I am trying to simulate sunlight shining through a window, specifically the window on the left wall and the one on the front wall to the right. I changed the color on the Wall Shadow, Directional effect to a bright yellow and used the Global Sun setting so it matches the shadows cast by the wall. I added a stronger shadow to the sack just below the left window and the cauldron to the right of the front window. Does it work or am I just messing up the map? Any thoughts are appreciated.

The party requested an underwater adventure in the beyond th ecave mouth so I added a few locations for encounters

I am keeping the effects settings the same but some of them respond diferently depending on whether I use a horizontal or vertical layout. Especially Displace. Still learning.

Experimenting with SS2 again for a small cave complex. Need to work on exporting the maps, things like the worn path in the cave floor and the water foam come out much darker on export as a jpeg. The ground cover gets rather blurred as well.

Need to dig up the sheet acne solution as well for the filler.

The rising water has trapped the leader of a goblin hunting party in the cave because he's slowly becoming a vampire spawn. The goblin tribe asks our intrepid heros to lay him to rest.... what could possibly go wrong?

Wyvern, thank you for the feedback, I took a closer look at the symbols and positioned them more appropriately...whilst making a few changes. I was focusing on Sue's feedback and aging the tables & chairs. Your suggestion of soot on the fireplace was something I overlooked. Windows are currently missing on purpose. This building was initially a frontier outpost built to withstand raids by warbands of orcs & ogres, so either no windows or arrow slits. Haven't decided yet. still playing with the common room furnishings too

Here's one I made several years ago. Mostly SS2A. Made this before I started using lighting. Kobolds live in the sewer and are charges with taking care of it.

I did drop in a solid sheet between the cave stone and dirt layers. It helps but the different fill patterns are just not cooperating. Part of the issue comes and goes when applying a Blend effect to the uper most "dirt fill" sheet. I think I will revisit this map and use a differnt strategy to build up the different features like the cliff face, rock cave walls and the bulk fill area by changing the order of the sheets.

I did try a .png file print at the same level of map size and resolution and it looks about the same....and uses ~10x as much memory. It was worth trying though.

Thanks DaltonSpence. I added the Jakes and a small fireplace to the main room. The world is a high magic environment, there are simple spells that can mask things like strong odors that are powered by ley lines.

The stairs go up, not down but I liek the idea of adding a basement with a kitchen as well

Mike Schley (SS4) is a favorite for dungeons and battle maps, but I agree with Monsen that there are many opportunities to expand SS4 but maybe expanding the symbol selection for SS2 Dungeon A can also be considered. I always try to create a map in SS2 D-A first but frequently end up defaulting to SS4 because of the much larger symbol selection. More choices are usually better even if is more options for existing symbols.

Mine symbols with a theme: Orc, goblin, kobold, dwarf, etc.

More crypts, sarcophagi, coffins

General merchant shops: more shelves with various merchandise, weapons racks, etc. with a top-down perspective

Wagons, food carts, market stalls

Small shrines

Horse troughs

Docks: Cranes, hanging nets, net makers shop, drydocks, bollards, mooring points, more boat/ship symbols

For cities, I'd suggest row houses mixing house sizes, materials of (roof) construction and shape. As one speaker commented during a mapping seminar recently, many fantasy city maps show single houses ("Americanized"), but the reality of many medieval cities contained no space between buildings in most poorer neighborhoods.

Most worldbuilding "how to" literature points out that many cities will be co-located with rivers, lakes & coastlines but I feel that the dock ward symbols are underrepresented in many styles.

Why yes, that is exactly what they didn't do.... 😛

Population between 500-600 individuals. The homes are multigenerational, family size is 6-10. Businesses would support a family and at least one apprentice. A significant portion of the population hunt or forage plants. Supporting farms would be beyond the boarders of the map.