Big big fan of Chris West's maps, both Maps of Mystery and those designed for the adventures themselves. I've read somewhere that he uses Photoshop to make them and I'd love to learn how he does it. Could we con him into hosting a monthly article (in mag or on-line, doesn't matter which) where he'll give instruction and tutorials on how he does some of the things he does? Depending on how complicated they are, maybe each article could specialize in something like "Making Lakes" or "Constructing Space-ships".
In addition (or in lieu if you can't do it), could you include some icon templates in your download section of some of his map tools like buildings and forests.
Would it help if I said "please"?
Yep, yep. Big vote for this from me!
Add another Please from me ! :)
Now that would actually be very handy. How-to's on how to use Photoshop (which seems to be the staple software for visuals) would be very handy and unconventional as well. I'd find that much more useful than half of the stuff in Dungeon which I always read and never actually use.
I also really like the crisp shiney look of Chris's maps.
I've been using Campaign Cartographer for years, but find the interface is always getting in my way.
I've been looking at lots of Christopher's maps recently having just purchased the Shackled City hardcover, and every time I look at one of his maps I wish I could make mine as sexy.
Well no chance with CC2, so I started to use illustrator instead and see what I could come up with, didn't go well.
Then I moved onto photoshop figuring I could try and replicate my real world pen and paper handrawn style and try and apply some of that "glossy" look that Mr.West achieves.
Took me a while to get the water looking how I wanted it but it's getting there.
Just got Dundjinni myself. Very shiny, very pretty. Easy to add new source pictures (the Dundjinni forums are a gold mine of new objects, tiles, floors, etc), and the interface isn't as nearly intimidating as CC2. (SteelRat is by far the best source for images <a href="http://infinite-realities.com/4images/index.php">here's the site</a>.)
The default pack has only "Fantasy" and "Wild" stuff, but there's a plethora of Modern stuff to download (for free).
Try the demo (it's free).
That being said, I would also love a "How To Do Way Cool Spiffy Maps that make the Players Go OOOOOH!!!" by a master Cartographer. Please Please Please. I love the shinies.
Oh yeah! I would love to see a Christopher West "How to..." article. Pretty please?
-Neomorte
Having Chris do articles would be cool. I'll add my vote. Dundjinni looks nice, but I use Paint Shop Pro 9, through which I vent most of my artistic activities, not just maps. A while back wasn't there a response to a letter in Prison Mail that said Chris uses Photoshop? Any suggestions from a paint program perspective would be highly valued.
Took me a while to get the water looking how I wanted it but it's getting there.
That water looks awesome. I'd settle for you doing a how-to. BFG
Chris uses photoshop yes, I've seen that confirmed in more than one place.
Small example mapThat water looks awesome. I'd settle for you doing a how-to. BFG
It's done in photoshop using a combination of different coloured water contours and the Ocean Ripple filter for the water close to the land. The deeper water is a darker blue with the glass filter on.
Here we go.
Start with a blue background and a bit of land on another layer.
On another layer paint a light blue countour around the land
Do the same with another layer and a darker blue.
And again. Once all 3 are done combine them along with a copy of the darker blue background layer.
Apply Distort --> Ocean Ripple to this combined layer, fiddle with the settings in preview to get the waves the size and detail you want. Here I have also given the layer some transparency.
Delete the darkest blue part of the newly rippled layer with the magic wand.
Make a copy of the background layer again and apply some Render --> Difference Clouds. This uses the current foreground and background colour so select a really black blue and the same dark blue as before.
Now simply apply the Distort --> Glass filter to this clouds layer.
Fiddle with the transparency on the glassy cloud layer and the ocean rippled countours until you've got the look you want and there you have it.
Hope that helps. It doesn't take long but is made a lot easier with a stylus.
Here's a map I'm working on at the moment where I've made good use of this water technique.
Unless your personally a talented artist your probably slightly better off using DMdjinn or another similier program.
I've been doing all my work in Gimp (nearly identical to Photoshop) and its cool and functional but my material is nothing like Chris Wests extraordianry work - and I'm convinced at this point that it never will ever be even close - Mr. West has talent on a level I'll never achive.
Unless you too have talent my bet is DMdjinn is going to give you better looking maps.
That said a few articles from Chris West can't hurt - I'd love to see them myself. Id preffer a Elixier of Chis Westness but I'll take what I can get.
Unless your personally a talented artist your probably slightly better off using DMdjinn or another similier program.
Photoshop is certainly quite slow, well the way I'm using it anyway. To get the look I want for some things I'm drawing a lot by hand.
I've never considered myself in anyway though a talented artist, give me a piece of paper and a can't draw for toffee, but I can get fairly good results with Photoshop, though it does take time and patience to get it looking good.
Here's what I've been doing today: Port Jonna (scaled down to 25%)
Unless your personally a talented artist your probably slightly better off using DMdjinn or another similier program.Photoshop is certainly quite slow, well the way I'm using it anyway. To get the look I want for some things I'm drawing a lot by hand.
I've never considered myself in anyway though a talented artist, give me a piece of paper and a can't draw for toffee, but I can get fairly good results with Photoshop, though it does take time and patience to get it looking good.
Here's what I've been doing today: Port Jonna (scaled down to 25%)
Nice - how do you get the trees?
Here we go....
Hey, this thread's come to life again. :-D
Thanks for answering my question, teknohippy. Your stuff looks awesome.
How do you get the trees?
Took me a while, I did a lot of wasted searching looking for a pattern I could just slap into photoshop. Didn't find anything that came anywhere close to what I needed though.
So, I drew a little clump of trees and used the Pattern Maker in Photoshop to turn it into a pattern.
This allows you, as you can see, to 'paint' trees wherever you need them.
The final product simply has a black line around the trees, a small drop shadow and some relief created with burning and dodging.
If you'd like to read an overview of mapping techniques and mapping programs, check out my "Guide to RPG Map Making" page at http://melkot.com/mechanics/map-guide.html
Denis, aka "Maldin"
======================================
Maldin's Greyhawk http://melkot.com
Check out the ton of edition-independent material on my website
How do you get the trees?Took me a while, I did a lot of wasted searching looking for a pattern I could just slap into photoshop. Didn't find anything that came anywhere close to what I needed though.
So, I drew a little clump of trees and used the Pattern Maker in Photoshop to turn it into a pattern.
This allows you, as you can see, to 'paint' trees wherever you need them.
The final product simply has a black line around the trees, a small drop shadow and some relief created with burning and dodging.
Cool...what is it the kids say these days? oh yeah - Yoink.
Actually we could probably learn a lot just from each other if we could some how get something of a gallery going. The idea of using a pattern and then just painting with that is brilliant and not something I ever really considered. I have a suspicion that a lot of us are real amatures and often don't even know many of the cool features of our own tools.
I do a similar thing via a different technique. I have various Photoshop files filled with patterns (such as one filled with the trees I used on the City of Greyhawk map) created by drawing a small part and copying it over and over flipped and rotated in various positions and blending each copied piece making it virtually impossible to see the repetition. Then use the clone tool to "paint" it around wherever I need it.
Denis, aka "Maldin"
======================================
Maldin's Greyhawk http://melkot.com
Check out the ton of edition-independent material on my website
Actually we could probably learn a lot just from each other if we could some how get something of a gallery going.
Sounds interesting.
I have a suspicion that a lot of us are real amatures and often don't even know many of the cool features of our own tools.
I'm definitely an amateur map-maker. But I am a professional photoshop user in that I've used it in web design and development for the last ten years. Even now though I regularly turn up methods and ways of doing things in photoshop that I've never come across before :) Helps that they keep improving it of course. CS2 has seriously cheered me up with the addition of Smart Objects and the abilty they have to rerender your Illustator art whenever you resized them :)
But mapping in photoshop is totally new to me. I've done maps mainly either with Campaign Cartographer 2 or by hand in the past. The looks of the maps in dungeon pushed me towards finding an alternative to CC2. And the fact that I've never found CC2 easy to use. Something a simple as selection is made so weird and crazy!
So I started to experiment with illustrator, and didn't get far with that, everything was still too flat.
So I read that the admirable Mr.West used photoshop and I thought to myself, "Yeh. Why not I know it well."
So out came my stylus and a went ahead with trying to emulate Christophers style, learning about mapping and photoshop in the process.
I'll put these practices into a new map or two and hopefully my own individual style will emerge.
But if there's anything in my maps you see and like and want some tips on then just ask away. Or questions about photoshop in general I guess.
Cheers.
I