Annual 1, issue 7 -Modern Caves map. My example after the Live Mapping session
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Here is the typical D&D map of the caves I will convert to a modern map with elevations, once Ralf has done the Live Mapping session. It will be on the Isle of Holy Anio (anagram of Iona) off the Island of Llum (anagram of Mull) in Kentoria. I will also do the stone circle that it lies under, before submitting all 3 maps to Monsen.
Comments
And its location on Holy Anio. This island will also be the site of St Locumbin's Abbey (anagram - sort of - St Columba). Felich's cave is of course after Felix Mendelssohn who wrote the fantastic music of Fingals' Cave/Hebdides Overture. Fingals's cave in the real world is just off Iona and Mull.
Looks great !
My revised cavern map, and parchment map to go with it. Modern map to follow, all to be put into the Atlas.
Here is a combined version. I may even add the parchment map in the story space. Critique please (esp @Wyvern and @Ralf). It is not yet finished, but getting close.
Interesting progress.
The modern cave views maybe need a bit more work, mostly layout points.
The red numbers are very unclear in places on the plan view, and need adjusting or highlighting in some way.
The solid stone area on the plan between areas 1, 2, 3 & 4 needs amending, as it doesn't have the same wall colouring or shading as the solid rock surrounding the cave, so seems to be an unlabelled feature currently, not part of the rock.
The pair of cross-sections is confusing, and perhaps would benefit from labels to indicate what is being shown on each, or perhaps reduce the pair to just one (if so, the more detailed lower drawing).
Both cross-sections need realigning so as not to obscure their depth label scale. It may be worth running lines across each cross-section from the scale to make it easier to tell what the exact depth is in places further from the scale, and also think of adding a proper horizontal scale bar over the whole drawing. The tiny, currently unlabelled, bar is much too small to be useful, I think. Or perhaps remove the scale-bars entirely, and simply state that the grid squares are five feet each.
The lower border of the drawing needs moving down so as to be not touching the base of the lower cross-section drawing.
Also on the lower cross-section, it may be worth masking those parts of the symbols that currently extend through the floor in places.
I will definitely go with deleting the X-section map, moving some of the red symbols and making them bold so they are better seen, adding a mask to the path X-section, and changing the fill in the section mentioned - not sure why that looks different. I will also add horizontal lines. I will also double the size of the scale bar, and state that each square is 5'. And fix the bottom border.
This will give me room for both the parchment map, and a story.
Thanks so much for your response, Wyvern, much appreciated.
Final version (I hope). I have incorporated both styles in the Modern Caves Annual, along with a map from the Parchment Annual, both recently featured by Ralf in his Live Mapping series. Further critique still welcome. Larger version in the Gallery.
Yeah, that's looking a lot better. The fill for that area of "internal" rock still looks "reversed" compared to the rock surrounding the complex though. I'd be inclined to move the cross-section further left, so it's not cutting across the first of the depth labels too.
Typo in the last line of the story text "the," instead of "then", I think.
Here is the above ground are - the ruined stone circle called the Cromlach. I made extensive use of Symbols in area- random, which I never really used before, and I am sold on it.
As ever, critique welcome.
Nice-looking start.
Not sure about the outermost part of the border currently - seems a bit too dark and tiled.
The north pointer and scalebar need some further work to better highlight them.
Are all the standing stones solid down to the ground, or are some "Stonehenge-like" trilithons? If the latter, the shadows will need some work to get the still-lit gaps to work properly.
The 3, 4 & 5 labels aren't clear to me as to what features each connects with currently.
Might be worth trying some variations to break-up the background grass tiling at the moment too.
I hope this meets the comments made @Wyvern . They were all good. I rescaled the bitmaps, which seems to do the job, and resited and rescaled the index. Finally, I added a bit of light on the shadows where the trilithons are. Hope that it works, though I have kept the strips of light fairly thin. I have also reduced the scale of the daisies.
I am doing the write up tonight, and would like to submit this to Monsen tomorrow.
This is looking a lot better to my eye, especially the trilithons.
Not sure about the rather bright Stone of Sacrifice now though, and those colourful small diamond shapes (leaves?) seem very "floaty" to me, as if they're suspended in mid-air somehow. It almost looks as if some are on a higher Sheet than the stones, but I think that may be an illusion because of the dark Tomb Outline that looks like a stronger shadow than any being cast by the surface stones. So I'm seeing that as being a shadow, and the "leaves" aren't being shaded by it, so must be "above" it. Not sure how that might best be resolved, or indeed if it's not just me...
Good points, and I agree. Will fix (somehow)
Here is the final fix. And much thanks to Wyvern for making this a better map.
If the Tomb Entrance (5) is now vertical, it might be worth updating the Tomb map to reflect that, as at present it seems to be via a horizontal access passageway there.
Thanks, I had missed that
The Cromlach is now in the atlas. Thanks for another great map.
Here is the cavern underneath the Cromlach. I had lost the whole FCW, but still has the parchment and DD3 version, and the Bitmap. So after a little while, I have got around to redoing it. When I have done the Map Notes, I will send off to the Atlas, so please comment before then
Still the issue about the vertical entrance to the cavern to address in the redrawn version (my Aug 27 post above).
Thanks, I forgot that.
The final product, I hope.
Now added to the atlas. Thanks Quenten.