Grackslu WIP

[Spiritless]

So, here's the map I was talking about a few days ago. Got to change the dark water, it looks crappy, draw rivers, and then forests, cities, borders, maybe armies. And I'd be grateful if someone told me how to add patterns to photoshop. And if anything looks strikingly odd


grackslu1.jpg

[Steel General]

Not to bad so far...

1) The darker water isn't that bad - but if your not happy with it then change it.
2) Some weird stuff going on in your lakes
3) I like the hills/mountains but they have a little to much white in them I think.
4) Your 'roughed in' rivers don't seem to be breaking any rules

To add a pattern in photoshop is easy...

1) Open the pattern/texture file you want to add
2) Click EDIT > DEFINE PATTERN
3) Give a name to the pattern and click OK

This will add it to the current pattern 'group'

[Spiritless]

okay, thanks!
The mountains... yes, they're white, because i thought that adding a double light effect would make them look taller, and they're supposed to look really tall (it's a fantasy world, right?). But they don't. Any idea how to fix that without redrawing the map?

[Steel General]

Well it looks like you are using Ascensions continent tutorial (been awhile since I went thru that - he may be better able to offer ideas).

You could try 'stacking' another layer on top of the existing mountains. With the right layer effect settings it may help give it some more 'height'. But I do things much differently than Ascension does so that may not work.

[Immolate]

You can get some height effects out of bevel properties. I did that on a map called "Laramis" in the finished maps section. On the other hand, I've had good results from Ascension's tutorial on atlas maps on a world titled "Eldimar". The mountains don't look monstrous, but keep in mind that at 1 px = 1 mile scale, they should not. If your scale is more zoomed-in than that, you should adjust the underlying technique accordingly.

[LonewandererD]

When i was trying to make mountains look taller I went into the bevel and emboss settings on the mountains layer and increased the depth. This makes the shading on the mountains more noticeable making the highlights look higher up in comparision. Also, duplicating the mountain layer and just leaving it on top of the orginal can work too, although you may have to fiddle with the colour if it comes out to dark.

Hope this helps.

-D-

[Jeff_Wilson63]

if anything looks strikingly odd.

In the middle of the map, I would expect the river to flow into the lake instead of just barely missing it. It's not impossible, but it is odd.

[Ascension]

Water looks good to me. If you want bigger mountains then scale them up. Edit - transform - scale = 200% (for example). This gives them a bigger "footprint" and you will also have to readjust the bevel numbers. Stacking works sort of like bump mapping and makes them look taller as does fiddling with the bevel. You could also duplicate the mountains layer, and then get rid of the layer styles on this second layer, then set this second layer to overlay. Overlay mode, and stacking this layer a few times, darkens the darks and lightens the lights producing a faux exaggerated height.

[Spiritless]

Okay.
1. Made the rivers using the brilliant "experiment" method
2. repaired the lakes (I hope they look repaired)
3. Fixed the mountains. Didn't like the brown look so I gave it a shade of gray, played with the light render to eliminate the "snow" (and added a second layer)
4. Stretched out the dark water (in the corners, the feather modify was visible, in the previous edition)

your opinions?


grackslu2.jpg

[Coyotemax]

I notice three oddities - one is the circular river (lake with a hill in the middle of it is maybe what you're after?) in the northwest quadrant, looks a little odd at first, unless you have a particular storyline reasoning for it

The second is just a little to the left, there's some squared off texture effects there, I'm guessing artifacts from resizing something on one of the layers. Easy to fix, looks like.

Third is the river bevel. it looks like you're following Ascensions tutorial which puts the mountains having lighting coming from the southeast - but the bevel on the rivers inplies the lighting is coming from the northwest. That makes them look raised instead of cut into the land in comparison to the mountains. Easy fix, again

I like the ocean before, but it looks good in this version too. And the mountians look much nicer with this level of white on them.

Keep going, this is shaping up nice