Avencourt

UPDATE Dec 02, 2013

Just a small update here. The walls and towers have been completed, and the wall sections with archways for the gates placed in each gateway. I also created the Royal Palace, sort of; I do like this version, which I based more on the inner bailey area & building structure type seen in Blaidd Dwyrg’s map “Val Nevan”. But I’m wondering if maybe a more “castle-like” version might be better? For now, however, this is how I’m going to leave it; creating an entirely new structure in a totally different architectural style would take quite some time, and I’d like to get this map finished!

I was initially thinking of creating 3-5 different buildings for each section of the city and then placing them in roughly the situations I originally planned out, but I think it would save time and ultimately look a lot better if I used those generic non-detailed buildings I originally had, move/edit them as necessary (still haven’t done that, unfortunately), and then I’ll print the map out in black and white. From there, I’ll trace over the map (onto another sheet of paper, of course) by hand in ink. I’ll add details as I go, and I won’t use a ruler. Once I’ve done all the line-work, I’ll scan the hand-inked map into Photoshop, add color, clean up any glaring errors preferably without losing that hand-drawn quality, and call it “finished unless requested otherwise”!

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UPDATE Nov. 4, 2013

Avencourt 2.1Rebuilding the map with details. The base image is from an earlier version that doesn’t include some minor modifications I’ll be making to the final placement of buildings in certain areas (the Promenade along the bottom of the map needs to be wider, for example).

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UPDATE Oct. 10, 2013

Royal Palace (version 01). Just a quick update on current process. The roof will have to be “fixed” in Photoshop to remove those extra interior lines, and of course I’ll be adding a whole lot more. Particularly cylindrical towers with conical roofs, as per the description I was given. It’s supposed to be similar to the inner bailey of a castle, so I’ll be looking into layouts of those to make sure I set it into the town properly. Might require some adjustments, but the final image is supposed to look more like a 17th century hand-drawn bird’s-eye view map, not a technically accurate scale drawing (fortunately for me!).

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First Drafts

   

Almost completed map, missing a few elements (Royal Palace, Basse Mont quarry, Tartarus Prison, and the Piazza dei Gatti being key among them). The areal view on the left is pre-extruding of the buildings; the image on the right is a test of the parallel projection view, line styling, colors, and “hand-painted” effect for the final map.

Major changes include making the Kitchen Square (lower left corner) larger, widening the Promenade (leading towards the right from the Kitchen Square), and of course adding in the missing elements. I may also make some cosmetic changes, such as adding detailing on the top edges of the walls and towers, as well as indicating (roughly) windows, doors, and woodwork.