Going to attempt making city maps

[TrueUndeadHero]

Hello! I have attempted to make a few maps here, but never gotten to the end (mainly because I screw up somewhere and am forced to start over and I don't like doing that.)

As of recently, you may or may not have seen GLS's map of my region called the Black Marches of Taranost which I paid for, I have decided to work on the major city maps as I hope to eventually put the world on a DMsguild and write stories and books set in this setting (maybe jet published *shrug*) however, I have only ever done generic and non-generic regional maps and never an actual city map.

I was curious for advice or resources one would use. I have the resources of my general knowledge of city-planning (GO DRAFTING AND DESIGN! ) and Paint.Net which I would like to say I am quite proficient in. But if anyone could recommend anything else for me to use, I am all ears and all thumbs.

[Falconius]

Perhaps starting small, and build up to full cities? ie do a couple of villages (perhaps more useful anyways to adventurers, certainly far more common a setting before industrialization) or do small towns and then go for a full blown massive city. Anyways thats what I've been considering to change my own approach. Key benefits are that it trains up the skills you need, gives you resources to use later if you wish, and that is is a project far more likely to end in a completion.

[TrueUndeadHero]

Hmmm, I would do that but my setting is mainly city-states so they are all quite large. However, I could do ruins like Dore Szithis and Szith Krassien, as well as some ideas I've been considering to adding on the map such as an island bandit base (not pirates, lake pirates...maybe?) or some other ideas.

[Falconius]

Perhaps tackle cities neighborhood by neighborhood then? That could be a very cool approach. Hmm... Indeed that is a lot like what is happening in the Guild City (except the plots are a fair bit bigger than neighborhood size I think, I'd say try and tackle areas half of those plot sizes). That way you could focus and flesh out those specific parts of city that are actually important to the adventurers story too. In the end maybe you end up with a complete city, maybe you don't. This is all assuming completion of maps is the goal of course. If you don't care you could just keep them in 'draft' and edit them as you go through them.

[Revock]

https://www.rpglibrary.org/software/...map_generator/ Perhaps you've seen this in the list of mapping software
thread. I'm currently going to try it in an attempt at another Neverwinter Nights2 PW setup for my cities and towns, I've got an idea to use the ability to set colors of it's elements to start the basic height map. But irregardless, I think it's a nifty little program that might give you a headstart too.