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Filling in gaps in wall shadows

Dicey GamesDicey Games
in Mapping with ProFantasy's Software
Hello all,

I was making an indoor/outdoor map with a little cave, and I ran into this problem with shadows and I just can't come up with a solution. I want shadow in the circled areas, but I can't draw a wall to cast shadow past the map border, nor do I want to fill my cave with random chunks of wall to fill out the shadowy area inside.

Does anyone have tips on how to accomplish this, or is there a tutorial floating around that I haven't found that touches on this subject? Or alternatively, is there a good way to draw all shadows by hand?

(also excuse the imperfections, this is basically just a test map I slapped together to learn the things I want to use in a real map.)
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Comments

  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 81 images Cartographer
    In this case, I'd probably just considered drawing the shadow manually. Your map shows the cliff shape at the ground level, and this isn't necessarily how it looks on the top (which should determine the shape of the shadow). Just use a smooth polygon on a separate sheet, with a little bit of edge fade. You can either use a transparency effect for the shadow, or use one of the Solid XX fills, which are already transparent and great for darkening areas.
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  • Dicey GamesDicey Games
    I envisioned a rather straight cliff in this case, so the shape of the shadow following the wall exactly didn't occur to me yet, but having manual control over that is way better.
    Any way, your solution works perfectly for me, thanks :)
    I prefer the transperancy effect because it lets me add some color to the shadow.
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  • DogtagDogtag Moderator, Betatester Traveler
    edited August 2017
    Folks following this discussion may also want to check out this post in a similar discussion for some examples. Note that in the linked post, you can probably ignore steps 1 and 2.

    Cheers,
    ~Dogtag
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  • Dicey GamesDicey Games
    I've been experimenting a little more, and so far I like a solid filled polygon with transparency (30% opacity) and a blur effect (1-2 units) best.
    But I've noticed that all polygons with a "Solid XX" fill disappear when I redraw. Any idea what that is about? I made sure they're on the right sheet.

    Also a more artistic question: what looks better, black or dark blue shadows? I paint a little, so I'm used to adding a bit of blue to shadows, but I'm not sure if I like it here.
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  • DogtagDogtag Moderator, Betatester Traveler
    edited August 2017
    Can you post the FCW with the disappearing fills, and the steps needed to duplicate the issue? I'm actually gaming in about an hour, so I may not get to it until much later but maybe someone else can take a look before then?

    As for the artistic question, they both look good to me. I think the qualifying factor would be what sort of mood/atmosphere are you looking to create. The dark blue seems a little more eerie and otherworldly to me.

    Again, I think they both work well. Good choice on the fade and transparency.

    Cheers,
    ~Dogtag
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  • Dicey GamesDicey Games
    edited August 2017
    I figured it out. I still had the transparency effect on when I drew with Solid 30 polygons, which turned them nearly invisible. Silly mistake, but there's just so much to keep track of!
    Thanks for the help and the feedback.
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  • DogtagDogtag Moderator, Betatester Traveler
    Cool. Glad is was something simple.
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