# Community Participation > Mapping Challenge Archive >  August 2019 Challenge: Secret in the Trees

## XCali

Helloaaaa!

While I do have several things on my plate, I wanted to join the challenge. The fantasy generator is always a fun challenge.

So for mine, my generated list included this one:

*A damaged and abandoned carriage amidst a sunlit forest. A herd of wild boars moves noisily through the trees.*

For that one, I am thinking a river winding through the map and a open beach where the carriage would be.

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EDIT:
The full list:
1.	The once-grand entrance to a long-abandoned dwarven city in the Naragzah Crags. The air is filled with smoke, and a draconic shadow circles overhead.
2.	Somewhere in the Twilight Jungle. A volcanic mountain dominates the area.
3.	*A damaged and abandoned carriage amidst a sunlit forest. A herd of wild boars moves noisily through the trees.*
4.	A forested hill amidst a haunted swamp.
5.	A starlit clearing in the Jade Forest. A pack of bloodied werewolves lurks in the shadows of the trees.
6.	Somewhere amidst a black swamp.
7.	A sunlit clearing in the Ffestow Vale.
8.	Somewhere amidst a desert of white sand.
9.	An outcrop of wind-carved obsidian amidst a desert of black sand. The air is strangely still and quiet.
10.	Somewhere in the Witchlight Jungle. A black dragon tears apart the undergrowth, searching for prey.

I was thinking of doing a forest/jungle map from the list so, it narrowed down the list some. The volcano, werewolves and black dragon ones were tempting. But... it does change the workload. 
With number 3, however, I feel I can make it as simple or as grand as I feel. That is, if time permits.  :Razz:

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## XCali

Okay, so this is where I think I am heading with the map.  

I added a lot of shadows and highlights to start accentuating the features of it. So, let me know what you all think  :Wink: 

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## XCali

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The last few hours I tried out a pyramid in a pit.  :Razz:  And rapids in the river.

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## Kisachik the Wanderer

Hi XCali. The map looks great. The ground has a nice shape and texture. Since the trees have pretty dark shadows, I'd make the river a bit darker as well, so it fits in better and looks more... watery. I can't wait until you add the boars, they're one of my favorite animals.  :Very Happy:

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## XCali

> Hi XCali. The map looks great. The ground has a nice shape and texture. Since the trees have pretty dark shadows, I'd make the river a bit darker as well, so it fits in better and looks more... watery. I can't wait until you add the boars, they're one of my favorite animals.


Thank you  :Smile:  

Hehe, well here you go: Da Giant Boars.  :Razz:

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## XCali

Of all the things from this entire map, I struggle with the carriage...

Anyway, I got quite far with the map today. So, I will see how to go about the carriage some other time. At the moment I'm drawing up blanks.

Any tips about how one would do a damaged carriage for a map like this?   :Question: 

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## Kisachik the Wanderer

I think you could start by imagining what route the carriage was taking first. There's no clear path anywhere right now, so you can pick from a bunch of spots. I'd draw a loose wheel somewhere first, then maybe some overgrown boxy structure. Look for reference images to get some ideas.

I can't believe how much you've managed in just one day so far. :Exclamation:

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## ChickPea

Excellent progress already. I'm getting a massive kick out of the pyramid in a pit!  :Very Happy:

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## XCali

> I think you could start by imagining what route the carriage was taking first. There's no clear path anywhere right now, so you can pick from a bunch of spots. I'd draw a loose wheel somewhere first, then maybe some overgrown boxy structure. Look for reference images to get some ideas.
> 
> I can't believe how much you've managed in just one day so far.


Hehe, I was inspired.  :Very Happy: 
Btw, I appreciate the discussion on how to tackle the carriage. For some reason I felt like hitting a wall with it. 




> Excellent progress already. I'm getting a massive kick out of the pyramid in a pit!


Thank you!  :Very Happy:   I'm glad you enjoy the pyramid in the pit.

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## XCali

(Hi if a mod sees this, please change the word in the title Secrets to Secret.)

So that it reads:

August 2019 Challenge: Secret in the Trees

Thanks in advance!  :Smile:

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## XCali

I found a way to do the damaged carriage!  :Smile:  So, I am happy.

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## ChickPea

Fixed the title for you.  :Smile: 

I like the almost hidden carriage. Gives a nice sense of mystery.

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## XCali

> Fixed the title for you. 
> 
> I like the almost hidden carriage. Gives a nice sense of mystery.


Thanks a bunch. I appreciate it.  :Wink:  I regretted that extra S afterwards.

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## XCali

Huehuehue  :Razz:  This afternoon I wanted to try to make a title bar for the map and it came out quite a bit better than expected.  :Smile: 

Here are three phases for anyone interested in the process:

Lineart and Gradient underneath,


Added a texture and put it in a mode above the color layer, (Overlay, I think.)


From there loads of highlights and shading.  :Razz: 


Let me know what you think.
Also, I am hitting a wall what the maps name on the Title bar actually should be!!!  :Shocked:  Help!  :Razz:

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## XCali

Here is the bigger map with the Title bar.

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## Kisachik the Wanderer

The title bar looks neat. Is it supposed to be stone or stained glass? I'd vary the color a bit, so it doesn't blend into the trees so much. Also the title font appears too small, when you imagine the text. It would need to be at least twice the current height to look balanced; otherwise your ornaments may become the center of attention.

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## XCali

> The title bar looks neat. Is it supposed to be stone or stained glass? I'd vary the color a bit, so it doesn't blend into the trees so much. Also the title font appears too small, when you imagine the text. It would need to be at least twice the current height to look balanced; otherwise your ornaments may become the center of attention.


Thanks  :Wink: 

It is suppose to be stone. I figured with the hidden pyramid in the map. The color, I can tweak it. But, I will have to be careful, it needs to look at home over the trees. Still, thanks for mentioning it. I will look into it.
The font? I haven't added text yet. As I said, I don't know what Title to put on it. (If you mean my little signature in its corner, well that won't be there once I add the actual text)

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## Kisachik the Wanderer

When you imagine the text inside the title bar, it looks too small. Lol I know how it is with naming things.  :Razz:  But still good to plan ahead for letters. You could always use placeholder text, like they do in brochure templates and such.

You can play around with saturation and lightness of the colors to make the title bar stand out a bit more. It's not necessary to shift the hue, which could indeed look out of place if you overdo it. You could also try overlaying some colors that are already present in the image as well.

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## XCali

Here is two different versions of the Title bar, the one translates to Guardian Path roughly. So, the other one is close enough.  :Razz: 
Okay so the color scheme is also different. 

I would reeeeally appreciate to hear which one you guys and girls enjoy the most.

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## Adfor

I love that border, Omri, the Aztec feel is real. Really enjoying the vibe on this! More please!

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## XCali

> I love that border, Omri, the Aztec feel is real. Really enjoying the vibe on this! More please!


Thank you for your kind words, Adfor. I appreciate it a lot.  :Smile:

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## XCali

Hey there everyone.  :Very Happy: 

In this one I polished and tweaked quite a few things and adding the three trials.  :Smile: 

I'm getting close to calling this one done. Anything else you would like to see me tweak or add before I post the final version?



The three trials of the Guardian. Only those brave enough to face all three are given the key to enter the pyramid and discover its secrets.

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## Greason Wolfe

Looking good to me. But you need to saddle those wild boars and take them over to the Lite Challenge for a War Pigs themed map.  :Very Happy:

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## Kisachik the Wanderer

> Looking good to me. But you need to saddle those wild boars and take them over to the Lite Challenge for a War Pigs themed map.


NO! Not the boars! They must frolic around peacefully! Forever! No saddling of boars!

Please add some mushrooms and flowers for the boars to enjoy instead.  :Very Happy:

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## XCali

> Looking good to me. But you need to saddle those wild boars and take them over to the Lite Challenge for a War Pigs themed map.


Thanks. Haha!




> NO! Not the boars! They must frolic around peacefully! Forever! No saddling of boars!
> 
> Please add some mushrooms and flowers for the boars to enjoy instead.


And, I agree. Let them wander in the forest  :Wink: 
I will see if I can get to adding flowers and maybe mushies.  :Razz:

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## XCali

Helloa!

I wanted to touch up the trees and make them more jungly if that makes sense.  :Razz: 

This was a fun challenge so far. 

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## aeshnidae

This looks really great! It would make a fantastic battle map.  :Smile:

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## XCali

> This looks really great! It would make a fantastic battle map.


Aw! Thank you!  :Very Happy: 

That is really nice compliment, especially since I was creating this with something like an encounter/battlemap in mind.

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## Tiana

This would definitely be a great battle map!

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## arsheesh

The map feels dark and ominous, so if that's the atmosphere you were going for, well done, you've nailed it.  I like the title too, nicely done.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

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## Bogie

Great battlemap, nice place for an ambush.  The atmosphere is spot on and wonderful transitions between textures.

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## XCali

> This would definitely be a great battle map!


Thanks!




> The map feels dark and ominous, so if that's the atmosphere you were going for, well done, you've nailed it.  I like the title too, nicely done.
> 
> Cheers,
> -Arsheesh


I appreciate it Arsheesh.  :Smile:  And yeah, I wanted a nice and mysterious vibe, the dark helps make it feel more dangerous too. 






> Great battlemap, nice place for an ambush.  The atmosphere is spot on and wonderful transitions between textures.


Hehe, thanks. I was hoping it would work as one. An ambush, finding mysteries in the broken carriage swallowed by the sand or doing the three trials of the Guardian.  :Very Happy:

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## Kisachik the Wanderer

I find it bright and cheerful. The colors of the ground and the river make it feel that way, and certain details. The extra lizard head on the ground there also has something almost comical about how conspicuous it is. It looks like a precious artifact picked up by some absent minded adventurer only to be dropped clumsily, and forgotten. Like it's lost, but not lost, because it's so visible. Or maybe it's some crazy monster head that doesn't care to lurk; it hopes to be admired instead. The heads seem to be smiling as well. I guess I read this map quite differently. It's my favorite from this challenge's collection so far, because of all the little stories you can imagine while looking at it. Even if it wasn't the author's intention, this map lives its own life in the imagination of the viewer. Or maybe just this particular viewer.  :Very Happy:

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## XCali

> I find it bright and cheerful. The colors of the ground and the river make it feel that way, and certain details. The extra lizard head on the ground there also has something almost comical about how conspicuous it is. It looks like a precious artifact picked up by some absent minded adventurer only to be dropped clumsily, and forgotten. Like it's lost, but not lost, because it's so visible. Or maybe it's some crazy monster head that doesn't care to lurk; it hopes to be admired instead. The heads seem to be smiling as well. I guess I read this map quite differently. It's my favorite from this challenge's collection so far, because of all the little stories you can imagine while looking at it. Even if it wasn't the author's intention, this map lives its own life in the imagination of the viewer. Or maybe just this particular viewer.


I find your bright and colorful imagination refreshing.  :Smile:  I like that you can look at the map and see different narratives playing out. 
And thank you for the compliment. I am glad that you enjoy the map.  :Very Happy:

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