New to the group with many questions.

[nocklan]

Hi, I have just recently discovered my passion for cartography and am currently stuck on how to first pursue it. I've been viewing many of your maps the last few days and am extremely impressed. I'd like to know which method some of you deem the best (computer or by hand), and which programs or tools you personally choose. I plan on first creating a fictional world map and showing the evolution of it. First starting with the birth of man in the new world and then advancing every 500 years through various stages and empires until I've reached a world somewhat resembling our own, with countries and borders and cities and what not. I believe that a computer method would be best that way I don't have to retrace the world every time I advance into a new time period. All suggestions welcome!

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[Chick]

Hello nocklan, Welcome to the Guild!

There is a great tutorial in the sticky section of Tutorials, called Quickstart Guide to Fantasy Mapping: http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=4276

This includes some information about software choices, but my recommendation is Photoshop (better but costs money) or GIMP (similar to Photoshop but free).

From there, go to Hand Drawn Mapping for the Artistically Challenged: http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...ad.php?t=10655

Once you have completed those two tutorials, you'll be well on your way!!

[nocklan]

Thanks chick!! Your works are amazing!

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[Chick]

Thanks chick!! Your works are amazing!

Thank you, nocklan! And by way of encouragement, I'll point out that I have been here just over a year and started with the same tutorials I recommended to you, so a year from now, people may be saying "amazing" about your work, too

[Pixie]

Sounds like a fun and demanding plan, nocklan.

Indeed using a computer instead of paper is a good choice. You should get a program that allows you to draw in layers - that's something like GIMP or Photoshop. Vectorial programs like Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape have a steeper learning curve and you don't really need for most of the stuff.

Now, by biggest advice goes to the layout of the world - the physical aspects. Your first task needs to be deciding how much detail you want in your world and how much realism you are aiming at. Worldbuilding has some tasks that aren't necessarily easy - specially working out the tectonics and from there, land forms and climate. This can be done to different degrees of detail, or it can be next to ignored. However, once you locate humans and start "letting the history unfold" it's much harder to go back and change anything. Lazyness and haste to start may just put you in a world that you don't embrace later on, and so you give up. Too much time devoted to the physical geography may just make you give up as well.

So the point you need to take, really, is that there's a high chance that you give up at some point

Fortunately, this is a hobby, and the ride, no matter how much you do, IS WHERE THE FUN IS. So... get drawing.

[johnvanvliet]

as above
REMEMBER TO HAVE FUN!!!!

i like BIG maps ( and i do meant BIG they can be over 12 Gig on the drive )

but the bigger the maps the LONGER THINGS TAKE

double the size you QUADRUPEDAL the surface area