I which this was an image I created to show Iuz forces advancing through the Vesve, but unfortunately its an image I took of the nearby Santa Anna mountains a few minutes ago.

The fire is about two miles away still. The neighboring communities have been given the order to evacuate, but we might be able to stay put if the wind stays calm.

I have packed and backed up as much as possible and will be OK even with the worst happening, but there will probably be less progress for a little while. I was going to write a post about how awesome it was to meet several of you during Gen Con, but that will have to wait a while.

I hope you are all safe!

I will post updates daily, and as a fantasy nerd with a passion for photography this is also an opportunity for some reference shots.

I'm just about to head off to the airport to fly to Indy for Gen Con.

During the convention I will work in Exhibit Hall Booth #343 that is Lone Wolf Development. If you're at the convention please stop by and say hi! 

Here is the last of the world Machine Basics series of videos. This one covers how to set up and export your world Machine terrain.

You can download the World Machine file here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8zgadkimnhvkx9t/Presentation%20-%20Export.tmd?dl=0

The next video will look at how to use the exported files in Photoshop (or GIMP).

125 patrons and halfway to the next goal wonderful, thank you so much to all of you!!

Here comes something that have been on my to do list for a long time, a proper Spread Map Kit. This is a layered PSD file with masks and color layers that you can use to create all sorts of spread maps for things like political, trade, religion or historical maps.

The file comes in two sizes 8300 pixels for a bit more detail and a smaller one at 300 pixels to be usable with tools with Realm Works. It is fully layered which means you can show or hide all the text and symbols, and it comes with a parchment layer and a number of color layers and a set of masks for coastlines. 

One thing to keep in mind - these are low resolution bitmap versions of the Flanaess Map. That means that small text will NOT be legible, and that comes with making a small bitmap version that makes it easy to paint in colors. I just needed to state that here as a clarification.

Text and symbols are layer separated so you can turn each category on or off as needed. Layers are are stacked and blended ready to function with a number of different styles of maps. 

If you need more color layers just create more in the Spread Color group. The Spread Color Group also has its own mask that is set to cover land areas, but by inverting this mask you can cover oceans and lakes. If you want to have a set of spreads for land and another for water areas (or something else) copy the group and give it an appropriate mask.

The PSD file works in GIMP, and in other image editors able to use PSD (Photoshop) files. 

You can also apply layer effects to tweak things to your liking. For example: making the white roads visible on the white spread map background by giving them a purple Color Overlay.

Or you can reduce the saturation of the terrain map to make the spread colors pop a bit more.

All in all I think every Game Master will need some spread maps sooner for his or her campaign and with a setup like this its not that much work to create something that will look stunning, and all you need are some very basic skills in Photoshop, GIMP or your image editor of choice. Always remember to not save over the original when you make a new new version.

This is also the debut for the 2018 Edition Terrain. There is still a lot of details that needs work, but for this low resolution (and crappy low resolution) need it is already good enough.

You can grab the 8300 pixel version here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/c37x8kx3pn85joy/Spread%20Map%202017-8300px.psd?dl=0

and the 3000 pixel version here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/vhuuvzuspgiqfjn/Spread%20Map%202017-3000px.psd?dl=0

I'm leaving for Gen Con in a week and there are a ton of things that needs to be in place before I leave, and World Machine videos are an important part of it and here is the first one.

It covers Extents, the area of interest in world Machine. The sound is low for a part of the video for some reason, I'm sorry for that , but I hope it will work.

More videos are in production, and I've turned off my phone, logged out of all social media and generally turned myself into a recluse for a few days getting this done.

The next video will be WM Export Setup.

For those of you who use Illustrator here are the links to my "Master Maps":

The Flanaess 2017 Edition:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fyeszktisrg8bbk/Flanaess%20Full%20Map%202017%20Edition.ai?dl=0

My Campaign Map:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/e62w5wvr1ad0yq9/Flanaess%20Campaign%20map180707.ai?dl=0

Here you can get the linked map images:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/w2xghgxraei34gp/Full%20map%20background%20200ppi%20hex.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/y2jsf5z5nxdb409/Full%20map%20background%20200ppi%20no%20frills.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3kvf2twkmpghcwl/Full%20map%20background%20200ppi%20w%20Frills.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/apkrrv9weu3sajq/Full%20map%20background%20200ppi%20w%20hex%20public.jpg?dl=0

There are hexed and non hexed versions as well as with and without the legend backgrounds.

Almost all text is converted to outlines in order to make the maps more manageable, but you will still need quite powerful machine to work with them. In order to get the fonts you can scroll back to my older post and you will find a post about that. 

I never created a symbols for walls, great walls seem to be a rarity in the Flanaess. But in my campaign Iuz is up to things so I had to come up with a way to show them on the map. Here is a first version.  

Now the 12 mile hexed version is available as well as the normal version on EasyZoom.

The Hexed version can be found here:

https://easyzoom.com/image/122425

In order to accommodate both versions using a free account I had to re upload the previous map again so it has a new URL:

https://easyzoom.com/image/122424

I've updated the link in the old post as well, but if you have it bookmarked you need to update the link. 

Its time for a short recap and update. Its been a month since the refocus of my Patreon, and thanks you your support there are now more of you supporting me and I receive more comments and emails that before, way more. Thank you all for your continued support, and to all of you new patrons welcome aboard this journey in mapping a fantasy world!

The past months have been mostly about getting my Greyhawk mapping project up to speed again. Its been in a semi dormant state while I worked almost exclusively on other things  for the past couple of years, with plenty of things left hanging. A 2017 Edition of my Flanaess map has been made into, PDF, JPG and Online format. The goal with the 2017 Edition was to publish a number of small corrections that I've done the past two years. The 2018 Edition is way more ambitious laying the ground work for future updates. 

June was mostly devoted to housekeeping, getting old stuff done, this month will be mostly about ground work for the future. 

I will mainly work on two different things. Wrapping up my World Machine series of videos with new videos that are in the making. The video's will be available for Cartography Patrons during the course of the month. 

We need a style template for the 2018 Edition, some of the existing text and symbols doesn't look that great to be honest. With the updated terrain adjustments will be needed, but have to be made with an eye on what is practical. This is work that has to live for only a few years, gradually being replaced with a new content during the next five or so years. Just like with the terrain update one of the main goals is to make it a bit more compatible with future content. So expect me to post ideas here for you guys to comment on, I need your critical eyes to improve things!

There are some more heraldry and other tidbits to do as well, keeping me busy until I go to Gen Con by the end of this month. Those of you who attend Gen con, I would love to meet up and say thank you for helping me do this. Most of my time at the con I will spent at the Lone Wolf Development booth 343 in the Exhibit Hall. 

August will be shifting perspectives going super large with a first session of Oerth Mapping and getting a first area ready for the 2018 Edition roll out. I have some extra secret projects that I will tell you about when I know enough to get them under way. Thank you again for supporting me!