Merelan Observatory - Using the CC3+ Dungeon template
Loopysue
ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
Merelan Observatory is situated on the top of Merelan Island, between the cliffs that drop a thousand feet to the sea, and the wall around the grounds of the Temple of Rusaar, which takes up most of the top of the island. The observatory is Eonat’s home – the place where he was born and grew up as the son of the famous Blucran inventor, Meloa, and the grandson of the Court Astronomer, Domar. The observatory is understandably crammed with stuff from both their professions (which will become evident when I have finished the other three floors).
This is the ground floor.
As you can see I have made use of a great many techniques and styles shown and explained by other users here on this forum – the most obvious of these being my Shessar-style cliffs at the bottom of the map. You can find out how to make some of your own by searching the forum for “Cliff”, and find and read Shessar’s excellent tutorial on the subject.
I have made generous use of CSUAC fills and symbols, but also of a great many Bogie fills and symbols. The symbol sets (both CSUAC and Bogie) are vast and some of them are just jawdroppingly out-of-this-world beautiful. I spent a good two hours just staring at the catalogues when I first downloaded them. All the plants in this image are part of the CSUAC collection, and have all been created by users of this and similar software over the years. The resolution on the CSUAC symbols is just incredible. My vastly reduced images below do not do them any justice.
I’m having a couple of rendering problems just now (nothing to do with the software) but I will also post the other three unfinished floors once I get them rendered, so you can see just how much more work there is to be done on the Observatory project!
This is the ground floor.
As you can see I have made use of a great many techniques and styles shown and explained by other users here on this forum – the most obvious of these being my Shessar-style cliffs at the bottom of the map. You can find out how to make some of your own by searching the forum for “Cliff”, and find and read Shessar’s excellent tutorial on the subject.
I have made generous use of CSUAC fills and symbols, but also of a great many Bogie fills and symbols. The symbol sets (both CSUAC and Bogie) are vast and some of them are just jawdroppingly out-of-this-world beautiful. I spent a good two hours just staring at the catalogues when I first downloaded them. All the plants in this image are part of the CSUAC collection, and have all been created by users of this and similar software over the years. The resolution on the CSUAC symbols is just incredible. My vastly reduced images below do not do them any justice.
I’m having a couple of rendering problems just now (nothing to do with the software) but I will also post the other three unfinished floors once I get them rendered, so you can see just how much more work there is to be done on the Observatory project!
Comments
http://forum.profantasy.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=5869&page=1#Item_1
The walls, in case anyone was wondering, aren't really walls at all. You can't do that in CC3+. What you can do is draw them as filled polygons. Putting the windows and doors in is just a tiny bit tricky - but as you can see - it IS possible...
I have another three very incomplete floors here for everyone (now that I've managed to squish all the pictures small enough). There are some obvious mistakes (like the missing bow windows of the second level not being remembered in the third level, and the very obviously missing roof, which simply isn't there... LOL, but here they are...
The main point of interest with these three is the blur effect. Does it make the ground seem like its getting further and further away?
Just in case anyone missed that Shessar link about six miles of images ago, here it is again: Now if you will excuse me, I have to go and sort out a chimney for the stove in the kitchen, or the inhabitants will quickly suffocate in the smoke!
The following comments are not meant to be criticisms. This map is too fantastic to criticize. These are just suggestions/personal preferences. Take them or ignore them as you wish...
Windows look better with a window sill under them. The wall is done on two sheets. Sills on bottom sheet. Walls above them. Here is an example of what I mean.
I also do not care for the blur on the background to indicate height. It detracts from the beauty and messes with my vision. The world does not get blurry until you go up quite a few stories. Might I suggest using the 10% or 20% transparencies as a mask instead.
Again, these are just suggestions. Tanks for sharing such a beautiful map!
That's just about the nicest way I've ever been criticised... and I do agree. Even though I am severely myopic (chronically short-sighted) the ground never looks as blurry as this before I manage to find my glasses in the morning. I think it may need toning down a little bit.
Thanks for the windowsill tip. I seem to have left the ones I put on the ground floor windows... back on the ground floor! If you look carefully at the third floor image you might be able to spot a couple of them - looking rather blurred... LOL
Thanks Lorelei.
My landscape was looking a bit bland without the vines and the footpaths. The vines are in the CSUAC vegetation collection - right at the bottom of the list. They come in all different colours shapes and sizes, but they sure cover the ground in an interesting way. It might make that red forest you were on about a bit easier.
Your landscaping is just phenomenal! I can't wait to see it all to finished!
This is a bit difficult to explain, since I've just crashed CC3+ three times in a row trying to get a mid-process screen shot of moving a node, but here goes...
This is a close up of the window of the dinning hall. Please note that the window is really quite thick, so its not actually all that important where you put the edge of the floor, just as long as its somewhere in the middle of that thick wedge of window. The second image shows the edge of the floor to show you just how incredibly rough the drawing of the floor really is at this point in the drawing.
I didn't have any drawing tools to use, but that might have given me an unexpected advantage, since I had no choice but to draw the entire structure point by point with the polygon tool, which gives you an appreciation of the way things work at the node level. Any nodes that were out of place, eg, those which failed to fall within the boundary of the window object, I moved to a more suitable position - one node at a time.
I also watched all of Joesweeny88's videos for DD3 before I even started the Observatory, and I picked up a whole lot of ideas from that - adapting them for CC3+ as necessary. It may just be that if you watch them you won't need to attempt a re-translation of the "Sue CC3+" method back to DD3?
Please tell me if I have the wrong end of the stick
Attached is a very simple sample FCW with a custom wall drawing tool. It's an overland CC3+ map 100 mi x 80 mi, where I treated each mile like a foot, instead (the walls are 1 "mile" thick). You can see the results here (I didn't post the actual picture because I don't want to blemish your post with my plain example). The FCW contains two custom tools, Walls, CC3 Only and Floors, CC3 Only and the appropriate sheets with some basic effects. For added help in drawing the walls and floors, I added a custom grid setting of 5 mi, 2 snap, again treating miles as feet.
For anyone reading this who might be unfamiliar or intimidated by the idea of making custom drawing tools, it's really quite easy. Check out p.88 of the CC3+ User Manual (p.70 of the CC3 User Manual) or p.118 of the Tome of Ultimate Mapping for instructions on how to edit or create drawing tools.
Cheers,
~Dogtag
(Loopy faints...)
Thanks Dogtag. I will have a look at it when I recover from the shock. LOL
By the way - if there's anyone else out there who fancies having a go at this with CC3/+ and you don't have DD3, the template to start with is "CC3 Dungeon". There are no native drawing tools in this template, so you will have to follow Dogtag's advice above *)
(DataFolders)\ProFantasy\CC3Plus\Templates\Dungeons\Wizard
I realise now that you sent me that template, but for some reason (I think I was tired), I didn't do anything with it and promptly forgot to remember that I had it there!
Fact is, I LIKE the way you made your walls! I may adopt it for my inn! Hi R adapt it, as I to do! Lol
Maybe I should ask Ralph, Simon or Monsen if they would think about adding it to the list for the next CC3+ update.
Nix für Ungut!
I'm so sorry Remy! I'm so used to seeing you here on the forum as "Monsen".
The really bad thing is that when I do start with DD3, I'm going to have to unlearn all those really slow CC3+ workarounds I taught myself!