WIP: Menii, Capital of the Isle of Purple Towns

jmabbott

Hi All,

Here are a couple of pics of where I'm at with this. I'm using the Fantasy Cities style. The 1st shows my current progress, the 2nd my work with the original bitmap. Still quite a bit to do.

From what I can see, I think the original cartographer's scale is off...His scale bar shows 1 km which would make the buildings particularly large...(IMO)

I wasted a bit of time trying to use the cliff/rock bitmap fill from CA108 Battlemaps for the cliffs but couldn't get it looking good, so opted for just a light brown poly with darker, fractal lines which I think is a far better method and more in keeping with style.

Wyvern

Looking interesting, and I don't think you can really say the time spent working on the cliffs was wasted, as until you try you can never be certain about such things.

Not sure what the date of the original map may have been, but I know some of the older hand-drawn map styles could be a little "flexible" as regards scaling. From the bitmap though, I suspect the "Buildings" may have really been intended as "Built-Up Areas", so not necessarily all representing individual structures, but something closer to a modern city block, perhaps. The wall thicknesses and gates would certainly suggest that, as also the piers and ships. To my eye, the Buildings have more the appearance of something like the Watabou cities, which again don't show individual properties.

jmabbott

@Wyvern The original map is from, Sea Kings of the Purple Towns published in 1992 by Chaosium, a supplement for Stormbringer.

I think you’re observations are correct, particularly about the buildings, I’ll take that on board.

jmabbott

Hi Folks,

I think this is as good as this one's going to get.

DaltonSpence

For me the "Spokes" should be "Sectors" (because of their generally wedge like shape) with the "Spokes" being the major roads that divide them. But that's just me; I'm sure there must be a historical reason reason behind your names. Also I'd put the lighthouse (10) at the end of the breakwater pier with the watchtower (9) having its own light (perhaps colored to differentiate it) so that ships could navigate at night and wouldn't wreck themselves on the breakwater.

jmabbott

https://forum.profantasy.com/discussion/comment/105970#Comment_105970

Hi Dalton,

Re the names, these are what they are in the source book, Sea Kings of the Purple Towns by Chaosium. As for your comments regarding the lighthouse and watchtower I had considered doing exactly as you suggest but decided to stick with 'updating' rather than 'fixing' the original map. Thanks for the comments and feedback!