First WIP -Mars

[smiler127]

Hi all,
I've been lurking since 2014 and trying my hand at maps but usually fall short of what I am hoping to accomplish as I am not very artistically inclined. That being said, he's the first map for a Mars Cyberpunk campaign I am writing.

I'm experimenting with general images and layers using Paint.net and overall I'm happy with how the city within the canyon appeared. I suck at blending colours though when it comes to look like Mars in in the first stages of being terraformed. Any tips would be greatly appreciated

[cinsev]

first, this is quite good. so you certainly dont suck. the grass coulouring is good and very clearly indicated on the maps as grasslands and so forth and the water filled crateds is a nice touch. one thing i noticed is the implied scale of the city, id like to see some other outlying settlemnts in the "delta canyon" north of the main city to indicate that its been growing the way humans grow cities. use the same image you cut from but be chosey on the parts you put sort of trickling out into the area i suggested like smaller towns or complexes growing. ive never used paint.net so im not even sure if this is possible. does it have layers?

[jshoer]

one thing i noticed is the implied scale of the city

Agree with that - Valles Marineris is HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE. That city would have a monstrous population to fill the bottom like that. It's a cool effect, but maybe think about whether that should really be like a system of interconnected cities and towns in a "greater metropolitan area" sort of way. Think of the Eastern seaboard of the US.

[smiler127]

Thanks Cinsev, I'll try that. I'll expand the image outward a bit and place a few settlements so you can see the scale for sure. Yep, Paint.net has layers, it's like a free scaled-down version of Photoshop

[cinsev]

thats good! layers would make the city picking for the image you composited in much easier. it dont know that you need to make the image any bigger (unless you want to) i only mean that a few almost droplet like placements of the other city lke elements quite close to the one you have wpuld give that feeling of growth that our cities tend to have.

[smiler127]

Agreed, after last night I went and took a look at my scale and you're right. This would be a city with an area of 400,000 square km. Way too big when my intention was a city that would support around the size of Tokyo. I'll be re-scaling the map and looking for ways to make it fit my overall vision of a Mars approx. 700 years into the future.

[Ilanthar]

Apart from the city size, it's an impressive start Smiler. I'm definitely looking forward to see more.

[smiler127]

Here's attempt #2. I've reduced the city size but still kept it really large as in my campaign I intend it to be a truly massive scale. In my campaign, Mars is the predominant centre for human civilization and Hope City is the epicentre. The Earth, having gone through the Fall, and had a rebirth, is now the exclusive home of the ultra rich and powerful and has a tiny population.

The setting bears names from John Carter's Mars as the people often refer to Mars as Barsoom as the original colonists sought to find a way to make the red planet their own.MarsWIP2.jpg

[cinsev]

Really nice improvements here!

i was unable to post more completely when i did earlier. so here is a proper reply. i think the scaling down f the city was a great move, i know you mentione to me that its still spposed to be a mega city but this give it the feel of a more organic growth. i like the use of the layers and softening to add color and detail to the surrounding areas of the map.

the one small crit i have is that the lower left patch of green is a bit over powering (or saturated) and if it has been done on a seperate layer maybe lower the opacity on it by maybe 15 points. otherwise i think this is a huge step forward in your mapping prowess. kudos!!

[smiler127]

Thanks Cinsev, I took your advice on softening the brush when smoothing and blending the textures between geographic features like grasslands, etc.