# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > Town/City Mapping >  Wolfdell Village 4E WIP

## delgondahntelius

This is the village I'll be having the PC's start out in... refer to the regional map of Stormwatch for the area map. 

The large looking structure is actually a massive dragon's skull which was transformed into an Inn... I've not come up with a name yet for the Inn... and I came up with the village name before hand, so I might actually change the village name. 

Any suggestions or words of advice are encouraged.

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## jfrazierjr

> This is the village I'll be having the PC's start out in... refer to the regional map of Stormwatch for the area map. 
> 
> The large looking structure is actually a massive dragon's skull which was transformed into an Inn... I've not come up with a name yet for the Inn... and I came up with the village name before hand, so I might actually change the village name. 
> 
> Any suggestions or words of advice are encouraged.


That's a great idea for an Inn.   How about "The Wyrm's Roost"?

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## Sigurd

I like it.

The less obvious tack to name the inn would be to commemorate the dragon's killer. Of course no matter what you named it they'd probably call it the Dragon Head Inn. Still something like "Bandard's Triumph" has a nice ring to it.


Sigurd

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## jfrazierjr

> I like it.
> 
> The less obvious tack to name the inn would be to commemorate the dragon's killer. Of course no matter what you named it they'd probably call it the Dragon Head Inn. Still something like "Bandard's Triumph" has a nice ring to it.
> 
> 
> Sigurd


heh.. or "Bandard's Folly".  He figured out the easiest way to kill a dragon was from within.  Of course there is the little problem of being killed by the dragon in the process...

Joe

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## delgondahntelius

Great suggestions... still haven't decided on a name yet tho

I decided to get the hardest part done first . (hardest for me anyway) and that was the dragon skull...

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## jfrazierjr

> Great suggestions... still haven't decided on a name yet tho
> 
> I decided to get the hardest part done first . (hardest for me anyway) and that was the dragon skull...


Very nice.   I normally don't like pencil drawings that much, but with the inking you have done and then the color, this looks really nice.

Joe

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## delgondahntelius

The pencil is just an underlayer to go by .. I left it partially visible so that you could see the progress ... once its completely done... there won't be a pencil layer to show... that's the idea anyway...

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## ravells

Simply Beautiful! I almost prefer the WIPs of these sorts of maps to the finished product where you can see the sketches.

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## Sigurd

Yea, I'm with Ravells. You work with enough computer art and it all begins to look the same - even the good stuff.

Makes you appreciate pencil work and traditional mediums. Especially pencil, in my case personally, because its so expressive.


Sigurd

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## delgondahntelius

Well here's another update to the town of Wolfdell and the aforementioned unnamed inn of a dragons last rest...

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## torstan

That's looking really good. Lucky players.

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## delgondahntelius

Another small update... don't like the grass fill... and still trying to get some tree symbols right.... illustrator has somewhat of a learning curve... and i'm still learning soo... bare with me

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## Sigurd

Is this the whole village or a small slice?

Sigurd

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## delgondahntelius

save for a few outlying farms... yes... I was planning on adding maybe a few other buildings... 

But it does seem that it should be bigger, huh? ... i've been thinking that for a while now...

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## jdf

> save for a few outlying farms... yes... I was planning on adding maybe a few other buildings... 
> 
> But it does seem that it should be bigger, huh? ... i've been thinking that for a while now...


Does it need to be? A village needs a smithy, a temple, a shop, a tavern/inn, and maybe a few residences-- and some of those things could be combined for a very small village.  

Unless you were aiming bigger, this looks plenty large for a small village.

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## delgondahntelius

[quote=jdf;24750]Does it need to be? [quote]

This sir... Was an EXCELLENT question. And the answer is, NO .. it sure doesn't. Thank you for pointing that out in a manner that made me realize I often try to make more out something when I should be asking myself does it accomplish what I need it to do.

REPPED!!!

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## Ascension

Excellent point jdf.   I've been thinking much the same thing myself lately.  I like to draw towns and villages and not cities so just yesterday I started making a list of things that a town needs as it grows (many thanks to Civ 4 and the Fall from Heaven mod -- which I play way too often).  Like they always say...keep it simple.

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## Sigurd

> Is this the whole village or a small slice?
> 
> Sigurd


I was asking an honest question - not trying to sway you either way.

It can be much clearer if you omit buildings etc... that aren't pertinent or scale your village to your needs. Bravo. I'm just on a self imposed realism kick.


Sigurd

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## delgondahntelius

I know ya were sigurd... and I was already struggling with perhaps starting over with a bigger village and a smaller scale... but see.. this is one of my hang ups.. lol... I always wanna make things bigger and better and then before I know it I've got some monster on my hand that has way too many elements and plots and this and that and I'm over here putting in things that the PC's will probably never even see or know about .. etc etc... 

When he posted that question it just suddenly snapped me back to where I needed to be to get this thing focused and finished... and I was really estatic about it as well... lol

so no worries brother  :Smile:  you was just asking a simple question and I was giving you my honest answer at the time....  :Smile:  I was thinking of making it bigger  :Very Happy:

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## jfrazierjr

> I know ya were sigurd... and I was already struggling with perhaps starting over with a bigger village and a smaller scale...


Oh no you don't!   That make will be perfect for a VTT once finished.  I can just see the expression on my players faces when they walk up and see that dragon head for an Inn... ummm that assumes you make this beautiful piece of art work available for personal use. :Question: 

Joe

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## delgondahntelius

Aye... it shall be... I'll put a CC license on it when i'm finished... 

I'm leaving it the same scale too.. not changing it up.... 

might even be fun to make a VTT of the Cutterspite's Last Rest (sweet name eh?) I got the gift names  :Very Happy:

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## delgondahntelius

I was playing around with some styles... decided to show ya'll my new houses that I'd done...

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## torstan

Now they are very pretty indeed. Good work!

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## StillCypher

Sweet! I like 'em!

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## Turgenev

Nice work. I can't wait to see the finished map. As for the Inn's name, what about...

Dragon's Repose Inn
Dragonskull Inn (simple but to the point)
Draconian Tavern
Inn of the Resting Dragon/Drakon/Draconian

EDIT: Ignore my name suggestions. I missed your name for the Inn. Nice touch.

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## delgondahntelius

AHHHHH the town of Wolfdell, we have missed you. So, I thought I might try and get this one finished, Reorganized my layers, laid down all the paths for the buildings, stroked them, colored them, put in 7 layers of groundwork, which may still need a little work by themselves. And of course, ol' Cutterspite got bit of a rework on him... still need highlights shading and some vegetation as well...

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## Gandwarf

> AHHHHH the town of Wolfdell, we have missed you. So, I thought I might try and get this one finished, Reorganized my layers, laid down all the paths for the buildings, stroked them, colored them, put in 7 layers of groundwork, which may still need a little work by themselves. And of course, ol' Cutterspite got bit of a rework on him... still need highlights shading and some vegetation as well...


Wow, reviving buried threads?  :Razz: 
I like it, but you definitely need some shading. The houses seem to float above the ground. I am very interested to see if you can integrate these houses with the ground texture (make it look natural). They differ a lot.

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## Steel General

Yeah I'm looking forward to see how you blend the current crispness of the buildings with the terrain.

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## NeonKnight

Good job on the village. Looks pretty spiffy!

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## delgondahntelius

dunno how many of these changes I will keep but here's another update

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## delgondahntelius

YEP ... I started it over AGAIN .... Last time tho, I still stuck with the same direction I was going in, different back drop and a little difference in the houses... as well as the way they were situated...

Whew.

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## delgondahntelius

Another update ... Changed the background a bit... added the roof inking to the rest of the houses...

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## StillCypher

I think I actually like the more subdued color version in post #30 better... and the road/path parts. Hm.

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## delgondahntelius

how is this looking then?

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## delgondahntelius

and there is another one  :Very Happy:

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## StillCypher

The first one looks like it has the plague. The second one is pale and exhausted.  :Very Happy: 

I'm sticking with the one in post #30. And I'm unanimous in that!

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## delgondahntelius

ya .... but it really doesn't seem to fit the painterly buildings and what not.? ...don't ya think?

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## Steel General

I'm with StillCypher on this Delgo, the version in post #30 is my favorite. I think all that needs done is the outlines of the buildings needs to be "toned" down (easier said than done I'm sure  :Smile:  ),  they have a very stark contrast to the the groundscape.

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## Ascension

I gotta agree about #30 looking the best, but #35 has possibilities 'cuz I like that background color...maybe something in a tundra.

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## landorl

I think that I like the last one the best.  For me, the map in post #30, doesn't quite work.  The buildings are a little more of an artistic style, while the background is a little more of a realistic style.  In this last map, the background seems to match the building style a little better.

I do think that maybe the roads should be a little more of a dusty brown color.  Right now they look almost white.

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## jfrazierjr

> For me, the map in post #30, doesn't quite work.  The buildings are a little more of an artistic style, while the background is a little more of a realistic style.



Right, which is why I suggested to Del that he should either blur or smudge the "grass" layers in the image in post #30.   Del did do that a bit(in 30 vs previous versions), but I think it still needs a tiny bit more.    When I had downloaded the image(pre #30), I had used smudge with a splatter type brush with a med-medhigh(60???) rate in GIMP, using random mostly circular strokes and the results were pretty good.  It maintains color variation of the photo realistic grass texture, but breaks it down to get rid of the actual photo realistic grass vs the hand drawn building style.

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## jfrazierjr

> Attachment 7314
> 
> and there is another one



I have to say that I don't mind this background... as a start... but it needs something.  Perhaps some shadows or some slight texture.  Or perhaps just putting in some hand drawn trees/shrubs will help break up the color monotony.

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## StillCypher

::nodnod:: I really like the texture in #30, but I think it could be toned down more. #35 comes in a weak second place to me, but yes, the hatching is perhaps better consistent with the painterly style of the buildings -- but it is too flat and static. It might even look better with a slight cloud filter add to it? Kind of like parchment...

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## delgondahntelius

I will be testing out the other type of background as well... but I personally am really loving this style now.... it all just seems to mesh .... but hey, I could be wrong

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## jfrazierjr

> I will be testing out the other type of background as well... but I personally am really loving this style now.... it all just seems to mesh .... but hey, I could be wrong



Yep.. is pretty.  Perhaps changing the grass color(hue/saturation) just a bit to ton it down.    I think you have a winner here.

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## delgondahntelius

Like this? Too little ?

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## Steel General

I think you've about got this nailed down Delgo, the groundscape meshes great with the buildings now.  :Smile: 

Personally, I wouldn't change the way the grass looks now.

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## jfrazierjr

> Like this? Too little ?


The slight color shift plus the noise of the grass blades and I say: "OOOOOOOOOOH YEEEEAAAAAHHHH"

You got a winner here.  It could be that the noise was all that was really missing all along... but there was just way to much uninterrupted green before now.  btw... check the scale on the fences.. they seem way to think to me unless made from stone...

Not that it's needed, but do you plan to put anymore shadows/highlights down anywhere?


heh... now all you have to do is put a fire pit into the dragon's nostils with some smoke coming out, and you have a sweet town (mostly kidding there....)

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## delgondahntelius

Thanks SG, JoJo appreciate the sentiments

I do still have a bit to go ..... shading wise I've got to add dropshadows to the whole effect... I think that will tie together nicely .... some other odds and ends need to be reckoned with as well....

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## Ascension

Yep, that's the one...the hand drawn style of the ground and foliage really fits the style of the buildings.

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## torstan

Its a great map and the style has come together really nicely.

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## delgondahntelius

Ok.... very close to being done... I added an embankment under the SW forest and added drop shadows to all the objects....

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## jfrazierjr

I have to say... I think this is production quality work you have here... Good job.

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## delgondahntelius

Hoping this is the final picture ... thought I'd post it here to get a comment or two before I post it up to the final forum section 

@jojo ... thanks really appreciate the comments  :Very Happy:

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## Steel General

I think it came out great Delgo.

Though only thing that still sorta-kinda bothers be is the stark outline of the buildings. But that's just more of a preference thing than any kind of 'ding' against the map.

Glad to see you found a 'style' that you're happy with.

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## joão paulo

someday I'm going to do something so :Surprised: 
________________________________________
Man as you can?

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## Gandwarf

Unfortunately I can't rep you Delgon, but it turned out great! I was worried because in earlier versions the houses didn't blend in too well with the background. This is indeed production quality, something I would expect in a D&D module  :Smile: 

I love it!

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## jfrazierjr

> Unfortunately I can't rep you Delgon, but it turned out great! I was worried because in earlier versions the houses didn't blend in too well with the background. This is indeed production quality, something I would expect in a D&D module 
> 
> I love it!


That's EXACTLY what I said...Del thought I was crazy when I said this work was something I expected to be in a publication.   Thanks for backing me up Gandwarf.

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## torstan

That's top notch Del. Good work.

A few comments on it. You've got some great detailing in the landscape that really makes it pop - the trees and grass particularly. The only part of the map that lacks that sort of detail is the roof of Cutterspike's Last Rest. I assume it is the roof? It's the bit that's under the dragon's skull. There's no texture here and very little shadow to tell the eye what its looking at. As a result it stands out, whereas it should really be the dragon skull (excellently rendered btw!) that draws the eye.

I'd also suggest slightly sharper shadows on some of the roofs and a bit of colour variation in the grass and trees, but that's more personal preference and I can entirely understand why you'd prefer them as they are.

Anyway, these are small niggles over an excellent map. Really lovely. Your players are privileged to have such a lovely town to call their own.

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## ravells

Great look and feel Del! It feels complete and comforting (I can't express it any better than that).

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## StillCypher

That turned out very nice! I'm impressed!

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## landorl

I love the style that you ended with here!  It looks great.

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