Alycrau

[- JO -]

Hello !

I hope I'm doing this right... I've read the rules, but I'm not sure I understood them all..

I'll try anyway : here's the latest map I've done. I hope you'll enjoy it.



Alycrau

It was at the beginning of the world, when there was still only a sea on Nossym. The Gods had asked the giants to shape the world. Every tribe made it for its image.

The tribe of the giants of the South took its time. Every tree, every brook, every hill, every mountain was thought, shaped, sculptured. Every member of the tribe put it all its heart. It was not only the beauty of every element which imported, but also its harmony, there way it resounded with the other elements. The place of every thing was thought, reflected. But it took time.

They had shaped only the island of Marreic, that the other giant's tribes had already created continents entirely.

The east tribe had already raised the chains of the ice-cold mountains of Kara Dag, the valley of Eirroc and the mounts of Altra Dag ... Then they had levelled the desert of Agadur. They had sculptured Elke Dag's mounts, in the South of the desert in a vertiginous speed and moved forward westward.

Their work was not ugly, the fertile plain of Illirag in the South of mounts Elke Dag was made a success enough. But elements were rough, abrupt. There was no harmony. Rivers opposed plains and overflowed regularly. Mountains were dangerous, the collapses were frequent. The desert offered no peculiarity on thousands of miles. The climate was rough.

The east tribe pursued its advance westward, and went from now on to the island of Marreic. The tribe of the South did not look favourably on this advance. They did not want that their works, so different, be invaded by the one from the east. To avoid the conflict, they asked for the arbitration of the Gods. But we know that the time of the Gods is not the one of the Giants and even less that of the Men. The Gods had not made their verdict yet that the first mounts of Elke Dag appeared to the horizon of the island of Marreic.

In front of the silence of the Gods, by despair, to protect their work, the tribe of the South took a resolution. They chose the biggest and the strongest of them. A giant named Crau. They sent him through what we call today the strait of Marreic with an immense axe, forged by the most skillful of the giants of the South. He reached the most westerly point of the construction site of the eastern giants, took place in front of the last shaped mountain and all at once, he split it in two. The mountain parted in two as a log and half lay down in the sea, by forming an island.
Crau promised to the east tribe that any other assembly shaped on the West by this one would undergo the same fate.

Giant ignored everything of the war, they were not one ounce of aggressiveness. The gesture of Crau surprised everybody, included the Gods and the story of the split mountain traveled the world as a shock wave. The silence reigned there for a while, before slowly, giants' tribes resume their work.

Bewilder, the east tribe résumés its work northward, leaving the mountain split by Crau as the most westerly point of the mountains of Elke Dag. It took the name of Alycrau - the blow of Crau.

As for the giants of the South, the y stopped widening the island of Marreic and spent the rest of the Time of the Giants to perfect their work. What makes that still today, the Island of Marreic is thought of as the most beautiful place of Nossym

Excuse my english.. not my first language...

[ChickPea]

Nice work on this. I like the harbour area especially. I have to confess I'm not quite as fond of the terrain near the top of the map, but the town area looks really good. Have some rep!

[- JO -]

Thanks a lot ! I draw the boats on photoshop... I think some of them are looking good, but I should work again on some others..

May I ask what disturbed you with the terrain on the top of the map ? Is it the trees ? or the terrain with the shadows ?

Anyway, thanks for the rep !

[ChickPea]

I'm not really a fan of that bump map texture look in general (this is entirely a personal taste thing with me) however I also feel it doesn't entirely work with the style of the rest of the map. Your trees look good within the town area but they don't feel quite right against the larger terrain areas, in my opinion. The background makes them look a little cartoon-ish and it clashes with the terrain style. I also feel that your cliffs would benefit from some linework to define them, rather than just a change in colour.

Only my subjective opinion, of course, but those are the issues that stuck out to me. I'd love to see this with a different terrain style outside of the town areas.

[- JO -]

Thanks a lot for your input... I'm not a big fan of those trees too, but it's not really great without them.. it's a bit empty. I should look for another solution (different trees, maybe ? or smaller shadow for them ?)

For the cliff, your remark is interesting : the original version of my map includes contour lines, to strenghten the cliffs. Is it what you had in mind when you say "linework" ? Or is it something else ?
Anyway, I should publish this version, to compare

And I did not understand what you meant by "bump map texture look" Is it the texture itself or the illusion of topography and altitude given by the shadows ?

Thanks a lot for your remarks and for your time : I'm eager to improve my work.

[Abu Lafia]

I really like the city layout you have here, looks very interesting! I kinda agree with ChickPea about the forests and the terrain in the north. For me it's mainly about the type of green of the trees. Maybe you could just make them a bit darker like the trees/bushes(?) inside the city (which i prefer regarding their shape btw.)? Also, the terrain/cliffs looks partly a bit too "straight" and thereby unnatural to me. Maybe you could make the transition between grass and cliffs less sharp.
Btw. I love those fortified terraces with the buildings on. Great idea!
EDIT: Sorry, thought the map would be still in progress after following your conversation with ChickPea. Maybe the hints help for future maps nonetheless!

[- JO -]

Thanks for your post ! I know I put that map in "finished maps", but I still can work on it.
It's the first map I "publish", I had no idea if someone would find it interesting.
I'll definitely try different trees (colors and shape), with less shadow.
For the terrain in the north, actually I have three textures : grass (green), rock (light grey) and cliff (black). Sorry but I don't understand "straight" (my first language is french). Do you mean that the transitions are too abrupt ? or the textures are too unatural ?

Anyway your advices are much apreciated !

[WghstrfG]

Nice work, i like the details. Is it the last version ?

[- JO -]

Thanks a lot !

It should be the final version, but I'm listening to comments and ready to change whatever needs to be changed.

Have a nice day !!

[- JO -]

That should be the last version...