keithcurtis Posted May 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2004 Re: Ambrethel Map in Free Stuff Wow! Great Map' date=' Keith! Thanks! It must have taken a long time to create.[/quote'] Thanks. Yes, it took some time to create. If you include it and all the sub-maps, it was my biggest Hero project to date. Fortunately, I don't need as much sleep as normal people. For those who are curious, the regional maps are in a different style. They are less illustrative and more topographical in style. Kind of like the difference between the big Middle Earth map and the regional Gondor/Mordor map from the Return of the King. The world map gives you an overall view and flavor. The regional maps give you exact placement of everything and some idea of the landform. BTW, this tip didn't get printed anywhere as far as I can tell, but all of the regional maps have a striped border. The bands on the stripes are exactly one hundred scale miles long, no matter the scale of the map. This makes it a little easier to judge distance without actually slapping a grid down over them. Keith "Tour Guide" Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted May 10, 2004 Report Share Posted May 10, 2004 Re: Ambrethel Map in Free Stuff is Ambrethal bigger than Earth? No indeed. There are more details about this in TA itself, but the northern continent of Ambrethel -- Arduna -- is roughly the same length as Eurasia. (Whether it's the same square mileage, I dunno; I suspect not.) I had enough to do just defining what you see on the map; I've left, in effect, the New World and most of the Southern Hemisphere for intrepid GMs to map out and detail on their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamamura Posted May 10, 2004 Report Share Posted May 10, 2004 Re: Ambrethel Map in Free Stuff Wow Keith that is one great map. I have only one question, how much do you charge for freelance work? G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Re: Ambrethel Map in Free Stuff Very nice -- thanks Keith! Looking forward to receiving TA later this week to see the detailed maps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drakkenkin Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Re: Ambrethel Map in Free Stuff What program did you use to make the map? Looks Nice. Drakkenkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithcurtis Posted May 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2004 Re: Ambrethel Map in Free Stuff What program did you use to make the map? Looks Nice. Drakkenkin Thanks. It was a combination of PhotoShop and Illustrator. The regional maps in the book are entirely Illustrator. Keith "all are based on Steve's CC2 originals" Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drakkenkin Posted May 13, 2004 Report Share Posted May 13, 2004 Re: Ambrethel Map in Free Stuff It seems that I'm never able to get that nice of quality out of Photoshop. I guess I need to get better at it. Thanks for letting me know. Drakkenkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleepyDrug Posted May 13, 2004 Report Share Posted May 13, 2004 Re: Ambrethel Map in Free Stuff My problem with photoshop is learning how to use layers. maybe i need one of those for dummies books. i'm in awe of the maps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithcurtis Posted May 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2004 Re: Ambrethel Map in Free Stuff It seems that I'm never able to get that nice of quality out of Photoshop. I guess I need to get better at it. Thanks for letting me know. Drakkenkin Do you have a pressure sensitive pad? I couldn't even imagine doing stuff like that withuot my Wacom. I do all my inking digitally, now. It takes some practice, but as the caregiver for a two-year-old, the ability to be able to just sit down and work for ten minutes here and there is worth it. Otherwise, all my time would be spent breaking out materials and cleaning up. Keith "Wacko for Wacom" Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drakkenkin Posted May 13, 2004 Report Share Posted May 13, 2004 Re: Ambrethel Map in Free Stuff No I don't. I use to, but I lost the pen during a move. It's an older pad and I haven't been able to find a replacement. I loved it when I had it, but all I have now are the memories. Drakkenkin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPMiller Posted May 14, 2004 Report Share Posted May 14, 2004 Re: Ambrethel Map in Free Stuff Thanks. It was a combination of PhotoShop and Illustrator. The regional maps in the book are entirely Illustrator. Keith "all are based on Steve's CC2 originals" Curtis You mention "Based on Steve's CC2 originals". Now that would be the best present ever to have those CC2 maps for modifying as the game progresses and political borders shift or terrain features are changed. Please? Pretty please With sugar on top? Steve? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted May 14, 2004 Report Share Posted May 14, 2004 Re: Ambrethel Map in Free Stuff Good gods, no. They're incredibly simplistic. A "power user" of CC2 I am not. However, I have to talk to my friends at ProFantasy about the Hudson City mapping project, so I'll ask them about the possibility of getting someone to gussy up the TA maps, too. We couldn't just give them away (since I want to be able to pay whoever does the work at least a nominal royalty), but we could probably sell 'em for a pretty reasonable price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPMiller Posted May 14, 2004 Report Share Posted May 14, 2004 Re: Ambrethel Map in Free Stuff Good gods, no. They're incredibly simplistic. A "power user" of CC2 I am not. However, I have to talk to my friends at ProFantasy about the Hudson City mapping project, so I'll ask them about the possibility of getting someone to gussy up the TA maps, too. We couldn't just give them away (since I want to be able to pay whoever does the work at least a nominal royalty), but we could probably sell 'em for a pretty reasonable price. You know, I do my maps in CC2, and have all the add-ons, and have some free time if you need someone. I also belong to the CC2 list. I also have PhotoShop and other post processing applications. That is unless you already have someone earmarked for the task. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
projecktzero Posted May 27, 2004 Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 Re: Ambrethel Map in Free Stuff I went to 3 hobby shops in my area looking for TA. At the 3rd shop, there was quite a bit of Hero stuff, but I didn't see TA. Just as I was about to leave, I saw TA on a display of new books. Anyway, I downloaded the map. Very nice! Question: At first glance, the map kinda looked like a distorted/morphed Europe . Without any prompting from me, when I showed the map to my wife, she commented that it kinda looked like Europe. Is this map intentionally made to look like Europe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirViss Posted May 27, 2004 Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 Re: Ambrethel Map in Free Stuff "Supposed to look like Europe" might be a little strong, but this is supposed to be Earth several tens of thousands of years ago, before a cataclysm sent the landmasses into flux, until they wind up looking like Earth today. The continents should represent the precursor of Europe, Asia and Africa, soa little similarity to present day Europe is probably not a bad thing. For the history of the Hero Universe check the "Hero Universe" link on this page: http://herogames.com/FreeStuff/freedocs.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted May 27, 2004 Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 Re: Ambrethel Map in Free Stuff There wasn't any particular intention of making the map look like any modern-day Earth continent. I deliberately made it the same size as Eurasia, but beyond that my only criteria were to make sure the geography was interesting, with lots of tactical and cultural options, and that it "looked good." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithcurtis Posted May 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 Re: Ambrethel Map in Free Stuff The modern day incarnation of the Undying Lord was released by an oil drill in Oklahoma. The text also speaks of lands rising and falling during the various cataclysms. I doubt there's any geographical correlation between any two points of then and now. Keith "Should have taken that left turn at Antyratori" Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlHazred Posted May 27, 2004 Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 Re: Ambrethel Map in Free Stuff Just want to chime in on how good the maps are. Great stuff! Incidentally, I'll be making good use of the Aarn map at DexCon; do any of you "in-the-know" people know if there'll be a more detailed Aarn map coming out at some point (say, in Fantasy Hero Battlegrounds)? Or should I just wing it? Come to think of it, there are several sections of the city that don't seem to belong to any district. Is that intentional, to give the GM room to expand, or did I miss a reference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithcurtis Posted May 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 Re: Ambrethel Map in Free Stuff I'm not aware of any more Aarn info on the way. There might be something for Digital Hero, but again, I haven't heard anything. The text of TA refers to all of the non-described sections of the city as having a pretty generic character (shops, houses, etc) and not possessing enough of a distinctive nature to warrant a "neighborhood name", so to speak. Keith "Would love to work on an Aarn sourcebook" Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted May 28, 2004 Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 Re: Ambrethel Map in Free Stuff No more info on Aarn available at present, nor more detailed maps. If the setting's well-received, maybe we'll do an Aarn book someday, but that would be a ways off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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