I’m very excited to be involved with the illustration and design of the Shadow World Player Guides.

This is the roleplaying campaign setting created by Terry Amthor for ICE‘s Rolemaster ruleset. And by Campaign Setting, I am of course talking about an entire world!!!! Basically, think of the realm of Middle Earth, with all the different cultures, lore and history and then cube it. The Shadow World is not a one continent land, it consists of 14 continents in the western hemisphere alone!

The Player Guides, as the name suggests, are to help the Players better understand the world without requiring the Game’s Master to waste playing time describing the different elements to them including the basics of time keeping (hours, days, months, seasons, years etc), climate, geography, inhabitants, magic and gods etc. It will also include a lot of location images of the various lands and places of interest.

The first one released will be the World Guide but then there’ll be a lot of more specific info dealt with in the more Regional Guides to follow including local customs, history and lore, inhabitants and any ‘local gods/spirits’ common to these places.

Here’s a taste of some of the location shots planned on being used in the Guides…

The Emerald Forest in Emer

The Quon Jungle in Emer

One of Eidolon’s Sky Ships

The Aalk Athimurl, the fortress of the Dragon Lord in Jaiman

A Navigator’s Obelisk used to summon a Navigator

These were all created using Vue Complete, a 3D landscape application. For larger versions of some of these images, take a look at the 3D Sketchpad Gallery.

I’m working on a Shadow World Players Guide which will have a lot of Vue landscape renders as well as some drawings. As it’s still in progress, I can’t add any images here so I have a couple of other things to show.

A Vue render trying out a technique for ‘hyperterrains’ – the name given to the creation of the unusual shaped terrains which aren’t possible in the traditional terrain creation process.

An old-school Vector in Adobe Illustrator. Some subtle object blends but mostly a line work. Michelle is the woman featured and she has a gallery here.

That’s it for now.

They’ve made Vue Pioneer, the core program, available for FREE so it’s definitely something you’d need to checkout!

Here’s the full image I used in the banner ads for my site; just so you know what to expect. This was created in Vue Complete but only a couple of extra modules would have been needed on top of Vue Pioneer for this image.

As always, click that image for a larger version.

The different Vue Versions

To try and counter any confusion before you go to the E-on Software’s web site, Vue comes in 3 main versions. Starting from the top they are…

• Vue xStream – This is strictly for the pros and it gives them access to all of Vue’s modelling & animation tool directly in their high-end 3D programs (Maya, 3DS Max, Cinema 4D etc).
• Vue Infinite – This is the same as Vue xStream but it’s a standalone version that you can use without the need for a separate high-end 3D program.
• Vue Complete, Vue Pro Studio, Vue Esprit and Vue Pioneer – These are the same program at it’s core – Vue Pioneer – but with different amounts of modules installed on top of that. As the name suggests, Vue Complete has all the modules installed and Vue Pioneer has none.

That’s not to say that Vue Pioneer is no good, Vue Pioneer has many features that gives you access to the powerful 3D landscape modelling. When you’re ready to take the next step, you can purchase just the modules you need if you like – you don’t need to conform to the specific modules that’d take you to Vue Esprit or the Vue Pro Studio versions.

Some of my recent additions (as well as several to come) have used Vue and I’ll be including this banner below any of my posts that have used Vue.

What’s in it for me?

It’s true that I’m altruistic …to a point.
If you make any purchase on the Cornucopia3D web site for extra modules or 3D content within the first 30 days of visiting the site, my account will be credited 10%. After that, I see nothing.

Vue Pioneer is completely free and you needn’t purchase anything at all, which means I’d get nothing …but if you do, I’d certainly appreciate it.

It’s that time of the month again – it’s ICE’s map contest! This time it’s a lair for Kobolds (a lesser goblin type creature).

I was going to enter the old-school hand drawn map that I uploaded here – old-school map but after I added a little bit of texture to it, I just had to carry on!

Here is the opening spread describing the tactics the kobold’s would use to defend their lair and a larger map view is below that.

And here’s a close up of the textures so you can see it at it’s actual size

This is the cover illustration used for the PDF depicting the nasty trap the Kobold’s have in store for unsuspecting adventurers!

Click those images for a larger version!

Check it out – Craig’s Sketchpad Gallery

…and ironically, this post has no pictures.

I’ll also be adding a gallery here which will include more of the ‘design’ projects covering both web and print work but I’ll let you know when that happens.

I thought I’d start with something recognisable and I think the Griffin is perhaps the most well known of all the composite creatures. There’s a close-up and a whole image as well.

As usual, you can click on them to see the larger versions.

I’ve shown the source images in the main image so you can see the separate elements. All were edited in Photoshop CS3 (yes, I’ve still not bought the upgrade and as time progresses, I’ll probably wait for the CS5 version now).

This is my final entry in ICE’s (Iron Crown Enterprises) Crypt Map Contest. Pictured is the cover and some interior spreads. This is the final Crypt Map PDF, click to download it. Information on the contest can be found in the ICE’s web site – ICE web site.

My final entry into the Temple Map Contest had a runners up prize and I’ve taken a different tack with this entry, I’ve made it a lot smaller in scale which meant it didn’t hit the 2GB max file size for 1 file and working on it was a whole lot quicker!

Click to see larger versions.

Have a look at my Sketchpad for more images and the process I went through.

Why am I seeing this banner?

I’ve included this banner on all blog posts that have used a Vue product. Primarily Vue Complete.

Here’s the rough digital painting I did for the cover as well as the intro spread to the PDF where I’d dropped in some of my biro sketches.

My entry was a runner-up. The PDF map included a ‘Master the Map©’ feature which allowed you to select one of the three options – the ground floor, the first floor or the secret locations – and the pages would update within the PDF overlaying the base image of the Temple which allows you to show a lot or a little leaving the choices up to you.

ICE are going to be doing more Map contests and I’ll include my future entries on this site – the next one is a Crypt Map.

In the meantime, they’re running a different contest concurrently; it’s a Chimera Creature creation. I’ll add some of my early versions next.

Iron Crown Enterprises are the creator of the Rolemaster, Spacemaster and Harp roleplay rule sets.

These are but the 2 initial creatures. Hardly bone chillingly fearsome until you realise that the Lick is 10′ tall!

As for the Wabbit, his bite is certainly bigger than it’s bark!

The Licken (Lizard & Chicken)

The Wabbit (Wolf & Hare)

Everything seems to be on hold at the moment though thanks to plenty of cluster headaches and migraines! I’m starting to get VERY annoyed at them now as if the pain wasn’t enough!

Everything will be progressing very slowly and I’ve only just replaced the standard WordPress default post after a month. I do have some little doodles to add to the new Sketchpad site and with luck, I’ll get to post some things soon.

Until then, I’m taking more tablets!