# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > Virtual Tabletop/Battlemap Mapping >  Anri's Battlemaps

## Anri

Hello all,
I used to make battlemaps way back, but life got the in the way and I hadnt made much of anything for the last decade. Last December I was at a friends wedding and some of us were talking up the good-ole-days of our old campaign and how we should totally start a new one.
Well, once we got back to our lives, the talk of a new game disappeared. It did cause me to look back through all the old stuff and dig up my old backlog of maps to make.

For these first ones Ive been trying out some new outdoor methods. Also, finally noticed that .psb files are a thing so Im not constantly bumping up against the old 2GB barrier that .psd files have. 
I want to try this mostly 3d method on indoor maps but at least initially Ill need to build the walls block by block and havent wanted to take that kind of time yet when there are so many outdoor maps still on the list.

So, here I am, hoping to pick up some new tricks and tips to improve the maps further.

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## Rubikia

These are beautiful pieces ! My favourite is the Cruserian Port Town, honestly looks amazing !

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## Bogie

> These are beautiful pieces ! My favourite is the Cruserian Port Town, honestly looks amazing !


I agree 100%, though I would like to see them at a higher resolution.

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## heruca

Very nice maps, Anri!

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## Anri

> I agree 100%, though I would like to see them at a higher resolution.


I'm still trying to figure out how or if I'm going to release the full resolution versions.

Had bad experiences last time with people re-hosting and even selling my stuff.

Too many people just don't respect anything received for free. Once the image files are downloaded into their maps folder, it doesn't matter to them what original license was attached.

Open to suggestions.

Thanks for the compliments, by the way. All of you!

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## Anri

Tried a few shadowfell maps this time. Not entirely happy with how they came out. 

Because of how the shadowfell is, I wanted them to be spiky, alien, and dark...almost monochrome. The end result was kind of flat and boring. A little color processing at the end made them pop a bit more but still not much. Couldn't decide originally if I wanted the water to be dark and murky but otherwise normal water or lava. In hindsight, the lava might have helped bring a bit more color in. 

The shadowfell wilderness map is mainly for random encounters while the party is traveling about.
The castle map is the home of one of the main villains of the campaign that they would have to fight their way up to.
The full-size version of the castle map is over twice the dimensions of the wilderness one.

Still have one exterior map in this series left to make; a shadar-kai settlement. Didn't work on it with these because I hadn't decided what architectural style to use yet for the buildings.


On to something a little more colorful next...

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## Anri

Was working on a pirate cave hideout but then had an idea and this one jumped the queue. 

Witch's Holler is a map for a mini-campaign I was writing a long time ago to be test area for a game system I was making. Back then, it was set in the victorian era and the maps were isometric. Now I'm re-writing it for standard D&Dish medieval fantasy and with overhead maps. Unfortunately, some parts of the old campaign are pretty victorian-era specific and will just be cut from this version. I suppose if my campaign world was high-fantasy, a mood-setting ghost story set on the train ride to the town could work a number of ways. Not so much in a somewhat low-fantasy setting though.

Pretty much the only thing brought over from the original map is the witch's house itself. Although that still had to be re-created because I couldn't find the .pz3 file. I was bad about not saving models that I didn't think I'd need again back then. 

Even though the full-size map is only 15000x15000 pixels, there are so many layers due to all the plants down in the swamp area that it started to bog down photoshop. 

Back to the pirate cave...

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## KarlFranz

These are probably the best battlemaps I've ever seen. I really hope you get a game going again man! If the maps are an indication of how even half good the games are they'd be pretty frickin' awesome. Full res would be super appreciated.

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## bbennett

I am super impressed with these. Thank you.

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## bbennett

Thank you for sharing your passion and talent for map making. I really appreciate it.

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## DnD Adventures

Are you open to commission work? I think your style of encounter maps work perfectly with the gritty adventure book I'm making for D&D 5e. Would you be able to email me at dndadventuresofficial@gmail.com so we can discuss further? 





> Was working on a pirate cave hideout but then had an idea and this one jumped the queue. 
> 
> Witch's Holler is a map for a mini-campaign I was writing a long time ago to be test area for a game system I was making. Back then, it was set in the victorian era and the maps were isometric. Now I'm re-writing it for standard D&Dish medieval fantasy and with overhead maps. Unfortunately, some parts of the old campaign are pretty victorian-era specific and will just be cut from this version. I suppose if my campaign world was high-fantasy, a mood-setting ghost story set on the train ride to the town could work a number of ways. Not so much in a somewhat low-fantasy setting though.
> 
> Pretty much the only thing brought over from the original map is the witch's house itself. Although that still had to be re-created because I couldn't find the .pz3 file. I was bad about not saving models that I didn't think I'd need again back then. 
> 
> Even though the full-size map is only 15000x15000 pixels, there are so many layers due to all the plants down in the swamp area that it started to bog down photoshop. 
> 
> Back to the pirate cave...
> ...

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