Beaumaris Castle - a new project
Loopysue
ProFantasy 🖼️ 40 images Cartographer
Hi Everyone 
Source Maps Castles is one of the older collections of Source Maps available from Profantasy - who asked me if I would like to have a go at reworking just one of the 25 castles with a view to a possible new annual - depending on how it turned out. I jumped at the chance because I've always wanted to draw a castle
For each castle in the Source Maps Castles collection there is a 3D view in Perspectives, all the floor plans done at Dungeon scale, and a set of symbols so that people can make their own castle in a similar style in Perspectives and make their own floorplans to go with it.
So here we are - about half way through the project, with a complete Sketchup model (from which I can render the new symbols for the Perspectives map), and the ground floor plan.
I'd love to know what you think
Source Maps Castles is one of the older collections of Source Maps available from Profantasy - who asked me if I would like to have a go at reworking just one of the 25 castles with a view to a possible new annual - depending on how it turned out. I jumped at the chance because I've always wanted to draw a castle
For each castle in the Source Maps Castles collection there is a 3D view in Perspectives, all the floor plans done at Dungeon scale, and a set of symbols so that people can make their own castle in a similar style in Perspectives and make their own floorplans to go with it.
So here we are - about half way through the project, with a complete Sketchup model (from which I can render the new symbols for the Perspectives map), and the ground floor plan.
I'd love to know what you think
Comments
Hopefully it will be an annual. I'll be finishing the 4 floor plans first, then moving on to symbol creation.
There is also a short fly around animation that may be an optional extra.
I am curious to what you plan to render from your Sketchup model. Are you planning on rendering larger components, like entire building parts, or do you plan to stick with the same model as the source maps series, i.e. the buildings and everything else is actually draw in Perspectives itself, symbols are mostly used for decorations and details like doors/windows, furniture and stuff.
I'm still thinking about that.
I really don't know whether to mimic the existing symbol set, or go for whole buildings or parts of buildings.
Maybe I need to do all the existing symbols, but also whole or part buildings in addition to them?
Would love to know what you think?
It’s great seeing the source maps getting some love, I’ve been wanting to pick them up and if I’m able to use them with your style that would be fantastic.
This is initially just an annual - just the one castle to see how it works out.
Creating all the fills and symbols takes time, but once they are done it will just be a case of re-vamping the existing plans and maps
I'm taking at least the rest of today to think about it, and I will discuss it with Ralf before I start rendering anything out, since whichever way I go it kind of sets a pattern that may affect any future overhaul of the Source Maps Castles (whether that's done by me or someone else - remember that this is just an annual for now).
From my studies of GUI design many years ago I know that users prefer to stick with what they are familiar with (like where the close button is on a window - top right or its just not right) and like things in the same set to behave in the same way and to have a similar appearance. so I am tempted to simply mimic all the existing symbols so that it all works just like it did before and remains compatible with older maps. But there lies the problem.
It would be pretty difficult to redraw Beaumaris in Perspectives using just the existing symbols or replicas of them. Part of the reason I made the Sketchup model was down to the difficulty of simply drawing the thing in Perspectives. I'm under the impression that Profantasy might be considering the option of moving more towards drawing with symbols to make the nearly impossible things (like odd-shaped buildings with pitched roofs) a lot easier to do. But then again I might have gotten entirely the wrong end of the stick.
Really appreciate your thoughts on this, Remy
Yes, I like it.
This is so exciting! I've used the castles from the Castles add on extensively. Seeing your work is inspiring. It will be time to take my players into the Plane of Dread for an old fashioned vampire adventure.
(This is only the one castle for now, btw
So I've done the Sketchup model, and I've done all four dungeon scale floor plans and the surrounds map showing the castle in its surroundings, and now I'm onto the final 3D Perspectives map.
This is not a recreation of the standard symbols used in Source Maps Castles to design completely new castles, but a unique set of symbols rendered directly from the Sketchup model of Beaumaris so that users can either rebuild Beaumaris again themselves from a different angle, or use them to make variations on the theme of Beaumaris.
Because this is an annual with limitations set on the amount of data, and because there are already about 30 new and larger than average textures in the issue, I needed to make a few tough decisions about the number and size of the symbols. Also affecting this decision is the sheer complexity of trying to draw a castle from scratch if all you have are a few bits of odd shaped wall and floor and a bunch of odd looking window things.
So I'm trying some very large symbols that are levels of complete building parts of the castle.
Here are a couple of screen shots of the twin keeps showing how I've divided them into levels. There are 4 levels including the roof, but since levels 2 and 3 are pretty similar I've shown level 3 and 4 together - level 3 with the roof stuck on top.
Please let me know what you think?
I only have a fortnight left to finish this project now if I am to make the May issue...
Its one of the castles from the Source Maps Castles set. Each of the castles has a location map, all the floor plans and a 3D map (along with a lot of other stuff and information). The SMC was put together a long time ago, and Profantasy asked me if I would be interested in having a go at re-working just one of them - to see what I made of it, I think.
So here we are with an annual under construction. I've done the floorplans and location map, and now I'm using the 3D model I made in Sketchup to render a set of symbols that can either be used to reconstruct Beaumaris from different angles, or to make a new Beaumaris-style castle.
What you are looking at there is the Perspectives map, not the Sketchup model like before. Those images above are screen shots from CC3.