June / July '17 Lite Challenge: Oasis of the White Palm Remix

[Krieghund]

Hi!

I've had a few previous entries in the lite mapping competition, but I ran into the same problem both times: as soon as I posted a WIP image, I hit a brick wall of time/motivation and ground to a halt. This time I waited until I was pretty much finished to post anything. I might tweak the map a bit still, but I have a busy week ahead so I'm prepared to call this finished.

I'm about to run the classic D&D Desert of Desolation series, adapted for 5th edition, and I wanted a visually friendly map handout of the eponymous oasis from the Oasis of the White Palm adventure. Instead of making a straight remake of the map, I moved some things around to adapt them for my campaign, or at least to give them my own internal logic. Hence the "remix" in my post title.

I love isometric maps, perspective maps, and anything else that gives a more immersive view than the standard top-down map. So, I decided to build my oasis using sandbox mode in Cities: Skyline, a city building game. I'm actually a novice with the game. According to Steam I had half an hour in the game when I started the challenge. Now I'm up to 14 hours, and AFIK all of that is on this project.

After I came up with some screen shots I liked, I put everything together in Photoshop. I did a bit of editing of some of the features to get them a bit closer to how I envisioned them, but there is still a bit more that I'd like to do.

I need to give credit where it is due.
I used the following Cities: Skylines mods:
Beardmonkey's Abu Simbel theme
BloodyPenguin's Extra Landscaping Tools, Surface Painter and More Beautification
TPB's Building Anarchy
DrCider's Circular Pond
bennymedia's Thatched Hut
KingLeno's KL-Umbrella
pekorin's Snow Metro Park
Duath83's Urban Sculpture II
Lost_Gecko's Event Tent, Event Tent 2, Event Tent 3, Event Tent 4, Garden tent large, Garden tent stripped, and Garden tent
cleavus's Cleopatra's Needle, New York

I also used
Clip art banners from http://bigpictures.club/resize.php?i...n-clipart.jpeg
and
Jonathan S. Harris's Arabic Magic Font from dafont.com

### LATEST WIP ###

[Bogie]

I like it! Very unique. Glad you joined in the challenge!

[Straf]

Wow, this is looking really great

[Krieghund]

I cleaned up a few minor details that leaped out at me just as soon as I posted my first image.


### LATEST WIP ###

[Mouse]

That's a very lovely composition, and beautiful colours

The only thing that I noticed was the lack of a shadow on either of the obelisks, which stands out because the palms around them have shadows

[Bogie]

The only thing that I noticed was the lack of a shadow on either of the obelisks, which stands out because the palms around them have shadows

A-Ha Sue, you have stumbled upon the "Riddle of Sand",,,,, the obelisks don't have a shadow! The reason will change your world!

[Mouse]

Aaaah..... I seeeeee......

*Mouse tries to look wise*

[Josiah VE]

That's looking awesome! You make great use of that program.
My only suggestion would be is to change the bright blue and red borders. More muted colours would look much better I think. I also think parchment textures on the scrolls instead of white would look great.

[Krieghund]

Aaaah..... I seeeeee......

*Mouse tries to look wise*

I'm afraid the riddle of the sand is there was a base to the obelisks that I got rid of by cloning a random patch of sand from elsewhere.

I'll fix it if I get a chance. Thanks!

[Krieghund]

That's looking awesome! You make great use of that program.
My only suggestion would be is to change the bright blue and red borders. More muted colours would look much better I think. I also think parchment textures on the scrolls instead of white would look great.

I agree, the scrolls could use a bit of tinting at least.

The (admittedly bold) borders are a simplistic nod to the D&D Al-Qadim campaign products. They feature a much more complex patterned border, and, yeah, aren't as bright.

At the moment, I like the garishness. But I reserve the right to roll up my eyes and wonder what I was thinking when I stumble across this a couple of years from now.