WIP- Aethonia (Regional)

[Failtality]

Hey hey there folks- long time no post. Up to my usual same old, working on my world, Valgard, and decided I wanted to to a drawn regional map. Very inspired by those types of maps, so I thought I'd give it a try for the area known as Aethonia- the place where most of the action takes place in my story (at least the one in my head) Right now I'm still playing around with a lot of things, but I finally got something I felt I could show off. I really envy the more parchment like maps people do, but I can never seem to get the right style, so it ends up being more cartoony- which is fine. I'm pleased with what I have, and I put alot of time into this. All the elements (save for the text) are hand drawn on my tablet. Looking for any suggestions here, really. I was waxing nostalgic for my beloved JRPGs and so that was definitely a heavy influence. This is actually the sort of map I tried to draw when I first conceived Valgard, and at the time it didnt work out. Kinda blah on how the mountains turned out here, but maybe I'm staring at this too long. Are there any textures that may help it pop, or are cell colors fine? There is alot still to do- the labels are not exhaustive, but represent the major stuff. The image here is half the size of what it actually is, so if things aren't legible, I apologize. Let me know any input you guys have! This is a for fun project for now; but who knows- could turn in to something bigger.
vmapv7.jpg

[Diamond]

Good to see you mapping again. Every now and then I'll look at that black version of Valgard and think how cool it is...

[Failtality]

Haha, I feel like you're trying to hint at something!

In all seriousness, I do like the old black one, but it never really ended up being what I wanted it to be (Other than people liking it- which, let's face it, is important). I think the frustrating thing for me was that it made the world seem dark and gothic, which it isn't- at all. What struck a chord with you on it? I'd like to try to have some of that resonation with both this and my general world map.

[Diamond]

I think it was the overall color scheme more than anything, but the circular motifs - the grid and those colored rings - just gave it a nice sense of balance that I liked. I tried to do my own version a couple of times, but the thing that always made me grind to a halt was mountain and river placement. I couldn't come up with a way to place them (mountains especially) that didn't look horrible with the rest of the design. That's why I was waiting for you to work on yours some more, so I could shamelessly copy whatever idea(s) you settle on for the mountains.

[Failtality]

Aha! I see! Well, I maybe didn't come up with the most handsome of solutions perhaps, but this is what I finally came up with that I ended up liking

vmountrivers.jpg

I went twisted and spiney for the mountains. I'm sure someone could make that aesthetically more pleasing, but the basics are there. Rivers the some sort of thing. Unnatural without being totally implausible.



mappaint.jpg

I decided to go big instead of go home. I want to detail every friggin region. It's going to be a long slog, but it'll be worth it. This image is at 25% of the actual size. Mountain shading needs some fixing up and not all the geography is present, but that part feels pretty solid now. Whew! I love love bright colors, and this is overload, but it so fits with my JRPG/ cartoony style I wanted to do. The borders and backgrounds are placeholders for now, so if anyone has suggestions for something neat, let me know.

[Treijim]

Hey Failtality

Sorry if you've already explained this, but what exactly is this map for? I want to give advice but it may be completely irrelevant depending on the map's intended purpose.

[Failtality]

Hey Treijim!

The map is for a fantasy world I'm creating, purely for my own enjoyment. It wont be used for any outside sources, except to frame stories and the like that I may come up with. I just enjoy world building and character creation- and using those to sometimes write. Hope that helps!

mappaint.jpg

This is how far I've gotten as of now. The image had to be resized for it to be uploadable- so the labels sadly are not legible here, but are at full size

[Treijim]

Alright, cool. I have some more questions before I say anything.

How realistic are you intending on making this, 0 being "anything goes" and 10 being supposedly as functional as earth? Similarly, how much does/will magic play a part in the functioning of this world? Is this a full map of the world or are there parts unseen? What is the most advanced civilisation in this world (Late Middle Ages, Paleolithic, Chalceolithic, etc.)? What is the scale of the world?

[Failtality]

Lets see...
1) Maybe a 0 to 3
2) Magic as a functional aspect for day to day living? Little. Magic as a part of the world and its effect on it? High. It's something that is a big deal, but most people don't like to deal with it if they can help it. Respected but highly suspect.
3) This is a full map
4) Most advanced is somewhere between 1890s and 1940s tech (steampunk to deiselpunk... without the punk and more high fantasy)
5) Scale is pretty small- its a fun project so things get pruned easily for the sake of simplicity yet more robust areas (ie, country squish prior to this when areas seemed to have the same general concept) I am going more of a carefree/ easygoing air.

[Treijim]

Great responses. Given your needs, I have some suggestions for you.

• You have A LOT of water. It seems like a waste of space. You could easily extend some continents, or have extra landmasses in of varying sizes and shapes.
• Your near-polar fields I think, will look nicer with more forest. Otherwise you're going to have a lot of tundra up north which is just empty, cold nothingness. Same with your southern polar regions which are currently green and empty. Because you have a lot of what I can only assume is fields, and vast empty green fields are actually quite a rare natural biome. That's just an aesthetic point.
• You don't have many islands and the ones you have are rather small. Some more variation there might look nicer.
• Even if your realism is only a one out of ten, your antarctic region doesn't make sense. The bottom line of a full map is actually ONE point on a globe - the south pole. So the entire bottom line should be the same, just stretched out immensely. Wrap it around a sphere and you'll see what I mean. Same with your arctic region. If you want to leave them then that's fine. I'm just making you aware.

What's that big black area, and what's the wall-looking thing around it?