WIP Free Port City of VoudCaliff (Complete)

VoudCaliff is the solitary gateway into and out of the island prison of Pilnderstraad. Nestled just outside the 150-200 ft high wall that encloses the island, no one enters, or exits Pilnderstraad except through here, and must do so under the watchful eye of Ward Governor, Ardeth Tayngor.

VoudCaliff houses a myriad of wardens, magistrates, traders, and the families of all, not to mention entertainers, and craftsmen, for some of the finest materials come out of Pilnderstraad. There is virtually no crime in VoudCaliff, for Governor Tayngor rules with an iron fist, justice is swift, and the threat of an indentured slave's life for criminals, and their families, is immediate, and just on the other side of the wall.


Since I'm almost finished with my map of the island of Pilnderstraad, I thought I would start on the port city of VoudCaliff. I will admit, I haven't done much, and everything is subject to change, as I try to map out this city. Right now, all I've really done, is to set up the land mass, the docks and the wall... but I'm not very satisfied with my wall at the moment. Perhaps you all can help me make it better. It's about 150 ft high, 10-15 ft thick, and it incases the entire island, with the single exception being this port city.
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Comments

  • The work on VoudCaliff continues. I'm still not sure about my wall, but we shall see when it's all said and done.

    I've figured out my roads, and I have already started filling in the map. Just little things, here and there...
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    That's a humungous shadow on the wall compared to what I presume are the larger buildings in your city. Most curtain walls are only about 20ft high, which isn't even as tall as a 2 storey house with a pitched roof. Maybe copy and paste the shadow from the taller buildings sheet to the wall sheet?
  • I understand what you are saying, Sue, and if that wall was only 20 ft high, I wouldn't have made the shadows so long. But this wall is actually about 150-200 ft. high. The whole island is a prison, with the exception of this one free city. The long shadows are to show the immense height of the wall. So, believe it or not, that is not a mistake.
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 81 images Cartographer
    If the wall is that high, perhaps the entrance should be some kind of gatehouse instead of a plain gate? A visible door gap seen from above in a 200 foot high wall look a bit out of place.
  • clithgowclithgow Traveler
    I'm on board with Monsen. A wall that tall will need some thickening in areas like towers at the corners or pillasters at regular intervals around its length. Check out the Tome of Ultimate Mapping page #322 in the section Partitioning the City for some ideas on how to adapt the wall tool to do it.
  • That's actually not a bad idea. I will definitely look into that.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    You could put massive buttresses in like vast tree roots. A wall that high would need it (unless its made like a modern hi-rise with steel and glass)
  • edited March 2019
    150 ft? Wow! Flying buttress time, LOL. Cologne Cathedral is 157 feet high at its tallest point. It might give you some ideas on how many buttresses this would need. Cool map so far. :)
  • Yeah, a stone wall that thin - 10 to 15 feet - but 150 feet high needs massive foundations and massive support at ground level, so either the base of the wall must be vastly thick, and could taper to as little as 10-15 feet eventually, or it needs HUGE buttresses on one or both sides, otherwise it'll simply collapse under its own weight. Of course, you could just invoke magical support instead if this is a fantasy world; great unless someone finds a counterspell...
  • This is a fantasy world. And the reason the walls are so high, is because the whole island (minus this one free city) is a prison. This prison is run by the Warden's Guild, which is like the World's police force. The Warden's Guild is in every kingdom, empire, and nation on this world of Ganocia. Pilnderstraad, which is the island prison receives 'convicted' prisoners every other day, almost... bandits, thieves, cut throats, murderers, but also political prisoners, mages and wizards that practiced magic in kingdoms where magic is outlawed, and some people that were wrongfully convicted, and even some people that others just wanted out of the way for one reason or the other.

    Now, when someone is 'convicted' of a crime, the convicted, and their families, are sentenced to the island prison, where they are slaves, until they've earned their freedom. They can't begin to earn their freedom until they have lived out their original sentence (if they live that long). Their family may also earn their freedom at half the price of the convict, depending on what the person was convicted for. Some families have to wait a generation or two before they can start earning their right to freedom. It's a harsh system. But, 90% of the adventurers come from here, because they tend to be tougher, stronger, better at what they do. They have to be, to survive the island prison. My players will probably all be children, or grandchildren of people who were convicted here... innocent themselves, but still slaves earning their freedom.

    But enough backstory... I decided to remove the wall I had, I really didn't like the way it looked. I'm going to construct the city first, and then put the wall back up afterward, with the hopes of making a better wall. So here is what I have so far:
  • I sometimes adopt the same approach, even though the 'experts' reckon you should do the walls first. Which is strange, because in real life, the buildings came first, the walls second. And as the city exoanded, more walls would go up, while the inner ones were often neglected.
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 81 images Cartographer
    edited March 2019
    Posted By: QuentenWhich is strange, because in real life, the buildings came first, the walls second. And as the city exoanded, more walls would go up, while the inner ones were often neglected.
    Not that strange really. Remember, that in real life, city walls where often build large enough to give the city some room to grow initially, and then as the city continued to grow, the walls became the limiting factor. So by doing the walls first, you simulate this process of the city having a limited space to grow in, if you draw the walls last you deprive yourself of this factor.
    Of course, if you feel like getting real detailed and simulate the entire history of the city, you should probably draw some city, throw in some walls, grow the city so it fills the walls, then beyond, construct new outer walls and demolish the old one and so on. For realism, it is a good approach, but for map-making, it is very time-consuming. Which is why drawing the walls first is an acceptable compromise.

    Of course, rules and regulations and enforcement of those may change this. For example, in a prison like this, there may very well be quite strict rules about not building next to the wall, which changes behaviour quite a bit, especially if it is properly enforced.
  • The thing is, this city can't grow past the walls. But in some ways, it doesn't really need to. Most people in those times, they settle in a place, and once their, make a life. But VoudCaliff is a city that 'serves' the prison, So the people that live in VoudCaliff are there for maybe 5 - 6 years, and then are reassigned. So the city doesn't really outgrow its walls.
  • So the building of this city continues. Right now I'm working on the commercial area, So as of now, I have most if not all that will be needed, other than warehouses and farms.
  • I'm still working on VoudCaliff. I've hit a couple of snags along the way, mainly the program freezing up on me while I'm trying to do detail work. I've had to redo the same city blocks about 3 times now, so I've started saving after every block is up. Right now I'm working on the temple area.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    Freezing up? There really aren't that many buildings there just yet. How many sheets have you got, and how many blurs?
  • I currently have 24 sheets, but no blur effects, other than a few inner edge fades, and maybe two transparencies. 5 inner edge fades, if I remember correctly. But no blur. hang on, let me post the FCW.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    I'm not having a problem with it - and with my machine I probably wouldn't be able to even open it without crashing CC3+ if it was big enough and complex enough to freeze anyone else's machine.

    Are you working at fixed VH resolution?
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    Or maybe you are using a really big screen?
  • I'm using my laptop, and I have no idea about fix VH resolution. I don' t what that is.
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    That's where you click the hourglass button and pick 'Fixed bitmap quality' and 'Very High'.

    However, this is unlikely since you didn't know what it was.

    I've no idea why it would freeze on you.

    Is it really a freeze (as in nothing moves at all for half a minute or more), or is it just a couple of seconds delay between zooming and the window actually zooming?
  • no, it's an actual freeze with the (fcw not responding) in the message box above. I'm having to zoom in really close to add small details like fences, and graveyards. Sometimes I have to move the screen so I can get the next section into view, it usually freezes then, or when I've done a bit, and need to change to another symbol set. I probably need to do a repair install.
  • edited March 2019
    Well, i downloaded it and i, also, seem to be having an issue with your file. I zoomed in without an issue, but when i tried to zoom out, it froze up and crashed the program once. I tried again and it FINALLY zoomed in and out, but terribly slow - hung up for close to a full minute. I don't use the houses from the Vintyri set that often.....they tend to bog down my system, and i've got a desktop with 16G RAM to play around with....so i don't think that is the issue, since Sue's machine only works off of 4
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    Ah!

    I don't have the CSUAC at all.

    But is that really the difference? Why should it cause something like that to happen?

    As you know - my machine is crippled (btw - I will be getting a new one this year, so don't feel sorry for me). I have 1.5 GB RAM available to me at this present moment in time, but this map isn't causing a problem at all. Its zooming in and out at about the same speed that I would expect it to for the size and number of nodes and symbols.


    I suppose you could try putting all the Vintyri symbols on a layer by themselves and see if it still crashes if you hide that layer?
  • I put various thing on different layers, which I then hide, working only on what I need at the time. Also saves me having to hide sheets all the time, which is a bummer - makes things quicker. Otherwise I would never get my cities done.
  • Sue, I'm assuming you saw some red x's then... maybe that's why you didn't have a problem? because you don't have the symbol sets I'm using?
  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 81 images Cartographer
    Some of the bitmaps in your map is eating memory. You should get a better performance if you hit Display Speed Settings image and set it to Fixed bitmap Quality -> High (or even low). Clear the cache before exiting the dialog. First redraw will be a bit slow since it need to recache everything, but since it is only loading the HI quality, memory use (and performance) will be much better
  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
    Yes, that's right, Storm - red X's. I don't need the CSUAC - I just make whatever I want when I need it.

    The thing is I am amazed that those few symbols could cause such a huge difference. I've done much much larger settlements than that one with CC3 symbols and never had that kind of problem till I got to about 5x the size. And that's with a machine that's totally crippled.
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