Reith: A Core World of Colara

[freja82]

Hey there everyone, so after three years I am finally ready to show my very first ever completed map!!!!!!! Because I am slow and this does not come easily to me. But I finally did it! I am so very proud of myself. Whoo hoo. So here she is. I'm sure there are things i could have done better or techniques that are better i could have used, but I am still very much a novice. All constructive criticism welcome, but please be kind you guys. So without further ado, deep breath, what do you guys think?

This map is for one of the core worlds for my book series. It features a walled off part of the universe by magic and technology where the people fled in order to keep from being hunted to extinction. The System centers around the main planet of Colara with the four core planets connected to it by space and portals. There are 12 other planets which are connected to these as well and then 59 smaller worlds connected to those. This is a technologically advanced race who also use magic. The 50 main noble houses and their minor branches own all land on the worlds even though they mostly live in their floating or submerged cities. While the vast majority of the regular or peasant population live in towns and cities on the land run by Intermediary Officials and the military. There is no greater resource in the Colaran system than those with mage talent. They are sought after, hunted, and prized more than any other resource in existence. Magic can give you everything you want, but if you have it, everything you are and everything you have can also be taken away.

(Is that the kind of description you guys are looking for?)

[jbgibson]

Awesome map! for this I give you some rep. I love the solid embossed-metal character of it.

Suggestions have to do with the surface being embossed both toward us and away - some are hard to ‘read’ the apparent right way. Take the land masses - they stick up, but there’s no shadows on their South sides. The corner decor in the border has raised rosettes, and the central part of the mid-top one agrees... but only in the middle. The surrounding linework looks like you intend it to be impressed instead of raised? The ?lettering? in the border is not quite lit like indentations - I think it’s all the swirly pattern doesn’t seem warped up or down. The REITH label has the right external highlights and shadows to be raised, yet its internal coloring almost looks lit from the ‘west’ instead of ‘north’.

I don’t know what texture the sea cries out for, but it seems less lively, less physical than the land.

Don’t get me wrong - the overall effect is great! I’m picking at stuff that makes me puzzled when I really stare at it.

[freja82]

Wow Thanks so much. Your points are exactly the kind of thing i am looking. People who know what they're talking about. Ok so bear with me, i am going to try to address your questions because these are definitely things i need to learn more about. Also it would probably be helpful to know that I used Photoshop C.C

1) the surface being embossed both towards and away. Not really sure how that impression could have been done, since the beveling was in one direction from the North west if I recall correctly and then the layer was duplicated and i never messed with directionality on that afterwards. I will, of course go back and double check just to make sure.
2) Land masses have no shadow on the south side. Yes, that is definitely a concern. I believe I had that at one point and may have gone in and accidentally deleted those layers. I ended up with over 135 layers at one point and it all got really tangled up and messy. That is something I will definitely go back in and try to figure out as well.
3) the rosettes and the central rosette. Ummmmm i have no idea what you mean here. I'm sorry. did i mention i'm not good at this? I'm trying to learn but there is still SO MUCH i have no idea about yet. Is the lighting directionality wrong? or the embossing? Or am i completely missing it altogether?
4) the lettering indentions. I had quite a problem with this. the spacing and placement were a huge pain and finally i got most of the effect i was going for, even just admitting defeat when i couldn't quite get all the lettering perfectly within the border. In the end i decided i kind of liked it that way anyway and let it go, but it still catches my eye and irritates me when i see it. As for the lighting how does one light appropriately for indentions? Is there an indention lighting standard i am not aware of? followed by should i warp the swirly pattern? hmmmm i will mess with that as well and see.
5) Reith Internal coloring, so i used the Trojan Color font for this and did the outer effects, but i left the inner effects they are in the font as it came. Again, not sure how the lighting is supposed to be. I should admit that lighting and shadows is one of the things i have had and continue to have the hardest issues with. Grasping the appropriate placement and usage. I have watched countless tutorials and videos for many programs and just art in general, but it's like my brain doesn't get it.
6) Sea texture. Yeah, i messed with that a little and couldn't come up with anything i liked. i'm a little iffy on that as well. I completely 100% agree with you on that.

I am really really happy that you like it even a little, i actually went squealing through my house with happiness. I think that the stuff you are picking at that you are seeing that doesn't make sense to you is the same as when a martial arts master spars for the first time with a complete novice. Confusion because the kid doesn't know enough about what they are doing to know what is acceptable and not acceptable, and as a master in the art form you have no idea what they are doing or why.

[Greg]

Hiya Freja, I'm pleased you plucked up the courage to share your map with us!

It looks maybe like CC3+ you used, which I'm not really too familiar with at all, so I can't offer any comments from a technical point of view, but there's plenty on here who can!

I like the general landmass layout and the way you have the broken islands spread across the map and branching out from the mainlands. I've not seen many maps use embossed text for all the labels, but I think it works well particularly with the lighter brown coloured ones, which almost rise out the land like mountains.

The darker ones don't have quite the same effect, which in part may be because the font is different and slightly trickier to read quickly.

I think the colour scheme works well and virtually everything is clearly defined from each other, which is exactly what you want from a map! The only thing I'd really suggest, other than perhaps playing with the darker fonts, is perhaps including a small key telling us what the different symbols represent? I'm not sure where you'd put it since your border balances so nicely already, but it's just a thought.

Anyway, have some rep and I hope to see some more maps from your core worlds!

[freja82]

Thanks so much! yeah i went back and played around with some different things after jb's post. Probably should have posted it as a WIP BEFORE i posted the finished product since it looks pretty different now. As for the key yeah i really want/need to figure out how i want to do that. I did see one map on here in the gallery that did something i really really liked, but i dont want to just go around copying people's individual styles and since i had never seen it quite like that before i wouldn't feel comfortable until I asked the person's permission if they mind. I have a few ideas, but nothing I have really loved so far. Funnily enough, even though there are some techniques i dont know enough about and i eventually want to learn i have no trouble ignoring them until a later date, but then others i become almost obsessive about, wasting FAR too much time trying to find out how i want it, or just looking for something i like without knowing what it is, just that whatever it is THAT isnt it. Anyhoo, stay tuned as i'm already about halfway (maybe) finished with my second one. Im still working on my process and what I want from my connected yet distinctly different world maps.

thanks again!

[freja82]

So, i decided to go ahead and upload the new version. I don't know whether i fixed ALL the problems, but i think that's the best i'm going to get at my current skill level and computer capability. I am having major issues with photoshop not running things like lighting effects and 3d effects. My poor little computer just doesn't have the processing power.

Reith2 flattened.jpg

[FrancescaBaerald]

Very interesting style! Really nice job.

[freja82]

Thank you very much!

[- JO -]

Nice play with the bevel !