# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > Dungeon/Subterranean Mapping >  "Spectres & Shadows"  dungeon 1

## Caenwyr

"Schimmen & Schaduwen" is a Belgian fantasy RPG dating all the way back to 1989 (I was just 5 years old back then...). The guys behind the game call themselves The Wise Tree. They publish several books until about the mid 90s, when they inevitably get entangled in the wonderful distractions of the real world. The game never dies, however. In the early 2000s, they scan the books, rework them and publish the content free of charge as a series of PDFs. You can still download them here (if you happen to read Dutch). 

Recently however one of the original developers decided to completely overhaul the game, adapt it to the modern times and republish it in English. That edition of the game will be called "Spectres & Shadows". It's not finished yet, but what's there already is seriously awesome. The new game will be funded through Kickstarter, and to make things really attractive from the get go, he decided to team up with his old buddies and attract a cartographer to revamp the old dungeon maps. And that's where I got involved. 

So yeah, I'm now drawing the first of five dungeon maps! Below is the sketch provided by The Wise Tree:



Which I first turned into this isometric "blueprint" :



And which I'm currently turning into an actual dungeon map:

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## Bogie

Congrats on the commission, looking good!

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## Adfor

Really glad they're allowing you to share this as it's developed. Digging what you have so far, more please!

Cheers!

IR

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## Caenwyr

Thanks guys! Glad you like it so far! 

In the meantime I've been able to finalise the linework, and the next step now is to start colouring and shading this beast! Since there's not gonna be many light sources and I still have to keep it readable, this might turn out to be something of a challenge... but what's a map without a challenge, right?  :Wink:

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## Caenwyr

Alright, here's a first splash of colour!

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## Caenwyr

Alright, and here's shading!

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## Caenwyr

Next step: an inset showing the other end of the portal.



This is getting pretty close to completion!

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## Bogie

The lighting is fantastic!

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## ThomasR

I've already said that there's a comics vibe coming from your maps and that's especially palpable with the little characters. I' love what you have here and I'd love to see you try a CMYK palette to reinforce the BD look  :Wink:

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## XCali

Stares in awe...

Magnificent. Wow.

(Only feedback, the white background is distracting.)

Still, you are legit.

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## Caenwyr

> The lighting is fantastic!


Thanks Bogie! I spent a fair deal of time on it, but I'm glad it's working! 




> I've already said that there's a comics vibe coming from your maps and that's especially palpable with the little characters. I' love what you have here and I'd love to see you try a CMYK palette to reinforce the BD look


Thanks Thomas! I'm not actively trying to emulate that style, but I definitely read a ton of French and Belgian comics back in the day. I was absolutely fascinated by the adventures of "Spike & Suzy" (I just found out that's what they're called in English, even though we tend to call them "Suske & Wiske"!), and a fair amount of other comics as well. They must have trickled down from my kiddy years I guess!




> Stares in awe...
> 
> Magnificent. Wow.
> 
> (Only feedback, the white background is distracting.)
> 
> Still, you are legit.


Thanks XCali! The white background is there simply so client can afterwards plonk in whichever background they like. But I did experiment with a parchment version for a bit, as you can see below. Oh, and I added labels, and an actual title!!

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## bkh1914

This looks Great!

The off-white background makes it a lot easier on the eyes.

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## Caenwyr

A teeny tiny update: a different title! And if client gives their stamp of approval, this one is finished!

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## arsheesh

Ooh, this looks fatnastic so far.  It's going to be a beauty.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

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## damonjynx

If the rest of the maps in the book are half as good as this, I'd buy the book for the maps alone! This is really, really good!

Questions, questions, questions:

How long do you think this took you to do? i'm assuming you use Ps or GIMP, at what resolution do you work - the detail is phenomenal?

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## Caenwyr

> If the rest of the maps in the book are half as good as this, I'd buy the book for the maps alone! This is really, really good!
> 
> Questions, questions, questions:
> 
> How long do you think this took you to do? i'm assuming you use Ps or GIMP, at what resolution do you work - the detail is phenomenal?


Hey Damon, first of all: thanks a lot! So happy to hear you like what you see!

Not sure exactly how long it took me to map this place. I've been thinking of timing my work for a while now, but when I actually begin, I always forget (or just decide not to because of all the hastle). I tend to spend about ten to fifteen hours a week on this mapping business, and I believe this one took me a little over two weeks, maybe three-ish? So anywhere between 20 and 45 hours for this particular one. 

I do all of my work in Photoshop, on a (rapidly aging, but still functional) Surface Pro 3 tablet with touch screen. I draw with a stylus directly on the screen, which has its advantages over drawing tablets such as the old Wacom Bamboo I still have lying around somewhere (I bought it in 2013!). It just feels more direct, since you're seeing the result of your work right where you're actually working. Plus, this setup allows me to just throw my tablet in a backpack and draw while I'm on the move. I can even draw with one hand and hold the tablet in the other if I really have to, but that really stretches the limits of what's possible (using keyboard shortcuts is nigh-on impossible that way). Mostly I draw my maps while commuting to and from work, squeezed between my fellow commuters. Which actually works!

However, one big advantage of the drawing tablets is that you can view the entire image, none of it is blocked by your hand, which in some cases can be really helpful. So if you tend to work at a desk and you have desk space to spare, this is still a very good alternative. Also, if you already have a computer, a drawing tablet is super cheap compared to buying a new touch-enabled tablet computer. You should be able to find one for a little over 100 bucks. 

And seriously, whichever option you pick: drawing with a stylus is orders of magnitude better than using a mouse. Mice are perfect for clicking buttons and selecting text, but little more. Go for a stylus!  :Very Happy:

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## damonjynx

> Hey Damon, first of all: thanks a lot! So happy to hear you like what you see!...
> 
> And seriously, whichever option you pick: drawing with a stylus is orders of magnitude better than using a mouse. Mice are perfect for clicking buttons and selecting text, but little more. Go for a stylus!


Hi Caenwyr, you're very welcome.

Couldn't agree more re tablet versus mouse. I'm currently using a Huion 1610 Pro on a 12 year old iMac that's had an upgrade to 5mb of RAM - don't get too excited now at that vast number, and the hard drive replaced with a 750gb SSD. I think my OS is El Capitan or some such. My son,  started a graphics design course in his early 20's not long after we got the computer and got Adobe Creative Suite 4 at the student price and that's what I use, Ps, Ai and occasionally Indesign. 

Would I like to upgrade, hell yeah. But until my RPG freelancing covers the cost of a subscription/dedicated graphics tablet it won't be happening...

Cheers, and keep up the excellent work!

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## LunaticDesign

Really cool, I love the lighting and it's interesting to see where things start and where they can go from there.

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## danteinmix

Hi Caenwyr, nice dungeon. Could you tell me what program or software do you use to make the 3D map? I am also designer and really like dungeon board games with minis. My hooby is crafting board games for my adventures. Thanks!

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## Caenwyr

> Hi Caenwyr, nice dungeon. Could you tell me what program or software do you use to make the 3D map? I am also designer and really like dungeon board games with minis. My hooby is crafting board games for my adventures. Thanks!


Hey Lunatic! (that sounds weird but I love it!) Thanks for asking! I use Photoshop for all of my maps, and very little else. I basically started with a square grid, transformed it so it became an ISO grid instead, and drew everything on top of that.

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## LunaticDesign

And yet quite fitting!

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