They all look really good - especially when they are shown all together like this
I can't see that there are any tweaks in these small images, but I know that you have worked really hard on this set so I shouldn't think there is much room for improvement anywhere.
Just wondering if it may be better to renumber these all sequentially from the uppermost level downwards (so "Lookout" level becomes "Level 1"). Without the cross-section, it's counter-intuitive that Level 3 should lie above Levels 2 and 1, for instance.
I'd also be inclined to put "Sub Levels" 3A and 3B on the same map and call it just "Sub Level 3" (or Level 8, if you follow my first suggestion here). Again, this is simply for better clarity for GMs.
The placement of the Rest Areas isn't clear to me currently. Are these on the stairwells between levels? And if so, where?
The shadows for the symbols on these Rest Area maps may need tweaking too, as some objects look a bit too "floaty" currently, as if not anchored to the floors sufficiently.
I'd recommend adding an outline on the Deadly Cave level map to show where the hole in the roof leading down from Sub Level 4 is, as the Cave map doesn't seem to match up with the details showing the Cave floor on the Sub Level 4 map.
Astonishing amount of excellent work, regardless!
Are you going to add an overall key to show what the different floor, wall, etc., textures mean?
I was looking them over, and found that 3B has no stairs. I'll fix that. I'm working on placing lines as stairs on the side view. And a wide area connecting the cave to Sub-Level 4.
The different floor textures are different surfaces. Leaving up to the Dm using to determine which ones are easy to walk on, which are slick, etc.
The rest areas are in the stairs between any floor the DM wants to use them.
This is a pain setting the pngs up for my web site. I save them as 2000 pixels wide, then reduce them to 900 pixels wide so its easier to see on my side without lots of scrolling.
The width is 900 pixels, but the height varies from 180 to 360.
I have aspect ratio set and clip to map border.
I suppose there isn't a way around this.
Was thinking of just posting the 2000 pixel wide maps, and marking the ones on my site with letters to show which stairs connect to which stairs on levels above and below, along with the side view.
Still working on making it all go together and stairs in 3B.
All the main floor maps seems to have the same in-map height though, so perhaps you should export them to a consistent height instead, and let the width vary? That should keep the scale consistent.
Looking over my export as pngs... I have them set as 2000 by 2000 pixel exports. The width is always 2,000 pixels.
However, the height varies. I did look, and nothing outside the map border.
So I import them into Irvanview. Make sure they are 2000 x 800 pixels even if not saved that way from CC3+.
Then I reduce that to 900 x 360 and save to another filename png.
Working so far, about half of them done. I still have to finish the stairs between Sub-Level 2, 3B, and 4.
I am also adding lines on the side view to give an overall look at how each floor/level connects to others.
To make it easier to follow, I haven't done any stairs that skips a level and connects to two levels down. I have done that in Sraa Keep and Dwarf Home on my Crestar site. It is a bit confusing, so I left stairs like that off these maps.
Take the time you need. It is a hassle to replace things to fix mistakes after maps have been integrated in the atlas, so I'd rather people take the time to be 100% certain they are done rather than hurry to submit.
No way to clone one. I had an external case I could put one in, and then clone that to a new internal drive. However, it stopped working several operating system upgrades ago. It worked under XP and Vista. No drive exists for it under Win 8.1 nor 10. My Win 8.1 laptop failed and I converted it to Mint linux.
But, I think I can get an external USB hard drive and clone my current drive to that. Then payday reverse the process.
In the mean time, I'm backing all of my files up to an older USB external hard drive.
Comments
They all look really good - especially when they are shown all together like this
I can't see that there are any tweaks in these small images, but I know that you have worked really hard on this set so I shouldn't think there is much room for improvement anywhere.
The rest areas don't have effects. My apologies, I'll fix that on Friday.
I went ahead and did it today, Thursday.
Thanks Monsen. I appreciate the compliment.
I'm really not thinking this evening!
In the cutaway map (Xsection) can you add the placement of connections, just as a diagonal line even.
I'd also be inclined to put "Sub Levels" 3A and 3B on the same map and call it just "Sub Level 3" (or Level 8, if you follow my first suggestion here). Again, this is simply for better clarity for GMs.
The placement of the Rest Areas isn't clear to me currently. Are these on the stairwells between levels? And if so, where?
The shadows for the symbols on these Rest Area maps may need tweaking too, as some objects look a bit too "floaty" currently, as if not anchored to the floors sufficiently.
I'd recommend adding an outline on the Deadly Cave level map to show where the hole in the roof leading down from Sub Level 4 is, as the Cave map doesn't seem to match up with the details showing the Cave floor on the Sub Level 4 map.
Astonishing amount of excellent work, regardless!
Are you going to add an overall key to show what the different floor, wall, etc., textures mean?
The different floor textures are different surfaces. Leaving up to the Dm using to determine which ones are easy to walk on, which are slick, etc.
The rest areas are in the stairs between any floor the DM wants to use them.
The width is 900 pixels, but the height varies from 180 to 360.
I have aspect ratio set and clip to map border.
I suppose there isn't a way around this.
Was thinking of just posting the 2000 pixel wide maps, and marking the ones on my site with letters to show which stairs connect to which stairs on levels above and below, along with the side view.
Still working on making it all go together and stairs in 3B.
Haven't uploaded them to my alpha web site yet, the differing heights makes it look awful.
However, the height varies. I did look, and nothing outside the map border.
So I import them into Irvanview. Make sure they are 2000 x 800 pixels even if not saved that way from CC3+.
Then I reduce that to 900 x 360 and save to another filename png.
Working so far, about half of them done. I still have to finish the stairs between Sub-Level 2, 3B, and 4.
I am also adding lines on the side view to give an overall look at how each floor/level connects to others.
To make it easier to follow, I haven't done any stairs that skips a level and connects to two levels down. I have done that in Sraa Keep and Dwarf Home on my Crestar site. It is a bit confusing, so I left stairs like that off these maps.
The levels aren't the same length. But I have been exporting them as if they were the same length.
I'll work something out.
Anyway, once I get the stairs done and checked, should I submit the fcws in a zip file ? Or wait until I have this figured out ?
sub-level 3a is 300' front to back
Lookout, level 3, sub-level 3b are 600'
level 2, level 1, sub-level 1, sub-level 2 are 900'
cave is 1000'
ground and sub-level 4 are 1200'
But, I think I can get an external USB hard drive and clone my current drive to that. Then payday reverse the process.
In the mean time, I'm backing all of my files up to an older USB external hard drive.