darrenkitlor's Abeir-Toril Map - Forgotten Realms

[darren_kitlor]

The Forgotten Realms - Toril
by darrenkitlor

UPDATED: August 2023

world-map-Toril-Progress.jpg

Introduction

Hello everyone! I'm a long-time lurker but I wanted to share a massive map I'm working on.

Project Summary

It's a 36"x24" 300 dpi pixel map of Toril (the world upon which the Forgotten Realms exist). I'm a huge D&D buff - so I wanted to get the entirety of the game world looking nice for a wall-mount poster.

Right now, I've got most of the landmass, rivers, and beachhead figured out for all of Toril. I just need to hunker down and bring 60% up to 100% (and also remove artifacts that cause irregular shorelines)

That's the hard part. It's a fine line and I don't want to post many textured screens till I get it just right.

Design Log

• 15 August 2010 - Project Started; got basic outline completed, utilized blending options for shoreline, rough beaches, etc.
• 16 August 2010 - Height Map is temporary until I have all the rivers updated and other continents added (note: coloring and sea texturing is still on the docket).
• 20 August 2010 - Huge coloring and height map breakthrough. Finally found something I like in a tutorial but made some parts my own.
• 25 August 2010 - Texture methods are more or less finalized. I still need to fine tune the landscape before approaching it. Also, have maps of virtually every continent for authenticity's sake.
• 25 July 2011 - Return to editing the map; updated coloring, biomes, improved texturing on oceans
• 15 October 2018 - I found the old sea dog on a hard drive I nearly wiped. Improvements to coasts, ice ranges, and coloring implement. Download at full res or easy-print file size.
• 20 April 2022 - Rebooted Map with a fresh, clean look inspired by 3rd editions map. Plan to finish the simple version first before complex styles

Full Size
Dimension: 16000px by 9000px
File Size: (~44 MB)
Use Case: Face Melting or Gaming Table Cover
Link: GoogleDrive

Easy Print
Dimensions: 5400px by 3038 px
Use Case:
Print 18" x 9" on Ledger Paper (22x17) at 300dpi -- suitable as a reference material
36"x20" at 150 dpi, a suitable large poster DPI
Link: GoogleDrive

It's been years between looking at it. Sure, the coasts could be tidied. The mountains and biomes improved. It doesn't hold up well in 2018.

I'll get around to posting the PSB file (Photoshop format, which is compatible with Affinity Photo too).

WIP Screenshots
TorilMap-2018.jpg

[Jaxilon]

Wow, that is massive. At least I'm pretty sure my computer would chug out on me. It's funny because it's not a bad setup, few years old but built for pretty hardcore games....and now I realize how much MORE I need for doing the real stuff, creation.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing how this comes out. I played some of those games myself so it's nice to see the maps again. Keep it up!

[waldronate]

Looks like a good start.

The world map appears to be a vertically-cropped image based on the globe data in the Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas. If so, there are some systematic distortions in the uppermost and lowermost areas of those maps. The Plate Caree projection puts some serious distortions of its own on top of that. Just an observation.

[darren_kitlor]

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, I used the 2.0 edition Interactive Atlas as a base and am upscaling. Many details, however, are being added from the 3.0 edition Faerun map (by far the most beautiful of FR maps).

I've considering trying to warp the layer to projection that doesn't distort polar regions. There's a chance people might not recognize it as much though.

Tough dilemma.

I've spent the better part of the day removing artifacts (since I use layer blending for shoreline effects - I have to remove rogue pixels) and drawing the rives. I'm close to completing roughly 75% of the rivers. I have to go back and decide if I want to "add-in" rivers to "terra Incognita" sections of the map.

I've established a color/drop shadow scheme for cities, capitals, countries/affiliations, geographic regions, varying bodies of water, and mountain ranges. Very cool stuff.

Anyways, I hope to have the artifact stuff done by Wednesday so I can start adding coloring layers and using blending options inventively for mountains to complement the height map.

[darren_kitlor]

Big Update:

While I haven't finalized the colors or the political map data, this is the closest to a good map I've felt (this is only a 12% zoom - the full scale is actually 16000x9000 pixels or a staggering 144 MP)

TorilMap.jpg

There may or may not be professional interest in this map.

[Soixante]

Looks good. I believe you've misspelled 'Zakhara' though? And Faerûn is missing its u-circumflex.

[darren_kitlor]

Looks good. I believe you've misspelled 'Zakhara' though? And Faerûn is missing its u-circumflex.

You're absolutely right! The most recent one has the k and h flipped. I'm reorganizing the layer grouping now to make it easier to track. I have maybe 1/10th of the labels I'll want and am trying to ensure all the fan-favorites are there.

Thank you very much!

(haven't added the û yet - I need to do it by hand as the font I use doesn't include that character)

Hopefully, as I get more done, I can spend more time fine-tooth combing to ensure the great details of the realms are kept in-tact.

On the plus side, I've noticed a couple continuity errors between maps (especially after finding all the original Oriental (Kara-Tur), Hordelands, Al-Qadim, Maztica, and Zakhara maps). I'm combining those to ensure each continent is particularly detailed and refined.

Thank again thought for catching my misspelling! I'll strive to do better now!

Darren_Kitlor

[Soixante]

Keep us posted on your progress, I like what I'm seeing. I know I've spent way too many geeky hours pouring over the 3rd edition Faerûn poster map, so I'm definitely interested to see the final world map.

[darren_kitlor]

Keep us posted on your progress, I like what I'm seeing. I know I've spent way too many geeky hours pouring over the 3rd edition Faerûn poster map, so I'm definitely interested to see the final world map.

Faerûn in 3rd Edition was represented very, very well. I almost went the hand-drawn land feature route because of it.

Does anyone have an idea if later Realms lore uncovered what the other continents were named?

[Javelin Divine]

editing the map, updated coloring, biomes, Improved texturing on ocean
Your work is very good, I'd like to get a map in full resolution