WIP - Rowanhold Village - My first map

Hello all! Been lurking around the forums since GenCon this year when I finally bought the software (having recently gotten back into RPGs after a 20 year hiatus.) Would love to hear some feedback on my first attempt.

In my game I've placed this village in the very north west of Western Mirkwood, a days south of the Forest Path & Gate and 2 days north east of Beorn's house. Rowanhold is a fortified farmstead, inside a simple palisade. There are no more than a score of inhabitants in total.

I'm mostly done with it except for a few things:
- I've not put much effort into the title yet
- I want to add a numbered index of what the buildings are
- I'm not sure I'm happy with the textures.com fill of the bulk forest area - but I couldn't come up with something less photo-y that I liked.

Thanks!
Curt

Comments

  • I like it, it‘s pretty cool. Great job! It looks super and it invites to roll dices.
  • Hi Curt, very nice looking first map. I have a question, which may or may not be a problem, the northeast and southeast forest paths come up to the stockade but have no gates that I can see. Should there be gates, or do people walk around to the gate on the southwest? If they walk around, should there be a path next to the stockade from the northwest around to the southwest gate?
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    Brilliant first map. I see you have already mastered aligned fills with the fields ;)

    Very well done :)
  • What fill did you use for your great fields? What a great map, though I do agree with pvernon's point. I actually like the way you did the forest, including the fill.
  • Yeah the forest fill is great. which one is it?
  • clithgowclithgow Traveler
    edited September 2018
    Posted By: pvernonHi Curt, very nice looking first map. I have a question, which may or may not be a problem, the northeast and southeast forest paths come up to the stockade but have no gates that I can see. Should there be gates, or do people walk around to the gate on the southwest? If they walk around, should there be a path next to the stockade from the northwest around to the southwest gate?
    When I built it I was thinking the paths existed first, and the stockade was built later with only the main gate for better security. You're right, I should add a path for some exterior circulation. Thanks!
  • Posted By: QuentenWhat fill did you use for your great fields? What a great map, though I do agree with pvernon's point. I actually like the way you did the forest, including the fill.
    The field fill is from Textures.com - Farmland0009. Rather than using it as a fill style I applied it as a Texture Overblend sheet effect (as well as a Edge Fade, Inner.)
  • Posted By: LoopysueBrilliant first map. I see you have already mastered aligned fills with the fields ;)

    Very well done :)
    Thanks! I'm not sure I'd say mastered, I had to struggle with that alot. Wound up using a separate sheet effect for each rotation - changing the rotation in the Texture Overblend settings. I assume there probably is a more efficient way to do it - thoughts?
  • Posted By: JensenYeah the forest fill is great. which one is it?
    Thanks! From textures.com Natureforests0037. Applied by a Texture Overblend sheet effect rather than through a fill style.
  • Thanks for the compliments and encouragement everyone! I'll post again after some tweaks.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    Posted By: clithgow
    Posted By: LoopysueBrilliant first map. I see you have already mastered aligned fills with the fields ;)

    Very well done :)
    Thanks! I'm not sure I'd say mastered, I had to struggle with that alot. Wound up using a separate sheet effect for each rotation - changing the rotation in the Texture Overblend settings. I assume there probably is a more efficient way to do it - thoughts?
    I don't think there is if you are also using a Texture Overblend as well as aligning the fills. I don't tend to use TO because it asks too much of my very poor system - its a hungry sheet effect if you prefer to work with the effects switched on.

    Maybe the only way to avoid having to use more than one sheet for those fields is to avoid using a TO as well as aligning the fills?

    And yes - I would say you have mastered it, because its not something you usually see in a mapper's maps until several months down the line. It doesn't seem to be one of those things that people pick up all that readily :)
  • clithgowclithgow Traveler
    edited September 2018
    Posted By: Loopysue
    Maybe the only way to avoid having to use more than one sheet for those fields is to avoid using a TO as well as aligning the fills?
    Thanks Loopysue! Can you tell me about aligning the fills? I'm not sure what you mean besides just the concept of making them match the shape of the field. I couldn't find a method besides the rotation setting in the TO.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    Ah.

    There you go, you see - I didn't realise that you weren't using aligned fills ;)

    If you switch off the TO effect on one of those sheets, and then use the change properties button to change the fill of the polygon to the actual imported bitmap fill of the fields it will look either perfectly horizontal, or perfectly vertical - whichever way up the fill is.

    Then right click the draw polygon tool and pick Shaded Polygon (angle by edge) and click the test field in a side that you would prefer to be the new 'bottom' edge of the fill.

    This will turn the fill around within that one polygon, but it will also shade it as if the polygon has become a roof with an angled pitch (a slope).

    Type EDITSHADING on your keyboard, and you will see that the prompt is asking you for the entity to edit. Click the test field again and a dialog pops up. In that dialogue check the box that's called something like 'Shade only copy', and click OK

    Sorry! Can't check the exact wording of that just now - I'm off to an interview in 5 minutes...
  • Posted By: Loopysue...called something like 'Shade only copy', and click OK

    Sorry! Can't check the exact wording of that just now - I'm off to an interview in 5 minutes...
    That was exactly it, thanks! And the angle by edge bit worked great. Hope the interview went well!
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    That's good. Memory not quite as bad as I thought it was ;)

    And the interview was one of those where they just didn't realise how old I was before I walked through the door. You can tell by the way the smiles vanish so quick you'd think a cloud just passed over the sun.

    Not to worry. I don't particularly want to work for a bunch of people who are so extremely shallow that they would judge a wrinkly like that before she even opens her mouth. The government says I still have a good 14 years of working life left in me yet!
  • clithgowclithgow Traveler
    edited September 2018
    I guess I'll call it done for now...

    Tried adding some perimeter circulation between the gate and the two forest paths...but couldn't make it look good based on how narrow the path already was and how high my edge fade is. Figured it wasn't that important and added a few gates to make it make more sense.

    Changed the fills over from TOs to aligned fills. Makes the map a bit snappier during editing. Takes some getting used to seeing the fill with the effects turned off.

    I think I like the border not quite sure

    Now I have to learn some output techniques before I give it to my players as a hand out.

    Thanks again for all the input!
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    edited September 2018
    That's a great little map :)

    When you render the map for your players you can adjust the settings (resolution, size etc) by clicking the options button once you have selected the bitmap output. The best type to use is either the Rectangular section PNG, or Rectangular section JPEG.

    Using either of those renders will require you to define two diagonally opposite corners to define the rectangle before the output starts. I usually either set the grid and snap to make sure I can get the corners of the map spot on, or type the coordinates of the corners in.
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