At first glance this map reference seems a bit unfinished.
There is a compass rose and scale on the map.
I am torn on this map reference because it could be very cool, sunken city with a ruined ship could look very cool, but this reference does not really give enough.
I can imagine working on this one and really just starting from scratch completely.
Missing a grid.
I do not recommend this map to progress to round 3
Modules Overlord
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Drawing from my blog on maps, and the rules for the round, I’ll judge the maps on a number of questions.
Is It a Full Page Map?
It is, but it shouldn’t be.
Does The Map Have A Compass Rose and Scale? Are They Used Well?
Yes, but the scale is weird. Are those buildings? If so, are they really 30 foot and bigger squares?
Is The Map A Place I Want To Adventure?
Nothing here tells me so.
Is the Map Clear?
Not at all. I don’t know for sure what anything is except the ship, and I'm not sure if it's a literal size and shape or representational.
Is the Map Detailed?
No. I don’t even know what kinds of buildings I am looking at. Are they grey because they are stone? Are those roofs? How far do they stick out of the water? Are they in good shape, or ruins? There's no way for a cartographer to make a useable map out of this.
Is the Map Imaginative?
Not that I can tell.
I strongly do not recommend this map for advancement to round 3.
Based on the name I can tell this is a ship wreck amongst the tops of buildings in a town that has been completely submerged. The imagery here is quite good and there is an interesting take on the sunken city trope.
However there is nothing on the map that demarks what is what other than the placement of chests. I need a key to get a good grasp of what is going on here. Are the swirls whirlpools? If so, are they there for whatever encounter this is or permanent formations? A simple key and some labelling would have made this so much better.
I will not be voting for this entry.
Congrats on Top 32-hood!
** Disclaimer** Allana was in my pit crew this year
Challenge:[/b] A sunken city is a tough challenge as you have to consider natural elements and tell a story with the map.
Technique: No squares really hurts this a great deal.
Utility: Are these the tops of buildings poking out of the water? I can't really tell much about this map thus cannot make use do it.
Overall: F for me as in I am strongly in the not recommend camp here. Sorry Allana :( but props for turning soemthing in on that super short deadline!
Congratulations, Allana, on advancing to the Top 32.
Another sunken city, which is a really cool location for an adventure. I think there's a reason that The Sunken Pyramid is one of the most talked-about 3PP adventures (not to mention several sunken regions in this very round) and this taps into that zeitgeist.
Unfortunately, the map just doesn't have enough to catch my interest. It's pretty, but there's not really a story here that makes me want to run an adventure in this location.
I'm sorry, but I won't be voting for this map.
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Oh, and in keeping with some of the others...
Congratulations on getting into the Top 32! Whoot!
This is the 33rd map I have seen, I have already cast my votes, your map sadly does not warrant a change in those votes.
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Allana, your map is "interesting" but it isn't as interesting as the other Top 8+ that I had already decided to vote for. That said, congratulations on getting into Round 2, and good luck!
I do like the premise of your map, but not as much as I like others.
Congrats on Top 32, Allana! :)
I like the concept of adventuring on a partially submerged ship and the surrounding rooftops. I like the use of color on the map to clarify the visuals.
The map has the basic requirements, but needs more to be Superstar. I'd like to see more interesting details keyed than just the chests. Also, at a 5ft. scale, a grid would be nice.
The Harlequin's Hurlbat shows you have significant creativity, Allana. I wish your life circumstances had given you the time to show more of that creativity in this map!
Without some sort of key, I'm not sure what I'm looking at besides the ship.There's some markings on the grey blocks that could be windows or doors maybe? Unfortunately, this map has an interesting premise but isn't clear enough to bring that premise to life.
Congrats on the promotion! Here are my ratings for this map:
First Look: D
No grid. Looks like it may have been produced with MS Paint. There are some interesting things to look at.
Interest Level of Location: C
A shipwreck and rooftops of sunken buildings would be a fun site to explore. But I can't tell enough about the location to know for sure.
Tactical Depth: C
With a grid, this might actually be a fun tactical map. It would also have to have elevations labeled in some way. Right now it's not very usable, but I'll give it a C on potential.
Adventure Potential: C
I could invent an adventure using this map, but I'd have to invent a lot of details myself that should have been part of the map.
Clarity: D
This map leaves me guessing about what most of the symbols are. In most cases, I can figure it out from context. But I wouldn't be surprised to find I was misinterpreting something.
Logic: D
Honestly, the lack of clarity makes it difficult for me to evaluate the logic of the map.
Overall: D+
With a scale this small I would have expected to see the interiors of these buildings as well. Most of them would probably be underwater, but there should be options to swim into them, or possible even enter an upper floor that has stayed above water. Especially because I see windows over there.
All in all a good idea, possibly even a start for a campaign - shipwrecks are always in season for campaign openers. If only it had a grid, some room for maneuvering in combat and a better hook than a sinking ship. Also needs more wreckage and floating planks.
Unfortunately it seems you didn't want to bother with details being only alternative, and this time that cost you. It's human, but regrettable. Nevertheless, the best of luck.
The lack of a map key here, and not having a grid, really make the piece feel unfinished. I want to know what I'm looking at, maybe have some place names indicated to spark interest. Those squiggly spots in the water, are they whirlpools? Knowing that would add a layer of complexity to the map. All I know for sure is that there are chests on some of the building tops and on a raft, but I don't know who put them there, or why, or what might be in them, because I don't know who this ship once belonged to. This is a really cool idea that, in the end, wasn't executed fully.
Wait, this is a city? There's just six buildings and a half sunken ship. A map this small could have building interiors. I'm really disappointed. This could have been the coolest map in the competition, but all I got was something I could draw in 10 minutes using MS Paint. I'm not attacking artistic merit, there's just nothing here.
I'm really sorry, Allana. I can tell the crunch time just totally squashed you. Know that being a top 32 is still an accomplishment worth being proud of. Keep your head high, and good luck.
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Modules Overlord
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Official Round 2 Note: On Map Resolution
We’ve had some comments on legibility of smaller type on the maps, and the contestants are (by the rules of the contest), not allowed to clarify anything, so I want to make a general statement about maps and resolution.
When we required all contestants to present maps at a specific dpi and size, we did so because in past years we’ve had some issues with maps (for the encounter round) being sent to us in different sizes, resolutions, and dpi, making it difficult to give them all a high-quality presentation for the contest. We found that asking for a higher dpi than we’ll use in the end allowed us to create a standard of presentation that kept all images crisp and clean. For encounter-round maps, this has worked well.
Unfortunately, since this round requires all text be provided on the maps themselves, many contestants used the dpi and size standards we required as the basis for making sure their text is clear, and otherwise tried to keep words as small as possible so as to not clutter their maps. This was done in the (reasonable) belief that the maps should look good at the size we asked for, rather than in any different size we might present on our website. When resized for smaller, high-quality images, this can result in words that aren’t clearly legible.
We’ve made a change to rescale everything to the higher end of maximum image size for uploaded images for all maps that were entered this round. This should allow for better legibility for voters when selecting their favorite maps to advance in the contest. It is our fault that this process was not properly communicated to our contestants, so consider this when adjusting or finalizing your selections.
Obviously, we’ll explain what is going to happen to the images of maps, and how to allow for it, more clearly in future rounds (and future contests). My apologies to any contestant with a map that has suffered as a result of how we handled scaling in this round.
this map looks like it is incomplete. the lack of a key and grid are the main factors for that. I feel like this could have had been awesome with more work.
I am on the fence about the other sunken town, and this one is much less detailed. Will not get my vote.
Justnoque was a center of learning and metallurgy in the kingdom of Cyrusian, but it now lies ruined under the waves; only about a dozen slick black stones jutting from the water mark its presence.
This map does seem to depict that. That said, I would picture the rocks as being further apart. And with that as a subject, as I imagine this map in an Adventure Path, I would imagine it as the scene of something going on, not just the rocks as they ordinarily appear. That piece of wreckage is barely enough for a quick fight, not even that if strong ranged attacks are involved. It's almost more of a "you are here" map and that isn't going to cut it. Even a simple label, like "The party's wrecked ship" or "the Wreck of an Ancient Caravel" would add something.
The lack of grid, detail, or notable features means to me that this has to be considered in the lower half of the entries.
This was my least favorite map of all-32. Apart from the broken ship and chests, I don't know what anything is. I'm not seeing a sunken city anywhere.
This was a great opportunity for an alternate to step in and run with a second chance. Unfortunately this looks like something submitted by someone who had already given up.
Good Luck
I don't have the heart to do a blow-by-blow review of this one right now. Maybe it's sleep deprivation (curse of parenthood). Maybe it's that I've lived in Australia too long and acquired the national habit of rooting for the underdog (given that you were added midway through the voting). Maybe it's just that it's obvious this wasn't your best effort.
Chalk this one up to lessons learned and missed opportunities, unfortunately.
I am critiquing this without having read others' first:
I have no idea what most of these buildings are.
A lot of wasted space.
Unimaginitive shipwreck.
Not sure what some of those different colored lines are.
Overall, I'm sorry but this just doesn't do it for me. I'm guessing it is because you had a very short time for a turnaround, but that's part of this competition.