Endless Bag of Games

Every roleplayer sooner or later finds him/herself in a situation that he wants to create his own fantasy map. Some of us are talented with the pencil while others are not. Endless Bag Of Games shows you a simple way to create fantasy maps with Photoshop and brushes. This tutorial is for the ones who are not so very talented. Now then, there are some preparations before we start.

Don’t reinvent the wheel.

I’ve seen many tutorials that begin with the creation of that old looking paper like we have used to see. I’ll say don’t bother, because there are huge amount of royalty free images to choose from if you just know where to look. Now http://www.sxc.hu is one such place, where you can easily find yourself a solid image for your map. We’ll be using the following image. You don’t have to pick the same, choose any you want. LINK FOR THE PICTURE

Now that you have the map, you are ready to go? No! Don’t start the software just yet because true slacker knows that there might be something useful yet to be found and that is: Brushes. There are many sites that are sharing useful brushes for your maps. So if you know that your drawing skills are not so awesome, I’ll tell you to go look for the brushes and you still might achieve the results that you want. So go i.e. to Devianart and search for some brushes. In this tutorial, were are using these brushes (nice Tolkien look). Thanks to cathyechild for these brushes.

http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=&section=&global=1&q=tolkien+style+map#/d2amw36
http://calthyechild.deviantart.com/art/I-Want-More-Mountains-brushes-138817735

Now that you are ready to go, form an image in your mind what are about to create. A simple pencil sketch is enough, or a clear image in your mind will do. Actually, you can just go with the flow and see what happens (but I don’t recommend that)

Step 1: Results

Step 1: Open the image and create a duplicate of it.
Photoshop is all about layers and blending modes and using them effectively to achieve good results. So first, select file->open to open your base image and since we want to make sure that the original image stays intact, select your image from the layers palette and press ctrl+J so we will have a duplicate of the image. Then rename that layer to base map. After that, if you’re using the same image as I am, select image->image rotation->90′ to the direction you want.

Step 2: Create some new layers.
Next what you want to do is to create new layers by clicking an image at the bottom of the layers palette and rename those layers accordingly. Create a new layer for: mountains, forests, cities and roads and finally colors.

The reason we’re making so many layers is that if we make mistakes, it is easier to make adjustments and corrections to the layer where the correction affects only the desired objects.

Step 3: Create the continent.

Now what I want you to do is to select the base map layer, click Q (or choose from tool palette edit in Quick Mask) then hit B (or choose brush from the tool palette) and begin drawing the outlines of the continent you want to have. You should have something like the image below.

Now choose paintbucket and fill the drawn image until it is completely red. Now that you have the continent you want selected, press Q again to exit Quick Mask mode and you have made a selection that is going to be your landmass. Now you actually have now selected everything around the landmass so press Ctrl+Shift+I (or select->inverse). Now you simply copy the selected area so press Ctrl+C to copy the selected area and then Ctrl+V to paste it. As a result, you should have new layer which is your landmass. Rename this new layer as continent. Now right-click the continent layer and select blending modes->stroke and set size to 2px.

Step 4: Alter the base map to create sea.

Now make base map layer active again and hold down alt and click create new adjustment layer (in the layers palette) and selected Hue and Saturation. Remember put mark to use previous layer to create clipping mask. Now a slider should pop up and you just move the slider until you have the color what you want the sea to have. After that, rename the layer to sea.

ETA for my firstborn is now 81 days away which means that “the real life” takes toll from all of my hobbies in general. That, and absence of players during the summer in mind, I unfortunately had to put our Shield of Ferelden campaign to a pause. This also means, that there won’t be weekly session logs at EBoG at least for a while now. Winter might be a different matter, but we’ll see. Roleplaying still kicks ass however.

Nevertheless, I still continue to write reviews. In fact, I’ve decided that I include reviews from the books that I read, especially from the Fantasy genre. Yesterday I posted a review about Best Served Cold and I plan to make reviews at least from The First Law trilogy and some of George R.R. Martin’s work in the near future. I also have more time for random board game sessions and to my miniatures what I’ve been collecting steadily in silence. So Endless Bag of Games will see bit less session logs, but more reviews and thoughts about miniatures perhaps.

Few weeks ago we tried real “DDM” game with my friend from work and I got really good impressions from it (since I kicked some ass). I know that official DDM line is cancelled, but DDMGuild lucklily continues the legacy of creating miniature stats for the future minis.

So this is how things are going at Endless Bag of Games. Books, board games, Video games and Roleplaying games through e-mail for now. Still hope to see you around and you’re always welcome to write quest posts or suggest ideas for articles.

P.S I’ve also started doing some photography which means I can take photos about rpg-related stuff more better. You can see some of my work here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/50523523@N03/

-MkaY-

I have not written book review in ages, but when I finished Joe Abercrombie’s Best Served Cold, I knew that I have to say a word or two, just to encourage people to familiarize themselves with Abercrombie’s work. Without further ado, here is my two cents.

The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie has earned notions being fast paced, gritty and full of interesting characters. Honestly speaking, when I started reading the First Law Trilogy, it was the first time I felt that I am watching a fast paced movie instead of reading a book. Best Served Cold makes no exception to those notions. It is still tense experience which takes you to take dangerous environment where actions always has consequences and revenge is a dish Best Served Cold.

I try not to reveal too much from the actual plot, so I describe everything very generally. The storys focus is revenge and in the middle is Monzcarro Murcatto, a mercenary who along with her brother strive from victor to victor. Soon things go awry and Murcatto soon finds herself broken and having a good deal of revenge to deliver. So begins the bloody quest for revenge in a setting full of would-be despots, criminals, soldiers and treachery; Styria. Best Served Cold is a Fantasy novel with strong absence of magic.

As you can imagine, the road for revenge is long and rough ride. As Murcatto continues her quest, it leaves marks to her and her companions affecting to the relationships between the characters. In fact, during the journey the attitudes of the characters transform from hopeful to somewhat fatalistic as the characters learn that they might have become ones they used to despise. All is handled with smooth and delicate touch.

The setting itself is described very vividly, making the cities feel somewhat more like characters with personalities rather than just places to dwell. Canals full of cutpurses, courtesans and a quite amount of architecture to deliver a feeling that Styria is long from its golden age. While I was reading the book, I really felt that everywhere there were some signs of violence and war. In fact, the violence of Best Served Cold is one of the things to remember; swords collide in way that it is remembered, the battles can be exhausting and last a good while, until other delivers something devastating and it always leaves scars. Honestly, I haven’t seen so good usage of scars for a good while. The violence in the book is not for the faint-hearted. Some of the scenes were really.. something. Even for my taste.

Best Served Cold is another fantasy novel that is highly recommended. The tale is engaging and it challenges the reader. The mood is refreshing and somewhat similar which could be found from the First Law trilogy; dark, somewhat depressing and bleak with just the right amount of humor and killer one-liners.

Six years ago I finished Red Dead Revolver and thought that we should get more games like that. We’ve seen a few now, but now we can enjoy from the sequel Red Dead Redemption. While in this sequel, almost everything is different from the first title, it is still one hell of a game. Maybe all those delays in the production were worth it after all, since Rockstar San Diego now has managed to captivate the feeling of the Wild West.

Story revolves around John Marston who has arrived to the setting to track down a man and many questions are left unanswered. When Marston arrives, he eavesdrops fellow passenger’s conversations and thus you are provided with details and background of the setting. After that you’re off.

In the first few missions you’ll be racing horses, herding cattle and roping wild stallions. You also have opportunity to throw horseshoes, play poker etc. just like in the wild west. These opportunities really enrichens the world around you and you really can get more into the character of John Marston. Once you can get a taste of vast and open landscapes, the game truly begins.

The visuals are stunning, the land is open and barron. The landscape would be boring to look at, but the game randomly drops events that can commence throughout the game. From duels to outlaws and farmers harrassed by wolves. It keeps you well entertained even if you are bored to continue the storyline all the time. You’ll be seeing damsels in distress, tracking bounties and even putting tied people to the train track, if you wish, I mean. There is a whole pack of variety included so the game almost screams “explore me”. I’ve already spent many nights in the wilderness, skinning animals and sleeping under the stars.

Then you have the multiplayer opportunity. RDR includes what you could expect; all-out and team deathmatches have been covered. They take places at various locations from the game. You can also capture the flag (or more precisely, the bag of gold) from the opponent’s base. Since the horses are available, it brings a nice addition to any of the matches. One nice addition is the free roam mode, where you can work in posses with other players. There are various missions to take from mowing down rival gangs, hunting beas etc.

Despite few small bugs ingame, the Red Dead Redemption is a success. Taking time to wander in the wilderness rarely has been so much fun. This way the game is not about jumping from mission to another, but instead a more deeper and solid experience alltogether. Red Dead Redemption offers a good solid amount of opportunities to explore. Endless Bag of Games recommends!