I've changed the 100 Patreons goal from website upgrade to VUE 2016 & 3D Studio Max. I need to these tools to lift my projects to the next level, and to make it possible to work on projects from battlemap resolution to planetary level.
I'm working with an older version of Vue at the moment which doesn't cut it for large terrains and integration with other tools. With an upgrade and addition of 3D Studio I can work on projects of various sizes and scope with objects like buildings in a way not possible at the moment.
Its been a long hard struggle to get here but final maps are getting ready. First out will be top down views of the minor islands, with the first one coming later today. The other ones will come in the next two to three days, and the main Island by the end of the week.
This gives a hint at what the final maps will looks like. I'm pretty shure this will be the most detailed fantasy terrain ever created for use in RPG's.
Working on the last details of the island in Area1, the town and its surroundings.
Isometric, detailed 3D views and special maps will come next week.
The last bits to be added to this projects are a set of landscape images and the how-to videos. The reason for this is two fold, the main reason is that this is the first time I've done a project this complicated with a fully 3D terrain covering an area of this size with forest roads and buildings represented. I wanted to find out what actually worked before trying to convey that knowledge to you guys.
I have learned some hard lessons about limitations, but technical and personal during the roughly 8 weeks of arduous but very interesting work. Me being more than a bit frustrated with progress, quality and deadlines I've set for this progress, have made me more than usually unfit to record How-To videos. It is much easier when you have understood what you need to do.
Now back to Photoshop for a few hours of details....
Project Island are after much hard work finally progressing into the final stages of editing. In order to check that what I'm doing will actually be usable in 3D I had to take a small sample and render it.
Far from perfect it is still more than OK in my opinion. The textures are a bit flat and too murky and the 3D and texture data mismatch by a pixel in a few places, but that is can be fixed.
There are a number of little details on this sample alone, take a closer look and see what you can find!
Also working on videos, and I just wished I had ten times more talent at presenting what I do in videos. It is a struggle to make sense, but I'm working on it. Deadline is end of the month and its going to be ready!
Thank you so much for your support and patients with the time this takes.
The final look is starting to emerge and I'm very please with the results, my best texture work so far. Still things to work on but I really like the color tone and how the forest and shading looks.
Here comes a video that gives an overview of how things are set up in World Machine. Cartography Backers have access to this file, but it might be of interest to all of you to take a peek at how the "sausage" is made.
Here is the link to the final version of the Island Project, version 147!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1s0hxsreortjkwj/Islands%20Low-147%20final.tmd?dl=0
Working on the Island project full time again, and released the a new video today for the Cartography Backers - World Machine Texturing Basics.
A series of videos are in the making mostly for Cartography Backers covering technical stuff. Upcoming videos are, WM Advanced Texturing, WM Export, Import data from WM into Photoshop. Project setup in Photoshop, Editing Techniques in Photoshop.
I will also make videos presenting the project in less technical manner for all backers as well. A few previews into the next project will come for Trailblazer and Cartography Backers will come soon as well.
The final Island Project World Machine file will be available for Cartography Backers very soon, as well as all the export data. So make sure to make room on your hard drives, it will be needed!
Again thank you all for your support 🙂
Here comes a video covering the basics of how to texture your terrain in World Machine.
I've spent the past two weeks working on a special Midgard project, which meant using both my computers I use for work. This meant the Island Project had to be put aside, for which I'm truly sorry. Work on the island Project is again full time and will so be until its release in the coming two weeks are complete.
My work on Midgard have now superseded everything else I've done to date, both in scope and level of detail. This is a full 3D terrain larger than Europe and Africa combined, with a matching texture map that is the same as the one used for the top own map.
This is the first test of truly continental scale work, and a great preparation for projects to come!
You can find out more about Midgard here: https://www.facebook.com/MidgardCampaignSetting/
and Kobold Press also runs a Patreon so support their Midgard work:
https://www.patreon.com/koboldpress
A short little "progress"(!? :|) report, explaining why the islands project will not make it before the end of January.
Rendering it in World Machine takes time, almost 4 days most likely, so there will be no charge end of January. This is the main reason I'm having two powerful desktops, so I have one to work on while the is stuck in render land. World Machine is strangely attuned to 42%, but it is the universal answer so I guess it makes sense 🙂
I'm doing a lot of other useful mapping while this is slowly moving forward, but I'm still sorry for the delay.
