Conquer Club

Clap! Clap! Clap! **I'm boycotting emotes for the 30 seconds it took me to post this** Clap! Clap! Clap!

Congratulatorians! Time for the grueling Graphics Workshop!!! Dun, dun, DUUUUN!!!!

*Smiley face* Sully

Alright, here's a quick preview of how things are shaping up in the graphics dept.



Obviously I'm going the watercolor route yet again but I'm trying to approach it differently than that I did South Africa and differently than Bison King's distinctive style. One of the key things I'm using on this part is stronger use of black and strength of waterspots, such as the far right beneath the river. The water has yet to be touched outside of some colorization and I'm uncertain how I'm going to approach it. The only borders drawn in have been the regional ones, which were done with a micron waterproof marker.

Interesting.

I dunno, watercoloring works very well for South Africa, but does it apply itself here?

the.killing.44 wrote:I dunno, watercoloring works very well for South Africa, but does it apply itself here?

Yeah, well why don't you enlighten us genius. "does it apply itself here" What does that even mean ?

I have to share the.killing's concerns. I'm not at all sure if the watercolour style fits for this map... I liked the industrial look of the gameplay draft.

the.killing.44 wrote:I dunno, watercoloring works very well for South Africa, but does it apply itself here?

Well, I dunno. I've been thinking about that. Can you use watercolor for everything? Basically I'm thinking that water color is a substitute for the lame trick of designing a map and putting some digital paper beneath it. Essentially they're the same thing. Though I'm thinking watercolor is more preferable because you have much more control. The paper isn't just the texture beneath it, its an intrinsic piece of the whole.

I think i just reached a point where false glows, perfect lines and colors that really don't exist in the world and the over-perfection of photoshop seem too faked to me. I spend my map crafting time making imitation maps. Why aren't I doing the real thing? However, I'm starting to notice a lot of the same principles of making a map in photoshop also apply to working with paint, though photoshop is like splenda when sugar tastes so good.

So that said, I think I can make this map work. I want to avoid a sort of romantic look and really drive the grunge on this one. I know what you're saying killing and I agree with your concern. When I first started the water color it had the look of Thyseneal to it and I thought... "ok, that won't do." I think there is more than one style of using actual paints and paper and the medium is versatile and can accomplish many different feels to it.

As for liking the old draft... that map was horribly boring, ugly and unexciting. I chose that styling to get me through the gameplay workshop because I'm starting to think that all graphics should be done in the graphics workshop. I mean, you can have an idea of what the graphics ought to look like at draft and gameplay, but really these things should be done in the graphics workshop. So as for the notion of going back to that... no.

I too am so-called "trained" in the art of painting. And, I can attest to the fact that all watercolors are not the same, when it comes to style and feel. Especially when you combine another medium such as ink, charcoal etc.

I can get on board with the idea of using computer graphics, in combination with various mediums. To me, what you have so far, is a base, that can be layered into a map that uses a combination of ink, photograph, etc. And, brings it all together in photoshop.

Yes this IS interesting, and I look forward to seeing where it goes.

porkenbeans wrote:I too am so-called "trained" in the art of painting. And, I can attest to the fact that all watercolors are not the same, when it comes to style and feel. Especially when you combine another medium such as ink, charcoal etc.

I can get on board with the idea of using computer graphics, in combination with various mediums. To me, what you have so far, is a base, that can be layered into a map that uses a combination of ink, photograph, etc. And, brings it all together in photoshop.

Yes this IS interesting, and I look forward to seeing where it goes.

You know, it's interesting you mention the blend of of elements and photoshop being one of them. When I started South Africa I imagined that the whole thing would be paint, paper and ink but reality reared its head and I found myself tweaking and fixing in photoshop. Photoshop is a powerful tool and I don't intend to write it out of my work, but I'm starting to think that using strictly photoshop is folly.

I'm sure you will make something interesting out of the watercolours, but I liked the way the original draft suggested (to me, anyway) the blocky poster art of the period.

ender516 wrote:I'm sure you will make something interesting out of the watercolours, but I liked the way the original draft suggested (to me, anyway) the blocky poster art of the period.

Seconded - I like that style

Industrial Helix wrote:

porkenbeans wrote:I too am so-called "trained" in the art of painting. And, I can attest to the fact that all watercolors are not the same, when it comes to style and feel. Especially when you combine another medium such as ink, charcoal etc.

I can get on board with the idea of using computer graphics, in combination with various mediums. To me, what you have so far, is a base, that can be layered into a map that uses a combination of ink, photograph, etc. And, brings it all together in photoshop.

Yes this IS interesting, and I look forward to seeing where it goes.

You know, it's interesting you mention the blend of of elements and photoshop being one of them. When I started South Africa I imagined that the whole thing would be paint, paper and ink but reality reared its head and I found myself tweaking and fixing in photoshop. Photoshop is a powerful tool and I don't intend to write it out of my work, but I'm starting to think that using strictly photoshop is folly.

I am glad you get my drift.
Photoshop is a medium in itself, as well as a "tweaking" tool for any other medium that you bring in to this computer world. Instead of paper or canvas, we are viewing everything here on a computer monitor that is made up of little dots of color. Even if you made the entire map with paint, you still need to convert it all to pixels, that we can see on our monitors. And, once this has been done, your picture is now a part of the digital world, where through programs like photoshop, you can manipulate it, in any way that you see fit.

Oh man... I hated that draft! I wonder if I might have a problem on my hands.

Yeah... while I'm sure you can find a way to incorporate a water color style into this, I think the map needs to convey a heavy industrial kinda feel. So much of the stuff in that time period in Russia is red, white and black and would probably be a good place to start.

the watercoulors work here...

trust me.

I dont like the original map look at all. The gameplay will be A+ imo... But I would rework it in the watercolors...

listen guys.. These maps are art. All of you are artists.

IH has shown he can make a map with this medium (WC's) ... I would let him role with it. Watercolors dont have to be vibrant... He can paint a very gritty industrial war with watercolors.. I would not be hating on a guy until he shows us something and it sucks.

army of nobunaga wrote:the watercoulors work here...

trust me.

I dont like the original map look at all. The gameplay will be A+ imo... But I would rework it in the watercolors...

listen guys.. These maps are art. All of you are artists.

IH has shown he can make a map with this medium (WC's) ... I would let him role with it. Watercolors dont have to be vibrant... He can paint a very gritty industrial war with watercolors.. I would not be hating on a guy until he shows us something and it sucks.

The first draft is not a representation of any graphical direction he's going in. We're talking about a third option.

I understand what you guys meant.

Well, the idea behind showing the photo of how far I've gotten was to sort of prompt the ideas that you guys have and want to see in the graphical direction of this map. I think the general consensus is to take it in a more heavy industrialized/art deco style.

Now this is where I'm troubled because I'm searching for some sort of inspiration and I'm coming up short. Most Art Deco maps that I've found are art deco not because they generalize geography or use bulky lines on the maps but because the maps are surrounded with little murals of sorts depicting the times... which might be a route to pursue on this one. Lets say I take the communist propaganda poster idea and start depicting the struggle in the open areas of the map?

Here's an art deco map of the post-verseilles world:
http://www.georgeglazer.com/maps/world/henry.html

I'm thinking, take that idea but make it triumphant communists battling whites. Perhaps instead of simply names like Stalin or Keladin I can include mug shots or something as well. What do you guys think?

They have a lot of really cool maps on that site.

How we doing here, comrade? (I'm figuring you're spending a most of your time on South Africa 1885....)

Yeah, i twas really sucking up my time. I just don't have a whole lot of time for maps at the moment with work and all that. I'm sure to tackle it soon though now that ZA is in the forge.

Ok... I'm going to vacation this thing for a moment while I get up to speed on the gameplay of the other maps in the pack. I've had a new, less colorful idea, for the graphics and when I get a draft prepared I shall post it and move it back to the Graphics workshop.

OK, Chinese Civil War is being worked on and I'm compiling the graphics version i want. So, since that is being done, let's get back to the Russian Revolution...



Some concerns made to me have been to fix the Army boxes, which I intend to do. Another is to work out a solution for the railways. Which I'm still working on.

Looks good!

Something's missing though... a title.

natty_dread wrote:=D>

Looks good!

Something's missing though... a title.

*chuckles* Yeah, it looks great, though!