Greetings and where to ask for help

[dudemic]

Hey everybody, I'm dudemic.

I don't know how much presence I will have on here long term. Honestly I mainly made an account to ask for advice. Since I can't PM a mod yet I'll ask here; Where is it that I should post such a request?

From what I've seen on the forums so far this seems like a cool community. Look forward to interacting with you.

Thanks.

[- Max -]

Hello Dude mic, welcome to the Guild. What kind of advice are you looking for?

[dudemic]

Well I'm trying to create a map for a sci-fi/fantasy rpg setting. I'd like to do the whole planet. I've worked out some of the rough shapes but I don't want to go much further before I figure out how I'm going to deal with mapping the whole planet.

I've done some 3D modeling so I unwrapped a sphere to get a rough idea of how the topology would warp when applying it to a rectangular shape but that isn't exactly an optimal way to present it. If at all possible I'd like to be able to click and measure the distances between points on my final map.(like the ruler tool in photoshop.)

I am mapping the whole planet it but only a small section will be focused on for the campaign. Basically I'm looking for people with more knowledge of mapping to help direct me to the best way to handle this. If there is an applicable program that will let me make and rotate a spherical map that would be fantastic. Alternatively, I know there are many different types of maps with different types of warping and such. I just have no clue how to sort through them and what would be useful for this particular situation.

Thanks

[Chick]

Hello dudemic, Welcome to the Guild!

If you are looking for advice on learning to make maps, there is a great tutorial in the sticky section of Tutorials, called
Quickstart Guide to Fantasy Mapping: http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=4276

From there, go to
Hand Drawn Mapping for the Artistically Challenged: http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...ad.php?t=10655

Once you have completed those two tutorials, you'll be well on your way!!


If you are looking for someone to make a map for you, you should post your request in the Mapmaking Requests section of the forum.


If you have a particular question, post it in the appropriate WIP section of the forum.

[Midgardsormr]

There is also a "How do I…?" forum for questions about accomplishing specific tasks, whether they're software specific, like "How do I paint on a globe in Photoshop?" or more general, like "How can I represent features with different heights in a floorplan?"

Threads in that sub-forum tend to be focused on a smallish problem, while posts in the WIP forum are usually more useful for getting general feedback on a project.