Redesign of world map...

[The-Somberlain]

So, guys, as I have mentioned in my introductory post, I had never given much thought about mapping my entire world. I always had an idea of its shape and main features but nothing more. I usually made maps of regions my players would visit.

That was until now. First of all the amount of ideas and creativity in this forum is just too much and I am not going to just stand here doing nothing! And secondly I bumped into some scale and size problems while expanding some of my realms. Thus I decided to begin mapping my world properly, beginning with the big picture and going to the smaller.

I will start with my main continent which most of the action takes place and is the most heavily populated. The total area will be about 10-12 million sq. miles. I plan to do most (if not all) of my mapping in Photoshop. I have a plan to maybe later print the map in a good printing shop.

So, for the big question: What size should I work? Should I care about the final paper size and start working with an A1 or A2 size file? Or should I set up a pixel scale and work the size from there?

[Midgardsormr]

If you have plans to ultimately print, you should start at that size and then downsample your for-the-screen versions.

At most print shops, the maximum print size is about 32 X 24 inches. At 300 dpi, that's an image resolution of 9600 X 7200. If you've got a very beefy machine, you could do that. Likely, though, at poster viewing distance, you could get by with a print resolution of 150 - 200, which significantly reduces your working resolution.

When working in Photoshop, it is very easy to reduce the size and quite difficult to increase it. So work at the biggest resolution you expect to need and downsample from there.

You should probably talk to your print shop ahead of time so you know what their requirements and capabilities are.

[The-Somberlain]

This is the old outline of my main continent Khalkish. After giving it a lot of thought, I concluded that it looks a lot like Australia (don't get me wrong) and I would like a more interesting and adventurous shape. So I am heading for a more complex coastline mainly in the middle parts (both north and south).

Any suggestions are welcome.

[The-Somberlain]

I am also testing some drawing techniques before beginning to actually redesign the continent. What do you think?

[Badger]

Very nice mountains... great trees too... FR atlas forests are what they remind me of... but I would try a different style forest with that style of mountain ... not sure what ... but I would experiment a little...

[The-Somberlain]

delgondahntelius, I'll give it a shot and experiment a little bit more with the trees.

Here is the new outline of the continent and a scale to give you information about the size. I estimated that the continent is about 5000 miles from the west-most to the east-most point and 2500 miles from the north-most to the south-most point.

Do you see anything that sticks out as unnatural or unnecessary? Would you change something? I will now proceed and add the major islands. After that should I go with the mountains or the rivers?