Well the latest Microsoft Update made a proper mess of things for me! I was running close to the edge on available RAM before the update and after the update Blender decided that it needed more. So, I am somewhat hampered but undeterred. Barring any unforeseen disasters, I should have double the amount of RAM installed by Friday of this week. Rendering vegetation models eats RAM like a hungry dragon so while I have refined and added more terrain features, I can't really get them out of my PC with the level of quality I would like until after I upgrade. I did manage to render a new version of the spiked moat before the update so I have attached it here.

Hi,

Just wanted to share a few symbols I've created. Hope you find them useful.

Dirt path bitmap test: outer glow, Edge fade, inner edge fade applied -

@Quenten Thank you sir. I got a start on the bellows. The base of it anyway. I still need to make the support frame, the handle, the tube support, etc.

I'm thinking about making some "modern-ish" models for Perspectives. I really like the architecture of older buildings. Can't decide on modeling them in 3d or drawing them. Here is a sample 3d model I did this morning in Bryce.

Interested in thoughts on the subject.

Working on equipment, tools etc., now. Finished corners for the spiked moat, reworked the log textures for a more realistic look. Still plugging away at bitmap fills too. :-)

LOL, thank you Sue! I was hoping you would comment exactly as you did. Thank you especially for the tutorial link I most certainly need it. Fortunately I have the Tome, GIMP, and Krita. I have been researching the "pallet" that the ancient Egyptians used and from what I have seen they really liked a lot of color on their monuments and in their tombs so that's going to be an interesting challenge for me since I'm red and green color blind! I just slapped some color on it so I could see what it might look like and used a sandstone material on the base. Of course, the angle isn't what it needs to be, the sandstone texture isn't scaled properly and the plastic looking finish on the paint isn't right and the lighting is totally wrong, but it gives me a quick and dirty ? general idea.

@Loopysue can't be the graphic card, I don't have one installed, just using the native built in on the motherboard! I'm using a 3 year old stock HP Envy LOL. It seems to be a specific asset. The only engine it would sporadically render in was Workbench set at no more than ten passes. Plus I only have 8 GB of ram on board this clunker as well. In the mean time here's what I have been able to add over the last couple of days. Trying to add more vegetation, with some seasonal variants.

I'm a big fan of the work of H. P. Lovecraft and the Call of Cthulhu RPG. I'm working on a new "modern" mapping style based on one I have seen on the internet. I'm not sure who the originator was but a similar style was used to produce a "Lovecraft Country" (before the series was released) map. It makes heavy use of sheet effects as you can see from the examples below:

I like it because it is easy to work with and you can produce a modern map with it very quickly. The grey areas are urbanized areas, the beige areas represent hilly/elevated areas. I would welcome any comment on how to improve the style or any features that other folks may like to see.

I'm working on some embellishments for cities/towns. I just don't think a perfectly manicured river or pond looks good on smaller regional maps so I decided to make a few symbols to address the issue.