I think that increasing the texturing on the snow may help resolve the overall snow-colouring issue to a degree, by adding more colour variations into the mix. That stands out in the selection of snowfield images you showed earlier, for instance (which is now on another Forum page of course...).
You could probably push the snow texturing to be even rougher than the latest image shows, I suspect, although there will be a balancing point where that'll become unhelpful. That could strengthen the texture break around the whiter "upper sunward" mountain edges, with a more rugged snow-texture variation, as they perhaps blend-in a bit too much that way currently.
We'll see what happens when I go back to the mountains, but for now I'm working on the textures regardless of the mountains. As long as I can see they can be made to fit the textures all is well.
I like it. The hint of blue is faint but present. I know snow can come in different tints (just don’t do yellow!) but my personal preference is for snow to be slightly blue-ish rather than any other color. This coloring is perfect for me.
I only have access to this image of yours, and by zooming in even more without losing the pixelated quality, I notice that the mimicry of the snow mountain with the snow terrain is excellent.
Very ultra please make some clouds for this style. They will look wonderful between the mountain bases along with tree icons, buildings etc. (Cloud, fog and low clouds)
It is a little hard to judge zoomed-in so far, but the toning-down of the blue does seem a definite improvement. There's always going to be a degree of unreality about it, as in most other overland styles, given the textures have to act as terrain markers as well as look pleasing.
I missed commenting on the mountain base - I thought that was because you had covered it with the snow bitmap. It does seem too blurry to me. I hope my negative comments don't upset you - I am trying to indicate the very few things I think could be altered, but you know I am a HUGE fan of your artistry, so please don't be offended by my 'negative' comments.
I don't think I have, Ricko. Displace looks different at different zoom levels sometimes, but it's hard to remember if I changed a sheet effect or not over the several months since then.
Have to admit that "road to nowhere" provided a moment's mild amusement - and yes, I appreciate it's just a test!
It's probably just the image resolution, but your larger-area image in your first new post showed breaks in the upper reaches of the two rivers feeding the lake. Those seem to have vanished though in the latest, close-up image of the road area in your later posting, so I suspect it's just a res issue, and not a real one.
LOL! I'm tempted to keep the road to nowhere now, but yes - it was a test. This whole map, which is about 8x the area you can see in the first shot, is a test site.
I don't know why the rivers do that. They are there and whole. It might be the way the effects are being read and displayed, though it's only an outer glow to match the inner glow on the land at the coast. It renders ok.
Glow effects do seem to like creating problems. I did wonder if it was somehow showing a line break where you'd been grading the river widths (as Ralf's demonstrated in the livestreams several times); obviously not!
I know I am a bit of an outlier, but I'm most interested in tools that would help to improve my mediocre contour maps, but your work shown to date seems to be much more useful to the community at large with a different approach to mine for mapping.
The main thing that occurs to me is to be able to use the backspace button (or something else) to back up if you have an issue with the drawing. Some of the programs (?) have this ability, but they are limited in the number of contours (usually 4 or 5) provided. I think you told me, but it could have been anyone on the forum, that this was relatively 'easy' to add, but I never figured it out, so when I had a mistake, I was forced to go back and redo the whole contour line.
Another useful thing would be to have all the symbols that are used by contour maps to be in a single symbol catalog. I tried a number of times to compose such a thing, but in the end, I just made a list of where to go for a particular symbol.
Several people gave me advice how to do the above, but I could never make it work.
On the other hand, things might have been much easier if I had a tablet with a pen instead of using a mouse. Very hard on the the thumb, especially when it was broken in bayonet drill. It still pains me 50 years or so later. :)
Comments
Thanks :)
It was the "Snow Rough" texture I was working on. The mountains will be updated to match, but first I want to complete the fill set.
It's also interesting to have both snow textures, providing even more possibilities.
I'm working on a slightly better one than the old wavy pattern, but when I say working on it I'm not sure yet what it will look like.
At the moment it's just a flat colour.
I love the mountain symbol with the cave. So many adventures end up underground.
Thank you :)
There's a regular version of that one as well.
I think that increasing the texturing on the snow may help resolve the overall snow-colouring issue to a degree, by adding more colour variations into the mix. That stands out in the selection of snowfield images you showed earlier, for instance (which is now on another Forum page of course...).
You could probably push the snow texturing to be even rougher than the latest image shows, I suspect, although there will be a balancing point where that'll become unhelpful. That could strengthen the texture break around the whiter "upper sunward" mountain edges, with a more rugged snow-texture variation, as they perhaps blend-in a bit too much that way currently.
We'll see what happens when I go back to the mountains, but for now I'm working on the textures regardless of the mountains. As long as I can see they can be made to fit the textures all is well.
Or they come out from inside and end up, sometimes badly, outside lol.
As for the cave, I hope this icon can be used as an entrance and is versatile in slopes and mountains with or without snow.
The cave is part of the mountain, but don't worry - there will be more than one in the end ;)
I've been playing around with the colour of the snow, and the way the arctic mountains are presented. Does this look better?
I like it. The hint of blue is faint but present. I know snow can come in different tints (just don’t do yellow!) but my personal preference is for snow to be slightly blue-ish rather than any other color. This coloring is perfect for me.
Love the mountain. For me, the snow is still a little bit too blue (though I can always fix that with Alter Hue effect if need be).
That looks bleeping amazing.
In this zoom, the base of the mountain looks very interesting, with this design that gives a "fade/fog" sensation.
I really like the soft blue tone of the snow, from there to white.
Looking forward to super maximizing these icons! 🤘
Congratulations on your effort, Sue!
Thanks everyone :)
@Royal Scribe No - definitely no yellow snow.
@Ricko Oops! Maybe I faded the bottom too softly? But if you like it, that's good :)
I only have access to this image of yours, and by zooming in even more without losing the pixelated quality, I notice that the mimicry of the snow mountain with the snow terrain is excellent.
Very ultra please make some clouds for this style. They will look wonderful between the mountain bases along with tree icons, buildings etc. (Cloud, fog and low clouds)
It is a little hard to judge zoomed-in so far, but the toning-down of the blue does seem a definite improvement. There's always going to be a degree of unreality about it, as in most other overland styles, given the textures have to act as terrain markers as well as look pleasing.
I missed commenting on the mountain base - I thought that was because you had covered it with the snow bitmap. It does seem too blurry to me. I hope my negative comments don't upset you - I am trying to indicate the very few things I think could be altered, but you know I am a HUGE fan of your artistry, so please don't be offended by my 'negative' comments.
No worries, Quenten.
All comments are welcome.
Sorry it's been so long!
I spent a long time getting the mountains and hills just right
...and then started on the Structures. These are the default cities.
And here are some towns and hut villages.
This is going to be great! Can’t wait!
Didn't you change Displace to the original ROADS sheet?
Thanks Royal :)
I don't think I have, Ricko. Displace looks different at different zoom levels sometimes, but it's hard to remember if I changed a sheet effect or not over the several months since then.
It's all looking good Sue!
Have to admit that "road to nowhere" provided a moment's mild amusement - and yes, I appreciate it's just a test!
It's probably just the image resolution, but your larger-area image in your first new post showed breaks in the upper reaches of the two rivers feeding the lake. Those seem to have vanished though in the latest, close-up image of the road area in your later posting, so I suspect it's just a res issue, and not a real one.
Thank you :)
LOL! I'm tempted to keep the road to nowhere now, but yes - it was a test. This whole map, which is about 8x the area you can see in the first shot, is a test site.
I don't know why the rivers do that. They are there and whole. It might be the way the effects are being read and displayed, though it's only an outer glow to match the inner glow on the land at the coast. It renders ok.
Glow effects do seem to like creating problems. I did wonder if it was somehow showing a line break where you'd been grading the river widths (as Ralf's demonstrated in the livestreams several times); obviously not!
Nothing so fancy. Not yet, anyway. I'm still working on the biggest job - the symbols.
I know I am a bit of an outlier, but I'm most interested in tools that would help to improve my mediocre contour maps, but your work shown to date seems to be much more useful to the community at large with a different approach to mine for mapping.
I'm not sure if there is a way to improve on the drawing tools, but if you have any ideas suggestions would be welcome.
The main thing that occurs to me is to be able to use the backspace button (or something else) to back up if you have an issue with the drawing. Some of the programs (?) have this ability, but they are limited in the number of contours (usually 4 or 5) provided. I think you told me, but it could have been anyone on the forum, that this was relatively 'easy' to add, but I never figured it out, so when I had a mistake, I was forced to go back and redo the whole contour line.
Another useful thing would be to have all the symbols that are used by contour maps to be in a single symbol catalog. I tried a number of times to compose such a thing, but in the end, I just made a list of where to go for a particular symbol.
Several people gave me advice how to do the above, but I could never make it work.
On the other hand, things might have been much easier if I had a tablet with a pen instead of using a mouse. Very hard on the the thumb, especially when it was broken in bayonet drill. It still pains me 50 years or so later. :)