New pack of blank map graphics

[Vigil]

I've updated WET with a set of 13 blank map graphics, which were carefully recreated from the original Thief II mission maps. Download them here.
Now get on with making some bloody automaps for once, you lazy bastards!

I actually ran up a pack identical to this a couple of years ago, but then managed to lose every copy of it before getting around to releasing it. Which was a bit of a bugger, as there's a fair amount of work involved in putting these together.

[Eshaktaar]

Automaps are on their way

Many thanks, Vigil! That must've taken ages to recreate them without just running over them with the clone stamp.

Edit: Seems you've accidentally linked to the .mis file association in the "Download this file (1.8mb)" link. The "Thief II blank maps" link is correct.

[Vigil]

D'oh. Thanks for spotting that, I've fixed it fixed now

They weren't as time-consuming as I remembered - it just always seems that way when you face the prospect of completely redoing something

Several of the Thief II maps could not be salvaged, because there wasn't enough empty space available on the originals to make a convincing blank. (The beloved Bank maps are an example of this - though there's a clone-brush version of them floating around somewhere.)


What I may try next is creating a translucent overlay of the lantern-light that LGS put on the original maps - this could be used to create new blank maps that fit in better with the interface (always kinda bugs me when that's missing).

[R Soul]

Thanks.
Now we can have different pages that have different splodges and tears.

[Nameless Voice]

Nice. Are you planning to write a 'how to draw good maps' tutorial, too?
(Not that I ever seem to get far enough on an FM to have to worry about maps...)

[Vigil]

I thought about it, but I've never been any good at writing tuts as opposed to just telling people what to do.

Some advice for Photoshop 7/CS users though (assumes decent skill with it):

• Never, ever, ever draw a straight solid line with no fuzz. They make your map look fake. Instead, even for straight ruled lines (Hammerite-style), use an uneven brush to draw or stroke the lines - adjust the brush properties to add variance to the flow and a bit of jitter. This makes it look unevenly inked.
• For hand-drawn maps, occasionally add heavier ink to the start of the line (where the pen would have been pressed hardest) using a larger brush size. Likewise, taper off the line by selective erasing or setting the size to 'fade' on the brush properties.
• The Color Burn blend mode is your friend. Set your ink layers to use this or Overlay, and adjust the fill opacity (not the overall opacity) to get a suitable tone.
• A dark brown Outer Glow with some noise, using Color Burn or Overlay blend mode, is a good way to make heavily-inked lines look like they have seeped deeper into the paper.
• Use the smudge tool to make realistic water splashes and hand smudges. A little is good for light smudges here and there - a lot of smudge and blur (along with some damp wash darkening underneath it) is good for heavy water damage.
• Bit of a no-brainer, but vary the fonts (and the strength/opacity of the writing) used for labelling on the map. Garrett will have a different hand than whoever wrote/printed/annotated the map before him.

[R Soul]

When I did the map for the final level of All Torc I drew it by hand, writing included, then scanned it in an pasted it as new layer with the blend mode set to Multiply.

One thing I hate about scruffy handwriting fonts is that every 'a' looks the same, every 'b' looks the same etc
If you're writing is scruffy, that will not happen.

[Hit Deity]

I have searched and searched... several sites' URLs are no longer valid; searches via google turn up deadends..

Anyone still have these? No hurry, but I would like to practice making some when I have some free time, so I'm not rushed later.

[zappenduster]

I have searched and searched... Anyone still have these?

Try http://thief.washboardabs.net/files/miscellany/maps.zip on http://thief.washboardabs.net/miscellany

[Hit Deity]

All right! That was fast.

First link works great (2nd one gives a 404...)

Thank you.

[R Soul]

The address has changed from the first post:
http://thief.washboardabs.net

The second link is going to a directory on a server rather than a webpage. Some servers allow directory browsing, but in this case the link should be http://thief.washboardabs.net/miscellany/

[Hit Deity]

Cool. Glad they are still available.