I think this is it, unless someone has suggestions. Those are local equivalents of the Greenland shark cruising up this river, looking for food. Two ruined keeps, look ancient, but they aren't.
Not sure how the Frost grass on the left is on top of the cliffs, and under the cliffs on the lower right. The sheets match for all 4. I'll attach the fcw so maybe someone out there can see why they are different.
Both these maps could probably benefit from using smooth polys rather than straight ones for the various elements, such as the lava and river and rocky patches....
When you fractalise smooth polygons they become straight ones again, so you will have to make them smooth again if you want them to be smooth polygons.
Oh, I'm running a fever and on antibiotics. So if I log in late at night, and, oh, I was going to say 'post something silly'. Then I realized, how would anyone know based on what I've posted in the past ?
Anyway, I will likely, but not guarantee, I'll post late at night. Later.
Before I forget again, I don't see any difference visually for me. Since some of you can see a difference, would you mind explaining it to me ? Thank you very much.
Before I forget again, I don't see any difference visually for me. Since some of you can see a difference, would you mind explaining it to me ? Thank you very much.
Straight polygons have very visually long straight edges and sharp corners. One can increase the fractalization level to reduce the length of the straight lines, but unless you fracatalize a lot, it is very visible.
Smooth polys doesn't have a single straight edge or single corner, it is all curves. This makes a huge difference to the map, because all those straight lines and corners make it look very artificial, while the softer shapes of the smooth poly makes it much more natural.
If you have applied edge fade, it evens out the difference a bit, especially since edge fade will turn those corners into more rounded shapes, and can sometimes be just as good as alternative, but it depends on the map and the settings.
Here are the smoothed ice and lava rivers. I may have to choose a different background for the lava river background, as I don't want to add things to cover up the repetition.
A desolate place, once called Refuge. All gone. There are no tumbleweeds, too hot, they catch fire if they travel through here. But some exist near Cold Keep. The air temperature is slightly cooler here.
Cold keep area
Four abandoned towers, a small village near cold keep. No one lives here anymore. Don't walk near the sand dunes, some claim they will talk to you.
Cold keep
A buildings, some down and scorched trees, a ruined keep. Two skeletons, are they the last defenders ? Dirt and rocks cover most of the stone steps going down into the ground. The wood debris, with the exception of the house, doesn't look burnt.
Cold keep basement
The stairs lead down, and no opening. But there is a secret door. Just push on it, and it will open. Two skeletons on the floor, don't worry. They won't bite.
The large room has 5 broken barrels. And 6 small barrels with nice cool water in them. Likely drawn from the well. Pillars hold up the ceiling.
Five barrels in a room, secret door leads to the Dungeon of Confusion.
Dungeon of Confusion
Easy to get lost, map is incomplete.
Flame keep area
Broken walls, broken buildings. Two tents and a burned out campfire. Where are the adventurers ?
Flame Keep interior
map not done yet.
Flame keep basement storage
stone stairs lead down into the room. pillars hold up the ceiling. Pits for last ditch defense. Three open treasure chests.
The magic blue area, blocks entry. Six tables, a clean water well, and 3 unopened treasure chests.
Flame keep storage
stone steps leading into the room. Ten pillars, 13 barrels, wood debris. A table with what appears to be usefule items; a mace and 4 bottles. Three unopened urns. Rock piles.
Ice Cave
Entrance lower left. Inspection of the cliffs by a character with mining skills like a dwarf will notice they look artificial. Some brush that can live in ice conditions, rock debris, sand areas, a broken bridge across the ice filled river. Water flow is lower right to upper left. Two cold water sharks have just arrived, looking for food.
A broken small keep at the top of the map.
Lava river
Entrance upper right. Looks like a stone bridge crossed the lava flow at one time. Three broken keeps.
I had to change the name of one area under Flame Keep, I kept getting confused, so i fgured other people wold to.
Flame Keep interior
location A ) entrance door, open pit traps both sides. There might be hidden traps.
locations B ) two cracked floor areas, careful, you might breakthrough into the basement.
location C ) reception area, might have been the last meeting of the survivors, southmost chair is a throne.
stairs D) down into Flame Keep basement, which connects to the Dungeon of Confusion
room E ) three open chests, 6 closed barrels, piles of rocks and other debris. There are no holes in the ceiling, maybe it was repaired.
location F ) door into the storage area.
well G ) greenish water, probably bad.
Kitchen and Eating area ? Bits of food on the floor, but no cooking gear.
Quarters ) a few rags that could have been blankets, otherwise no sign of bunks, chairs, etc.
room H ) Last Stand area. 3 piles of skulls, the spikes and portcullis to the left didn't stop the attackers.
location J ) down to the Flame Keep Storage area.
Flame Keep basement ( I changed this name. )
stone stairs lead down into the room from location D. pillars hold up the ceiling. Pits for last ditch defense. Three open treasure chests.
The magic blue area, blocks entry. Six tables, a clean water well, and 3 unopened treasure chests.
door on left connects to the Dungeon of Confusion.
Flame Keep storage
stone steps leading into the room from location J. Ten pillars, 13 barrels, wood debris. A table with what appears to be useful items; a mace and 4 bottles. Three unopened urns. Rock piles.
A closeup of a room with open treasure boxes, and one hidden in a secret room.
Three baskets of apples, a rectangular box of squash, three torches, and a huge skull.
The south table has 2 books, a roll of metalized cloth ( I call it in my game world shimmer sheen. Worth lots of platinum. ) A scroll case, and a possibly magic necklace.
There are a few possibilities with the skull. 1 ) it just has glowing eyes, and does nothing; 2 ) it cackles when the characters walk in, says loudly 'Beware !' then falls apart into dust, 3 ) Warns 'There is no singing and dancing allowed in the Dungeon ! besides the band is on holiday ! then sinks into he floor.
Comments
I think this is it, unless someone has suggestions. Those are local equivalents of the Greenland shark cruising up this river, looking for food. Two ruined keeps, look ancient, but they aren't.
Not sure how the Frost grass on the left is on top of the cliffs, and under the cliffs on the lower right. The sheets match for all 4. I'll attach the fcw so maybe someone out there can see why they are different.
As I have time, I'll work on the lava river room.
Very preliminary lava room. I want to sink the lava flow further down, but I'm kinda tired and that will be later or tomorrow.
Entrance is upper right.
Both these maps could probably benefit from using smooth polys rather than straight ones for the various elements, such as the lava and river and rocky patches....
I did fractalize a bit. When I placed then, I just sort of clicked here and there trying to not be smooth. I'll check it later today.
I used polygon to lay down the lava. The walls here are smooth path with a wide line width.
The rocks in the ice cave are cliff symbols.
Both the ice river and the lava river are now smooth polygons, with fractilization. Added a few rocks in the lava river map.
When you fractalise smooth polygons they become straight ones again, so you will have to make them smooth again if you want them to be smooth polygons.
Or you can click the smooth option on the fractalize popup menu
Other than that, how do they look ?
On my cellphone as I'm tired.
I'm tired and just been to the doctor.
Does it make a difference to the map if I smooth the rivers ?
Oh, I'm running a fever and on antibiotics. So if I log in late at night, and, oh, I was going to say 'post something silly'. Then I realized, how would anyone know based on what I've posted in the past ?
Anyway, I will likely, but not guarantee, I'll post late at night. Later.
Get better soon, Jim. Hope it isn't serious
I'll just say its an internal infection. I do feel a bit better. But it's going to take a week.
I do feel better, I think I'll work on passageway maps, one of each type, for this set.
Some ice and some heat. I'll have to think about it. Visualize it, then start.
Before I forget again, I don't see any difference visually for me. Since some of you can see a difference, would you mind explaining it to me ? Thank you very much.
Oh, and I'm logging out for the day.
Maps so far
The Bleakness area where these are located.
Cold keep area
Cold keep
Cold keep basement
Dungeon of Confusion
Flame keep area
Flame keep basement. I wanted to keep the basement and storage as separate, but I'll join them if requested.
Flame keep storage
Ice river
Lava river
Also please let me know if I missed one, or need to add one. Thanks !
( Yes, I do feel better. )
Before I forget again, I don't see any difference visually for me. Since some of you can see a difference, would you mind explaining it to me ? Thank you very much.
Straight polygons have very visually long straight edges and sharp corners. One can increase the fractalization level to reduce the length of the straight lines, but unless you fracatalize a lot, it is very visible.
Smooth polys doesn't have a single straight edge or single corner, it is all curves. This makes a huge difference to the map, because all those straight lines and corners make it look very artificial, while the softer shapes of the smooth poly makes it much more natural.
If you have applied edge fade, it evens out the difference a bit, especially since edge fade will turn those corners into more rounded shapes, and can sometimes be just as good as alternative, but it depends on the map and the settings.
Okay, thanks.
I'll try to fix this today.
Here are the smoothed ice and lava rivers. I may have to choose a different background for the lava river background, as I don't want to add things to cover up the repetition.
Maps so far with some notes.
The Bleakness area where these are located.
A desolate place, once called Refuge. All gone. There are no tumbleweeds, too hot, they catch fire if they travel through here. But some exist near Cold Keep. The air temperature is slightly cooler here.
Cold keep area
Four abandoned towers, a small village near cold keep. No one lives here anymore. Don't walk near the sand dunes, some claim they will talk to you.
Cold keep
A buildings, some down and scorched trees, a ruined keep. Two skeletons, are they the last defenders ? Dirt and rocks cover most of the stone steps going down into the ground. The wood debris, with the exception of the house, doesn't look burnt.
Cold keep basement
The stairs lead down, and no opening. But there is a secret door. Just push on it, and it will open. Two skeletons on the floor, don't worry. They won't bite.
The large room has 5 broken barrels. And 6 small barrels with nice cool water in them. Likely drawn from the well. Pillars hold up the ceiling.
Five barrels in a room, secret door leads to the Dungeon of Confusion.
Dungeon of Confusion
Easy to get lost, map is incomplete.
Flame keep area
Broken walls, broken buildings. Two tents and a burned out campfire. Where are the adventurers ?
Flame Keep interior
map not done yet.
Flame keep basement storage
stone stairs lead down into the room. pillars hold up the ceiling. Pits for last ditch defense. Three open treasure chests.
The magic blue area, blocks entry. Six tables, a clean water well, and 3 unopened treasure chests.
Flame keep storage
stone steps leading into the room. Ten pillars, 13 barrels, wood debris. A table with what appears to be usefule items; a mace and 4 bottles. Three unopened urns. Rock piles.
Ice Cave
Entrance lower left. Inspection of the cliffs by a character with mining skills like a dwarf will notice they look artificial. Some brush that can live in ice conditions, rock debris, sand areas, a broken bridge across the ice filled river. Water flow is lower right to upper left. Two cold water sharks have just arrived, looking for food.
A broken small keep at the top of the map.
Lava river
Entrance upper right. Looks like a stone bridge crossed the lava flow at one time. Three broken keeps.
Wood and rock debris. No sign of treasure.
That is it for now.
Edit. Fixed some typos.
I was just too tired to.post it, but I think I have all 3 maps of Flame Keep done.
Text for them to. I'll post that when I can.
I think I only have Dungeon of Confusion left to complete.
I had to change the name of one area under Flame Keep, I kept getting confused, so i fgured other people wold to.
Flame Keep interior
location A ) entrance door, open pit traps both sides. There might be hidden traps.
locations B ) two cracked floor areas, careful, you might breakthrough into the basement.
location C ) reception area, might have been the last meeting of the survivors, southmost chair is a throne.
stairs D) down into Flame Keep basement, which connects to the Dungeon of Confusion
room E ) three open chests, 6 closed barrels, piles of rocks and other debris. There are no holes in the ceiling, maybe it was repaired.
location F ) door into the storage area.
well G ) greenish water, probably bad.
Kitchen and Eating area ? Bits of food on the floor, but no cooking gear.
Quarters ) a few rags that could have been blankets, otherwise no sign of bunks, chairs, etc.
room H ) Last Stand area. 3 piles of skulls, the spikes and portcullis to the left didn't stop the attackers.
location J ) down to the Flame Keep Storage area.
Flame Keep basement ( I changed this name. )
stone stairs lead down into the room from location D. pillars hold up the ceiling. Pits for last ditch defense. Three open treasure chests.
The magic blue area, blocks entry. Six tables, a clean water well, and 3 unopened treasure chests.
door on left connects to the Dungeon of Confusion.
Flame Keep storage
stone steps leading into the room from location J. Ten pillars, 13 barrels, wood debris. A table with what appears to be useful items; a mace and 4 bottles. Three unopened urns. Rock piles.
a mixture of symbols.
Ya know. I forgot something and nobody caught it. I don't have a way for characters to get to the Ice Cave nor the Lava River. Two more maps.
We thought it was one of your secret entrances, Jim.
Yeah, me too... :-)
Anyway, here is an update on the Dungeon of Confusion. first, the entire map, then details of various arts.
Two ballistae, two targets and what looks like a dead captive with no wounds.
At the south end. Three water wells of nice clear cold water... not a good idea to believe that. Ruined building, with chairs and fire pits.
Northeast corner. Spiked pits and an open pit with a closed chest.
A closeup of a room with open treasure boxes, and one hidden in a secret room.
Three baskets of apples, a rectangular box of squash, three torches, and a huge skull.
The south table has 2 books, a roll of metalized cloth ( I call it in my game world shimmer sheen. Worth lots of platinum. ) A scroll case, and a possibly magic necklace.
There are a few possibilities with the skull. 1 ) it just has glowing eyes, and does nothing; 2 ) it cackles when the characters walk in, says loudly 'Beware !' then falls apart into dust, 3 ) Warns 'There is no singing and dancing allowed in the Dungeon ! besides the band is on holiday ! then sinks into he floor.
Now in a power outage.
They fixed it. Vehicle hit a power pole about a mile from me.
I think I can finish up this week. If anyone wants me to correct a map, please let me know. Thanks !
Since there are no suggestions, I'll work on finalizing the maps. And I need to make a connection between the two rivers and the rest of these maps.