Moving in the right direction?

[Radu Vlad]

Not sure bout where should i post this one...
Following the feedback from the you guys, i decided to stick with the first map (sepia - fantasy style), and move in to improve it - details, colours etc. The map is now 5000x5000 px, which i hope will be enough, and also got a vectorised outline for it (finally!). Havent added details (names places forests etc), just a few sketchy river courses to flesh out the topo better. Still undecided bout color scheme/details magnitude, and scale. If its gonna be continent size (say 3-4000 km across), it will be rather hard to map it all out in any significant detail... And besides the looks, i really want to map is out as thoroughly as possible, and maybe even 3D render it as some point :S

What u guys think bout it?

[LonewandererD]

Whoa, that's really nice, lovig the hand drawn effect. As to where to post it, try the regional/world or general mapping sections, I'm sure a mod will move it there anyway. Keep up the good work

-D-

[Ascension]

I moved this over to the WIP threads. Good lookin map. As for detail you don't need a lot for this map, this is the continent map so just get the general stuff in. Do a more focused regional map, say like one kingdom, and you can get more detail in there. Then you do an even more focused map, a city map, and so on and so on.

[Radu Vlad]

Thanks a ton for moving my post to where it belongs; im still finding my way around the site, pls be merciful

I noticed the people who post theirs WIP usually write down sont of an introduction; i didnt think of that, guess i'll come up with something asap

Regarding Ascension's advice, i think there will be some time before i'll get to detailing the 'kingdom' level, and that for a number of reasons. I thought of this map as a placeholder for my fantasy-related ideas, drawings and inspiration in general. As im the type of person that rather fails to finish up the stuff he started (serious stuff not included ), i thought a thingy to 'unite them all', as Tolkien would said, will be the best thing for me. So here it is.

And i plan to finish up the physical map of the land first, as imo, a detailed, coherent and consistend map of the land is the best helper towards designing and fleshing up the 'sentient' superstructure (races, kingdoms, lore etc). Besides, my humanoids, when their time comes, will have only mastered successfully their own yard , namely their kingdoms. Those will be rather small in terms of area coverage; its a savage world after all, and i dont want them to hop around the continent like its their own livingroom On the other side, i'm planning using the cliche of the 'long forgotten' races, those guys that wielded much more power in the past, then their monderd counterparts. And i reckon their mark in the land to be more meaningful - aweinspiring then theirs (ruins etc, but also cataclysmic events?).

To that end, im not sure i'll stick with the usual method of slicing up the continent into regions (WoW style) (see an early attempt to that in pic #1) This also comes from the fact that im not in favor of using rigidly drawn borders; i'd rather use a kind of 'influence' parameter to determine the extent of each civilisation's expanse (think colour hues, see pic #3). As a result, even if they (sentinet races) succeded into mapping their continent in general, i want to have places of note remembered, and named accordingly (awe inspired ofc), and not have them criss-cross the land with their 'taint' Got some 9 humanoids races fleshed out in rough detail by now, but they'll have to wait till the physical map (mouse-drawn) and probalby a good, detailed topo map too are finished, before they set their foot on my beauty

I'll keep posting the stuff in here, as it (hopefuly) move ahead.

P.S. Sorry for my bad english; will also try to keep typos to a minimum

[Radu Vlad]

Hohum you're right man, the compass will see the trashcan (wondering if i should still use one...); as for the label, im not sure if thats gonna stay, and if yes, in what form. I thought of that mountain to be the tallest on the map (and the most lore/ore-heavy ), but it might just appear named as such in maps on a higher scale, dunno. Im also in two minds about the perspective-style latitudes/longitudes. Guess i'd rather have them straight, as that will also make them usefull in measuring ditances e.g. Less funky, but more practical

Thanks all for your nice replies; dont be shy with the suggestions. Tyvm.

[hohum]

The map looks great. The only things that jumped out at me were the label for Mt. Kogaion (I couldn't tell which peak was being labeled) and the compass (the image didn't seem to fit the style). Pretty minor.

[Quabbe]

Wow, I have to agree with the others. Wonderful map and a beautiful coloring. Nice work.


Quabbe

[Radu Vlad]

Updates:

New smooth background texture for the land; reduced the magenta on the red hues, lighted up the colours a bit.
New grid (long/lat), scale is 100 km a grid square.
Added names for major land features, including Oceans.
A bit less saturation overall.

Is this better or not? I'm not quite sure...

[Gidde]

This is looking great. I only have 2 minor issues ... the rivers look like they're missing something; the non-blue ocean looks great, but the rivers just look ... empty? And I like the parchement tags for the region labels, but they're all the same piece of parchment; maybe make 2 or 3 and mix em up a little. As I said though, these are really minor issues, overall I love it so far.

[Radu Vlad]

Valid point bout the names tags; will work on it. Now when it comes to rivers...

You see, this 'project' was intended to be a practical guide into creating a consistent world, on a scale that will not force me into building some new world/continent etc over time. Big enough to practically guarantee a lifetime of adventuring posibilities And in regard to this, i might have started with the wrong map. The point of the present map is not to look nice (doesnt hurt if it does), but to provide the blueprint for the work of mapping the continent in detail. It helps me get an overall idea of the big structures, climate maybe (have to decide where the equator is, the tropics, polar circle...). So its kinda old age satellite map . U really cant distinguish any feature besides the big mountain ranges, plateaus/plains, and maybe major rivers. So the rivers at this point are just for orientation. Besides, being WIP, ive done them cruely, with the lasoo tool ; they're all angular and bad, i know.

Next major step will be the topo/hypso map.. now that'll be a challenge, for my PC too Also, gotta have way more detail there, like for example in the topo map i did yesterday to figure out how that gradients and lightning stuff works in photoshop (pic #1, much more detail here). Until then, guess i'll be polishing this one up a bit... scared to start on the real sutff

Thanks for the observations Gidde.