# Community Participation > Mapping Challenge Archive >  January Entry: The Lost Continent

## bryguy

Right now this is gonna be a placeholder for my project  :Smile: 

Heres a picture of a book while u wait  :Smile:

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## MarkusTay

Great book!

I love the details - where'd you get those realistic textures?   :Razz:

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## bryguy

LOL I found the picture on the web, and decided to be random and post the picture  :Laughing:

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## bryguy

Okay finally have my entry ready. Just for the heck of it, (mostly cause I feel like doing it) Im gonna add a backstory  :Smile: 


Backstory:

Recently earthquakes off the coast of Australia have broken up some of the Great Barrier Reef. Soon after, couple of deep sea divers came across an old wooden chest, covered in gold, stuck under dead coral. Upon bringing it ashore, they discovered that its contents were ancient tools,  silver and gold coins with strange markings, and  a book, containing information of a lost continent. Nobody knows where the chest came from, but there are rumors of it being from a lost civilization. Scientists do not know the exact age of the chest or its contents, but they estimate it at being over 5000 years old. Australian officials are currently looking in to the authenticity of the items.


Not the best backstory, but I like it  :Smile: 

Ive scaled down the image to  1000x1000 just to make sure it fits  :Smile: 

Comments and suggestions are welcome

Crabs are from the Dundjinni forums

### Latest WIP ###

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## Steel General

You latest WIP looks amazingly like your signature  :Very Happy: 
(yes I'm being a smart-ass, but all in good fun)

Did you forget to upload the file?

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## bryguy

> You latest WIP looks amazingly like your signature 
> (yes I'm being a smart-ass, but all in good fun)
> 
> Did you forget to upload the file?


 :Razz: 

yea it appears I did forget.... or hit the wrong submit button... I keep doing that  :Confused: 


Guess I better upload it.. And I notice a couple of mistakes I made in my backstory...  :Confused:

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## MarkusTay

I like the style so far, and I LOVE the backstory.

Hmmmm... maybe I should do a back-story...

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## Rahva

This might just be me and my 2-3 years of conspiracy theory craziness talking, but Atlantish just sounds like somebody with a lisp wrote it instead of an alternate name.  :Razz:  Also I don't think anyone's put Atlantis (gah, I typed Atlantish there, thank you!) near Australia before, but god knows there's hardly an official site for it.
Ahem.
As for the map itself, I think the book effect is very nice. If you're still looking to improve it, you could add some variety in the pages. Another thing is the map continues in a straight line past the center of the book. I'm not too sure if it should curve inward on a top-down view, but the image should be ... I don't know, pinched? I'm not sure how to describe this (or how to do it) but the page curves downward, so there ought to be a chunk of land 'missing' or distorted. I hope it's clear what I mean  :Very Happy:  Another another thing is the shadow for the center of the book could be a bit darker.
I think the wood could be a bit more on the yellow side of brown/orange/ochre, and maybe make the pattern a little bigger...

Anyway, I do like the map, please don't get me wrong. These are just some suggestions. I really like the idea though, and the book idea is pretty awesome and well done.

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## bryguy

@--> MarkusTay


Thanks  :Smile: 



@--> Rahva

LOL sorry about that, didnt mean to make u right Atlantish  :Smile: 

and its actually Atlan Tish, just that may be hard to tell

Did I say that Atlan Tish was near there? All I said was that that was where the chest was found  :Wink: 

Yea I was feeling lazy and just copied the same page alot of times. I may or may not try adding some variety to them.

Good eye catching that! I should have realized that the image would curve with the book! It will be hard to fix that, so I dont know if Ill be able to, as the picture is about 12 different layers, and for some if I merge them down they disappear.... Ill try my best tho  :Smile: 

Okay sure I can try to make that darker, and Im playing around with the wood, as I dont really care for it as is.

Thanks Rahva  :Smile: 


Edit: Oh and just to clear it up, this may or may not be Atlantis, and it may or may not be found on australia of our earth  :Smile:  

Plz dont compare it to Atlantis  :Smile:

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## Rahva

> Edit: Oh and just to clear it up, this may or may not be Atlantis, and it may or may not be found on australia of our earth  
> 
> Plz dont compare it to Atlantis


Alright, I'll keep my mouth shut about that  :Smile:  You are right it's kind of hard to tell that there are two words. Anyway, no problem.  :Very Happy:

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## bryguy

> Alright, I'll keep my mouth shut about that  You are right it's kind of hard to tell that there are two words. Anyway, no problem.


yea Ill make it more like 2 words  :Smile: 

and its okay, my original idea was Atlantis, but I decided to modify it so that its a continent that may or may not be Atlantis, and that may or may not be from our earth  :Smile: 



lol I just realized that as a book, it has very few words..... maybe i should fix that  :Confused:   :Very Happy:

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## Ascension

Finish the map part first then merge those layers together so that when you get around to distorting it to fit the curvature it will distort everything and you won't have to do every layer and possibly mess something up.

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## bryguy

> Finish the map part first then merge those layers together so that when you get around to distorting it to fit the curvature it will distort everything and you won't have to do every layer and possibly mess something up.


tried it, but merging it ruins some things, like the ocean and the land, so that it doesnt look good at all  :Frown: 


oh well, Ill probably eventually find a way  :Smile:

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## Steel General

Ahhh nice to see the actual file now  :Razz: 

The book is a nice touch, will be keeping an eye (maybe even both) on your progress.

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## bryguy

Figured out a way to make the picture bend with the page  :Smile:  I dont really care for the effect myself. Ill show u what it looks like when Ive finished the map so that everything with it will be updated

@--> Steel General

Lol yea it is nice to be able to see it, isn't it? lol

Hope you run into a wall while your keeping your eye (or maybe both) on it!

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## Nomadic

The edge of the page looks a bit pixelated but I will just chalk that up to low resolution for now. Otherwise it looks really awesome. Just one question, if it's 5,000 years old... why is it marked in modern English letters (and using English words like port)?

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## bryguy

> The edge of the page looks a bit pixelated but I will just chalk that up to low resolution for now. Otherwise it looks really awesome. Just one question, if it's 5,000 years old... why is it marked in modern English letters (and using English words like port)?


hmm... good point


Ill see about changing the font to make it look more ancient  :Smile:  

Maybe the Tengwar font? it looks sorta elvish, and u cant understand a word of it  :Smile:

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## mmmmmpig

I recommend taking/finding some high resolution images of woodgrain/wooden tables and using it as a background instead of the seemless tile woodgrain...  The background feels a bit out of plcae compared to the slickness of the rest of the image

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## bryguy

> I recommend taking/finding some high resolution images of woodgrain/wooden tables and using it as a background instead of the seemless tile woodgrain...  The background feels a bit out of plcae compared to the slickness of the rest of the image


yea Ive been working on the background, and made a new table one, but if nobody likes it then Ill take a picture of one of the tables around my house, all of them are wooden  :Smile:

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## bryguy

Okay made some adjustments  :Smile: 


 Changed the wood background to a custom made one (does it look better?), made it so u cant see the corner of the map through the crabs, added mountains, added a picture in the left corner (just in case your wondering what it is, its the Throne of the Sea King), added words to make it more like a book (no they are not actually meant to be read), and added shading to the pages. I added the shading just as a last thought, cause I realized that when books pages curve like the ones in my book do, then the page(s) are probably lifted up a bit, so their should be shading.


So yea, hope it looks better  :Smile:  

### Latest WIP ###

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## Steel General

This looks really nice Bryguy...great job!

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## Ascension

Yeah, looks real nice.  I still think that the page edges need some work, they kind of stand out when seen with the rest.  They're too much like copies of the top one, moved over a bit.  Not sure how to fix that other than by hand but the rest is great and I'd hate to see people downgrade it 'cuz of the edges.

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## Nomadic

> Yeah, looks real nice.  I still think that the page edges need some work, they kind of stand out when seen with the rest.  They're too much like copies of the top one, moved over a bit.  Not sure how to fix that other than by hand but the rest is great and I'd hate to see people downgrade it 'cuz of the edges.


That is a good point and I would have to agree. The pages look too uniform. Perhaps add some tears and some shape differences between them (and maybe just a little more anti-aliasing to the edges to soften them up).

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## Steel General

Or even a bit of burn on some of them to show additional aging?

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## Rahva

Nice touch on the strange writing, it does make more sense that a completely foreign/alien culture would not use the roman script. I agree with the others about the page edges, but the curvature of the book looks pretty awesome now  :Smile: 
I'm not sure I mentioned this in my first reply but I love the little crabs too.

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## Hoel

It looks a bit elvish around the ears.
Tengwar?

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## bryguy

@--> Steel/Nomadic/Ascension


Yea I think Im gonna try to redo the pages so that they are not all exactly the same, just moved over a bit  :Smile:  

Antialiasing is probably a good idea, and I like the idea of burn and such on some  :Smile: 

So different types of pages, burns, cuts/tears, did i get all of it?


@-->Rahva

Thanks  :Smile:  

@--> Hoel

Yep, it is  :Smile: 

Found it while searching for a good font the other day, and I loved the look of it so I downloaded and installed it  :Smile: 

Thanks for the comments guys, Ill fix the pages tomorrow  :Smile:

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## Hoel

Not to be elitist or mean or anything, but I think tengwar is kind of over used. It looks great, I love it myself, but I wouldn't use it for anything non-tolkien related. 
There's less recognizable and less used fonts out there.
Maybe i'm just a bit nerdy, I guess a trekkie would way the same if you used klingon letters...
Your map is very good and I like what you've done with the book.

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## bryguy

> Not to be elitist or mean or anything, but I think tengwar is kind of over used. It looks great, I love it myself, but I wouldn't use it for anything non-tolkien related. 
> There's less recognizable and less used fonts out there.
> Maybe i'm just a bit nerdy, I guess a trekkie would way the same if you used klingon letters...
> Your map is very good and I like what you've done with the book.


thanks  :Smile: 


I guess I can try out some other types of fonts to, just to see what they look like. I have an Aurek besh font stored away somewhere, along with a star gate Guo'old one. Ill browse around and try things out to see if anything works better  :Smile: 

edit: found some at dafont that look cool

http://www.dafont.com/theme.php?cat=...ge=1&nb_ppp=50

http://www.dafont.com/theme.php?cat=...ge=1&nb_ppp=20

First is some ancient looking ones, second is just foreign. I prefer Elvish Ring, Sanguinas Curae, Alphabet of the Magi, Tengwar Gandalf and Tengwar Teleri and Tengwar Noldor

Oh so many good ones... which do u guys think would look best? if u want, I can put up a version with all of them or different versions for each one.

For some reason I just love the tengwar fonts  :Smile:

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## bryguy

Okay Ive redone the pages, and I think they look much better  :Smile:  

I could hardly tell the individual pages apart from one another on the right side, so I gave them  a slight drop shadow on the right. 

I also scaled down the text at the bottom (it may be a little blurry, but that happened when I scaled it down to 1000x1000) , since it wouldnt fit at the size it had been with the new pages. 


Havent had time to try out different fonts yet, but Ill do that in the next version  :Smile:  

Now I have to get off for a bit, but Ill get back to work on it later  :Smile: 

edit: ah i think i figured out why some of it is blurry. I think I used the wrong type of scaling, and the type i used blurred it  :Frown: 

Also, I forgot the Latest WIP thing..

### Latest WIP ###

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## Steel General

I'll echo myself from post #21...




> This looks really nice Bryguy...great job!

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## Karro

It looks pretty darn good.  The only comment I have, and I know this would be hard to do, is that for a an old book just laying open, the lines of the map and the text are _awfully_ straight.  It looks like if I hold a ruler up to the computer screen, the text and other lines will line right up.  This makes it look not so much like it's following the curve of the page.

I'm not sure how I'd do it, myself (I think there are some hints on it in RobA's GIMP tutorial on how to do distortion, if you're using GIMP) but it looks like they could use some kind of distortion.

You mention that it doesn't look right if you flatten it.  Are you flattening in the right order?  If you flatten your layers in the wrong order, you lose some effects, but in the right order and everything is preserved.  IIRC, you have to flatten from top to bottom.

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## bryguy

> It looks pretty darn good.  The only comment I have, and I know this would be hard to do, is that for a an old book just laying open, the lines of the map and the text are _awfully_ straight.  It looks like if I hold a ruler up to the computer screen, the text and other lines will line right up.  This makes it look not so much like it's following the curve of the page.
> 
> I'm not sure how I'd do it, myself (I think there are some hints on it in RobA's GIMP tutorial on how to do distortion, if you're using GIMP) but it looks like they could use some kind of distortion.
> 
> You mention that it doesn't look right if you flatten it.  Are you flattening in the right order?  If you flatten your layers in the wrong order, you lose some effects, but in the right order and everything is preserved.  IIRC, you have to flatten from top to bottom.


Yea I know it is awfully straight. Im trying to think of a good way to fix it. For the text, I might just make a path and set the text to path, but the image is harder, as it doesnt look very good when I do it....  :Confused: 

I think I gave the wrong impression, what I meant was what I have to do to get it to a size this site will accept is to save it as a .png, and then open the .png in GIMP and scale it down to 1000x1000. This last time I did it I used the wrong type of scaling (I have been using cubic scaling, as when making images smaller it keeps all the detail) so it ended up slightly blurry at parts. 

Thanks for the comments Karro  :Smile:

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## jfrazierjr

Personally, I would go with one of the runic looking fonts, with hard sharp angles and no curves.   Rune is one I kind of like.  Of course.... if you really wanna go overboard, perhaps you could do it in binary or mathematical language other than Base10 for the "letters".

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## Karro

> Yea I know it is awfully straight. Im trying to think of a good way to fix it. For the text, I might just make a path and set the text to path, but the image is harder, as it doesnt look very good when I do it.... 
> 
> I think I gave the wrong impression, what I meant was what I have to do to get it to a size this site will accept is to save it as a .png, and then open the .png in GIMP and scale it down to 1000x1000. This last time I did it I used the wrong type of scaling (I have been using cubic scaling, as when making images smaller it keeps all the detail) so it ended up slightly blurry at parts. 
> 
> Thanks for the comments Karro



Hmm.  Not experienced enough with GIMP to know how to handle this.

No prob on the comments.  Your's is easily in my top 5 for this month!

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## bryguy

@--> Jfrazierjr

Yea Im thinking I might go with something like that, probably The Alphabet of the Magi or Tengwar Noldor. 

@--> Karro 

Yea trying out the text to path, it keeps messing up my computer, so I dont think that will work. Ill probably have to import parts of it into Inkscape to get the curves on the stuff, if I can find it/remember how to use it


And Im glad Ill be on someones top 5  :Very Happy:

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## RobA

Try this as a displacement map on the page:


(You will have to scale it to cover the text and image)

Set it to y only, and as large as you want.

-Rob A>

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## Ascension

Alphabet of the Magi is one of my all time favorites for rune looking things that don't look like Norse or Ultima.  I used it in my entry on the CWBP in the frame.  Elven Common Speak is also one I use a heckuva lot cuz it looks so spidery.  The pages kick butt now, good job.

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## bryguy

@--> RobA

How do I set it as a displacement map? Ive never done displacement maps before....


@--> Ascension


Yea trying it out on the map it looks sweeeeeeeeeet  :Smile: 

Although it causes me to need to alter some things with the text to make room for it, but I think it looks sw(e to the 10 power)t

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## jfrazierjr

> @--> RobA
> 
> How do I set it as a displacement map? Ive never done displacement maps before....


Filters->Map->Displace.  Then choose the layer with the image Rob provided.

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## bryguy

Thanks Jfrazierjr  :Smile:  


Thanks for telling me to do that RobA  :Smile: 

G2g, but will post update in morning

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## jfrazierjr

> Thanks Jfrazierjr


Your welcome.  The Displace filter is a great tool.  really nice with a high noise layer to make lines not appear to be perfect which gives them a bit more hand drawn look.  One good example of it's use is for making "tiles" is to create a grid and then a high noise and displace the grid against the noise layer.  It makes the normally straight grid lines kind of jaggy (but you have to be careful to make sure all the bits are still connected to the main line, so don't move the displace very much at all.)

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## bryguy

Cool, guess Ill have to start experimenting with it  :Smile:  


Before yesterday, I had never used it, as I didnt know u needed an image to  use for it  :Smile: 


Changed the font to Alphabet of the Magi and used the displace tool on all the map objects  :Smile: 


### Latest WIP ###

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## Karro

> Cool, guess Ill have to start experimenting with it  
> 
> 
> Before yesterday, I had never used it, as I didnt know u needed an image to  use for it 
> 
> 
> Changed the font to Alphabet of the Magi and used the displace tool on all the map objects 
> 
> 
> ### Latest WIP ###


Very cool.  The curve on the page now looks great, and the lines aren't unnaturally straight-looking.  The font is Fantastic.  

I've already repped you once for the map, so I can't rep you again just yet, but nice job, just the same.

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## Nomadic

Well I can, so have some rep. That is an excellent job you've done there. I myself can't see anything else you need to improve.

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## Ascension

The only thing I can think of is maybe put some clipart stuff in the open spaces around the borders of the pages...big maybe, I dunno.  I love the lil fiddlers and the pages are now probably the strongest part of the whole thing after starting out the weakest (IMO).  Good job.

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## Nomadic

ooo wait, I do see one thing. The crabs up top look a bit funny, you might want to swap them and rotate to fit so they look right-side up.

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## bryguy

@--> Ascension

Do u mean to put something on more on the table, or on the open space between the map and the pages?

@--> Nomadic

I dont really see what your talking about. Do u mean that they look like they are lying on their backs to u? if so I dont see it

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## Nomadic

They look like they are upside down. Rotating them won't help since they will look like they are on their side. So you will have to swap them to opposite sides and then rotate them right side up.

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## bryguy

still not seeing it, they look upright to me

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## Nomadic

The issue is that your crabs are not aligned on the same polar vectors (yes I know crabs aren't planets, but that's not what polar means here  :Razz:  ). This makes it look like one of those weird pictures where things are pointing one way in one area and one way in another area. Below is an example of how this can be fixed by aligning them all in the same direction. This issue arises from the fact that the crabs are seen at an angle (instead of from a true top down orientation). You optionally might try to find/draw some top down versions so that they can be rotated in any direction you want.

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## bryguy

Ah I see now, I just view it a different way then u  :Smile: 

It means Ill have to get the uncurved layer from an earlier version (probably the first), cause to get the line out of the center of the crabs I had to delete that part off of the outline and the water, so flipping it will mean I have to modify that


The bottom might look a little weird tho.. idk


Ill try it out at least  :Smile:

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## Ascension

On the pages themselves...lots of dead space.  I'd either make the map bigger or wider or put some stuff in those dead areas like text or boats or fish or statues or something to fill it up a bit (not overwhelming just a bit of something to fill the space).  If you like it the way it is then, by all means, ignore me  :Smile:

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## ravells

I kinda like the white space myself, really helps with the composition (IMO). If you really want to fill it in maybe some very light, incomplete sketches? Not sure...

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## bryguy

I agree with ravells, I kinda like the white space. I could add stuff in there, but then the map would look crowded, and not be as likeable. I may try some incomplete sketches like ravs suggested, or scale the map a bit to make it take up a bit more room, but idk. Ill experiment around  :Smile:

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## jfrazierjr

> I agree with ravells, I kinda like the white space. I could add stuff in there, but then the map would look crowded, and not be as likeable. I may try some incomplete sketches like ravs suggested, or scale the map a bit to make it take up a bit more room, but idk. Ill experiment around



How about some hand written notes, perhaps with arrows pointing to specific features of the map?

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## bryguy

@--> Nomadic


I cant seem to get the crabs to work like u suggested. I just keep ending up with something that looks horrible or with the same thing as before  :Neutral: 


@--> Jfrazierjr

I dont really understand what your suggesting...

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## jfrazierjr

> @--> Jfrazierjr
> 
> I dont really understand what your suggesting...


In the white space between the map edge and the page edge, if you want to fill that up a bit without expanding the map, you could make some notes in the margin with perhaps some notes with lines pointing to specific features.   think "annotation" in the margin.  If you try that, it would be best done using a tablet if possible and the ink tool in GIMP to get it look hand written since using a font is going to get a consisted width which does not jive much with the hand written look.  You could also use a displace filter on the hand drawn stuff a bit to make it a bit rougher, or even better, use a slight bit of smudge filter to make it look like the ink "ran" in a place or two  (very little rate on the smudge tool, perhaps 35%).    I would even think of using a totally different font as if the book were found by someone else at a later time period and they lost it after the fact.    Think Indie's dad in the third Indiana Jones movie in terms of how there was tons of scribbles in his diary.

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## Korash

> How about some hand written notes, perhaps with arrows pointing to specific features of the map?


I think that this would be a nice addition to the map. Will make it look like someone had the book open to this map for a reason -> making notes on it so they don't forget something they learned or thought of. The arrows would point out the location that the notes apply to.

just a word of warning = The map is real nice as as, but if you go this way DO NOT add too many or you risk drawing the attention away form the map itself.

This is very good work even without the notes though.

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## bryguy

I like the idea of doing that  :Smile: 

But yea, Ill have to make sure it doesnt draw to much attention from the map.  


Maybe if I use one of the fonts that are in one of the links i gave. Maybe one that looks handwritten? that would work well.

Also I could maybe use a large fuzzy eraser with a low opacity to make parts of it look more faded then the rest?

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## jfrazierjr

> I like the idea of doing that 
> 
> But yea, Ill have to make sure it doesnt draw to much attention from the map.  
> 
> 
> Maybe if I use one of the fonts that are in one of the links i gave. Maybe one that looks handwritten? that would work well.


Another thing I just thought of is to incorporate the writing below also.   Perhaps circle certain "words" as if the person making the notes is having trouble figuring out the meaning of certain words (or perhaps trying to figure out if there is actually some type of "code" hidden in the text.)    Anyway, just another thought.




> Also I could maybe use a large fuzzy eraser with a low opacity to make parts of it look more faded then the rest?


Instead of erassing (which means it's GONE), use a layer mask instead.   You might even "erase" some of the words in the description below the map also....

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## bryguy

> Another thing I just thought of is to incorporate the writing below also.   Perhaps circle certain "words" as if the person making the notes is having trouble figuring out the meaning of certain words (or perhaps trying to figure out if there is actually some type of "code" hidden in the text.)    Anyway, just another thought.
> 
> 
> 
> Instead of erassing (which means it's GONE), use a layer mask instead.   You might even "erase" some of the words in the description below the map also....



thats actually a really good idea. Maybe a little bit of fading for the title to?

I like the idea of circling words to  :Smile:

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## Ascension

If this is in PS then just use the blur tool...and I like the idea of notes the best (got a winner there).  The circled words, too, is a good idea...sort of like some lost ancient book and someone is on a quest and needs to decipher it.

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## bryguy

Found a bunch of fonts that might or might not work, but idk which u guys think would be best

http://www.dafont.com/oxford-runes.font?nb_ppp=50&af=on
http://www.dafont.com/tirion-sarati....b_ppp=50&af=on
http://www.dafont.com/tengwar-cursiv...b_ppp=50&af=on
http://www.dafont.com/ultima-runes.font?nb_ppp=50&af=on
http://www.dafont.com/tolkien-dwarf-...b_ppp=50&af=on
http://www.dafont.com/elvish-ring-nfi.font
http://www.dafont.com/tengwar345.font?nb_ppp=50&af=on
http://www.dafont.com/tolkien-dwarf-...b_ppp=50&af=on
http://www.dafont.com/beth-david.font?nb_ppp=50&af=on
http://www.dafont.com/aelfa.font
http://www.dafont.com/rs-moroma.font?nb_ppp=50&af=on

or heres a page with a full list 
http://www.dafont.com/theme.php?cat=...e=m&classt=pop

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## jfrazierjr

> thats actually a really good idea. Maybe a little bit of fading for the title to?
> 
> I like the idea of circling words to



Yea... Think of the original Stargate movie where the one guy got the words just a bit wrong.

For example, if the sentence is "Go through the ______ of the sun" where the blank is either too faded to read or perhaps has not been translated, the notes might be something like:




> portal?
> gate?
> doorway?


in the attempt to try to figure out what the heck it's saying.

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## bryguy

Yea that sounds like a good thing to do  :Smile: 

Im thinking Im probably gonna do either http://www.dafont.com/beth-david.font?nb_ppp=50&af=on or http://www.dafont.com/oxford-runes.font?nb_ppp=50&af=on , as they look the most handwritten. I really like the Beth David one, but it only has capitals, while oxford runes has capitals and lowercase

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## Ascension

Wouldn't the hand-written decipher notes in the margin be written in a more modern language (like English or Russian) rather than an archaic one?  I'd just get a handwritten font and do it that way.  Of course, you could have multiple decipherings in different languages too.

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## jfrazierjr

> Wouldn't the hand-written decipher notes in the margin be written in a more modern language (like English or Russian) rather than an archaic one?  I'd just get a handwritten font and do it that way.  Of course, you could have multiple decipherings in different languages too.


Well... it could go either way.  I think that if he went with the circled words as if someone was trying to decipher the words of the writing then you would be right that an end user probably could not tell that if it was done in yet another alien language.  On the other hand, if it's just notes in the margins in another totally different language, that signifies to me that someone(thing) found it and lost it for a second time.

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## bryguy

> Well... it could go either way.  I think that if he went with the circled words as if someone was trying to decipher the words of the writing then you would be right that an end user probably could not tell that if it was done in yet another alien language.  On the other hand, if it's just notes in the margins in another totally different language, that signifies to me that someone(thing) found it and lost it for a second time.


Yea thats what I was thinking. 


Ive actually been trying to find a good fantasy font that is different than the Alphabet of the Magi font, but leaning more towards a cross between of that and a more english or other language that we are used to font  :Smile: 

So far only good one to me is the Beth David

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## Karro

> Yea thats what I was thinking. 
> 
> 
> Ive actually been trying to find a good fantasy font that is different than the Alphabet of the Magi font, but leaning more towards a cross between of that and a more english or other language that we are used to font 
> 
> So far only good one to me is the Beth David


I'd personally go with a roman font (for English or another modern language), if only because it makes the map useable as more than just an artistic piece (of which, it is a very nice one).

If you decide to go with the "found anciently, partially translated, and lost again" motif instead, I'd vote for the Oxford Runes.  With this one, you get the benefit of actual characters from the language of an old, sea-faring people (the runes at least appear very similar to the norse Futhark runes).  I'm not familiar with the characters used in the Beth David font, although I suppose those might relate to an ancient character set as well.

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## bryguy

You have a good point there. Ill use Oxford Runes


Okay I added 3 notes for now just to show u how it would look, so that if u guys do like it i can add more, and if u dont i can remove them. I dont care for the notes myself that much, but I do like the fading on the words

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## Nomadic

I don't really like how it turned out (but I don't think you need to fill the white space).

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## bryguy

Okay since (if Im correct) tomorrow is when the voting starts, then I guess I better change the Latest WIP, since the thumbnail that redrobes has is from a picture someone else posted...


Also, Ill include a portion of the actual size.

### Latest WIP ###

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## Sagenlicht

Thats a great entry bryguy  :Smile: 

Any chance you could tell me how you did the pages of the book? I'll have to do something similar for my gaming group soon and allready tried to do this once and gave up after a few mins  :Smile:

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## bryguy

> Thats a great entry bryguy 
> 
> Any chance you could tell me how you did the pages of the book? I'll have to do something similar for my gaming group soon and allready tried to do this once and gave up after a few mins


thanks  :Smile: 

sure, as soon as I get some time Ill tell you how, kinda busy for a couple days  :Confused:

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## Ascension

I second the Sage, that would be a cool technique to know just for general knowledge.

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## bryguy

> I second the Sage, that would be a cool technique to know just for general knowledge.


its really simple, but it looks really cool  :Smile: 


Without going into much depth, you have to have a layer for each page (I go with 15 pages) then basically use the selection tool to make a parchment like selection, but make one side of the selection straight. Then fill it with your color. Deselect, go on to your next layer, then do that again, but shift it over slightly. Keep doing that until you have the look you want. Then if your lazy, copy all the layers, put the copies above the others, and rearrange them and flip them vertically to what you like, and the pages look different on the opposite side that way. Then use the burn tool on each of the layers, add a drop shadow, find a way to add texture that u like (I create a new layer, get the selection of all the pages, do plasma, desaturate it, and set it to overlay) and your done  :Smile: 

thats just a basic overview of what I did tho, not very specific  :Smile:

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