After 365

Hi everybody.

We arrived at the end of the 365 project. It was a blast. Lets talk about the past and about the future.

1. The Past 

I will start with a "thank you" to you guys for all the support you gave me in the last year. I really appreciate it. 

The Beginning. I started this project at the advice of Doodelish. Thanks my friend. He gives good advices so I didnt think too much and said yes. After two months I think I started to realize that this is a huge task and I need to be very serious about it. So I started to plan ahead and organize the ideas. 

Many people warned me about the burn out. It wasnt that bad. I felt some burn out around Day 150 I think and again around Day 300. But it wasnt something terible, it was more about my frustation that I've started to run out of ideas for maps :P

From Day 310 to today it went smooth and easy. I have many ideas for maps but not for one day maps. This is why I am glad that we reached the end of the project and that from now on I can move to the next step. 

2. The Future

In the close future I will take a break for a few days. Relax and try to fight the map mapping addiction :P

I plan on making at least 1-2 maps per week in the future. One big for sure and maybe one small when I have a good idea and the time to make it happen. Or more.

I want to make hospital islands, starship troopers bunkers, detailed city maps with interiors, big buildings with all the rooms available, huge dungeons and caves with multiple levels. For that I need more that one day. 

I know its been a 365 days project but I think there are actually around 400 maps. 412 is I am not mistaken. I will quantify them soon. 

I need to re-export every map and resize them to a 70/140 ppi system. This will take a lot of time.

I need to organize them in categories and pack them accordingly. This will take time also.

I need a new tier system for this page or/and to archive the current maps. None of you will be affected by this. As promised, all patreons that are active on 1st september will be given access to the whole archive. Future patreons will have access to only the last 2-3 months of maps (need to think more about this). 

Plans for the future :

- I want to make a map book. I think I have enough maps for two map books. I want to make that available as a hard cover spiral-bound book. I want to make asset cutouts for it. For that I think I need to start a kickstarter. I am opened for suggestions in this matter. Please tell me your thought about it.

- I want to make assets for maps too. Inkarnate style. It is hard to mimic (for me) but with time I think I can manage that. 

- I want to promote r/dndarena on reddit. It was made by me and I think we can create a nice community there. 

- I want to stream while making maps. I love the interaction with you guys and chatting with someone usually helps me work better. Not always but most of the time.

- We want to take our dnd campaign and put it into a series or adventure books. This is a huge task and is more a dream that a reality for now.

Trivia :

- All the welcome on my page messages have been written by me. No copy-paste. 

- For the most part of the project I had back up maps in case something happened in one of the days. I run out of those two times around Day 150 and again around Day 300. 

- During the project I had to ask the admins of inkarnate to raise the total number of maps that an account can have twice. First at 1000 and then at 1500. Now the limit is 2000 and I have 1736 maps on my account. 

Special Thanks :

- First, to my wife and my daughters. They put up with my map making habbits and my absence from family activities for the last years. Love you so much, couldnt made it without you.

- Doodelish. Not only the man with the idea but a constant support not only in the last year but during my life in general.

- KingKlown13 - my map making brother. Our styles are quite different but we had a good chemestry from the start and I am happy that I can call you my friend. Thanks bro

- Nate - Bearworks - your invitation to the Cartographers Club changed everything. I learned so much from this cummunity and it helped promote me and to keep me focused on finishing the project. Hat down to you for a great initiative.

- Matt was my first client. He is also a great guy to talk to. My morale was down, almost no patreons, no commissions and then Matt show up. It was the push that I need it at the time. Thank you

- Nadav - Thank you for hiring me. It was such a beautifull experience to be part of the Mammoth Factory Games team. I enjoy every meeting, every call and almost every map that I am making for us. Thanks Dav, you are amazing.

There are plenty others that I need to thank, like Eric or EarlJWoods or Andy or Angela or Eledryll. The list is long and this post is getting longer and longer. (I am sure I forgot someone and I will edit it tomorrow, sorry). Thank you all.

What I need from you guys :

Less maps per week means I need to be more precise in what you guys expect me to make.

I want you to bombard me with ideas for more complex maps. I have quite a few already in my mind but this will help me be more efficient compared with what you guys need.

Dont hesitate, send me those ideas please.

In the end

In the end it has been an awesome 365 project. I learned a lot durring the last year and I hope I have achived a good techinique level to move to the next step. 

I love making maps and the feeling that you have when someone shows you pictures with your maps on the table ... pfff ... priceless. 

Thank you again for your support. Lets see what we can do until 1st September, next year.

Enjoy