Vastins Tower Maps

Vastin · April 2016

Hello

After trying one Overlandmap i've started to "draw" an Tower in DD3 with SS4.

It is just the begining

I hope some one could help me with the borderproblem

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5HWvNQJFK_Lajc4SHg5OUZaVm8/view?usp=sharing

Vastin · April 2016

so now the hightest level of the tower

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5HWvNQJFK_LX3g5ZXpyeDc1YTg/view?usp=sharing

Lorelei · April 2016

Its coming along very nicely!! Did you try to bevel the area around the tower for elevation? It seems as if there are all those little "triangles" for lack of a better term (which im sure there is!) in the area....that has happened to me in the past when i used the Bevel effect....im hoping some of the more proficient users will have an answer! Because i couldn't figure that out!
There are sometimes "2" borders on some map templates, you may have to fill in the other....i think? There is an Annual, 2007 i believe, that has instructions on map borders as well as making them decorative....which i havent seemed to figure out yet! Also, search this forum for Map Borders, i think there may be a topic or two.

Keep it up!

Vastin · April 2016

thank you

yes i tried to bevel die "hill" but of these artifacts i can't get rid of ^^

okay i don't have any annual - so I have to search the forum

Shessar · April 2016

The weird triangle artifacts happen when two pixels of the same color are on top of each other and the bevel is applied.
The workaround for this is to copy the beveled sheet to a new sheet that sits between them. Use change properties to make it a solid color that is not contained in the bitmap, like black or purple.

Lorelei · April 2016

oh Thanks Shessar! That's very helpful!

Vastin · April 2016

great works fine!
thank you !!!!!!!!
i have only to add an minmal inner fade.
so the fix sheet black poly don't show ^^

Vastin · April 2016

now i've added an new map

the older maps are updated

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5HWvNQJFK_LUHowVS1yLXZsajg

Dkarr · April 2016

I like the maps. As a suggestion I would look at the shadows being cast and see if you can adjust them a bit so that they all match. For example, the tower is casting a shadow that is almost directly down, but the objects are casting very long shadows. You might want to have several shadow heights, where the Tower would cast the longest shadow, the trees would cast a long shadow but not as long, and objects closer to the ground cast much shorter shadows.

Vastin · April 2016

Thank you.

The problem is the walls cast shadows like in the roof picture - the shadow covers most of the room.
I'll try update the shadow.

Dkarr · April 2016

Ah, the perennial trailing / leading edge shadow casting issue.

There are several ways to address that. I'm including a very simple fcw file to demonstrate how you may work this out.

In the example I'm providing I've placed an L shaped object on a separate sheet and applied the shadow effects to that sheet so it will cast a long shadow on the trailing edge of your tower. In this case I'm placing the objects at a distance so the effect is noticeable. In the case of what you are attempting both of the objects (wall top & L) would be aligned to each other so the shadow is continuous.

The boulder is on the symbols sheet, which is where most symbol would be placed. The symbols sheet already has a shadow effect applied by default so objects placed there will gain a shadow. You might want to adjust that shadow to match the others in opacity, etc. In the case of that boulder the shadow seems give the object the visual of floating so it might need adjustment.

The Tree is placed on a sheet I created called TREES, and I've applied a shadow effect that is longer than the normal one but shorter than the one on the tower top.

The Tower Top or wall is on the WALLS sheet, and has the default shadow effect from that sheet.

The L shaped path is placed on the TOWER SHADOW sheet. This sheet has a long shadow effect applied. The sheet is placed just above (drawn before) the WALLS sheet on the sheet list. In this manner the L shaped object can be aligned with the tower and the shadow remains but the L shaped object would be "hidden" by the wall/tower top.

I hope this helps

OldGuy · April 2016

Dkarr, that is awesome!

That is such an easy technique, yet it yields a beautiful result with a very organic feel.

I've never really bothered with shadows much in the past, but I definitely will start using your technique from now on.

Thank you!

Vastin · April 2016

Dkarr thank you for the explanation

i've updated the maps - only on shadow behaves strange

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5HWvNQJFK_LSUpnZm5oZDFkbnc/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5HWvNQJFK_LX3g5ZXpyeDc1YTg/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5HWvNQJFK_LUHowVS1yLXZsajg/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5HWvNQJFK_Lajc4SHg5OUZaVm8/view?usp=sharing

LadieStorm · April 2016

These are some really nice maps!!! I like what you have so far, for the most part. These remind me of my forest battlemaps

2 things right now, stick out at me.

1- the shadows. Dkarr has already mentioned those, so I will just say I agree with him about the shadows.
2- The bevel. I don't even see a bevel, I see a light ring around your tower. It's possible the bevel would show up better in a png, or printed... but I was going to ask you what the ring was for, until I saw in an earlier post that it was a bevel. If want elevation for your tower, may I suggest you take a look at Shessar's tutorial for making cliffs? It seems to me you could adapt that tutorial to make an elevated area here... just a thought.

Any way, I really like these! And those 2 exceptions... that's just my personal opinion

jslayton · April 2016

One thing to keep in mind about occluders is that they should have an interior (that is, be at least two pixels wide). There are certain cases in which the lighting algorithm can leave gaps if the shadow-casters are only a single pixel wide.

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