February 2018 Challenge: The Kingdom of Bird's rebirth

[MapMappingMapped]

Probably won't finish this one properly, but, why not try. I did't like my prophecy, and switched it for a new one quite quickly, much shorter, and sorta clearer. The Kingdom of Bird shall rise after the Last Storm gathers
On the map, Bird, in that narrow strait, is a land sunken under the sea, which was once inhabited by a powerful civilisation. Note: Bird doesn't mean A bird at all. Just thought I'd use a weird name (the original prophecy contained the Kingdom of Roses, but there's Roses in Diamond's entry, so I changed it).
So as you can imagine, the land is about to be wrecked with terrible cataclysms,, earthquakes, hurricanes, and the 'Last Storm' after which the newly-risen land of Bird shall be seen. The descendants of the Bird People are scattered over the coasts and small islands, and they have held the prophecy for eons. It is believed that when the Bird island shall rise, the local tribe leaders will flock to the ancient capital city, and there, the new High King shall be chosen and the ancient manuscripts, protected, according to legend, somewhere on the yet-to-rise island, shall be read for the Birds to discover about their ancstors' secrets...
Edit: I'll use this map as reference instead. Now I feel like the weight of this little horror has been lifted from my shoulders!! I'll be drawing by hand, and maybe adding some digital color.

[MapMappingMapped]

Soon off to the digital color and labels. I tried to do a different style for once. More inspired by J.Edward's maps than is good for health (who'd guess tho lol). And it looks like I didn't keep to the reference that much...
I'm not happy with my cities, but I guess it's too late.
### Latest WIP ###

[MapMappingMapped]

How do I move a smaller layer that's on top of a larger one around? Whenever I try it just moves the large layer..?

[Mouse]

You have to make sure you are grabbing it by some of the paint on it. This can be tricky if its a label because there's not much area of paint to be able to pick it. I normally zoom in to make sure I've got it and not the layer behind it.

Another fine example of GIMP not necessarily being all that logical - you would think the move tool would automatically pick the active layer to move, in the same way it scales or rotates the active layer, but it doesn't.

A way of telling if you've grabbed the right one before you move it is to glance at the layer palette and see which is showing active as you click the mouse button as if to move it. The cursor always changes shape when you are in the right place to click the active layer (I can't remember how it does right now, but it does)

[MapMappingMapped]

Thanks Mouse!
I still cant for some reason. I don't have any paint on that layer cos I need to move it to my mountains - and yes, when I grab it the cursor on the layer palette switches to the linework....

[Mouse]

LOL! I've been known to put a temporary red spot on an otherwise completely transparent layer just to be able to move it around when I want to

[MapMappingMapped]

I tried that too... I just KNOW the problem is something ridiculously simple that I can't somehow think of just yet.....

[MapMappingMapped]

Indeed - i've just solved the problem. All I had to do was click on move the active layer, and ta-da, it works. Thanks again Mouse!

[ChickPea]

Indeed - i've just solved the problem. All I had to do was click on move the active layer, and ta-da, it works. Thanks again Mouse!

One of the first things I do with a new installation of Gimp is set this to Move the Active layer. It drives me insane otherwise. You can save it to preferences, so that it's always set this way. Make sure you've got Move the Active Layer selected, then open the Edit Menu and go down to Preferences. Click on 'Tool Options' on the left hand menu, then click 'Save Tool Options Now'. That'll fix it for the future. (Note, this will save all tool options that are currently set, so if you've been playing about with any of the tools and tried some unusual settings, you might want to close and re-open Gimp, so that it's only the Move tool that you're changing.)

[MapMappingMapped]

One of the first things I do with a new installation of Gimp is set this to Move the Active layer. It drives me insane otherwise. You can save it to preferences, so that it's always set this way. Make sure you've got Move the Active Layer selected, then open the Edit Menu and go down to Preferences. Click on 'Tool Options' on the left hand menu, then click 'Save Tool Options Now'. That'll fix it for the future. (Note, this will save all tool options that are currently set, so if you've been playing about with any of the tools and tried some unusual settings, you might want to close and re-open Gimp, so that it's only the Move tool that you're changing.)

Thanks Chickpea - did it
### Latest WIP ###
Soon be done, I'm pretty pleased with it for a quick map.