Mapping out The City. - by Digital Nightfall
jtr7 on 13/4/2009 at 18:29
Yes, the foundation, and if you can, the missions on a separate layer above, or one can be made if you keep that surrounding flat color with each mission map, once you've pinned down the locations--and keep a clean copy of the complete art without the maps.
Doc_Brown on 14/4/2009 at 18:35
I wonder if there isn't some way to drum up interest in the idea, like a TTLG art contest or something...
Just brainstorming, here.
jtr7 on 14/4/2009 at 22:58
'Twould be awesome, if more people were actively interested.:cool:
If TerraGen wasn't frustrating for me, I'd try it, too, otherwise I'd be doing something like demagogue myself. I got pissed off when I was working on a detailed and layered concept map, and LOST IT ALL! :mad:
Mugla on 16/4/2009 at 15:24
The layered version was partly suggested to show the underground areas, or the possibility to toggle fan content on and off etc. By no means is it necessary though.
I'd be content on a cruder version that shows the known locations in an artistic form, much in line with T:ds manual map maybe.
As jtr7 suggests, an artistic version can be then used as the basis for the mission maps, which we need to standardize somehow possibly.
We could possibly use MorbusG's work by replacing the manual map he uses with ours then.
Anyway, if we decide on an artistic version soon, we should make some clear cut rules for the artist:
-Colors that should be used (to fit the existing maps with it)
-Level of detail; all streets and alleys/a general motiff like in T:ds manual map (depends on the artist more really, if he/she has the time)
-Parks, walls, major roads, canals or other landmarks, location names? Should they be added on the layer instead, or drawn by the artist?
-How much dazzle can it contain, before it gets uneditable? Can it be dazzled again with a simple layer afterwards?
The work can be a fast one, in line with the manual map, or a long one with all the details we can gouge from our notes.
jtr7 on 16/4/2009 at 15:55
For me, the layers were always to allow movement of visual information without harming the background, or erasing any pixels, or having to assemble it again, etc. Yeah, the toggles are the grand end goal, otherwise multiple versions will have to be available, created from one layered master map.
I'd like it if the background was grayscale, and the mission maps were in colour.
Labels need a layer so they can be moved around, should not be hand-drawn, but text on a vector line to curve it around, and to squeeze into place when things get crowded, scalable, etc.
From an RPG campaign, a map I made to order, cobbled from many different modules, and map packs, assembled in Fireworks 8 at a university library:
(
http://s70.photobucket.com/albums/i106/jtr7/?action=view¤t=HiddenCoast_Labeled.jpg)
Inline Image:
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i106/jtr7/th_HiddenCoast_Labeled.jpgstr8g8 on 16/4/2009 at 16:22
I think anyone who wants to take a stab at an artistic version of the map should do so, whether it can be used as the basis for a more interactive version or not.
I also wonder how final the final version is. What about some of the street names and so on? Anyone making an artistic version will want to put some of this stuff in, and yet we have avoided it in the main part, because it is just guesswork and cannot be prooved one way or another. But maybe we should go ahead and make some educated guesses.
I think a contest is a decent idea, though it is a fairly big task for anyone to take on :)
jtr7 on 16/4/2009 at 16:51
The only street names we can use are the ones that are actually on the original maps. The other names would best be applied later, after we see where the FMs are going to go. I anticipate all kinds of weirdness from that, since there aren't going to be many that follow the geology of the OMs, so that may require some reconciliation.
Anybody who wants to create a basic background is free to do it, but everybody is waiting on something, whether it's time, resources, or information.
I guess we need to lay down guidelines and those could also be applied to a contest, but really just to do the canon justice.
To start:
- The older areas, poor areas, and areas on hills will have the twisting, winding, chaotic streets.
- The newer areas, richer areas (Dayport, for example), and areas on flatter ground will be more grid-like.
- Hightowne is on and around a hill, or small mountain, sloping down to Downtowne, so the surrounding terrain should reflect the hitherto unseen slopes on all sides.
- The banks of The River are steep, and the buildings are piled up.
- The coast has flat areas, and some steeper areas. I like how it's steeper closer to The River.
- The visible terrain should show signs of volcanism, fissures, sinkholes, collapsed lavatubes, caves, cinder cones, basalt lava flows, a ring of craggy mountain ridges far off, surrounding The City, but far away, yet with smaller ridges, foothills, and rock quarries.
- There should be as many smaller rivers, anabranches, tributaries, canals, and signs of erosion as possible.
- There should be agricultural areas beyond The City limits.
- Merchant roads, major and minor.
Real aerial maps of appropriate geographically similar locales would make great references.
MorbusG on 16/4/2009 at 17:33
jtr7: wow, that's some nice looking stuff you got there! :thumb:
Text along path is really easy with SVG, and as I understand, should be widely supported.
One other thing I should point out about SVG, I think, is that one is able to define stuff to be visible only in particular, or bigger than x zoom-levels, which grants nice options for, say, texturizing (or patterns or such), without affecting performance much.
I'll try to take another stab at the base-layer, but bear in mind that while the T3 manual map is rather detailed regarding the shore-line, extending it further along means I have to come up with some fanon using the final map as the basis.
Oh, and to anyone who wants to play around with the SVG-map, it's really nothing else than downloading the file and associated javascripts.
I share Mugla's and Str8g8's concerns about the missing things.
Oh and a topographical layer would be, like, super-cool! :D
Doc_Brown on 20/4/2009 at 02:04
Just call me Sir Stuck-in-a-Rut, but if we were to launch a TTLG-wide contest in order to drum up interest, what exactly could we offer as the prize? Wouldn't be much of a contest without a carrot to dangle in front of the participants...
