Map of a large city for a fantasy setting.

[compagniesolstice]

Introduction
As said in our introduction topic we are three persons behind this account and we wish to commission an artist to draw a map.
As mysterious as this seems, the map won’t be used for private usage but is likely to be digitally published. We want to release a « quickstarter guide » for a new medieval fantasy tabletop rpg and the scenario delivered with it is in desperate need of (a) map(s) (the other map(s) will be described in another thread). As most of self-published « writers » our budget is limited but our expectations are high^^.
More information about the setting will be delivered once we’ve chosen the map maker.

Subject
This is where things spice up: the dimensions of the area are huge! The map is a very large district, call it a city as it is bigger than Manhattan island. The area is entirely covered with houses, which are (dis)ordered like a labyrinth or a bazaar. The central area of the map a is « no man’s land », it’s partially destroyed or under construction. The far right of the map is a port / docking area. The southern border of this district is walled. The city continues beyond the area.
Here is a hand drawn sketch, obviously the buildings are not on scale.
districtblank-min.jpg

Style
We don’t have any preference regarding the style of the map, but since it’s a medieval fantasy setting, we want to avoid photo realistic designs. Terry Maranda’s maps are a good reference point.
Or maybe something like this? (1) (2)

Quality & Size
The area is huge so we guess the scale will define the quality and the size of the map. Obviously, we would like best quality and the biggest size possible.
One thing is mandatory though, it has to be on .tif format.
The second thing, which is not mandatory, is that this map may have to fit in an A4 page (but this would need a confirmation regarding the size and the paging layout).

Time Constraints.
We don’t have any time constraints at the moment and considering the size of the map, we certainly understand that it would take some time.

Copyright
This map is to be digitally published and we would obviously respect the illustrator’s credits but we will also need reproduction rights.

If we missed something or if you need further details don’t hesitate to ask below (since our DM are not activated yet).
If you’re interested, please contact us at compagniesolstice--at--gmail--dot--com.

Sincerely,
La Compagnie du Solstice (Louis)

[compagniesolstice]

Hi!
We’ve received many answers and offers, so first and foremost thank you for your interest.

We’re sorry to post twice in a row but this message sort of complete and clarify the first one.

Some of you focused on the A4 ratio aspect. Indeed, the hand drawn picture would seem very thin in comparison when layered in an A4 page. The image we’ve posted is about ¼ or 1/5 of the city, so there’s plenty more to draw but as for now we only need this portion of the city.

So, why not commission the whole city?
–First thing is the context: the map will be related to a scenario, so we don’t want to confuse readers by covering areas that they haven’t heard of yet.
–Second thing is the size of the whole city. Its diameter is about 24km (15miles) which is huge given medieval standards. As we want the larger scale possible, and therefore the most detailed map possible (like this one for instance), we must shrink it and therefore select the most relevant part of it.

Now, if the map is too large or too detailed to be comprised in an A4 page, it isn’t a problem, we can already share it as a separate handout (which won’t be a problem because we want to publish it digitally in the first place).

Finally, regarding the dpi, we were aiming at least for 600dpi. It seems justified considering the size of the area and the amount of details that we are aiming at.

Here's an almost exact comparison with Manhattan island.
disctrictmanhattan.jpg
(21,6km refers to the length of Manhattan island [13.4miles], the longer side of our district is 19km long [11.8miles]. So you can deduce that each hand drawn square represents a few buildings, if not a city block.)

Hoping that you would understand,
Sincerely,
La Compagnie du Solstice (Louis)