Rough Sketch Coastal w/ Large Island(s)

[marcuslee]

Well, deciding where you want to put features (like forests, rivers, mountains etc) is more worldbuilding than map making, although the two are related. You might want to do a site search on worldbuilding, there is a good guide which is available free online which tells you where to put mountains, rivers etc, I can't recall it but it may be worth a google or someone else here may remember.

I don't know if this is the one you are talking about, but it is a good general resource.

http://www.web-writer.net/fantasy/days/index.html

And, there is a video on YouTube which is kinda helpful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z00S7WsYGA


Thanks for the suggestions.


Mark

[marcuslee]

All you need to do is look at the land mass and say that "I think some mountains should go here and there, some forests here and maybe there, hills in this area and so on. Once you have some basic stuff laid out, remember that rivers flow from High ground to Low, and the steeper the faster it flows (and the straighter it is) and when it hit the low lands it will start to wonder a bit. ( as steel General has said a few times, Think of Rivers as a tree > the leaves are the high ground and as the branches get closer to the trunk (and the ground) they come together and get thicker. Only rarely will the trunk split before it gets to the ground (sea or ocean). Sometimes you will see exposed roots (think deltas) but not very often. In the lowlands, you may get swamps that spread the river a bit. Forests will usually have some sort of stream or river passing through it somewhere as a source of water.

Great info. Much better than simply rivers go from high ground to low ground.

Lakes will usually be be in low land, or at least lower than the land around it. One thing to remember, more than one river may flow into a lake, but only one will flow out. Placing the rivers and lakes is mostly a "I want something here" sort of thing. One thought to keep in mind is that most early towns and cities are placed along coast lines, lake shores and rivers (major trade routes don't you know) so think about where you want to have the cities.

One river out? Didn't know that. See, I am learning something.

Like Ravs said, the best way to figure out your map is to pick up some paper and a good pencil and go at it. Seeing as how you already have the land mass, make the outline as I described above and print it out. I would suggest doing it initially on a 11x17 and print out a few copies. I tried to find the tut that I was trying out for the mountains to show you what I was doing if you like that style, but I couldn't. Sorry.

Yes, I have been experimenting with drawing the map myself on paper. And, yes, it is easier than fractal programs. And, it looks a little more real, methinks.

Once you have a sketch that you like the look of, post it in the WIP forums. If you would rather, I could help you out developing the map, but available time is not something I am long on, so the help is most likely to be spaced quite a bit. I have been trying to get better at terrain features so I don't mind doing something like this. Just let me know what you want to do, or any corrections/additions/placement issues you want me to make.

Whatever help you can offer is greatly appreciated. And, I hope your comments thus far will help more than just me. Because this info is really good.

I have an outline for a map that I did recently. It has no features, for it was my first attempt at drawing my own map. Don't worry about adding features to it. I was just wondering if the contour of the land is realistic. And, if not, what did I do wrong?

http://www.everythinglee.com/terra/maps/map1000.PNG


Once again thanks for the help.



Mark

[Korash]

I think it is OK, but I do have a few comments.

The left half of it looks a bit too square, as if you were trying to fill the paper. If you look at an atlas, you will rarely something as blocky as that. When drawing a landmass, don't draw it so big that you might be restricted by the paper. Try drawing it around the center of the page (not circular, just don't be guided by the edges) and let the hand flow where it wants to.

I do like some of the features you have there. I do like me fiords.

Another thing you might want to try as well, is sometimes add a few little islands as you draw the coasts. Adds a bit more "believability" to the whole land mass. Once the land is drawn, you might think about a rough scale. The next step would be figuring out where the features go. Start with physical features like mountains, hills ect, then forests or maybe rivers.

Once you have these placed, it would be a good time to decide on whether you will continue by hand (and here is where the real work begins) or by computer. If you want to go the computer route, there are plenty of tutorials in the Tutorial/How to forum at the bottom of the site's main page. Once you find a tut that you like the style of, look in the first post to see the prog used, and check out the Software forum to find out about that. Be warned, it take a lot of practice to get good at doing it by hand, but the results are usually worth it. Check ot the Finished Maps forum to see what can be done with both computer and some Hand work too.

Have fun mapping, and don't give up too soon.

[marcuslee]

I think it is OK, but I do have a few comments.

You are too gracious.

The left half of it looks a bit too square, as if you were trying to fill the paper. If you look at an atlas, you will rarely something as blocky as that. When drawing a landmass, don't draw it so big that you might be restricted by the paper. Try drawing it around the center of the page (not circular, just don't be guided by the edges) and let the hand flow where it wants to.

Yes, you are the second person to say this, so I think I will be redoing that part of the map. I am creating it for a project that this other guy is working with me on, and he is creating another continent, so I was waiting to see what his looks like before I changed that square side.

I do like some of the features you have there. I do like me fiords.

I tried to vary the land as much as possible.

Another thing you might want to try as well, is sometimes add a few little islands as you draw the coasts. Adds a bit more "believability" to the whole land mass.

I wasn't worried about them at the time, but I didn't forget them either. Since I hadn't thought about scale, I decided to hold off on them.

Once the land is drawn, you might think about a rough scale.

What do you think would be a good scale for this map based upon what I have done with it so far?

The next step would be figuring out where the features go. Start with physical features like mountains, hills ect, then forests or maybe rivers.

Do you have any suggestions as to how many of each? For example, the map I created, assuming that I will vary the square side some, bringing it in a little, how many mountain ranges would be a good number?

I know the answer might vary based upon scale.

Once you have these placed, it would be a good time to decide on whether you will continue by hand (and here is where the real work begins) or by computer. If you want to go the computer route, there are plenty of tutorials in the Tutorial/How to forum at the bottom of the site's main page. Once you find a tut that you like the style of, look in the first post to see the prog used, and check out the Software forum to find out about that. Be warned, it take a lot of practice to get good at doing it by hand, but the results are usually worth it. Check ot the Finished Maps forum to see what can be done with both computer and some Hand work too.

At this point if I continue to do this by myself with hints from ones like yourself, I won't be worried about how good it is. Just will it work for my purposes?

Have fun mapping, and don't give up too soon.

I'll try to have fun and not quit. Of course, at some point I may move on to another project. We'll see. Your suggestions and info will help keep me thinking about the map(s), and thinking about them is the biggest thing to keep my attention.

Thank you so much!



Mark

[Korash]

I will answer your last question first. The best person to judge if it suits your purpose is you. I know that sounds a bit hokey, but it is also true. I don't see any reasons why it wouldn't, seeing as how you are the one making it. If it doesn't fit right now, just change it 'til it does.

If you look at the world map (ours) you will see that North America looks nothing like Europe. Why wait for your friend to finish his? All that will do is put you guys that much further behind what ever type of shed you want to keep. I really cant think of anything that he may do that should invalidate anything you do.

This looks to me about the size of Europe, or maybe Asia, but just by changing the scale, I could have the Falkland Islands looking like a huge continent. And in fact have actually thought of doing that link. So if you want it to be smaller, just apply a smaller scale. Like I said before about terrain, just look at the map and see what come to mind and place them. Judge by eye as to what seems right. just try not to overload it. Scale will also affect how many rivers you will actually see. there are not too many rivers that appear on a full world satellite map, so the larger the scale the fewer rivers. Again go with what looks right. Just as a quick opinion, I see the the upper left part as similar terrain as the Balkans or the Scandinavian countries like Norway or Finland.

And finally, If you do start to put any real time on this, or another map project, I cannot suggest strongly enough that you post up a WIP thread and we could help you out a lot more, because more people look at those and they usually get much more response too.

[marcuslee]

Why wait for your friend to finish his? All that will do is put you guys that much further behind what ever type of shed you want to keep. I really cant think of anything that he may do that should invalidate anything you do.

The reason for waiting was because I wanted to have an Africa/S. America effect - two continents that have a similar but opposite shape on one side, indicating a Pangaea effect.

The rest of your post was good. I will definitely start another post in the right area. Thanks.

I haven't decided if the scale should be small or larger. I am thinking that it should be at least medium, like you said Europe type size. When you zoom in real far in real life, land doesn't tend to make such drastic turns as my map. You have to zoom out some to get that effect.



Mark

[Carnifex]

This sounds like a fun project. I can do a nice scetch if you want. Free to use anyway you want. BUT if I later make a high quality map AND this project grows commercial I'd like some payment though.