[WIP] World of Cirrane

[persona-non-sequitur]

Sorry for the long wait between updates! Work has been crazy and with the holiday coming (happy Thanksgiving!) I haven't had time for much of anything. And to top it off, I wasn't happy with the previous style so I completely changed it. I'm still torn on the placement of the mountain ranges on the eastern continent. I think the ones I've already placed are OK but I feel like there should be more.

I used the Cartography brush set from Eragon2589 on dA (link)

### Latest WIP ###

[arsheesh]

Looking pretty good so far. Only two things I'd recommend is perhaps increasing the contrast between land and see a tad, and, if possible, consider using a larger texture for the background. The repeating quality of the current texture is somewhat distracting.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[persona-non-sequitur]

Thanks, arsheesh! I've been staring at it for so long I stopped seeing the repeating pattern lol! I've done what you suggested and changed both the textures and the contrast.

I've been trying to adhere to some real-world rules when it comes to mountain formation and biome placement but I think those rules are about to change to the "I am basically God and if I want a desert next to an ocean that's the way it's going to be" rule!

[persona-non-sequitur]

I'm thinking of redoing the mountains again. I'm fairly happy with the placement but the style is bugging me now. I can't decide, so I'd like some expert advice.

I threw together a sheet of mountain styles that I'm considering.

1. Drawn lines with painted shading
2. Preset brushes with some original drawing mixed in
3. Drawn lines, shading done with a layer style
4. Variation on 3, shading layer style without lines

I can't decide, so I'd like some expert advice.

[arsheesh]

1 and 3 appear very similar except that 3 has thicker contours. Otherwise I think any of these styles might work depending on how you intend to represent the other map features. For instance 1, 3 and 4 are all top-down as opposed to 2 which is more of a 3/4 view. So if you intend to draw the forests from a profile rather than a top-down view I'd stick with 2. If however you intend to draw them from a top-down view any of 1, 3 or 4 will work, though based on the style of the rendering, 1 and 3 seem better suited to more abstract or cartoon-like forests whereas 4 seems better suited to a more realistic look.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[persona-non-sequitur]

1 and 3 appear very similar except that 3 has thicker contours. Otherwise I think any of these styles might work depending on how you intend to represent the other map features. For instance 1, 3 and 4 are all top-down as opposed to 2 which is more of a 3/4 view. So if you intend to draw the forests from a profile rather than a top-down view I'd stick with 2. If however you intend to draw them from a top-down view any of 1, 3 or 4 will work, though based on the style of the rendering, 1 and 3 seem better suited to more abstract or cartoon-like forests whereas 4 seems better suited to a more realistic look.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

Thanks for the feedback! I decided to go with a style close to #4. Mostly because I changed the look of the rest of the map...again. I'm finally happy with it though! I still have to add rivers, landmarks, maybe political boundaries, and then the final polish.

Here's the newest WIP (this is at 50% - 100% was too big no matter what I did)