Mioris [WIP]

[tamhelsel]

So this is my first time making a world map. I started by using FT3 and Wilbur to create the landmasses and rivers/lakes. I imported that information into Photoshop and went about creating the colors, bump mapping and mountains.

I still have to lay down the forests, roads, towns/cities, and political borders.

I'm looking for feedback on the mountains. I hand drew them using the pattern stamp tool. I have two versions. The first is the mountain layers above the color layer of my map, and the second is those same layers below the color layer.

Draft 1.png

draft2.png


Thanks!

[Ottehcnor]

I'm a big fan of the rivers you have here - the intricate river systems and multiple branches are visually appealing.

Personally I like the mountains under the color layer. Although a splash of the original color peeking through would still be good at the peaks, not sure exactly how you might do that.

My only other comment is that at the coast the continents look like they are floating above the page. Perhaps the coastline is too thick, making it look like a shadow beneath the continent?

I'm looking forward to seeing how this map progresses.

[tamhelsel]

I'm a big fan of the rivers you have here - the intricate river systems and multiple branches are visually appealing.

Personally I like the mountains under the color layer. Although a splash of the original color peeking through would still be good at the peaks, not sure exactly how you might do that.

My only other comment is that at the coast the continents look like they are floating above the page. Perhaps the coastline is too thick, making it look like a shadow beneath the continent?

I'm looking forward to seeing how this map progresses.

Thanks! The rivers took a while to get right. I'm still not happy with some of the more straight sections.

I think I might be able to duplicate the mountain peaks layer and mess with the opacity to get some of the grey color at the peaks.

And yeah, I currently have an outline around the coast. I wanted to make it "pop". I still have to do the texturing for the ocean so I'm gonna see how it looks after that and then make any adjustments.

[tamhelsel]

I've updated the mountains. I duplicated the mountain top layer and moved it above the land colors layer. I really like how it makes the peaks stand out a little more.

draft3.png

I've also laid out a rough plan for the different nations and territories and set a scale for the map. The scale isn't on the map (yet), but the area of the Western continent (and all of its islands) is about 1.8 million square miles.

draft4.png

I'm currently working through the process of naming all the landmasses and other geological features and finalizing the borders and making them look nice. After that I plan on laying out cities and designing symbols and iconography for each of the nations/territories.

[Ottehcnor]

Looking good! I like the decision on the mountains; they look more like they're sloping up above the tree line now.