Heroica RPG - Quest Masters' Lounge

[Sandy]

I think Guts is actually the worst equipped of the kinda higher level players at this point, he has no artifacts at all...

I'd hold on to your gold until August, when the new artefact shop will open. You'll find plenty of desirable items there for Guts, and you're one of the few who can actually afford any of them.

[The Legonater]

I know that WBD, Sisco, and I didn't complete Wren's dreams. As well as the practical aspect, the dreams were largely about role-playing, for example, Wren was trying to convince Jess to leave Haldor, and trying to get Skrall to endanger Dyric.

Seeing this insight only makes the quest seem more awesome now Zepher.

Dyric's dream- which seems cut off in Zepher's outline- was not to use items. I didn't, because it didn't seem that far a stretch, and got the reward. I don't rememeber anything abotu Vonnette, but I didn't trust him to begin with

[Brickdoctor]

Okay, fair warning, this is a long post with a lot of pictures.

So, here's my 'behind the scenes' look at the latest picture I did for Q31. (no story spoilers, so those of you on the other Dastan Quests, feel free to look)

This is the setup for the shot: (I took this in front of my white backdrop since I already had a big white background set up for an review I'm doing in the RA)

I start with a 16x32 baseplate in old light grey, and cover it with whatever plates I want for the ground. In this case, it's a tan, sandy ground for Dastan. (otherwise, I use brown for normal ground and tan for roads. If this was an indoor shot, I would tile the baseplate instead) I set up the main elements, which in this case are the tree, the signs, and the minifigs and horses. You can also see that I built a pair of smaller scenes on top of 4x6 plates that I can move around in the background to fill up any empty areas. I used the grass to fill in the empty areas along the ground, to cover up most of the horizon, which makes it less obvious how small this setup is. I added in the bird on the left to throw some more color into that corner of the shot. The tree is just a taller, skinnier version of the tree in the MMV. The backdrop is a 8.5x11 sheet of light blue paper, which is looking a little beat-up after a few quests.

Here's the initial shot:

This was an eight-second exposure at an aperture of f13.

And here's what it looks like opened in Photoshop CS5:

I just use the default layout for PS, so this should be pretty familiar to anyone who has the program.

First, I double-click the Background layer to unlock it.

Name and other info in this box don't matter to me; I just click 'OK'.

I adjust brightness and contrast in Curves.

I'm no expert; I just do a basic adjustment. I drag the line down near the bottom until the blacks satisfy me, and then move the point at the top to the left until the whites satisfy me.

Using Selective Color, I make the yellows a little richer and brighter:

With some images, I might also tweak the blues and reds, but I'm happy with the way this one already is.

After I resize to 800px, I use the wand to select the larger areas of the sky.

You don't really need to be that precise when you do this for this photo. Hold down Shift while selecting to add to the current selection.

I did select some areas of the Lion Pikeman's helmet and the bird's head on the left, so I'll just use the lasso to fix that.

Hold down Alt/Option while selecting to remove from the current selection.

I copy the selection and paste it into another layer.

Just use Ctrl/Cmd+C to copy and Ctrl/Cmd+V to paste into another layer.

I use a huge Surface Blur to smooth out the sky.

The sky looks ugly right now, but that'll be fixed later.

I apply a light Gaussian Blur to make the transition between the new sky and the existing objects softer.

Again, no need to be precise with this. The old sky is still in the original layer, and it was already blue, so there's no reason to try to be very fine with the background isolation.

I use Curves to adjust the color of the new sky.

I just eyeball the basic adjustments until it looks good.

In a new layer, I add a solid white ellipse.

Hold Shift while drawing the ellipse to confine its dimensions to a perfect circle.

I apply a light yellow outer glow to the ellipse.

Again, I just play with the settings and color until it looks good. Just make sure the spread and size of the glow are such that there's no definite edge between the glow and the ellipse. Then, move the sun to wherever you want it in the sky.

I reset the palette to its default colors (D) and render Clouds in a new layer.

I left the sun above the clouds for now so I can see where it is. It'll be moved under the clouds later.

I render Difference Clouds twice.

Then I adjust the clouds layer with Levels to make them more opaque and the edges more definite.

Shape and position of the clouds doesn't really matter.

I change the blending mode to Screen.

I use the lasso tool to move the clouds around to where I want them.

This step is optional; if there was more sky in the shot, I might just flip the clouds layer around and rotate it a little before dragging it into a good position. This shot has less sky in it, so I'm using the lasso tool to move the bigger chunks of cloud to areas where they'll be more visible.

Then I apply a mask to the clouds layer.

I take a soft brush and mask out the areas where the clouds are blocked by an object. There's no quick, automatic way to do this; just keep brushing until you're happy with the effect. Yes, you could have removed the sky entirely and put the clouds layer behind the layer with the LEGO in it, but I think it's easier to do it this way. You don't have to worry about getting perfect edges when you isolate the subject.

I permanently applied the effects on the sun layer so that I could mask out the part of the glow that was on top of the sword and the signs.

I noticed that that area of the sky on the left was too light, so I also added a layer below the new sky and filled it with a better shade of blue, and then masked out some of the sky to reveal the deeper blue in some areas. There are more organized ways to do that, like doing this way back when I was editing the color of the sky, but I wanted to quickly adjust this when I noticed it while I was doing the clouds, so...

Last thing to do is to add the text to the signs.

This is the PR Uncial font in a tan. No idea why I started using it for Q4, but I've used it ever since. I zoom in and rasterize the type.

I use Distort to match the perspective of the text to the sign.

I apply a slightly grainy texture to the text, which makes it look a little more like it was printed onto the tile by TLG.

Repeat with the other sign, and we're done!

Here's the final image:

I'm no PS expert, so I'm sure there's some simpler way to do all that.

[Capt.JohnPaul]

I'm no PS expert,

Very nice! Thanks for posting. I was trying to figure out how you made those clouds.

Though instead of selecting the sky and copying and pasting to a new layer, you could just select it and press Cmd/Ctrl-J.

[Brickdoctor]

Very nice! Thanks for posting. I was trying to figure out how you made those clouds.

Though instead of selecting the sky and copying and pasting to a new layer, you could just select it and press Cmd/Ctrl-J.

Okay, I'll have to try that. Thanks for the tip.

I've been using Ctrl/Cmd+C and Ctrl/Cmd+V for so long, though (going back to my Paint.NET days), that it might take me longer to think about hitting 'J' instead.

[Capt.JohnPaul]

Okay, I'll have to try that. Thanks for the tip.

I've been using Ctrl/Cmd+C and Ctrl/Cmd+V for so long, though (going back to my Paint.NET days), that it might take me longer to think about hitting 'J' instead.

What time of day do you prefer to take pictures? I usually do mine in the late morning to afternoon. I notice if any later, it appears good quality at 1st glance, but when you upload them, they get all fuzzy.

[Brickdoctor]

What time of day do you prefer to take pictures? I usually do mine in the late morning to afternoon. I notice if any later, it appears good quality at 1st glance, but when you upload them, they get all fuzzy.

I do mine around late morning, if possible, since the room I take them in has a big window that faces south-east. At late morning, the window is facing the sun, but the sun is just high enough that the light isn't harsh and direct.

Since you say that they get fuzzy late in the day, I assume you mean that the photos are grainy, which is caused by a lack of light. If you can't increase the light, increase the exposure time.

[Masked Builder]

Dang Doc, that is some serious work that goes into your pictures!

[Khorne]

Doc, I've always loved seeing your photos and I'm glad to see you sharing some of your Photoshop knowledge with us! I'm sure this'll come in handy sooner or later. Thank you very much for sharing .

[Endgame]

A question for all QMs:

Does your quest length and pagecount estimation tend to be accurate? I expected 36 to be at the final battle by 30 pages. However, to compesnate this, my questies have whipped through 50% of the quest in 10 days.

[Brickdoctor]

Does your quest length and pagecount estimation tend to be accurate? I expected 36 to be at the final battle by 30 pages. However, to compesnate this, my questies have whipped through 50% of the quest in 10 days.

That's why I don't try to estimate the length or page count of my quests. The players will always find a way to alter the timing of the quest. (nothing against my players; I encourage more freedom in quests)

Although, ironically, my quests are pretty consistent: they're always really long.

[Bricksandparts]

Yeah, I didn't expect my quest to be going 70-some pages and counting, at this rate, it could be around 100+ pages.

[Capt.JohnPaul]

Although, ironically, my quests are pretty consistent: they're always really long.

I wonder why.

[Endgame]

For what it is though, it's tacking up to be atleast 50 pages.

To get Quest 36, I basically just took Quests 2 and 5, threw 'em in a blender and jammed the "frappe" button.

Having tough battles like I am now will probbaly account for a third of the pages, though.

[Sisco]

To get Quest 36, I basically just took Quests 2 and 5, threw 'em in a blender and jammed the "frappe" button.

Yay, my quest inspired future quests!

[K-Nut]

Yay, my quest inspired future quests!

There, fixed it for you.

[Flare]

I would like to host a quest. I've already roughly planned it out, and sent it to Sandy, but he hasn't responded. Now I'm not sure if that's the way I apply to host a quest... or maybe it is?

Edited July 3, 2012 by Flare

[Scubacarrot]

I would like to host a quest. I've already roughly planned it out, and sent it to Sandy, but she hasn't responded. Now I'm not sure if that's the way I apply to host a quest... or maybe it is?

Sandy's on vacation. Maybe you should try and keep an eye on the Rules and Discussion topic

[Capt.JohnPaul]

I would like to host a quest. I've already roughly planned it out, and sent it to Sandy, but she hasn't responded. Now I'm not sure if that's the way I apply to host a quest... or maybe it is?

LOL! He went on a 3 week vacation a few days ago, remember?

[Flare]

LOL! He went on a 3 week vacation a few days ago, remember?

No, I don't remember, I never saw anything about that Thats probably a good reason why Sandy never wrote back, what a doofus I am

So I'm assuming I won't be able to host it until Sandy comes back? Or is there a replacement boss while Sandy's gone?

Eh, it doesn't matter that much, it seems that there are enough quests at the moment anyways.

[Endgame]

No, I don't remember, I never saw anything about that Thats probably a good reason why Sandy never wrote back, what a doofus I am

So I'm assuming I won't be able to host it until Sandy comes back? Or is there a replacement boss while Sandy's gone?

Eh, it doesn't matter that much, it seems that there are enough quests at the moment anyways.

Nope. July is going to be a bit of a slow month... but August's lotto, artefact shop, and infinite battle quest should make up for it quite nicely.

[LEGOman273]

No, I don't remember, I never saw anything about that Thats probably a good reason why Sandy never wrote back, what a doofus I am

So I'm assuming I won't be able to host it until Sandy comes back? Or is there a replacement boss while Sandy's gone?

Eh, it doesn't matter that much, it seems that there are enough quests at the moment anyways.

Did you receive permission to host before Sandy left? If so, you may begin the Quest at any time. If not, you are SOL must wait for his return.

[Flare]

Nope. July is going to be a bit of a slow month... but August's lotto, artefact shop, and infinite battle quest should make up for it quite nicely.

Did you receive permission to host before Sandy left? If so, you may begin the Quest at any time. If not, you are SOL must wait for his return.

No, I didn't, unfortunately.

[Rumble Strike]

I don't estimate page counts - not sure why you would want to - but both my Quest lengths have been pretty much what I anticipated they would be.

[Endgame]

Should I give Combrys a nerfing? It is a WP 8 sword suitable for Barbarians, Rogues, and Knights. Every successful hit causes Combry's WP to go up by 1, while unsuccessful hits cause it to fall back to it's base WP. Now, as LEGOman273 pointed out, a nostrum and smelling salts would cause it to go up by 2 every round and increase the chances of a mug. You could essentially go frop a WP 8 to a WP 14 in 3 rounds, and make oodles of cash to pay for any consumables you may have used to get there.