Hello there, everyone!

My name's Ant, and I am here in hopes of not only becoming inspired, but hopefully to inspire others in some form or another. In the brief amount of time I have come to discover the existence of this place, I see that you all have some serious talent--SERIOUS TALENT! If I can be half as good as many of you, I'll be feeling pretty good.

I have always had a moderate interest in maps and cartography, even as a child, and my love of gaming (mostly RPGs) falls a similar timeline. With the evolution of the gaming industry, mostly in the past ten years or so, and a stronger push to bulk up hardware specs and graphical output, there appears to be less and less of a focus on actual game content. All big name developers seem to care about these days is how their cutscenes look, and could care less about the things that matter--gameplay, story, ability to captivate the player, etc.

Partly in an act of defiance towards this general trend, partly a process of self-exploration, partly a creative outlet, and partly just because I feel like it, I am developing an RPG of my own. My intention, when the project is as complete as I can get it, is for the game to hit each and every note of gaming nostalgia I can pack into it, while staying as true to the story I write and the genre itself. In order to do that, I am to design a world to act as the stage in which my story is set. One key way I will be able to do that is mapping, so I hope to share as much of this process with all of you that you either care to read about, or that I feel comfortable sharing.

I am excited to be a part of this community, and if any of you have managed to read this far into my thread, I commend you.

Happy Mapping to you all, and I hope all of you who are celebrating have a safe and pleasant Thanksgiving!