Helgestadt

[Gan]

Helgestadt.jpg

Any help you guys would like to share about this? Is the texting good? What about mountains?

It's not finished, obviously.

The parchment in the backround is this: link.

[dasneviano]

I like what you got there, but I feel a conflict of styles.
The painted parchment look you seem to have gone for is really nice, but it doesn't go with all the outter glows about the lettering. I'd expect more liquid-looking text on this map. Maybe using a faded dark grey instead of black, and a faint thin colored stroke instead of the glow would do the trick. The best place to see what I'm talking about is the huge Helgestadt on the corner. It doesnt integrate with the rest of the map, it was clearly put there by a computer.
The only other thing I can think of are the coastlines. They're too sudden. One moment you have a big forest and then suddenly the sea, no transition at all. That's not a big problem, but I think it would improve your map to paint some sort of beaches or lighter terrain, at least where the forests are.
That's all counsel I have to offer. I like it so far, and I'm looking forward to seeing where you'll go with it!

[Lukc]

I like it as well.

My 2 cents would be the rivers - I would prefer to see them get thin and then disappear, not just lose opacity and disappear. I think it just seems a bit more "realistic" that way (whatever realistic means in a fantasy context ).

[arsheesh]

I agree with Lukc, but nice job so far Gan!

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[jbgibson]

Nice work. I like the textures. If it's supposed to be old (as in low-tech, even if "newly made" ) it suggests painted details to me, like those mountains. So in line with the comments already made about glows around labels - maybe where you neeed a bit of enhanced contrast you can "scribble" a swath of lighter color on which to place dark-inked lettering? On some maps it'll work to literally make each word a label, with a framed little shape beneath. I don't see that working here - this seems looser, less formal than that. Not to mention which one could swiftly go insane (and insufferably clutter the map) if one had many features to label.

The faint windowpane-ish texture in the ocean is a neat effect, but it's another disconnect from the more painterly vibe elsewhere. Maybe a simpler mottled blue with overlaid rhumb lines would help suggest a period piece?

I'm having trouble accepting the icy wastes being off to one side. Unless that way lies pole-ward - north OR south? Colder to the east makes scant sense. The forests, like dasneviano said, are jarring if they *all* abut the ocean, but I'd buy some of them being that way if other places had coastal plains, beaches, or whatnot. Something that'll help decide how you might do that is the scale. The mountains hint at an approximate scale, but only at a range :-) of possible scales. If this is large scale, beaches might be discernable, but if small scale, even several miles of dunes would be lost in the coastal line width. Of course all maps require SoMe generalization, and exaggeration to ensure features show up is a virtue not a sin, if it looks good.

Again - nice work. I like it.

[Gan]

To do:
1. Change the text making it "more liquid" and adapting it to the map
2. Add some minor islands (planned before posting)
3. Change some coastlines
4. Make the rivers more thin at their source
5. Change the ocean, and make some effects on it
6. Adjusting scale, forests and coastlines

Oh, and great thank to all the ones who posted! I'm going to post the next version soon

PS: You can check the world map at this link: here.

EDIT: The fact is I have poorly geographic skills, and I don't really know where to place the forests. Hence this big island is located near the north pole (take a look at the world map), where would you put all the geographical features?

[Freodin]

Just a point of note: "Stadt" means city in German. If that is in any way intented, it is a quite curious name for an island.

[Gan]

Just a point of note: "Stadt" means city in German. If that is in any way intented, it is a quite curious name for an island.

Lol! I knew "stadt" was a word, but didn't know what it means. Will change it.

[Gan]

Helgestadt.jpg

Hi guys.

I think it looks better now. I make the polar area larger, then I tried to change the trees system and I don't know if it's better or not. After that, changed mountains and improved a little all the hills.

The ocean is not done.

Any hints? What would you do to improve this?

Anyway, thanks I'm probably going to rename it Helgeward or Helgevaar.

[jbgibson]

Those mountains are so nice I'd forgive about any other deficiencies :-) .

The only way I can figure to generate your pattern of snowy wastes vs. forests and grasslands might be for the summer rainy pattern to have strong winds out of the SW, thus making the NE drier during growing season. If then any winter wet weather always came from the NE, then you'd get heavy snows there, and the mountains would shield the SW from the worst of the winter storms. Still, the way you have barren mountains sticking up from snow & ice flatlands seems odd. I would think the mountain elevations would make them even more snowy than the flats.

Your new version dulls the distinction between what I assume is stronger-textured forests and smoother-looking plains? The texture's OK, I'd just suggest adding some more color differentiation too.

Maybe the bit on the east, south of the mountain range, deserves tundra/ tagia instead of outright glaciation?