WIP - First post first map

[synapticslack]

This is a map I’ve been working on for a DnD 3.5e campaign. The tone of the campaign is somewhat lighthearted so I am trying to go for more of an bold epic feel than for full-on realism. They map may eventually be expanded to a full world map with all of the continents.

The map is made in GIMP but the text labels I made as MS Word “word art” and pasted in instead of messing with GIMP’s text tools which I find frustrating.

Just wondering what people think and if anyone has ideas for improvements. Thanks!

[Locution]

I really like your style, the forests especially. At first glance though something does seem a bit off. I am a bit of an amateur, however, so I will leave the real critique to the experts. Have a little rep from me. Its a great start!

[Ascension]

I dig it a lot. There's a river violation in the southwest (rivers don't split except in deltas) but otherwise I think you've done a really nice job.

[Locution]

I think it may just the the shading along the coast that is playing with my eye. It seems to make your landmass float above the water.

[Steel General]

Other than the river violation Ascension noted (an easy thing to fix), I think this looks good. I'm not usually a fan of bright, 'neon'-y colors but it works well here I think.

[jfrazierjr]

I love this map over all. You have done a great job at making the various mountain colors blend into the surrounding land quite well... my only issue is with the hard sharp lines on the mountain outlines. My personal preference here (depending on if you are using mountain brushes or they are all hand drawn with line work on its own layer) would be using the smudge tool (around 50% perhaps up to 75% with a med/large (compared to the line) fuzzy brush) to pull down the line color to a nice fade out. Then perhaps a slight blur on the lines also (again, assuming the line work is on it's own layer.) Just the smudge itself will help quite a bit in making a good map better IMO.

[jfrazierjr]

btw, did you realize you have the shadows inconsistent on the mountain slopes? Some are on the left (left and top left of map) and some are right (mid right and lower right). Though I had to have you rework such great blending of the mountains, this little inconsistency bugs me...

[wormspeaker]

I like the map. As has already been mentioned the mountain shadows are inconsistent, and there are a couple of river violations. Though to be honest I didn't notice them either until they were mentioned. What I really like are the colors here, they positively shout fantasy. There's no way that this is a pedestrian map of some boring land but instead a gateway to some pretty fantastic stuff. So, in short the colors really make the map for me, though normally like Steel I don't normally like saturated colors in a map this is a really good use of them.

[synapticslack]

Thanks for all the comments!

I think it may just the the shading along the coast that is playing with my eye. It seems to make your landmass float above the water.

You're right, I didn't even realize it. The dark coastlines make it even worse. Would a light color along the coast make it less floaty? Or should I do away with the shading completely?

I my only issue is with the hard sharp lines on the mountain outlines.

The dark mountain and coastlines have been bugging me as well. The contrast is just too great i think. Blurring the whole line layer is good idea.

It's awesome how supportive this forum is to new members/mapmakers. Thanks again.

[jfrazierjr]

Thanks for all the comments!



You're right, I didn't even realize it. The dark coastlines make it even worse. Would a light color along the coast make it less floaty? Or should I do away with the shading completely?



The dark mountain and coastlines have been bugging me as well. The contrast is just too great i think. Blurring the whole line layer is good idea.

It's awesome how supportive this forum is to new members/mapmakers. Thanks again.

personally, I don't have an issue with the coastline.. I rather like coast lines to have that dark outline feel, but perhaps the shadow on the water could go away.. would have to see both to compare.

As for blurring the entire layer, I would suggest against that If they are both on the same layer. Since the lines for the coast are 2-3 times thicker than that of the mountain outlines, it probably won't end up looked good no matter how much you play with the value of the blur. I would still suggest using the smudge tool on the mountain outlines (and perhaps a few of the conifer tree outlines to get a nice smooth transition in addition to any blur you may do on the layer or by hand, but thats just me...