Febuary mapping Challenge The Diabolical Lock

I'm really bad at work in progress threads as I just power though making maps. But I've took time to snapshot along my way and thought I would take a break and show you guys what I'm up to.

This dungeons going to have an interesting gimmick, that I've even figured out how to work in Campaign Cartographer as an FCW so it will be able to be implemented in the atlas. I'm not going to give a away the gimmick until I'm finished but you are free to guess.

Laying down my guides:
1.JPG 417.5K
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Comments

  • RelytRelyt Traveler
    Finished the walls:
    2.JPG 420.8K
  • RelytRelyt Traveler
    Rooms and traps set up:
    7.JPG 310.2K
  • RelytRelyt Traveler
    Next I'm going to work on lighting and additional details, I hope to finish within the next couple days, What hasn't been shown is the sketching out of the map on graph paper first and the trap explanations.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    If you want to keep certain effects as a surprise till the end you can switch them off individually on the sheets. That way, you can have the effects turned on, but not give the game away.

    (and we can see where the walls are, hopefully :P )

    Looks interesting, but I can't really see it without any shadows :)
  • RelytRelyt Traveler
    I’ll post another shot closer up with effects after I finish with the lights.
  • RelytRelyt Traveler
    All right, I have a couple more things to add and such (whenever I render a map I always notice more things to do, or something goes a bit screwy). But here it is looking much better and almost done. But a big part of this map will be post render and writing up everything to go with it.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    Wonderful!

    Very maze-like. Looks like a cool place to explore.

    Thank you for sharing :)
  • I think i know the gimmick and its cool.
    Shall i take a guess and reveal what i think?

    And an excellent map!
  • Nice!! I really like the lighting
  • RelytRelyt Traveler
    Thanks!
    LoopySue, I don’t know if this map would be fun or tediously frustrating to play through (my fun was in designing and making the map). I need to get some people to subject to a run through it.
    Grimmric, of course, I’m sure you know! I’m excited I figured out how to get it to work within CC3+ and not just after rendering/printing it
    People seem to compliment my lighting (which is core to my style), it’s pretty simple with CC3+, most of you have the Tome, the instructions are in there, just use orange instead of yellow (looks much better) and strike a balance of light and shadows.
  • 6 days later
  • RelytRelyt Traveler
    Alright, I know February has just begun but I think I have my final render. I hope to post the FCW, after some revision and spellchecking of text, later today. I will have instructions in the FCW next to the map and in the map notes along with a PDF.

    I also changed the name as it was just something cheesy I literally thought of as I was posting it.

    The new name is The Diabolical Lock as the map reminds me of those old combination locks and it is obviously designed for locking people out... Or perhaps something in...
    DLlo.jpg 790.5K
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 81 images Cartographer
    Looking great. Did you set it up with hotspot macros so you can just rotate the sections with a click?
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    Macro's to rotate thing in an FCW by clicking them? Is that even possible?

    That's a beautiful map, Reylt. I'm hoping to see more of your work soon :)
  • RelytRelyt Traveler
    edited February 2019
    I did not, and I thought I was being clever... that would be pretty awesome to set up.

    I have each ring on a layer, and they start off frozen and can be unfrozen and rotated individually

    I have not played with macros yet and February has just started, we will see if I can fit it into the schedule. It's just like Monsen to always push us to the next level.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    Layers, or sheets?

    I'm now highly curious. It never occurred to me to create a moving map! LOL!
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 81 images Cartographer
    edited February 2019
    Attached is a small proof of concept for that one (Note that you need to move your mouse a pixel or two between each click on the arrows, or it won't register as activating the hotspot.). This is set up to rotate lights along a wall.


    Here is the macro I used. It rotates the layer named ROTATE by 45 degrees, centered on the origin (0,0) (Which for this map is located at the center of the room)
    SELSAVE SELBYL ROTATE ROTATE;45;0,0 SELREST REDRAW
    Posted By: LoopysueLayers, or sheets?
    Layers are best for grouping things, especially since it won't affect ordering in the map, and you can do selections by layer.
    Posted By: RelytIt's just like Monsen to always push us to the next level.
    I just love when I discover a nice place for a macro, like this one.
    x.FCW 197.8K
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    Oh... my.... goodness!

    Wow, Remy!

    That's just amazing :D
  • I note a popup saying the map is made with 3.91. Will this gem be in the next update? (please say yes - just strongarm Ralf) 3:)
  • RelytRelyt Traveler
    edited February 2019
    Edit: I fixed a couple things

    Alright, thank you for doing the heavy lifting for me Monsen.

    I don't usually do things like this because my focus is getting the map on the table (usually virtual). But i figured in the spirit of the challenge I should focus on how the map functions within CC. Oh and my FCWs are never this clean, I normally have a mess of sheets and things scattered all over layers, but I cleaned house for you guy ;P

    I will still need to do at least one more revision to the map notes for spelling and little updates but since Monsen has already put in the work I figured I should get the working map out to you guys.

    An interesting note, when the hotspot is rotated, it becomes unusable until it rotates back to it's original place, I worked around this by drawing hotspots at each point of rotation, so there is actually 4 hotspots stacked on each lever, but functions seamlessly.

    Here it is:
  • Works like a charm (once I loaded the macro). SO impressive
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    Stupendous work, Reylt :D

    Quenten - I think the PF team usually work one update ahead of us. They're the guinea pigs that get to find out the hard way if anything got accidentally broken before its published :P
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 81 images Cartographer
    edited February 2019
    Posted By: QuentenI note a popup saying the map is made with 3.91. Will this gem be in the next update?
    There is nothing here requiring the next update, you could do this back in CC2 if you wished (Well, the rotation and stuff, obviously we didn't have effects and lights then). It only complain about the version because I was working in a development version at the time, and CC3+ always sticks the current version number into the map.

    Posted By: RelytAn interesting note, when the hotspot is rotated, it becomes unusable until it rotates back to it's original place
    Yea, hotspots don't really work with rotation. I guess for a limited amount of hotspots like you needed making four was an acceptable workaround.

    I recommend you set this map to load with effects on, you can do this from the Display Speed Settings image.
    You can also ensure that the light indicators starts hidden when you open the map by editing the OnOpenMacro and appending a line with LIGHTHIDE at the bottom of that one (you can see I did this in the example map I posted)
    You'll also want to tame the explanatory text on the side a little bit, as on many zoom levels it extends outside the map border. Perhaps just use a few more lines.

    You can also prevent your numbers from rotating by setting the Angle Fix text property on them. That way, they will still follow around the circle, but the text itself will always be the right way. For this to look good, the insertion point should be 'Mid Center' (looks like you already did this) and the text should be reasonably centered in the room, since with this option it will basically "rotate" around this point relative to the room.
  • RelytRelyt Traveler
    Looks like I got my homework.
    Thanks! I will make sure to get that all polished up before the end of the challenge.
  • unfortunately... all I see is a bunch of red x's. I will have to wait until I get the rest of the profantasy products. But I NEVER REALIZED you could make an interactive map like that! that is SO COOL!
  • RelytRelyt Traveler
    edited February 2019
    I’m sorry, I use the SS4: Dungeons of Schley addon. Perhaps if I find some time I can switch it out for the stock assets. The floor is Jon Roberts Dungeon which is a free annual (I like it because the tiles are large enough to become the grid).
  • RelytRelyt Traveler
    edited February 2019
    Alright, I have done the changes.
    I redid and exploded the explanation text so that it should work on any zoom. The numbers don't rotate when exploded so I just did an angle fix and positioned them a bit better. The effects are on and the light symbols are off on load. I fixed the dungeon run instruction, or if one doesn't want a bunch of traps, just hide all the symbol sheets except SYMBOLS TORCHES.
    I still have it in Dungeons of Schley though.
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 81 images Cartographer
    Nice. I really like this map (and it was a perfect candidate for some interactivity).

    I don't know if you've read my blog post on interactive maps, but I really envision the fun on moving through this map the same way I set it up in my example map, being able to only see the immediate area around your character while truing to gifure out this puzzle :)
  • RelytRelyt Traveler
    I did read that and played through the example. Thanks for the shoutout. And thank you for your help on refining it.

    That would be pretty awesome to set up but I don’t think I’m up to the task of making it fully interactive as I have other projects to tend to and I would really have to learn the macros. You; however, have my full blessing in doing so if you wish. If you put in that work you can use the map however you want (that offer goes to anyone willing to put in the work).

    Now you got me thinking about working to make it fully interactive...
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