Greetings from Florida

[Immolate]

Hello all. I have been having a great deal of fun looking around and learning from you for the last couple of days. Unlike most of you, I don't have any graphical background except some of the graphic language I use when creating maps. My day job is implementing and supporting call centers across the world for my employer, or at least the technology required to support them.

I've been a D&D player since the late seventies and the group of eight that I play with every week includes six players dating back thirty years.

I have always been interested in mapping since drafting class back in middle school. The first maps I saw in fantasy books like The Hobbit back in those days have stayed with me, and although my few attempts to "get into" map making in any meaningful way have been abortive, I have never lost my fascination or desire.

There are no delusions that I can match some of the best work I've seen here, at least on my side. It is obvious that some of you are virtuosos on Photoshop and most of you at least have an eye for color that my genes denied me. That's okay though. Grit and determination are the great equalizers.

Also like many of you, I am a fantasy writer. That is to say, I fantasize about writing something that someone else other than my mother would buy a copy of. I think it would be a great thing if a map I made, or even the process of making a map, would inspire a story worth the telling. Every map is the genesis of countless stories after all, and just as the rivers, mountains and shady glens shape those stories, they are in turn shaped by every story that impressed the imaginations of their creator.

Who doesn't put a little Tolkien in their lonely mountain, a little Herbert in their deserts and perhaps a little guilty Rowling in their mage academy? I cut my teeth on men like Asimov, Heinlein and Bradbury, masters like Card, Eddings and Jordan, and wonderful chaff such as King, Howard and Norton. How could all of that be in my head, and countless others besides, and not find its way into every creative thing I do?

Like any worthwhile thing in life, I prefer to learn from those who have the most to teach. I have been to any number of places where people talk about creating maps, but when I came here, I knew I'd found what I sought. I would be stunned to find any community to equal this one.

Thank you all for having me, and I hope that I might someday give something back to the lot of you scallywags. (that's pirate for "fine upstanding citizens)

[Gamerprinter]

Welcome to the Guild, Immolate!

I do believe you have indeed found the right place - and the only one of its kind. Although its true, many of us are artists, some would argue they are little more than software users who understand the tools they use.

Check out the tutorials, visit the finished maps, view the monthly contests, there's lots to see and do. We're kind of an academy for fantasy cartography so this your first step in learning the art as nowhere else.

Don't worry, you're not alone, most of us have decades of gaming under our belts too, some are authors or "wannabe" authors anyway. We are a community of like-minded individuals.

Post some maps, even if you don't think worthy - that's the best and fastest way to learn. Show us what you can do, and we'll show you how to make it better.

Again, welcome and enjoy your stay!

GP

[Redrobes]

Welcome - theres several others in Florida region here and a map in my sig to find them so add yourself if you feel like it.

[ravells]

Thanks for the comprehensive intro and welcome to the Guild. Following on from what GP said, mapping (for me anyway) comes with practice, seeing what others do and lots of fiddling with settings etc. You do not have to be artistic unless you're shooting for a totally handdrawn map with artistic symbols in it.

Do make a start on posting your stuff and we will try to do all we can to help you improve.

[Immolate]

Thank you all for the warm welcome. I did put my coordinates on the map Redrobes. I am in Deltona, Florida where I live with my second wife, my son and her daughter. Between us we have seven children, though two of hers are grown and my three daughters live with their mother.

It is great living down here where the weather is warm and the sun is a frequent visitor. I've been down here for over twenty years now, but spent many years in colder places before I got here.

Again, thanks for the greetings and the hospitality...

[Robbie]

I'm in Pensacola florida...hi fellow Floridian!

[Steel General]

Welcome Aboard!

[heathan666]

aye, 'board dis har vessel be a fine lot of scurvy dahgs, nay a flagon wench amongst'em though. (That's pirate talk for there's some kewl people here but no chix with free beer).

Btw I to am in Florida (Panama City) and I added myself to the map as well. When I first came here I was a noob. Then I read someones article on how to make a regional map, and sense then I've had nothin' but complements.