The shadow at the entrance seems paler and sharper than the glow inside. If those two things were brought closer together in nature it would look even better.
Thanks everyone! Thanks for the suggestion too Sue. The shadow of the doorway is actually part of the symbol (one of the problems with the Dundjini symbols is that many have their own directional shadows) so I didn't pay much attention to it. Your suggestion to adjust the interior glow to match is quite helpful.
DaltonSpence, I'll gladly do a write-up on how I do this. It really is simple, much like my cliffs tutorial but stacked several sheets deep.
I've started playing around with the interior details as well as adding lighting to make it creepier looking. I'm not sure if I like the lights as they are...still a lot of fiddling around with them to do before I'm satisfied.LOL
Very atmospheric but it's a bit dark to make out the contents of the "Barrow" clearly (which presumably should include the remains of the "Black Prince"). Is the skeleton some sort of undead guard monster? Also the entrance is cool but the path to it is a bit iffy; barrows don't (or shouldn't) get a lot of traffic. (I assume the gate itself is tricky to open.) Finally do you really want a grass border to your map?
I think Sue's right; maybe a bit more light is needed inside. The GM needs to see what's happening regardless of the reality!
DaltonSpence commented:Very atmospheric but it's a bit dark to make out the contents of the "Barrow" clearly (which presumably should include theremainsof the "Black Prince"). Is the skeleton some sort of undead guard monster? Also the entrance is cool but the path to it is a bit iffy; barrows don't (orshouldn't) get a lot of traffic.
I can spot at least two skeletons so far, one a quadruped, one a biped (not sure if there may be more at this resolution). Wouldn't wish to claim which one might be the Black Prince though
The worn path's quite reasonable for a royal burial mound, or one which would have been visited regularly in the past, as some were repeatedly in the real world. It's even possible the barrow might be reused for each fresh Black Prince's interment, and cleared of its previous occupant. "Eternal" can suggest such a possibility. Again, actual burial mounds were repeatedly reused in some cases.
I can vaguely see the human skeleton on the stone if I squint but I didn't before. (Thought it was gravel.) A paragraph or two about the game story behind this map would be nice.
Like I said in my post, I just started playing with the lights. Surely you all know me enough by now to know that I change a map a dozen times before calling it done. LOL
As for a story behind it...you'll have to ask Lorelei for that, she's the one who created a map with an area called the Eternal Barrows. I'm just making a map of a barrow for the competition.
Posted By: ShessarAs for a story behind it...you'll have to ask Lorelei for that, she's the one who created a map with an area called the Eternal Barrows. I'm just making a map of a barrow for the competition.
Gee, that implies that more than the Black Prince is interred there. Where is this map? Nice photo of the entrance! Are there any of the interior?
Sue, that image is the Uley long barrow. Of course, the actual barrow is not very high and has to be crawled into on hands and knees. I think that I read that it has had some restoration done on it, though I read about so many different barrows while researching this that I might be mistaken about that.
Speaking of having to crawl into a lot of the long barrows, I would like a brief discussion of form vs function as it concerns maps for gaming.
In my above map I received comments about not being able to make out the details. Part of that is because I was/am still working on placement and brightness of the lights (this is a WIP thread after all). It is also in part because of the size of the symbols in the map which I made to scale while leaving enough space around them for there to be player figures for combat. The extra space around them results in smaller, less visible symbols.
In this map, I've kept the scale but reduced the area around the symbols. It leaves little space for combat but makes the symbols more visible on the screen.
Which is preferred by other DMs? Form, that is, fine details that are visible and easily discerned on a screen, or function, which are maps that are scaled to figure use?
I know that I often print to scale for figure use, so prefer a functional map rather than a visually pleasing one. The above comments make me believe that my viewpoint may be less common.
Posted By: DaltonSpenceGee, that implies that more than theBlack Princeis interred there. Where is this map? Nice photo of the entrance! Are there any of the interior?
Lorelei's original map is posted in the Dice competition sticky at the top of the forum.
I don't usually post links to offsite but here is a you tube video of the interior. Very cool!
I didn't know they had actual rooms inside them for real. I've always thought that because they didn't have doors (the local ones) they were just mounds of earth used to bury important people of the day.
@Quenten - yes, everything is Atlas compatible. Do you have a place in mind for it? I'll happily submit it for inclusion if so. I'll confess to being rather distracted the next few days so won't have time to search for a good place for it. Plus, I'm sure you are much more familiar with Artemisia than I am.
@Monsen - The treasure is there. You just have to fight the black prince for it...errr... I mean you just have to zoom in near the skeletons to see it. The FCW is in the competition thread.
Comments
One suggestion?
The shadow at the entrance seems paler and sharper than the glow inside. If those two things were brought closer together in nature it would look even better.
DaltonSpence, I'll gladly do a write-up on how I do this. It really is simple, much like my cliffs tutorial but stacked several sheets deep.
Shessar - I like the lighting. Maybe just a tad brighter so you can see everything?
The worn path's quite reasonable for a royal burial mound, or one which would have been visited regularly in the past, as some were repeatedly in the real world. It's even possible the barrow might be reused for each fresh Black Prince's interment, and cleared of its previous occupant. "Eternal" can suggest such a possibility. Again, actual burial mounds were repeatedly reused in some cases.
As for a story behind it...you'll have to ask Lorelei for that, she's the one who created a map with an area called the Eternal Barrows. I'm just making a map of a barrow for the competition.
My inspiration for the map and it's entry....
Most of the barrows around here (Dorset) have been damaged too badly to still have entrances.
Speaking of having to crawl into a lot of the long barrows, I would like a brief discussion of form vs function as it concerns maps for gaming.
In my above map I received comments about not being able to make out the details. Part of that is because I was/am still working on placement and brightness of the lights (this is a WIP thread after all). It is also in part because of the size of the symbols in the map which I made to scale while leaving enough space around them for there to be player figures for combat. The extra space around them results in smaller, less visible symbols.
In this map, I've kept the scale but reduced the area around the symbols. It leaves little space for combat but makes the symbols more visible on the screen.
Which is preferred by other DMs? Form, that is, fine details that are visible and easily discerned on a screen, or function, which are maps that are scaled to figure use?
I know that I often print to scale for figure use, so prefer a functional map rather than a visually pleasing one. The above comments make me believe that my viewpoint may be less common.
I don't usually post links to offsite but here is a you tube video of the interior. Very cool!
I didn't know they had actual rooms inside them for real. I've always thought that because they didn't have doors (the local ones) they were just mounds of earth used to bury important people of the day.
@Quenten - yes, everything is Atlas compatible. Do you have a place in mind for it? I'll happily submit it for inclusion if so. I'll confess to being rather distracted the next few days so won't have time to search for a good place for it. Plus, I'm sure you are much more familiar with Artemisia than I am.
@Monsen - The treasure is there. You just have to fight the black prince for it...errr... I mean you just have to zoom in near the skeletons to see it.