The first poll is done and the results are in, thank you all for voting!

What places will make it onto the islands?

Hidden coves, with and without pirate hideouts seem to be of top interest, and from an adventure perspective it makes perfect sense 🙂

1. Hidden cove of pirates, 9 votes

2. Secret Cove, 8 votes

The coves are followed by a two of inland features:

3A. River Crossing with the Inn of lost Tales, 7 votes

3B. Fortress Refuge, 7 votes

The only "large" settlement that made it onto the list:

4. Small town of traders and boat builders, 6 votes

Two more inland features that I like from a cartography perspective, the lake shore look like its made to have a road.

5A. Lakeside Village, 4 votes

5B. River Crossing, 4 votes

These are my little darlings so I'm so pleased they made the list, and a place is not complete without a Druid Grove. The Hermit Monastery by Nerd Podcast Radio is my favorite by far and it made the list, I'm so happy for that.

6A. Plunge Cliff, 3 votes

6B. Druid Grove, 3 votes

6C. Hermit Monastery Brewery, for selected connoisseurs every century, 3
      votes 

Here is the description by Nerd Podcast Radio:
"A commune of tengu monks that worships an obscure god of distillation. They make the best Scotch in the world and only release a bottle to petitioners who pass a series of impossible tests. Only one bottle is released every 100 years" 

The brewery is a must!

Time again for a blog post about what I'm up to for the moment and a look into what is on the horizon. First a huge thank you to all my Patreons who have decided to support me, it means a lot to me!

My second Patreon project - Islands, are moving into the final phase adding settlements, roads and other features of civilization. Which features will make it on the map will be decided by my my Patreons who have backed me at the Adventurer level or above. The results will be a set of seasonal islands mapped i exquisite detail, fully modeled in 3D. Perfect for adventures in need of an group of islands to explore. The poll close in 12 hours and at the moment the leading places are, hidden coves with and without pirate camps, the Inn of Lost Tales, Fortress Refuge and a small trading town.

I also keep a secret part of the list that will make it on for sure, that is a cartographers privilege, making sure my special favorite details make it on to the map. Delivery of the final maps will begin in about a weeks time after a final touch up. First the basic maps for all backers, followed by the advanced content that will take a little bit longer to create.

This is a busy time with a secret project for Kobold Project underway that I'm sure will please fans of Midgard. It will require me to dig deep into the toolbox and think big, really big. The results of this will if everything goes well play a part of launch of the new Midgard hardcover. It is also a first technology test for bringing old "flat maps" into the 3D realm, which will play a major role in a number of projects coming up.

Made an appearance a few days ago on Twitch Channel Return to Greyhawk run by DM Shane, you can see the interview here. 

Next commission project coming up is the Curse of the Lost Memories by Griffon Lore Games. The Kickstarter just reached the funding goal, and the first stretch goal is to have me mapping the Wailmoor area. Please consider backing this Kickstarter, the gaming community needs more cool sandbox areas to adventure in made by dedicated gamers! If the Gryffon Lore Kickstarter continues to be successful it will include more cartography and interior art by Tad Davis cover art by Oliver Wetter. The top stretch goal listed is the Regional Campaign Guide to Kingdom of Lothmar. I might be more or much more busy later this spring depending on the success of the Griffon Lore Games Kickstarter! 

This year mark the 20th year anniversary of my fantasy mapping endeavors that started with my work on a map of the Flanaess. The oldest part of that map are from September 1998, so its time to go back and revisit Greyhawk where it all started for me. This will happen in several ways, most of it done through my Patreon. First out is a new look at the Lendore Isle with the help of Len Lakofka, which will be my next Patreon Project beginning in February.

Darlene have graciously accepted to be a Guest Creator on my Patreon, her artistic talent and expertise will bring some unique possibilities to work on projects loved by Greyhawk fans. This will be a great addition to the other Greyhawk themed projects I'm planning later this year. If my Patreon continues to be this successful I plan to dedicate a whole year to Patreon starting this fall and concentrate on my passion with the Flanaess and its surroundings as a way to both recharge my creative ability and to give back to all of you who are supporting me.

Thank you again for all your support!

Now we need to figure out who lives on these islands, and especially where and in wt do they live. I have tried to come up with some of this while working and here are some of my ideas:

Fishing villages, little trading town, inland fortress, farming community, a lighthouse or more of course, a temple to a god.

Now I want to hear your ideas!

Then I'll take my 10 or so favorites and create a Patreon Poll to determine the what should go on the final map.  

Here are the links to larger versions of the Island preview images:

Top down:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/axd49yoy2qa4e0e/Island%20top%20down%201.jpg?dl=0

Isometric:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mjmwiti2c6y8npj/Island%20Vue%20isometric%201.jpg?dl=0

Don't let the absence of posts here lull you into a sense that I'm slacking off. Its been busy times here with three different projects going in parallel, two commissions and the Island project. 

Our islands have had a difficult time to come out of what can best be described as render mayhem. The size, complexity and my determination to get the details out, seems to hit both hardware software and every other limitation my poor computers can conjure. So now I have a fairly good idea of the limits of current technology. 

After a week of trials and errors the results are very much to my liking and well worth the day or so of rendering it took me once I figured out how to do the setup.  

Left to do on the islands are settlements and roads, which will be determined in a poll coming up shortly. Then a little bit of world Machine work and export of all the data, final Photoshop touch up and Vue renders. 

My plan is still to have this project ready by the end of the month, so you can get to used it in your adventures soon. If all the troubles getting this project done is any indications, there will be plenty of great stories to be played out here!

Thank you all for joining me in this quest, and welcome to the new ones to arrive!

The Island Project is progressing just a little behind schedule. It took a lot of work and effort to bring all types of features into one project, elevation, texturing, lakes, rivers and vegetation, into a single map.

Here is a first look at one of tiny island of the group, the most rugged one. This is just the raw untouched elevation and textures from World Machine rendered in Vue, with no touch up and post processing at all. Despite this I consider this my best work so far.

Next step is to do a first complete render including masks. This is to be used as a base for placing settlements, roads and fields. There will be a poll coming up to let you all pitch in on where to add these features.

The goal is to have it all done and in your hands by the end of January.

I just had to make a quick shaded test as well...

This is a raw texture test straight from World Machine, and I must say I'm really proud of how this project is turning out. There are still a few things to tweak, lakes have some artifacts that makes hem all look shallow. I will remove them and generate a mask that makes it easy to add artifacts where needed later.

With some post work in Photoshop and shading applied it will be my best work so far I think. Thank you so much for making it possible for me to spend the time it have taken to get this set up!

Soon its time to start placing the settlements 🙂 

Texturing lakes and rivers on the agenda this evening. No I'm not suffering from a Holiday Hangover, its standard practice to use strong signal colors. It makes it lot easier to see if you're on the right track or not.

The main trick is to find the right data to tap into, and in order to see minute contrasts in the preview window its best to use strong colors that normally don't appear in nature.