the free world!

[Ant]

Instead of posting another intro thread, I felt it appropriate to reply to my original. Plus it was cool to go back and read through my original post and the comments after 1.5 years.

Since posting this thread in November 2016, I have been dealing with a lot of real life stuff, and am hopefully at a point now where I can pick this back up a bit.

I have, for now, put my RPG project (s) on hold, and am instead focusing solely on maps, and primarily as my creative outlet / stress relief.

This has been especially true as of lately, but drawing maps and creating these cool worlds is filling the void so nicely for me. It's one of the few things, along with retro games and death metal, that helps put me at ease. It's like my f@*$!+g fidget spinner!!!!

I may not have a tenth of the talent or experience that many of you have, but my appreciation for map making and the art of cartography is the same among all of us, and I have nothing but respect for all of you.