Lands of the Grand Circuit

[Diamond]

Here's something I worked on over the last few days. It's another declining or dying world, where technology is breaking down (and maybe magic is too). Imagine a fusion of Byzantine and Japanese cultures combined with the Old West and a bit of RE Howard/Fritz Lieber sword & sorcery. This is a world where trade leagues operate airship lines that travel thousands of miles across barren continents, where gunslinging outlaws face off against paladins in steam-powered armor, where necromantic cults travel the wastelands in landships powered by human souls.

This map/idea kind of crept up on me; I've got this story fragment swirling around in my head about the wife and son of an sky-trader trying to track him down when he goes missing and running into all kinds of trouble and political intrigue. The idea grew firm enough roots where it demanded that I map it. I tried to give it the feel of a 19th century American West map; don't know if I was entirely successful, but I kind of like how it turned out.

I used a couple of the same names from the Lands of Bronze map that I finished recently, mainly because I like the way they sound. Map was created in photoshop; fonts used were Codex (for the title), Optimus Princeps (for the nation names), and Vijaya for everything else.

[vorropohaiah]

very nice. and i do get a bit of a western vibe from it (though since you didnt use any of the stereotypical wild west fonts its not that blatant). nice fonts (though the title font is a bit too busy - a version without the lowercase letters would be better imho) though i love the colours and the mountains, which turned out quite nice.

i really need to post something soon...

[- Max -]

Yay, another D.'s map! Great map. I especially like the colors that give a pretty good ambience and the caterpillar mountains.

[Eilathen]

Nice! Always good to see another Diamond (no pun intended )!

Landshape-wise i have nothing to add to the praise. I do hate those caterpillar mountains though...just not doing anything for me. I think, in this case, i'd even prefer the triangle mountains

[Poison]

Nice! I really like the 'feel' of the map: the colours, lines, and fonts use all seem to mesh really well and it looks like a coherent map. I do agree with vorropohaiah that a different choice of font for the 'subtitle might be better. One other thing that stands out to me is that the railway lines are really similar to the national borders, while I'd expect them to be visually closer to airship routes.

Great work!

[Maezar]

This is wonderful work. It has an organic yet very polished feel. Will there be a southern half?
+1 on changing the subtitle font by the way :-)

[Diamond]

Thanks, guys!

Title: Yeah, maybe a little busy. I'll experiment with some other looks.
Rail lines: Good point. I'll change those.
Southern half: Maybe, but don't hold your breath.

[Diamond]

Uploaded a new version with some changes in the first post.

[lostatsea]

Right one is more legible. Nice work as usual !

[Aredhel]

Very fine map!