Hi,

I'm trying to get my head around the Displace effect.

I mean, I've used the Displace effect a couple of times, but... how does it really work? So far I've tried just experimenting (trial an error), and by looking at what others have made.

But I don't understand (yet) how they work. Now.. I have to admit I don't even know what the Displacement Amount and Texture Size values actually do either, so it's a bit harder to figure it out by myself.

On top of that, I'm under the impression that the colours in the map texture do matter, but I don't know why.

Is there a resource you can point me towards?

(I'm fine with technical stuff, but I'd appreciate a tldr explanation if it's possible)

Do you choose your displacement maps by trial and error? By previous experience? Or are you able to see the map texture and get an idea of the effect they will have?

I wanted to follow up with an "Eureka" moment I had while creating my style. Perhaps it's nothing new to all the experienced mappers here, but might be useful to novices such as myself.

My problem was that while creating my vector symbols, they behave as wireframes... allowing visibility of other symbols behind:

I thought this would be the time to add a fill and test the "Line style names to Sheets" options, but no. That doesn't work because all the wireframes from all symbols would still be in the same sheet (and still overlap each other).

I still tried to add a fill that somewhat fits nicely with the parchment background, and ended up with this:

Better, but I wasn't convinced. Then it hit me: I can use the Color Key effect! And that did the trick:

Since all symbols are on the same sheet, the color-keye'd fills will be ordered correctly. And I can no longer see through buildings.

Thought I'd chime in...

Here's a handful of "Foldup paper models" provided by Wizards of the Coast some time ago:

And the following page contains a single model (near the bottom), but since it's supposed to be Elminster's Tower, I think it's noteworthy:

http://www.candlekeep.com/gallery/gallery_12.htm

Oh, if only... ;)

But yes, there are certainly some things that are similar. Didn't Ralf do a livestream using that style?

As a new user, I've been going through a lot of videos... to many in a short amount of time, so I can't quite place which video I saw. But I've seen a ton. And they've been extremely helpful, I must say. CC3+ has soooo much potential.

Hmm.. I just noticed that the Displace effect I added was "lost" when the forum resized my image... here's a smaller render. The effect should be much more noticeable:

It's a lot less "straight", as you can see.