The New Kingdom

[Elvish Presley]

My players stopped a war this weekend, and as part of the peace negotiations, it was decided that they are going to establish and rule a kingdom of their own. So I had to make another map to show their new kingdom. Towns, cities etc. will be put in place as they decide where they want to build, as well as a name for the kingdom.

So the map is more or less finished already, but I reckon I'll work on it a bit more (the mountains are pretty sketchy, and the new forest pattern isn't quite what I'm after either).

Critique and comments are welcomed!

det nye landet mindre fil.jpg

[Steel General]

Looks good to me so far - though I agree that the forests could use a little work.

All-in-all I think your players should be happy.

[Elvish Presley]

Btw, does anyone know how you can make a forest brush in Photoshop that doesn't just clutter up the screen?

Take this one for instance:

trebrush.jpg

If I try to use it to make a forest, I end up with this mess:

kaos.jpg

Is there a trick to this I'm not getting, or can it just not be done in Photoshop?

[jfrazierjr]

Btw, does anyone know how you can make a forest brush in Photoshop that doesn't just clutter up the screen?

Take this one for instance:

trebrush.jpg

If I try to use it to make a forest, I end up with this mess:

kaos.jpg

Is there a trick to this I'm not getting, or can it just not be done in Photoshop?

This is a common problem. In GIMP, there is a setting called spacing(set when you save the brush) which controls how close together brush drops when you keep painting. Too small, and the drawn thing looks like a blob of color. In GIMP at least, this setting appears to be something like a percentage offset type thing....

Another option is to create a pattern for the majority of the trees (where you won't see the trunks) and paint that down, and then just lay down your full trees along the front "row". Check out the tutorial by Del on hand drawing(I think thats it...)

[Morkhdull]

I like your style... Giving a feeling of old time parchment to let your players entering the world they're playing in...
Really pleasant to read this map, Elvish...

[Wag]

Even if you have that image saved as a brush in Photoshop and you change the spacing you will still have these same issues. The problem is that as a brush in Photoshop, it only recognizes black and white as fill and transparent. Basically taking any white areas and making them transparent when applied as a brush. When stamping your forest brush, any of the trunks and other tree parts that you are brushing over will interfere with where you are going.

If that makes any sense.

As a fix, I recommend creating a new forest image. Create a 1" by 1" square with a PPI of 600. Draw your trees like you have above in a new layer (not on the background itself!) and proceed to fill in any areas that are not filled with black with white.

Save this image!

Then select your move tool and drag it over into your current map. Resize the section with the "transform" tool (ctrl+T) until it is the proper size and apply. Then ctrl+click the newly created layer with your trees to select them. Then Ctrl+C then Ctrl+V. Switch to your move tool and you should be able to move the new layer next to, around, near, or behind your existing trees. You can continue adding to the forest this way simply by doing another Ctrl+V and pasting another new layer of trees and moving them to the desired position.

Remember that since every new layer will be created "Over" the previous layer, it will be easier to work from the top of the image downward. This will help so you don't need to constantly change the layer order to make things look right.

Now to take care of the color because your black and white trees probably look a little goofy if you are doing them on any kind of "parchment" or textured background.

Once you have your forest looking proper on screen, select all of the forest layers (there will probably be a lot) and merge them into a single layer (Ctrl+E.) With the final forest layer simply change the blending mode to "multiply" and the white areas disappear leaving behind only the black tree outlines you created.

I know it seems involved, but once you get the hang of it, it is really quite simple. I haven't found any way to make a brush do the things that I want and have found this method effective. You also have the ability to change individual layer sizes for extra variety with the "transform" tool (Ctrl+T.)

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

[jfrazierjr]

Even if you have that image saved as a brush in Photoshop and you change the spacing you will still have these same issues. The problem is that as a brush in Photoshop, it only recognizes black and white as fill and transparent. Basically taking any white areas and making them transparent when applied as a brush. When stamping your forest brush, any of the trunks and other tree parts that you are brushing over will interfere with where you are going.

Ah.. I forgot that part since GIMP does not have this limitation, I can have a brush made out of whatever colors I want (or color/alpha shades), so this does not come up..

[gorkamorka]

Cool map. I especially like the fjord at the top. Looks like a proper fjord should.

[Ascension]

Following along the lines of what Wag said I went ahead and made a png of your trees (a bit darker and sharper though). Copy this into your map on a new layer then copy this layer and move it around. Continue stacking and moving until happy with the forest shape then merge the layers together. I did a small preview of my result and am attaching the png.

[Elvish Presley]

Great tips on the forests, people!

Going to work on the trees tomorrow and see what I end up with....might even have to look into GIMP too, it seems