Paidixira - My first worldmap! HMOG!

[Slipguard]

I'm posting here the first 2 maps for my unnamed fantasy story. The world is made up of four great landmasses, three of them connected by landmasses. The fourth, Paidixira, is the newfangled toy in the hands of the Danic conquest. The unification of the other three landmasses and the invasion of the new land across the sea were lead primarily by physically manifestations of the greek gods.

I made a conscious decision to build this world around a decidedly Greek influence, and the names of Continents and Countries are variations on greek words.

On a visual side, the artistry of the countries is pretty lacking (i decided to be a writer for a reason...) but it is a founding template for the story. Even with that caveat though, i'd love suggestions and positive criticism for my cartography.

I have some more WIP maps for the individual countries, and i'll be posting those soon.

[Steel General]

I really like the world map, it's a very eye-pleasing style.

For the Paidixira map, I would suggest looking through the various tutorials and choose one whose style you like. Give it a spin, post up your results in the WIP forum and we'll help you along.

[Slipguard]

I have an updated version of my Paidixira map. I want to know what you guys think about my "improvements." I'm pretty happy with them, but i only see my changes now in relation to my last one, sooo im a bit biased. You guys are objectvity! What do you guys understand about the world from this map? What could i do to make the theme more contiguous? Does this map raise any questions?

[Elothan]

I like the Paidixira map, but I think that the river police might have something to say about that massive splitting of rivers

[Steel General]

Elothan is correct, rivers generally do not split. The easiest way to think of a river system is it's like a tree. The smaller branches starting at the higher elevations and combining into larger branches and/or the trunk as it progresses to the lower elevations.

[rdanhenry]

Ditto on the rivers. I am also puzzled as to what the black lines in Aster are meant to represent. I think the continent has an interesting shape and the mix of colors is pleasing, but you might want to add a key to the map. There are several quite sharply defined brown areas. I would make a guess that the darker green is forest, the yellow-green areas are grassland, and the yellow-red-beige areas are desert, but I can't even guess what the brown might be.

Edit: I should have looked at the earlier version. Brown appears to be taiga, but I am still baffled by the Aster lines and still recommend a key, although that really can wait until the map itself is settled -- as long as you are sure you'll remember what everything meant.

[Slipguard]

Wow, it's been a while since my last update.
I have since been digging through some wonderful tutorials and rebooted my entire style. I'm looking now for less of a paper map style and more of a tactile relief map style. I've finished mountains and valleys, but now i'm stuck. I need an efficient way to portray forests and grasslands and swampy basins that follows the whole tactile feel. Any suggestions?

P.S. Thanks for the advice on my rivers, I've cleaned them up a bit. What do y'all think?
@rdanhenry: Those sharply defined brown areas are actually monumental mining pits that factor into the story of the land. I'll have a key pretty soon that clears all that up.

[Ascension]

Looks very tactile. Rivers still need work as they split often (remember that rivers join and don't split except in deltas). As for the forests, what software are you using?

[cjs0216]

I like your map a lot actually...I just recently posted my first map not too long ago myself and would like to replicate any of the styles you've done here...great job, man.

[Slipguard]

You're too right about my rivers. I have learned the error of my ways, and i'm improving my lakes now too. I'm working in photoshop CS4 with a large wacom tablet. I've seen photoshop tutorials for making forests, but in my experiences the texture I use isn't as perfect as theirs or they use a masking technique I just cannot match or some other oddity pops up. I really like the forests Tear made in his map of Durra, and I think something similar would work well on my map.

@cjs0216: here are the tutorials I used for the mountains and to direct the flow of water . From one novice to another, I suggest you keep trawling your creative net for more tut's. Their help has been invaluable