Maze of the Week 64 Redux - Leeds Castle (MOTW#173)

April 21, 2025

I revised another maze of the week with new details to (hopefully) improve it. One of my better mazes is of the Bodiam Castle where I tried some new things (like water reflection) when I colorized the maze. Even though the starting point for this maze was in color I wanted to give it a shot. I ended up making more changes than I thought I would. Here is my original post:

Maze of the Week #64 - Leeds Castle Maze

Here are the enhancements I made to improve the maze:

1. Added Textures. I added new textures to the grass, the pathways, the hedges and the horizon. All look more realistic.

2. Reduced the Size. I resized the maze from 11x17 to 9x17 to reduce both the lawn and the sky size.

3. New Title. I reduced the font of the location vs the font of the title which increased.

4. Shifted the castle. Made a minor shift of the maze to the right to center the castle better on the page.

5. Window Details. For the slim windows have panes added in grey. There were no panes before. For the regular windows the windows were darkened and color of the windowpanes was changed from black to grey. Each of these is a more accurate depiction

6. Added Barriers. I added the short barriers between the lawn and the walkway with a hard to see chain between the black metal poles.

7. Pathway Width. The original pathways were thin, so to make solving easier I doubled their size.

8. Mortar Change. I changed the mortar color between the stones from black to brown to more accurately reflect the castles color. Ideally they could be even lighter, but then the pathways and bricks get lost.

9. Added Background Details. I added stones to the wall on the right side to define what it was (and changed the color). I also added the horizon on each side of the building with textured surface to reflect the plants/hills in the distance.

So a lot of changes. More than I thought when I sat down.

Here is the before and after:

I like the new version.

Some data: The new file is 1520MB from 548MB.

I will be replacing the homepage with the new maze going forward. You can find the maze download there !

If you like this type of content check out all of my case studies:

A Collection of Maze Design Case Studies to Improve your Mazes

What I've Learned Making Mazes

Happy maze-ing !

Maze of the Week 49 Redux - Chich'en itza (MOTW #172)

April 14, 2025

The first version of this maze is one of my favorites, but since then I have learned how to use new techniques I wanted to make a few changes and see if it improved the maze. Also, while the original version was a traditional black and white maze look, which I liked - it was floating on the page a bit and I wanted to change that. Here is my original blog post:

Maze of the Week #49 - Temple of Kukulcán Maze

Here are the enhancements I made to improve the maze:

1. Changed the Maze size. I reduced the height of the maze from 34 inches to 25 inches to better reflect the contents of the maze and reduce empty space.

2. Recenter the Maze. Because of this I moved the pyramid down on the page.

3. Reduce the font. Reduce font of the location vs. the title because it looks better like that and focuses on the what vs the where.

4. Change branding size. I increased the size of branding by 25% to look more in-line with everything.

5. Background changes. Added trees and bushes on the horizon.

6. Added structure details. I Added moss to the top of the pyramid and down the steps to better reflect what you actually see.

7. Added shadows. Added to the pyramid, the steps and on the ground to give the maze more interest.

8. Start/Goal changes. Switched to an internal Start/Goal and changed the font to red color to be more visible (vs. black)

9. Added a sky

Boom goes the dynamite. Much better. This is why I go back to some mazes.

Some data: The new file is 761MB from 557MB.

I will be replacing the homepage with the new maze going forward. You can find the maze download there !

If you like this type of content check out all of my case studies:

A Collection of Maze Design Case Studies to Improve your Mazes

What I've Learned Making Mazes

Happy maze-ing !

Maze of the Week 59 Redux - QRO Walking Street (MOTW #171)

April 7, 2025

This was an experimental maze for me. I had never made a maze of a scene before and I like how it came out. It made the finalist for maze of the year on this site and got some #1 votes. The reason is not so much the maze but the nice colors of the buildings - thanks to the wonderful people of Mexico ! I also used a photo I had taken to make the maze (shown below for comparison). I wanted to give it an update using some new techniques. Here is the original blog post:

Maze of the Week #59 - Walking street in Queretaro, Mexico

Here are the enhancements I made to improve the maze:

1. Added textures. I added texture to all the bushes and the trees. They looked too flat before. Then I added textures to the walls of buildings - first 2 on the left, the first, and third buildings on the right, and the back building. I wanted the walls to look more like stucco. This did change some building colors. Oh, and also the dirt under the plants now includes some texture also.

2. Building Fix. I had to make a minor line fix on the 3rd building on the right to fix design mistake (seen only if zoomed in).

3. Sign Changed. I changed the colors of the the Q sign to be more accurate.

4. Pathways Size. I changed the pathways by increasing their size by 25% to make solving easier.

5. Sign fixed. There was an error in how the La Bar Condesa sign was previously colored - I corrected it.

6. Quality Improved. The quality of the picture improved by using a new saving technique - best seen when zoomed in - i.e. the number on the door on the building on the right is most apparent.

Here is my photo with the before and after mazes:

Queretaro Walking street photo

Queretaro Walking street maze

Queretaro Walking street maze revised

Some data: The new file is 1,280MB from 444MB.

I will be replacing the homepage with the new maze going forward. You can find the maze download there !

If you like this type of content check out all of my case studies:

A Collection of Maze Design Case Studies to Improve your Mazes

Happy maze-ing !

Maze of the Week 23 Redux - Wrigley Field Sign (MOTW#170)

March 31, 2025

I used to make a lot of sign mazes. Not so much anymore. I enjoy making them, but most of them are ignored. Except the famous signs. Some of those are ok. Which brings us to the Wrigley Field Sign Maze. It is a simple maze, and I made it in color. Looking back, I don’t like that it is floating on the page. So I am updating it. Here is the original post:

Maze of the Week #23 - Wrigley Field Sign Maze

Here are the enhancements I made to improve the maze:

1. Changed the Start/Goal. I switched start and goal to internal - with words instead of arrows to allow me to work on the outside portion of the sign.

2. Added the Background. I added a background, including the base of sign that holds it to the stadium, windows, stadium pillars, and fencing. All of this to give it a more realistic look and stop it from floating on the page.

3. Added Texture. I gave the concrete portion of the stadium some texture to make it look more realistic.

4. Maze resized. I changed the maze to be 11.5 x 7.5 vs regular letter size. It looks better.

5. Branding Changes. I moved the branding into the window and switched it to vertical to integrate it into the maze more. I also changed the branding to white from black.

6. Sign message change. I changed the message on the sign, and added lights that are out for more realism. “Home of the Chicago Cubs” is permanently on the sign - no need to repeat it.

7. Background details. I added bolts onto the steel beams to show more detail and I added blinds in the windows behind a see through windowpane - they are hard to see without zooming in.

Let’s check out the before and after: