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Islands of Tathku - What I have done so far!

yugitashi

Sorceror
So I've been working on this map for what must have been several years now. Reason why its been taking so long is mainly due to taking long breaks now and as embarrassing as it seems I'm basically winging the whole thing. In other words I haven't thoroughly planned out every single area and it because I'm still learning the ropes on things such as altitudes and actually trying to better my skill at creating buildings. I wanted to show all I have done so far and I'm welcome to any sort of criticisms so I can make this map more presentable than it already is.

Now as for the map its a replacement for Malas so it isn't as large as say the maps of Trammel and Felucca. I've been wanting to create my own shard for a while now and I'm doing everything I can to make it stand out and provide a unique experience full of lore and plenty of areas to explore, not to mention a ton of custom contents though sadly no custom artwork. I'm want to base the server using AOS rules while implementing certain things like mobiles and items from various time periods. Anyway here are some photos showing off what areas will be present in the final version. I still have a ton of work on my plate and I don't expect to get finished with this map anytime soon so there is no point in rushing the project.


Islands of Tathku Antlion Dunes by zigholtul88, on Flickr


Islands of Tathku Elven Fortress by zigholtul88, on Flickr


Islands of Tathku Snow Plains by zigholtul88, on Flickr


Islands of Tathku Star Lake by zigholtul88, on Flickr


Islands of Tathku Full Map by zigholtul88, on Flickr

A full view of the entire map and yes those are islands of a chicken and a llama. As you can see I have a lot of work that needs to be done. I figured I go ahead and share what I've been working on and hopefully by the time I'm finished the map will look much better.
 

yugitashi

Sorceror
Thank you for the complement mate. My skill in making kickass buildings with UO Architect is kinda rusty (though I was never near the complexity of some of the great contributors here), however I'm getting better at basically playing deity when it comes to altering terrain and such. Its takes a long time, especially when you're doing it just off of memory but the hours of work really pay off in the end. Right now I'm working on the largest snow island, trying to give it the same detail you'd find in the Lost Lands with the crazy altitude. When I created the map using Punts Map Generator I started off with no trees or land details (with the exception of water edges) generated so everything is personally hand made. Yes its tedious and at times I want to tear my hair out due to the immense work load but it will be worth it in the end. I gotta remember that doing something like this is going to take a very long time.
 

yugitashi

Sorceror

Islands of Tathku Full Map Update 2 by zigholtul881, on Flickr

I know its been a long time but I decided to post an update on the map progress. As you can tell it isn't much and I've been feeling rather unmotivated for a good while now. Basically I almost finished up the giant desert area and I add some dungeons. Yeah progress has been really slow and I apologize if this update seems rather minor. I never realized how difficult it was to work on a custom map.
 

Valorian

Wanderer
Hey yugitashi, which program do you use to translate the map?

This is pretty cool, I am looking forward to a finished version :)
 

yugitashi

Sorceror
Hey yugitashi, which program do you use to translate the map?

This is pretty cool, I am looking forward to a finished version :)

Well I ended up relying on two programs. One is Punt Map Generator 2 which creates a ms paint file that basically allows you to draw out what you want. After that I run through the program again, this time turning that file into 3 separate mul files that can be utilized. Now I have a useable map but it still feels a bit flat and some of the tiles look broken, that's when World Maker Dekaru's Edition 1.1 comes into play. From there I'm able to add in new tiles that could not be generated with the last program and I'm able to edit terrain to give the landscape a more three dimensional feel. It is a very tedious process which explains why I have to take breaks in between and probably the reason why I may never get this map finished, because I'm just that lazy. It doesn't help matters that I'm trying to go out of my way to give my server a distinct feel and given how I've been working on all of this for the past 5 years now I have to wonder why I haven't just given up by now. Maybe if I stopped worrying about making it so that every single monster had their own customized loot so that it would actually be worth hunting them down I might actually get something done.
 
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