Of a sort, really. Although I confess I don’t have much in the way of artistic or cartographic updates, this is primarily because I spent the summer looking for a job. I suppose I’ll finally have to accept that a bachelor’s, especially in English, really isn’t enough any more. At least not for any of the work I’d like to do long-term.
Anyway, I am still working on 2 commissions I received way back in late April/early May from 2 wonderfully understanding people, and I do have a rough map for one of those ready to share.
This is a top-down view of the buildings as laid out in Google SketchUp 8 over top of a rough sketch the client sent. The Royal Palace (which was described as being similar to the inner bailey of a castle) is missing, as is the prison gatehouse near the center of the map. I’m not sure how to create the correct terrain for this map in SketchUp, but since the final map style is supposed to be sort of 17th century aerial/bird’s eye view I’m actually thinking of just pulling the buildings up to get the vertical lines, setting the camera to parallel projection, and then printing out a screenshot to ‘trace’ over.
The other map commission I’m working on, the client has requested I use CC3; at the moment, I don’t have any exported images to put here, but I’m planning on having something up sometime this weekend. I’m currently working on placing the terrain symbols, working north to south (and roughly east to west).
Finally, I’m also working on a map for a friend’s Warhammer 40k game. The maps can be found HERE; I’ll be uploading updates as I complete them, probably once a week or so for a while since they’re playing Saturdays.
99 Colored Umbrellas 
Bot
September 28, 2013 at 1:54 am
I like the city map. I was wondering what terrain the palace backs onto (thinking about defensibility): is it a sea cliff or something? Roughly how many hours work does it take to complete a map like this one? I have added a link to your website from mine. Good luck with the job-hunting – quite a painful process in my experience! The trouble is too many companies/employers either lack the imagination or creativity to innovate or they just lack the resources to invest in creative people like yourself.
Leo
September 28, 2013 at 2:44 pm
Thanks; I’m not actually sure what terrain the palace backs onto, the client just noted that the town itself is the result of several smaller towns/villages being combined when the palace was built, and except for Basse Mont (which is built at the bottom of an old quarry, I believe) everything is on a plateau. The main gate, in the south-east, opens onto a road that winds down 6 steep hills to sea-level, from what I understand. Personally, I would think the palace is probably set on a corner of the plateau so there would be cliffs adding to the defensibility on 2 sides, and then the bulk of the town itself would serve as protection from the other directions.
The sketch was provided by the client, and while I’ve spent a fair amount of time (more than I’d care to admit, really) trying different methods of drawing the map out and checking different styles for lines, details, etc., this particular version only took about 1-1.5 hours. Extruding the buildings up will take just minutes, and adding the roofs shouldn’t take more than about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how many different roof styles I decide to use. The real work will come when I get around to applying styles and colors to achieve the final look.
I took a look at your website, by the way; I’m impressed by the background of Cronodon, and the amount of information available and work created! I’m looking forward to taking a closer look at everything, and I’ll be providing a link to your site from my own once I finish a few maps I’m working on for my own world. Good luck, and thanks for stopping by!