My Animated Battle Maps of land, villages and towns. (A Patreon Project)

[rpglandmaps]

Thanks for your answers !

I would so much love to find the time to roleplay again... Nowadays I just find time to draw maps...
I like a lot to use Sketchup, but I often get overwhelmed by my own project : I start with a tower, then a wall... then a castle, then a palace, then a city... and rapidly, my computer is as overwhelmed as I.
That's why I'm fascinated by your projects : They are so "complete" and yet you managed to achieve them.
I would be tempted, but I don't know how to use the softwares you are using (except Photoshop).
I might try to start a new Sketchup project, but I really have to limit myself... And I'm not sure Sketchup is as good for the textures as your softwares !
But to build an entire village/city/castle and with such a good look, that would be one of my dream !

oops sorry forgot to quote you so you get a ping

[- JO -]

sketchup is good... but its performace to object (triangles) is appalling, especially if you dont use components (used since ver 1). but its a good sketch tool, for simple 3d objects to take else where, but can perform better with a few tips.

if you want a few more tips.
1. dont get bogged under in detail, think how big will this bit be when i render it, how many pixels is the computer going to have to show this.
2. dont draw object draw shadows, and sometimes, in fact alot the shadow is a texture, not geometry.
3. keep textures low res mine a are 1024 x 1024 (this is for easy PC ram access, all textures are 256 x, to help gpu blit) and also how big will it be on screen

i have soo much more i could tell and dont mind as i knowledge is crap when kept to self

so lets look at what i meen in real terms.

take a look at few real world examples,

A railing in the back ground drawn with cylinders would be 32 facets around, but in the final picture only 3 or 4 pixals wide, thus it can be octagnal (sooryy speeling not strong point) to get a highlight, flat and shadow, rest is not needed unless the railing is foreground, and the subject.

A building in most maps is only a point roof box and with enough pointy roof boxes we get a town for a distance (like impresionist art) so use textures for detail and draw a pointy box

Modular is your freind the walled castle i buit is only 1 wall, 1 tower, 1 gatehouse and a keep, then pointy boxes. and those are modules that i put toghere (a dormer, a bay window, a pointy box ) and the tudor style only used 4 (1024x1024) textures for all of them same with the stone buildings (square windows) and stone2 (pointy windows), the differacne in gemoatry is only that tudor neaded overhang (shadow) and stone did not (but various gables etc)

hope that also helps kept it unsoftware sperfic.. but can do detail (frist 3d drawing was on a 486DX.... ohh my, not sure on ages here but if you dont know ask your dad )

Many thanks

Thanks for all the good advices !

I use component a lot, on Sketchup : for the palace I'm trying to draw on Sketchup, I first drew 3 meters of crenellated wall, which I transformed into a composition. Then I took back these three meters of wall and transformed them twice. So in the end, to make the walls, I have three components of three meters each that I can combine at will. The same for the houses: I made facades of 3 meters by 3 meters (about 5-6) that I combine on several floors and on several 3 meter slices.

But even with these components, my computer is still running quite poorly.... I think that in making the components, I let myself be carried away and that there is too much detail (for example for windows).

J. Edward, from the guild, gave me the same advice as you: keep it simple...

But at the same time, it looks so good, a palace facade full of details, that it's difficult to restrict yourself.

What I'm doing right now is that I keep building buildings in separate files, and I implant them in the palace when they're finished. So it's when I want to visualize the entire palace that the computation time is really long. But at the same time, it allows me to read between two mouse clicks.

For the textures, I think I'll have to forget about this project.... As for the shadows. Or I let the computer try to calculate the slightest point of view all night long....

Here's what I'm trying to finish :




I like to finish what I started, so I'll persevere again... but I'll certainly pick up something simpler afterwards.

What seduced me in your project was the quality of the textures and the overall rendering of the images and light. I doubt that Sketchup is sufficiently equipped and powerful to achieve such quality!

[rpglandmaps]

thats a very intresting castle i like it alot esp differnet shape towers etc. compontent mostly help with ram useage (soft pointers in code ) i aslo agree about not modelering the windows, or arrow slits (use textures for them, and if able bump map them in) also i dont model the Machicolations, on mine its is simply a 45% slope and texture to make shadows..

I tried to PM you other day i asumme you blocked them, as just looked at your profile and noticed i am talking to a founder/god of this forum hi from the cheep seats

[rpglandmaps]

pinged back but have empty sent items... mmmmm, so not 100% sure it got throught etc..

[- JO -]

pinged back but have empty sent items... mmmmm, so not 100% sure it got throught etc..

I did receive your private message, but I couldn't answer at that time...

I'm only an amateur. Most of the time, I'm at work and I can't really draw or chat...

I am NOT a founder of this beautiful guild.... And far from a god...

There are a lot of older member and far better cartographists than me... and far better with computer too.

Redrobes is the webmaster here, and he's very good with 3D. I think if you go in this section of the forum, you'll find true specialists and far more good advisers.

Me, I'm just an enthousiast ... I really love what you achieved, and I'd be quite proud to make 3D drawings that would be half as good as yours.

[rpglandmaps]

put a promo video on youtube �� recomed volume (esp if you like gritty music)

[rpglandmaps]

A few in game pics


Across the bridge and into the town, just dont look over the edge.


and even though the party split up, i could zoom out and keep track of who was where


and every now and then it just lines up with the perspective

but i now need to draw up the Blue Forest

[rpglandmaps]

Update to Map Application control to support dual display, marker locations and GM/DM notes.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/update-to-and-30314056

[rpglandmaps]

The Town of Norye

Past the Old Tollgate Bridge near the mouth of the great north river lies the town of Norye. Its high walls rise from the rocky peninsula at the furthest edge of the kingdom and the only safe harbour for many miles. But all goods need to be hoisted up high by the cranes from the harbour below,

Its ruled over by four harsh elven lords that control all trade and tax heaverly, so do not forget to get your permits from the Town Guild Hall, or they might throw you from the walls into the sea.



See for more info https://www.patreon.com/posts/30642876

If you support this now you will access to ALL past map tiles, and the windows App.

And remember the first map "The Village of Ryegat" was FULLY available to all levels so you can see the animated tiles and try out the app (not the app is full games engine and thus requires a reasonably Windows PC spec, I hope one day to support mac and linux)

Many Thanks

[Badger]

WOW. You do so much work for your players. They should pay you money to play at that game, LOL

Great job. It is all just so much great work. I would love to have a projector for my D&D table, but alas, we just play on a simple hexagonal play map that I draw the dungeon/city they are battling in/on.

Keep up the good work brother!!

Del