Aug/Sept 2016 Lite Mapping Challenge: Devil's Playground(Complete)

LadieStorm · August 2016

I promised Sue that I would enter the Aug/Sep lite mapping challenge at the guild so that she wasn't the only cc3 user taking part. She's pulled out of the challenge, unfortunately, but a promise is a promise, so here is my first rendering for that challenge.

I haven't posted it there, yet, because there is a thread here that I was planning on studying to make this map. But now I can't find it. I remember it's an old thread and Mappy took part in the thread.... but it wasn't one of Mappy's threads. I'm hoping someone can help me find it! It had something to do with making a 3D pit in a 2D rendering, and I remember the different sized ladders to show distance, and the beveling and glow and shadow effects.

Anyway... I'm supposed to map an arena. It can be of any type. This is one of the few maps I'm making that does NOT pertain to my personal Larysia campaign. This one is a particularly nasty arena in Hell, if I can pull it off! So here is what I have so far

LadieStorm · August 2016

okay, that's weird... why is it set up as a download?

Loopysue · August 2016

Err... not sure!

Try again, but smaller perhaps?

LadieStorm · August 2016

I'll try it...

LadieStorm · August 2016

I don't get it... my Alenhold map went through just fine... let me check something.

Vintyri · August 2016

Posted By: LadieStormokay, that's weird... why is it set up as a download?

I don't know, but I prefer it that way. The resolution is better than what would come out in the forum.

However ... I hope you work a bit on the fire or lava or whatever. There is a lot of redundancy in the fill.

LadieStorm · August 2016

I've already noticed that, and yes, I plan to fix that.

CharlesWayneRobinson · August 2016

The problem is the file name. Make it : The Devils Playground2

Loopysue · August 2016

Oh - you mean the apostrophe?

LadieStorm · August 2016

right... it can't have the the apostrophe in the name. Forgot about that. Let's try this one more time

stephan · August 2016

I was curious and tried to look up the thread you described.

I didn't find it but maybe http://forum.profantasy.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=4535 is similar?

Edit: It seems like I was overtaken ... twice.

Loopysue · August 2016

Like buses - we all arrive at the same place at the same time

LadieStorm · August 2016

We've actually found it,. It thanks for trying!

LadieStorm · August 2016

And yes, that was the thread I was looking for.

LadieStorm · August 2016

So I ended up restarting this last night. I'm not sure I have the glow patterns right... I may have to work with those a bit. I realized I needed one 'arena' so I changed things up a bit.

I did notice something strange when I posted this at the guild. the redundancy on my lava rock is different in the rendered map. I set the redundancy really high for this map, and in my fcw it looks normal. Well see if it's any different here.

LadieStorm · August 2016

see, it looks normal there... I wonder why the lava rock pattern changed for the larger rendering?

Loopysue · August 2016

Redundancy increases the further away from the image you are. if you zoom in like here instead of looking at a thumbnail, like you do on CG, then it won't be as noticeable.

Loopysue · August 2016

You might want to take a few percent off that glow - so you can at least see the things underneath it. You'd be surprised how dark even just a 1% glow with a relatively broad fade can be.

Its coincidental, I know, but you are actually using the same technique as the one I've been using for a certain island city I was working on. The difference is in the degree of glow.

LadieStorm · August 2016

You know... I didn't even think about it... but I guess you are correct. I'm trying to produce something similar to Xander's battle tiles. Which just goes to show that this isn't a new concept, we both just adapted it to what we needed

Xander used it for depth, you used it for height, and I'm using it for both !

LadieStorm · August 2016

This is really strange. my fcw doesn't look anything like this! I'm going to try something...

LadieStorm · August 2016

hmmmmmmmmmm... it's rendering different from my fcw. let me try something differently... be back in a bit.

LadieStorm · August 2016

okay, let's see what this looks like

LadieStorm · August 2016

that's looking better. I guess the glow is so intense because it's so big. That may be the difference between a jpeg and a png. That's something I wouldn't have thought of... but it actually make sense, I guess. The glow is almost non existent in my fcw.

Loopysue · August 2016

Have you got the glow set to map units, or percent of view width. If its the latter, then that explains the difference

Loopysue · August 2016

I still think the glow needs to be very much less than it is so that you can see at least a hint of what's being shadowed, or it just looks like a fat black line around everything. Try lowering the percentage (that's the 'strength' box) by about half or even more.

LadieStorm · August 2016

lol... I already did that, to get this! But I'm still playing around with it, I will keep at it, until it's right

LadieStorm · August 2016

I may have discovered the issue. I forgot I actually have two separate black glows on this. An outer glow, and the glow. I was reducing the glow, but I didn't think to reduce the outer glow.... so that's what I've done in this version... let's see what it looks like.

LadieStorm · August 2016

I have a question... I know that the order of sheets is important in how a map is rendered in cc3+, but what about the order of effects stacked on a sheet? I'm noticing that my lower levels kind of have a shininess to it... but my top level doesn't. They all have a bevel on them... but the bevel on the top layer is listed last. On the two bottom levels it's listed first. Is there a difference as to the order of the effects listed?

Loopysue · August 2016

Oh yes. The effects are carried out in order - the same way the sheets are drawn in order, so if you have a glow and a shadow effect on the same sheet you need the glow first, or it goes right around the outside of the shadow. You can get some weird effects with different combinations done in different orders.

Loopysue · August 2016

And that last rendering looks a LOT better! LOL

LadieStorm · September 2016

In this version, I'm starting to set up my actual 'arena', an area of rocky terrain full of hiding spots and ambush areas. This is a very simple map... in fact, it's not far from completion. I'm trying the less is more approach again, to see where it goes.

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Aug/Sept 2016 Lite Mapping Challenge: Devil's Playground(Complete)

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