Nice start. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.
Amazing to see some Australian flora and fauna that won't kill you stone dead within five seconds....
May 2018 Challenge: The 8th Ancient Wonder
Hi Folks,
In keeping with my Matthew Reilly-esque idea to provide a map drawn in invisible ink to a previously hidden and forgotten wonder of the world, here is my starting point.
This is a just a screenshot at the moment of my base stamps, 2 I'm creating and the others are obviously real stamps (though a tad out of date!).
The wonder will be located in the Echidna Gorge, in the Bungle Bungle Mountain Range of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The stamps themselves are obvious clues to its location but there will be a hidden map as well. What form that will actually take, I haven't decided on yet.
I selected this part of Australia due to it being a vast, remote region having a rugged and unforgiving landscape/environment.
The Kangaroo Paw and the Numbat are the floral and fauna emblems of WA.
Creating the stamps in Ai will probably do the rest in Ps (both CS4).
### Latest WIP ###
May Challenge WIP1.png
Nice start. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.
Amazing to see some Australian flora and fauna that won't kill you stone dead within five seconds....
"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams"
Thanks CP!. Hopefully my plan will work out OK...Originally Posted by ChickPea
LOL. Who said a Numbat won't kill you? I'm sure you'd choke if you tried to swallow one whole! But seriously, not all flora & fauna is venomous and/or carnivorous...just most of itAmazing to see some Australian flora and fauna that won't kill you stone dead within five seconds....Being a Cub Scout leader I'm obviously interested in Bushcraft and the outdoors and from what I've seen on YouTube and the like, what you Northern Hemisphere types (Europeans and Americans) call "survival", we call camping...anything more refined we consider glamping
Hehe they breed 'em tough in the Southern Hemisphere!
"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams"
Not really, but we like everyone to think we are
Hi Folks,
An update.
Here are the stamps "in situ". The receiver has applied a heat treatment to reveal hidden co-ordinates. Note: There are only 3 actual stamps and a postmark, which is a stamp..., so I still meet the 4 stamp requirement (well, in my eyes at least). There is still a little bit of work to do tidying up and integrating to the background cardboard via a displacement map/filter or whatever it's called, drop shadows and the like. So this section is not finished yet. There will also be a letter that provides all the information necessary to "decode" the co-ordinates and of course a map... So with my entry, not only will you get the stamps, you will get a map and a puzzle
### Latest WIP ###
CG_May Challenge.png
Hi Folks,
A bit of an update. This is basically done but I'm having trouble integrating the stamps into the cardboard background. I've tried using "Apply Image" and the displacement filter but they're not achieving the outcome I'm looking for. I also tired to "paint" the creases etc but I'm not happy with it. Any tips?
Oh, by the way, everything you need to decode the co-ordinates of the cave entrance is included in the picture (letter and stamps only). It may be addressed to David but the actual recipient is Jack and he does not have a son...if you'd like to have a crack, you will win my undying admiration and very little else unfortunately
Enjoy.
### Latest WIP ###
CG_May V3.png
Edit: When I submit the final (with a bit of backstory) I'll need to change the resolution - when you click on the image and enlarge it, you'll still need to zoom your screen to be able to read the coded co-ordinates and they're not that clear...
Last edited by damonjynx; 05-15-2018 at 11:24 PM.
Ooh, a puzzle! I look forward to a higher res version so I can zoom in and investigate.
Here it is, hopefully the resolution is good enough. I also re-did the "code" making it larger and easier to see.Ooh, a puzzle! I look forward to a higher res version so I can zoom in and investigate.
Official Entry Text & WIP
My name is Jack West Jnr, codename: Huntsman, formerly a soldier of the Australian SAS, now an archeologist working on my doctorate thesis, Myths: Fact or Fiction, and adventurer. Unknown to but a few, many of the ancient myths and legends are actually true. There are prophecies that are coming to pass that will determine the fate of mankind and the earth for generations to come. These prophecies must be allowed to reach their conclusion or the Earth will be destroyed, however, there are those, the secret powers that pull the strings of governments and corporations, that would use these prophecies for their own gain, ushering in an age of tyranny never before seen in history. I head a team of elite soldiers and academics, under the auspices a conglomerate of smaller nations, whose goal is to ensure the prophecies are fullfilled, whilst thwarting these secret powers and ensuring mankind's free will is retained. One of my mentors, James Morgan, codename: Merlin, recently discovered a lost Ancient Wonder of the World. He sent me the below (I applied a heat treatment to both the letter and stamps, you can see the results) but for all my training, cryptography is something I struggle with and I just can't get the co-ordinates, I need your help!
The first clue is my name is certainly not David. I do not have a son Michael, nor do I know any young person named Michael. The book is just a children's book on Australian Fauna, very nice, though with no secret text or hidden meaning. There is an obvious code on the stamps. The key to deciphering it must be in the letter, but I can't figure it out. The reference to bugs, may obliquely refer to the insects in W.A. but it is actually a euphemism, meaning there are plenty of our competitors and they are playing for keeps - come well armed. Can you help me? The fate of the world is in your hands! No pressure!
### Latest WIP ###
CG_May Challenge_V2.png
Last edited by damonjynx; 05-20-2018 at 08:46 PM.
I'm assuming the code is the handwritten bits on the stamps (-DT.HHVTY, etc.)? I minored in entomology and would be better suited to figuring out actual bugs, not armed competitors, but I shall do my best! If the Timor Sea/Kimberley stamp has importance to the puzzle beyond the hand-written code, would you mind uploading a higher res image of just that stamp? There's a lot of text that's too small to read. (I'm having the same issue with some of my stamps. I really like the presentation/layout I'm using, but it requires losing some detail on the stamps themselves.)
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