Cave tiles !!

[Maike05]

@HeroquestFrance: c'est vrai que l'orthographe n'est pas mon fort :s meme après plusieurs relectures.. Mais bon pour mon usage personnel je n'y regarde pas plus loin Par contre je n'avais aucune idée que space crusage utilise le meme système, j'ai juste trouvé que ca pourrait être cool à mettre en place pour avoir un plateau hyper modulable !

@Daedelus: Thanks for your support ! I really recommend you to print a set in a printershop. I got mine for about 10€ for 22 pages i think, it's really cheap.

Depending on how you want to play your quest (big or small dungeon) I recommend 4 straight corridors, 4 turning corridor, 4 T-junctions, 2 intersections, 2 deadends, 5+ small caves, at least one big cavern (made out of several pieces)

Then about the details like stalactics, etc, yes I definitely wanted to add these at first. But I really lacked the texture to use :s if you can find me some good texture, then i'll add them with pleasure !

Finally concerning making an alternate version in white, I won't make it since I hope people with print it in a printershop, but you could easily set black as transparent in Word 2007 or even color it white in Gimp/Photoshop

[Maike05]

Hi folks, quick update this morning. I wanted to create some tiles and though, why not add some crystals to my cavern set ?

I've also updated the grid marking on the tiles.

I also though that this time, I'll go with a 8x8 tiles instead of 4x4 and make to geomorph. So i'll probably recreate the previous cavern tiles with the new grid marking and some more shadows on the walls.

Here is a quick WIP:



What do you think ? What can I improve ?

[el_flesh]

I'm always kind of thrown by the partial squares - the ones where half of the square is cut off by wall. Can a character FIT in there?!?
Also, do the crystals give radiation damage?

[Maike05]

I'm always kind of thrown by the partial squares - the ones where half of the square is cut off by wall. Can a character FIT in there?!?
Also, do the crystals give radiation damage?

hello, Partial squares were not intentional Of course, I'll remove them at the end, this was just a WIP for inspiration I don't think those crystal should do anything beside behind pretty

Anyway, here is what I've done so far. This give you an idea of the potential of this new set because it will be geomorphic ! Meaning, you just have to lay down a couple of these tiles to make a huge cavern complex !

[Sjeng]

What program are you using for making these?

[Maike05]

What program are you using for making these?

Simply The Gimp. The most difficult part is to get the right texture. Then it's just a matter of composing with different layers.

For example here, I have use one layer for the gravels, one for the soil and one for the walls.

I first begin by a black layer, then using the selecting tool, I draw the shape of the walls and remove it from the black layer, letting the soil layer beneath to show up. Now on the soil layer, i'll take the eraser tool and re-pass on the walls contour, to let the gravel layer beneath showing up.

After that, I'll apply a drop shadow from the walls to make the passage darker.

Finally, i'll reselect the walls contour with a 10px border and apply the rocky wall texture onto that, making the illusion of the walls.

It's not that difficult when you get the functioning of layers. The layer on top covers the layer beneath it, etc.
For example, here I've used:

1. Black
2. Wall texture
3. Drop shadows
4. Soil ground texture
5. Gravel texture

[chaoticprime]

I like the design of these, but not so much the artistic-style. There's nothing functionally wrong with the original, I simply prefer a different visual aesthetic. I like the hand-painted, non-linear, art-style used by the HQ main board. I put about fives minutes of Photoshop CS5 into this last tile you put up, to show you exactly what I mean.



EDIT: Here are more of them, with identical alterations:

[chaoticprime]

I added a bit of noise to the negative space. It blends well, and would be much easier on everyone's printers.

[Maike05]

Thank you for the review chaoticprime! Those look really great indeed! Is it simply an oil paint filter ?

Cheers,

[chaoticprime]

Increase DPI to 300 and then resize to actual dimensions. Apply the filter Noise > Reduce Noise (19/0/0/0) and then apply Artistic > Paint Daubs (6/0/Light Rough).