City Gates, Adept & Expert (Patreon)

Welcome back, Adepts/Experts! This week I have a little more extra content for you than usual, both an alternate 'grim' palette version and a stormy version! When it comes to city maps I just can't stop myself from making stormy versions, it's such an easy way of making the map much more atmospheric and can drastically change the way the map plays out- reducing visibility, adding risk of lightning strikes (especially metal-clad warriors high up on the catwalk), and making movement difficult on wet cobblestones and mud. The grim palette I put together on a whim, I was trying out different color sets and I thought it had a nice classic fantasy feel that some of you would enjoy as much as I do.  I can just imagine a grand battle taking place in this version, while not so much on the original colorful one you know? I hope you like this, I think I could replicate it fairly easily if you're interested in more!

1. I had a somewhat rough time designing this map, mostly because I wasn't very familiar with wall/gate design. I knew that I wanted there to be somewhat cramped space up on the wall, part of the fun in my opinion, but I also wanted it to be functional, ideally with multiple ways to get up onto the wall.  Eventually I came across a couple designs I liked and I mixed them together for this. I suspect I'll be drawing the inside of the gatehouses pretty soon as I don't think I'll be able to get away with it as is (perhaps as my June revisited post?). 

After the wall, I wanted the terrain around it to be a nice mix of city and forest, enough to really get your money's worth. I like the contrast between the two, and something I wanted to get across was how grimy the city part was in comparison to the forest, which I think comes across a bit more in the grim version. 

2. The outlines for this map were pretty interesting, a mix of some old assets with a lot of new. I've mentioned it before, but I'm terrible at keeping my old rooftop assets because I always poison the well by screwing up the layers- combining their color with the outlines, rasterizing them with partial opacity, partially cutting them off off-screen at an odd angle. I've come to recognize it as my lot in life that I'll have to draw my roofs fresh every time, but I was able to recover some bits and pieces that helped to make it easier and faster. 

3. Now, while I truly did want to replicate the lighting and effects of my last city map, Town Street, I have to say that I'm decided that I don't really like how that one turned out. Instead, I  kept bumping up the brightness and vibrancy over and over again and didn't cover the map with a thin fog. I know I say it a lot, but I think I'm chasing those Witcher 3 Toussaint vibes, simple and bright colors but with a vibrant fantasy feel. I have to play Witcher 3 again.