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Wyvern

Wyvern

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Wyvern
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  • Community Atlas: Embra - Crossing Places

    Not a problem, Remy. There are 58 of mine in this set alone, and I know I tend to add extra complexities too.

    In addition to all this (behind the scenes), we ran into a problem with a rogue fcw32.pal file I didn't even know I had, so some of the colours on the initial maps from the Embra set entered into the Atlas were wrong, and those files had to be changed, aside from everything else...

    On the upside, I see we're rapidly closing-in on 750 Atlas maps now, and I'd guess once all the oustanding ones have been added, we'll likely surpass the 800 mark.

    Might need to start thinking of that 1000-map contest shortly at this rate ๐Ÿ˜‰

    JimP
  • Community Atlas: Embra - Constructed Places

    Thus, and somewhat appropriately, we reach the end of the long road of all these Embra maps, with three more roads. Or "Lanes" from the map's title:

    I'm sure I don't need to mention why Red House and Grey Park at Sylphwing Rise don't have roofs that match their name-colours, or why there's both a Wyrd House and a Wyrd Hall (which folks are forever getting mixed up...) along Rusty Light Vista - the latter probably the oddest shape, with its turnings and cross-streets, of all my random street designs in the city. That's randomness for you though. I should point out, however, that those little grey-white dots scattered around Rusty Light Vista are the "large reflecting spheres" of its featured text.

    Lightning Alley is just - spooky. All the properties here appear to be deserted, and are each covered with a huge, dark, thick rubber sheet, fastened down so nothing can get in or out. And those blackened scars are from lightning strikes. And it's a cul-de-sac, so why would anyone want to come here? Faerie might be full of wonders, but they don't all have to be pleasant ones...

    And that, my dears, is, as they say, that! I'll probably be mapping something else in Errynor by now. If I've found my way out of Embra, that is ๐Ÿ˜‰

    roflo1JimP[Deleted User]Loopysue
  • Community Atlas: Embra - Constructed Places

    Last of the individual sites is the Twilight Market setting for this group of Places, Candlelight Hall. The Hall has a huge, pale-blue, glass-tiled roof over much of it, and while that was straightforward enough to draw - CD3 tiled roof shaded polygon with added Sheet Transparency Effect - the support structure took rather more thought and effort, albeit "Trim To Entity" does work wonders in cases like this, for all those roof beams. The view complete:

    Even this view indicates the interior had to be quite heavily detailed while the roof was left in place, and for once it was prepared normally with fills and symbols, not just the cream-and-green plan sketches all the other Embra interiors have received. The "normal" image above does allow the focus to be a little more on the scatter of other stalls and tents outside the Hall itself, before plunging inside. And so to that interior:

    Peering closely suggests there are a lot of windows piercing the walls, all narrow, high, point-topped, and painted with a great assortment of subjects and scenes, which with the huge see-through roof area, means that at twilight or in the dark, the lights from inside shine out like a beacon from here, partly hence the name. And just in case you couldn't guess, Smokin' Mona's is THE restaurant for this part of the Market.

    Comparing the two views here, one other element becomes clear. The internal labelling can be turned on or off separately to the other map labels this time. If all goes to plan, that should be via toggles in the Atlas' FCW version.

    JimP[Deleted User]Loopysue
  • Community Atlas: Embra - Constructed Places

    However, the sixth built Place is one more suited to indoor musical performances without such adaptations, Spring Festival Hall:

    The bright green roof tiles are all made in the shapes of unfurling, fresh, spring leaves, to contrast with the walls and ceilings of the Hall, that bear relief-carved autumnal foliage instead (Embra; what else would one expect by this stage?).

    Inside, only the layout plan for the surface-level is provided. Most of the towers have higher, and lower, floors too, which are not illustrated, and which also like to change at times, as the accompanying written notes indicate:

    Folding doors allow performances to be enjoyed outdoors on The Plaza or in The Garden, while the Mobile Stage can be raised or lowered to allow more seating in the Grand Auditorium. Despite its odd shape, the internal acoustics are excellent. If you want to perform here - and have the skill to do so - it might help to have befriended some of the musicians from Glass Harmonica Way first (see the Watery Places Streets map). Plus of course, any excuse to use some more of Sue's wonderful red sandstone cliffs!

    JimP[Deleted User]Loopysue
  • Community Atlas: Embra - Constructed Places

    The fifth Constructed Place moves us into the "entertainment" quarter (if Embra had such a thing, at least), the actors' village of Stubble Chin Theatre. Subtlety isn't really in it, with Sorceress' Hill and Verdant Wood adjoining one another, but theatricals often feel the need to make a clear statement, it's said...

    The Theatre itself is an open-air one, though it has a concealed clamshell cover that can be raised to move everything indoors when required, allowing for a greater variety of performances, not necessarily all of a theatrical nature.

    JimP[Deleted User]Loopysue