June / July '15 Lite Challenge: Halarnoth (The Shattered Isles)

[Shall Teclex]

I feel your pain, Wolram. I had my share of perspective fails in past - devoting many hours of work to a picture (or a map), only to realize eventually that my perspective is not consistent at all...

But I don't think you have to change your whole map. I've been looking at it more carefully, both zoomed in and out, and it seems to me that your Shattered Isles are seen from a three point perspective (with a third vanishing point somewhere bellow the Arvascr island and a bit eccentric), not from an isometric point of view. Maybe my perception is deceiving me, but the shapes of the landmasses work for me when I look at them, it's the tree/pillar on the central island of Arvascr that's confusing my brain...So, instead of going over 70 layers again, why don't you try to redraw just the pillar of Svargoroth, but this time in a three point perspective, and see if the result is satisfying to you? I'm guessing that it's only one layer, but it seems that it's the crucial one - if you get the perspective of the center of the map right, everything else might finally fit together.

I still think The Halarnoth is a beautiful map, and I would like to see it finished...

[Wolram]

Thanks for the feedback on perspective, I really do appreciate people taking the time to have a look!

I've got 3 layers for the pillar, line, colour and lighting. (A bit OTT?) I'm trying to be strict with my photoshop layers and putting everything in folders, it's just getting huge though!

I think you are right, To be honest I think that pillar is going to go, like the tree! I keep changing my mind. There's so much focus on that area that whatever goes there has to be done well!

I think part of the problem could have come from working at different zoom levels, I rushed into this one a bit quick I think. I'll see what I can do before the competition ends, would be nice to get this sorted out.

[ChickPea]

I actually hadn't noticed the perspective thing until it was pointed out. I'm not sure if my own map might have it's own issues, so you have my sympathy. Perspective is hard, and I know exactly what you mean about working zoomed in and sorta losing track of the Big Picture.

One little thing I noticed is the accented letter 'u' in your title. Don't know if you've noticed it or not, but I think the font you're using doesn't have that letter in its character set, so your system has substituted something else? Certainly, it looks less ornate than the other letters. I come across this issue often, as I tend to use a lot of (corrupted) gaelic words in my maps, and these often have accents, and a lot of free fonts around the web don't offer accented letters. I tend to just use the regular letter than create the accent myself, usually by finding a font that has accents that look like they might fit, then deleting everything except the accent. (It's just easier that way!)

[Wolram]

Fairly minor changes, mostly colour and shading.

I've wiped out the pillar, I kept making it worse!

Instead I thought of a mysteriously deep lake, where the rivers of the mountain run into, but the water level never rises! It leads to a series of underground caverns and joins to the sea underground!

I've had a play with the reflections on the sea, so they look like they are picking up the waves more.

Also added some cloud shadows, and generally darkened the outsides of the map to try and put focus more on the centre.

### Latest WIP ###

[Meshon]

Great lake! I think you could obscure the underwater parts of the cliffs in that lake a bit more though, zoomed out it looked a little bit like a blue coloured pit. I'm loving the progress, especially around that central feature, it's just such a great example of how mapart happens I think.
"There will be a thing here"
"The thing here is a tree"
"Hmmm, actually it's a pillar"
"Ah, that's, what it was supposed to be. A lake!"
And then all of a sudden you get the whole underground realm too. It's like writing, when little things come out of your work and surprise you.

I like the poem a lot. Did I mention that yet? Lots of worthy discipline in your work here Wolram.

cheers,
Meshon

[Bogie]

Love the new coloring and the lake. Minor glitch on the coast below the PLAINS OF TULINOR there are some unnatural straight gray edges over the cliffs.

[ChickPea]

The lake looks fab! Love it.

[Wolram]

Again, thanks for the feedback chaps.

Well spotted on those glitches Bogie, I think I've picked them all up now. Meshon I've tried to show the reflections a bit stronger on the lake to hopefully show it better as water. Chickpea I fixed the U, well spotted! I could keep going for months on this, but deadlines are the point of competitions right!?

Here is the finished map for the competition, and my second completed map!

### Winner ###



And some background text for anyone interested.

Ūs Lor Vascrin or "The Broken Isles", (known as Halarnoth by the more civilized folk to the North); was pushed out from beneath the sea by A cataclysmic super volcano, which in turn lead to a period of heightened tectonic activity. The land was crumpled up by the force of the volcano, creating the rounded shape of the land. The Evatarn, or "Eternal Lake" leads deep into the caverns where lava once flowed, and a huge naturally pressurized underground system drains the lake into the sea, so the level of the lake is always constant. (...Yes, Like a giant toilet...)

The mountains to the south hold back freezing cold winds of the south, and rain on the mountains as snow and ice. but their weather impact is two fold, as they also circulate warm air from the north over a great circular tide around Arvascr, (Sort of like the gulf stream), which allows warm air to come further south. The strong tide around Arvascr (Similar to that found around Antarctica) makes navigating and sailing particularly difficult, and only the most skilled and experienced mariners dare to travel there! Though few have successfully arrived at Arvascr, and what is known of that place is only by rumor.

The local culture/religion explains the formation of the land through a battle of Gods of Earth, sea and air. (a triumvirate of elements inspired by the celtic culture where everything always comes in 3's!)

The poem tells the tale of the people who dared to colonize the violent and active land, to reap the benefits of rich fertile soil (Brought about by the volcanic ash). They defied the elements to have a land of their own, but during that time, political boundaries are still early in their formation, and disputes over island territories are set to kick off. Precious metals and exotic stone are the other core value of these islands, brought from deep beneath the earth and shrouded in mystery and superstition. (Some of which are rather pretty)

While the people living in Halimrith to the north worry over what lies behind the walls of Bendinar, they remain unaware of the strength of the people of Halarnoth, who have grown tough in their defiance of the violent land, and a lifetime of constant struggle!

That is all.


P.S The image above the correct one, not the attached thumbnail. I don't know how to delete the thumbnail version...