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Post by wyvern on Feb 27, 2014 3:43:45 GMT -9
...I'd like to make this tiles useful in more than one context (dwarven as well as goblin mines, or just a cave system that leads to the lair of an ugly monster) and torches may reveal themselves as the more "neutral" way to represent a source of light. Maybe it would be possible to prepare different versions of the "light source" tiles for use by different races or in different contexts, some without the torches, some with more elaborate torch holders (such as stone carved)? This is where the use of PDF layers could come in helpful, if you wanted to try that route! Similarly, I could see a Dwarven mine having carved stone supports rather than wooden ones, but perhaps that's being too precise Looking at the basic layout already, the system could also represent something like a funfair ghost train in a modern setting - just add some monster figurines or counters, and some other tokens (like the spider webs!), plus some variant "mine carts" with seating in them. And with a secret hideout for the villain somewhere, naturally Sorry about the pit pony tokens, but I see Permes just released a Wild Horses set, and a couple of the less active horses there would work quite nicely as such ponies without harnesses, which could be modified fairly easily to become harnessed versions. Or maybe Mesper's already working on some?
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Post by Nemo on Mar 3, 2014 2:38:28 GMT -9
While still working on a more convincing form of light source (I am, wyvern , I swear I just don't seem to like what's coming out from my tablet) I completed the work on the corridors containing the rails and as soon as I can I will make a sample dungeon to show how it worked out. Basically, I tried to make all "turning points" (such as intersections, T-junctions, curves...) on 2x2 tiles, in varieties that can make dungeon creation very flexible. Anyway, I began making corridors without rails: I didn't want to just remove the rails levels, so I'm adding some details and whatnot to create variation. All corridors will have a "contour" made of walls (just as rooms), but there will be "archways" standups that will show the opening in the wall on their bases (they will be 1'' and 2'' wide). This is to avoid having fixed openings and to add more possibilities in the construction of the dungeon.
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Post by wyvern on Mar 3, 2014 2:52:12 GMT -9
I like the multi-level options in that sample corridor. For a still more natural cave system, you could remove the wooden props, or perhaps expand the walls into the corridor a little to "hide" them, so the walls aren't quite so regular.
The standup archways sound intriguing. There's option for a lot of variety in those, maybe even a few natural stone doors or secret doors? A portcullis made of narrow stone stalactites? Perhaps a new natural rock background for some of the existing standup doorways, as a further possibility?
Stalagmite tokens to follow (he asked hopefully!)? Or maybe even some standups (2.5D maybe)?
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Post by Nemo on Mar 3, 2014 3:08:49 GMT -9
The standup archways sound intriguing. There's option for a lot of variety in those, maybe even a few natural stone doors or secret doors? A portcullis made of narrow stone stalactites? Perhaps a new natural rock background for some of the existing standup doorways, as a further possibility? Stalagmite tokens to follow (he asked hopefully!)? Or maybe even some standups (2.5D maybe)? I had already thought about most of these things, but the portcullis made of stalactites never crossed my mind. I like it, thanks!
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Post by Nemo on Mar 12, 2014 0:14:04 GMT -9
I had to take a little detour from the main work to draw something for some friends of mine. The set is an abandoned dwarven brewery and they needed an entrance room with one of the exit destroyed by an explosion that blew out the door on the northern wall and part of the ceiling, blocking the corridor. Yep, the B stands for Beer... They are happy with the result, but still I'd like to hear what you may think of it: I believe I may be able to include this in my own sets.
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Post by mahotsukai on Mar 12, 2014 11:21:51 GMT -9
Yep, the B stands for Beer... Not Bugman's Brewery home of XXX XXX?
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Post by Parduz on Mar 13, 2014 2:05:15 GMT -9
Mh... seems a nice and fun place Ok, just two things: 1) if the columns are meant to be "working columns" (so not cutted, and the top you draw is an artistic way to show the section) then i'd think that the torch light should not affect that part. 2) I'd add some light on the edges of the wooden pieces 3) Perhaps the northern exit could have more rubbles/debris/dust/burn signs... seems a bit too ... clean, but that's just me
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Post by squirmydad on Mar 14, 2014 18:05:32 GMT -9
Hmm, "Endless Brewery"? My kind of dungeon.
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Post by Nemo on Mar 18, 2014 22:49:24 GMT -9
A while ago I was talking about another add-on to release before the Cave Tile Set, so here is The Forge of a Thousand Souls (the main new thematic tile). Tear it down as I know you can
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Post by WackyAnne on Mar 19, 2014 3:01:52 GMT -9
Nemo I like it! Can't see anything at first glance to criticize. I love the way the ladder shows the level change, how the rougher cavern/tunnel floor transitions to the more civilized forge area, and the little bridge that can't be faulted because noone's going to ford a stream of lava... And all the little details...
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Post by migibb on Mar 19, 2014 3:14:34 GMT -9
Only thing I would say is the river doesn't really cry out lava to me. It is too shiny and liquid - if that makes any sense - like it is a river of fire or liquid gold. Doesn't lava still have a kind of rocky testure to it, even at its most molten?
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Post by cowboyleland on Mar 19, 2014 4:26:51 GMT -9
I agree with migibb. There should be some darker areas in the lava where it is cooling. Strangely, looking at google images, this seems to happen in the middle, while the bright yellow runs down each edge. Of course, in this kind of setting there could be some magical physics involved. It seems it is cool enough for the anvil and pick not to melt and the wooden ladders not to combust, so I would guess the surface of the lava is cooling. Maybe some cooled lava splashes on the edges of the little troughs? All the good things that WackyAnne said are also true. I really like all the rest of the room. I might not have noted the lava if migibb hadn't mentioned it.
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Post by Nemo on Mar 19, 2014 5:04:00 GMT -9
Thanks guys, you are always too kind I have to say that I have been already Parduzzed before showing you the image. Anyway, I had to agree with you, so I tried some things and the result is this: It may need some more tweaking, but it should look a bit more "lava-esque" than before (it surely feels a lot less "liquid" to me).
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Post by migibb on Mar 19, 2014 5:25:20 GMT -9
Nemo - much better! One side effect of it is that the dark patches in the lava now makes the yellow glow edging the bottom of the bridge stand out more too. Love it.
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Post by wyvern on Mar 19, 2014 6:26:56 GMT -9
Needs more red (cooler areas) in the lava channel, I think, but the definition of the channel overall is better in the "revised" version.
I'm not sure how the small runnels of lava going to/from the forge are meant to work though. I'm struggling to work out what is on which level with these - that is, how does the lava get into the narrow runnels from the channel to flow along them? Or do we imagine a separate (unseen) lava inlet behind the forge to fill these, so they both slope down to the lava channel?
Hope we can look forward to some matching "lava channel" cavern passageways too!
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Post by Nemo on Mar 19, 2014 7:40:07 GMT -9
The idea is that there is another smaller lava stream that Dwarves redirected to make it flow under/behind the forge, to keep it always hot. The lava stream then flows to the main "river" that we see in the tile
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Post by dungeonmistress on Mar 19, 2014 8:10:48 GMT -9
I like it! @wakkyanne, you are absolutely right! Nemo's work is always so beautifully finished! Something else to add to my wishlist!
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Post by wyvern on Mar 20, 2014 7:11:05 GMT -9
The idea is that there is another smaller lava stream that Dwarves redirected to make it flow under/behind the forge, to keep it always hot. The lava stream then flows to the main "river" that we see in the tile That's fine, but I'm still not convinced, as the runnels don't seem to connect to the forge. Better if we could see the outlets from the forge into the runnels, I think, and/or perhaps remove one of them. At present, they'd act to carry lava past the forge more efficiently, not interacting with it at all.
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Post by dungeonmistress on Mar 20, 2014 9:16:07 GMT -9
Perhaps you could get the effect that wyvern is talking about if you were to angle the runnels in a bit toward the forge in the last (partial?) squares before they run behind the forge? I don't know if that makes sense to you. It's hard to describe what I'm visualizing.
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Post by Nemo on Mar 20, 2014 11:44:20 GMT -9
I hadn't thought about that, thank you both wyvern and dungeonmistress I'll definitely try something in that direction, hoping to be able to release this free add-on in the next few days.
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Post by wyvern on Mar 21, 2014 1:49:51 GMT -9
Perhaps you could get the effect that wyvern is talking about if you were to angle the runnels in a bit toward the forge in the last (partial?) squares before they run behind the forge? I don't know if that makes sense to you. It's hard to describe what I'm visualizing. Thanks for this Dungeonmistress. It had occurred to me, but I couldn't think how to describe it succinctly and clearly Look forward to seeing the final product too!
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Post by mesper on Mar 21, 2014 11:52:21 GMT -9
I like it! @wakkyanne, you are absolutely right! Nemo's work is always so beautifully finished! <...> Agreed - awesome, just awesome!
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Post by Nemo on Mar 24, 2014 13:37:59 GMT -9
Thanks, mesper So, back in the main cave, one of the "empty rooms" destined to be filled with tokens/props. I tried to give it a bit of "character" anyway. Among the props there will be stalactites/stalagmites, boulders and whatnot to give a less regular shape to the single cave, if needed.
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Post by dungeonmistress on Mar 24, 2014 17:01:57 GMT -9
I like the eldritch glow from the crystals in the corner. I also like the way that area is raised up on what looks like shelves of shale. The pit is a nice touch, too. All-in-all, a very creepy effect. Nicely done.
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Post by WackyAnne on Mar 25, 2014 4:46:03 GMT -9
I like the eldritch glow from the crystals in the corner. I also like the way that area is raised up on what looks like shelves of shale. The pit is a nice touch, too. All-in-all, a very creepy effect. Nicely done. I second everything dungeonmistress said. The more I see of your work (especially the wonderful DwarfQuest tiles), the more impressed I am with your skill. There is a maturity to the quality of your tiles which suggests you've been working away at this for long before any of it saw the light of day, and it is certainly equal to anything that I've seen from other publishers, including Paizo's. The fine-grain resolution, the attention to detail, the subtle grid, the lighting... all excellent. My only comment would be to not give so much away for free, because unfortunately that will cause some people to undervalue it, and they will expect more for less.
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Post by Nemo on Mar 25, 2014 7:37:24 GMT -9
Thank you both, I'm very happy for your comments but mostly I'm blushing My only comment would be to not give so much away for free, because unfortunately that will cause some people to undervalue it, and they will expect more for less. I thought about that and I have to say that I agree with you, WackyAnne. I'm still a noob in this "thing" and I'm trying to understand what to do each time following my interpretation of how my work is received and what can I do to share it as much as I can. I'm sure I'll soon get the hang of how to behave in the most correct way to not undervalue my own work and (more important) the work of other people. In the meanwhile Forge of a Thousand Souls has been released on RPGNow in a Pay What You Want form
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Post by dungeonmistress on Mar 25, 2014 8:46:16 GMT -9
I do understand what you mean. For about thirty years, I have made and sold my own line of hand beaded jewelry. This is labor intensive work and the materials aren't cheap. Never-the-less I ended up giving a lot of it away. I never made much money at it, because no matter the quality of my work, people couldn't understand how something that wasn't made of solid gold could cost more than a few bucks. And in the backwater town where I live, most folks wouldn't know high quality if it hit them in the face. But, if you give your stuff away to everyone, they think: "Oh, that must be cheap and easy to do, requiring no effort or talent at all." While, we know the truth, people are perverse that way. Whether its bead by bead, pixel by pixel, or painstakingly hand drawn, we put a little piece of ourselves into each creation and that is where the value lies. Add to that vision and talent and you end up with something as beautiful as what you produce, Nemo. If you want to give a set or two to a few trusted folks for a test run and to see how it would be received, that's one thing, but you truly need to price your sets with an eye to the complexity and sophistication of their design. Look at what Fat Dragon and Lord Zsezse produce. You work is on a par with theirs as the very least. Price it accordingly. We will stand behind you and cheer you on!
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Post by Nemo on Mar 25, 2014 8:53:49 GMT -9
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Post by cowboyleland on Mar 25, 2014 8:55:59 GMT -9
Lovely work.
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Post by Nemo on Mar 27, 2014 5:13:21 GMT -9
So, I'm halfway to the end of this new set and I may have just finished the entrance to the cave system: I meant it to be the entrance of an ancient place inhabited by Dwarves, now abandoned with nature being the only occupant.
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