Sit Rep, Plans & Poll (Patreon)

Hello everyone,

I just realized that I haven't posted an update on the situation here before.

First of all, apologies for the radio silence.

What's Going On?

As you have noticed, there have been no new releases for a few months. The reason for this is that I had to make some sudden business decisions in January and hit the reset button.

In practice, this means that I found myself going in a direction with Miska's Maps that didn't appeal to me and was contrary to the reasons why I made the jump from my day job to full-time entrepreneurship.

I was swamped with side projects that I had to do to pay the bills and keep the business afloat due to increased running costs. Well, I'm still working on some final projects, but I should have these out of my hands within a week or two.

To remedy the situation and prevent things from getting worse, I had to lay off my employees and change the way and principles of how Miska's Maps makes maps and other content.

This was one of the hardest decisions in a long while.

What Does This Mean?

During 2023, we used a lot of map-making tools (mainly Dungeondraft and Inkarnate) in addition to other digital drawing software. While these have their advantages and make certain things much easier, using them often left the maps feeling somewhat soulless or "artificial". In short, I know I can do better.

I also felt that using these tools did not help me to develop as an artist and illustrator. Especially now with AI image generators being a hot topic, this began to bother me more and more.

The plan for 2024 is to take a few steps back and focus more on hand-drawn maps and reduce my use of various map tools and pre-made props.

The Future of Mythos Maps

Last year, when the Mythos Maps project was re-launched, I decided to change the focus from the traditional 1920s to the present day.

My starting point for this was Delta Green, as that is the game I am currently playing. I also thought there would be synergies with my sci-fi and cyberpunk map projects.

I will continue along the same lines, but I will also explore cosmic horror in a broader and more timeless way. Temple ruins in the jungle and icy caves beyond the Arctic Circle with their eerie secrets are not tied to a specific era, but very common imagery in cosmic horror and the Cthulhu mythos. Oh, and don't worry, these won't be just generic fantasy maps. I'm sure to add some modern and unique flavor to them. And there will be polls where you can vote for the most interesting ideas.

The Patreon page is currently still being updated. The look and theme will be changed to a more coherent and modern look, once I can lighten my workload a bit.

From May onwards, the number of releases will be 1-2 new maps per month for the time being.

Foundry VTT Support

Updating the old modules and reintroducing the Foundry VTT support is under consideration and I will come back to this as soon as I have bandwidth to work on this.

Poll: In What Situations Do You Use Maps?

Finally, I would like to ask you a question. In what situations do you usually use maps? Are they battle situations, building layouts or something else? I've put some general categories as options, but let me know in the comments if you don't find a suitable option or if you want to be more specific about how you use maps.

I try to focus my map designs based on the most common uses.

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That's all for now! Thank you for your support and patience!

-- Miska