Nice design. And very nice work with the lighted bevel effect. You used exactly the right edge fade effect.
If you wanted the hills to look less edgy, there would be two options to make them a bit smoother. The first one would be to choose a higher smoothing value on the lighted bevel effect itself. Another option, which i especially use on hills to make their top look rounder, is to add another sheet of the same fill ontop of the lighted bevel sheet (that just covers the area around the peaks) then add a rather strong edge fade inner effect. This way the peak is covered, giving a rounder look but the slopes are still nicely visible. I have used this technique on the Burial Mound on the Vyrn city map, if you wanted to see an example for this.
If you wanted some critisism, I would probably exchange the fill of the road with the one you use for the piers on the Helinesa Map. But that's just my preference, because I never got along with this stone fill.
I had intended to change the road fill - I thought along similar lines to you. As far as the sharp edge goes, it will be the top of a cliff - yet to put in the lines indicating the cliff - something like I did with Ravenscrag Castle - see below. (But a bit more sophisticated)
If you want to do the cliff using the lighted bevel effect, you could change the fill of the hills into a rocky one, then use another sheet with a grass fill to cover up the places you don't want to be rocky. Another possibility is the use of a slightly transparent rocky sheet ontop of the lighted bevel sheet. This method is the one I used on the Vyrn map. It is simpler but it does not preserve the lighted bevel effect as well as the other method would.
Here is an update on the Monastery environs. All buildings placed. Mainly natural features (cliifs, waterfalls, beach, rocks and trees) to fix. Then labelling, and I'm finished yet anothe Community map - isn't it growing quickly!
Looks very nice! Great job, Quenten. I especially like the cathedral building, although I probably would put it on a separate sheet and increase the length of the wall shade a bit. How did you do it?
I noticed that the scale bar seems to be a bit odd compared to the size of the buildings. According to the bar the buildings would be huge.
Thanks Hadrian. The scale bar is going to be changed. I have done more work on the monastery proper, and the terrain. More work on waterfall and coastal areas (rocks, beach etc), and a steeple on the basilica. Still, here is my latest update. I really appreciate the critique - it helps a lot.
Since you use a top down view, I'd probably exchange the trees as well. You don't have to use symbols. A circle fractial drawtool with a green fill (maybe HW Jungle) and some sheet effects could do the job instead of symbols, if you did not find any fitting symbols in the basic CC package. With the cows it is more complicated. Maybe you could just use the cows as an Icon?
Looks good. You might consider reversing the shadows on the vertical (N-S) gray roofs to match the shadows of the other buildings and the towers. Also, maybe consider a road or path to/from the dock?
I agree with Hadrian, the basilica is neat, and the legend is nicely worked in as well.
Sorry, I hadn't seen your post before going to bed. It was already around 4am and I really needed to get at least some sleep.
Yeah, the comment about the trees came a bit late. I did not mention it earlier, because you said you still wanted to work on the trees.
Regarding the cliff: It is very beautiful and well executed. Theres only little room for improvement. One thing that could be added is a bit of shading. Create a new drawing style with a gray solid 30 or 40 fill and put it on a separate sheet. Then use it on the parts that do not face the global sun direction (below monastery and on the right side at the map border). You can also use it to further emphasize the structure of the cliffs if you want. For effects I'd recommend an edge fade,inner (i wouldn't use blur, because it blurs everything beneat it) with maybe some transparency, if the shades appear to be too strong. Also, the texture of the cliff is a bit strong in my opinion. The cliff does look good as it is, but I think it would loom even better, if the texture was more subtle.
I love everything about this EXCEPT the cliff texture. But really, that's a personal preference. I dislike this and the stone texture in this fill set and never use them myself. but again, that's only my own feelings on the fills. Aside from that, i love it. And will use this, for sure within my own campaign - but as i did with the awesome Inn you did, i'll make whatever changes i need to personalize it! Thanks for another great contribution!
The cliff texture is about to be modified, as per Hadrian's suggestions. Hope it will seem better. I actually like the stone fill used - so I have to respectively differ here.
Gosh, so much of this has appeared and been commented upon already, since I last visited only yesterday!
Looking great, and I'm intrigued to see what the cliffs will look like once updated, and with the promised dock path in place.
Comparing it with the Spiros Isle map in the Atlas, I have the impression there might be a few wild goats towards the northern edge of this map (though they may be just a bit too far north).
The denser trees look interesting, as if they've been deliberately planted in rows; no doubt the Notes will say more as to why!
My only real thought for a possible change is the Abattoir seems a little close to the habitations just now. You never want to be downwind of an abattoir, I have to say!
The wind mainly comes from the shore, so generally it is not downwind. And itis not that close - it is about 50 metres (over 150') away from closest habitations. But will move it further north. There are goats in the pens in the SE, and the wild goats are further north. The row of dense trees are apple and pear orchards. All the other changes will be finished by tonight (my time in Australia) and then put on the page for one last perusal. Thanks so much for everyone's contribution - this has become a real community map.
Here is what I hope is the final product. I have added shading to the cliffs and fixed the texture a bit, fixed the direction of the light roofs on the basilica, added a path (and rowboat) to the docks, and finally moved that stinking abattoir further away - phew! Thanks to all for all your suggestions.
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Comments
If you wanted the hills to look less edgy, there would be two options to make them a bit smoother. The first one would be to choose a higher smoothing value on the lighted bevel effect itself. Another option, which i especially use on hills to make their top look rounder, is to add another sheet of the same fill ontop of the lighted bevel sheet (that just covers the area around the peaks) then add a rather strong edge fade inner effect. This way the peak is covered, giving a rounder look but the slopes are still nicely visible. I have used this technique on the Burial Mound on the Vyrn city map, if you wanted to see an example for this.
If you wanted some critisism, I would probably exchange the fill of the road with the one you use for the piers on the Helinesa Map. But that's just my preference, because I never got along with this stone fill.
If you want to do the cliff using the lighted bevel effect, you could change the fill of the hills into a rocky one, then use another sheet with a grass fill to cover up the places you don't want to be rocky. Another possibility is the use of a slightly transparent rocky sheet ontop of the lighted bevel sheet. This method is the one I used on the Vyrn map. It is simpler but it does not preserve the lighted bevel effect as well as the other method would.
I especially like the cathedral building, although I probably would put it on a separate sheet and increase the length of the wall shade a bit. How did you do it?
I noticed that the scale bar seems to be a bit odd compared to the size of the buildings. According to the bar the buildings would be huge.
Since you use a top down view, I'd probably exchange the trees as well. You don't have to use symbols. A circle fractial drawtool with a green fill (maybe HW Jungle) and some sheet effects could do the job instead of symbols, if you did not find any fitting symbols in the basic CC package. With the cows it is more complicated. Maybe you could just use the cows as an Icon?
I agree with Hadrian, the basilica is neat, and the legend is nicely worked in as well.
Cheers,
~Dogtag
Yeah, the comment about the trees came a bit late. I did not mention it earlier, because you said you still wanted to work on the trees.
Regarding the cliff: It is very beautiful and well executed. Theres only little room for improvement. One thing that could be added is a bit of shading. Create a new drawing style with a gray solid 30 or 40 fill and put it on a separate sheet. Then use it on the parts that do not face the global sun direction (below monastery and on the right side at the map border). You can also use it to further emphasize the structure of the cliffs if you want. For effects I'd recommend an edge fade,inner (i wouldn't use blur, because it blurs everything beneat it) with maybe some transparency, if the shades appear to be too strong.
Also, the texture of the cliff is a bit strong in my opinion. The cliff does look good as it is, but I think it would loom even better, if the texture was more subtle.
Anyway, it is a great map.
Looking great, and I'm intrigued to see what the cliffs will look like once updated, and with the promised dock path in place.
Comparing it with the Spiros Isle map in the Atlas, I have the impression there might be a few wild goats towards the northern edge of this map (though they may be just a bit too far north).
The denser trees look interesting, as if they've been deliberately planted in rows; no doubt the Notes will say more as to why!
My only real thought for a possible change is the Abattoir seems a little close to the habitations just now. You never want to be downwind of an abattoir, I have to say!