[WIP] Averon

[Zenon]

Hiya Folks!

1st map here (In its glorious, compressed form). It's a bit... elementary. But that's to be expected.

Averon v1-min.png

I'm at a bit of a loss on how to do desert terrain, and just make the land color look like terrain in general. Also, how to make my brushed forests/mountains/hills blend in to the land more. But that's a headache for a later day.

Also, what's the best way to compress an image, yet retain image quality?

[Josiah VE]

Hi Zenon,

Nice map! I think the saturation could be toned down a little on the sea and the green land. A parchment texture over top would add some much needed texture to the map, so the ground and sea doesn't look so smooth.
Excellent first map, keep it up!

[Zenon]

I redid the land, and I gave the map more of a texture. I added some terrain stuff and did some miscellaneous things to try and help the hills/mountains blend into the map more.

Averon v2b.jpg

I was thinking a bit on the history of this world:

When Averon was conceived as a monumental effort between the gods, there was initial peace, as each god was given a section of land to rule, and to create. However, some gods created sentient creatures. These beings started to expand, and to encroach on other gods' territories. Tensions rose, and tempers flared, as minor races' conflict over territory escalated to a matter between gods. There were slaughters, then battles. Soon, there was all out war, as the land erupted in the flame of conflict. Some gods realized the path that they were going down, and reached an agreement of peace, forming an alliance. However, some were not so forgiving. Screaming cries of revenge, they continued their onslaught. The alliance declared themselves 'good' and the other gods 'evil' and went up to arms to force peace upon the land. As the lands were ravaged, the conflict ever escalated. Then, in one final climax, each god descended into Averon in their avatar forms and their armies collided in a clash between good and evil. With the direct godly powers at hand, the world shook, as death swept across the battlefield. The world cracked and fractured, forming islands out of the former Pangaea. Who won? No one. Each army was decimated, leaving the races as mere shadows compared to their former glory. Each god was severely weakened, fleeing the world into their own realms; recovering, amassing strength, to end this once and for all.

Millennia passed, the cracks became filled and became rivers, lakes and seas (No, those abnormally large rivers were not a mistake; why do you ask?) The races recovered; with the War of the World long forgotten. As the gods started to regain power, they established their religions, and amassed followers. Preparing for what is soon to come...

[Josiah VE]

Huge, huge improvement! Wow, it looks really awesome. Now the colour scheme reminds me a bit of Jonathon Robert's maps.
Maybe the sea could still be a tad bit less saturated and perhaps some more variation in lightness might look nice, such as it being lighter around land and darker as it gets out to sea.
Did you draw those mountains yourself?
Maybe a border, title and compass rose would be a good touch?
Great work!

[Zenon]

I drew everything from scratch. Well... I used whatever GIMP came with on download. For mountains, I drew six of them, and put them in a brush. I then used size changes and overlays to differentiate them. Since I used a brush, however, I have a couple cases of floating mountain syndrome...


Did some more terrain and texturing. I like the new border, but may change the new compass rose.

Averon v3.jpg

Up next, finalizing the terrain, adding more rivers and lakes, and giving the inland seas some more texture.

[Zenon]

Update:

I treated the Floating Mountain Syndrome, messed around with the land and water. Added some Features, some rivers, some lakes (without losing my progress from a crash), and then... labels!

Averon v4.jpg

I want to "depth-ize" the water and the land. Like, make it appear to have a surface (i.e. the water looks like water rather than blue clouds). But... I don't know how.

Edit: I'm putting this project on hold so i can do other projects to build up skill.