January Entry: The Trek from Home

[mmmmmpig]

Okay, I have been toying with a plot for a while now and have finally decided that it might be time to start plugging away on a fantasy novel (prolly like most people here).

The map will be both a general map of a kingdom and the route that the main chars take.

anyhoo... It is time for me to toss my hat in the ring again.

[Gamerprinter]

Hooray! Mmmmmpig gets in the race. Although I love the fact so many newcomers are getting involved with this month's challenge - its really great, I wanted more of the regulars and less recent newcomers to get in as well.

Thanks for joining in, good luck! Looking good so far, even in such basic "startup" form.

GP

[Steel General]

Looking forward to your entry!

[aiRo25]

Hooray! Mmmmmpig gets in the race. Although I love the fact so many newcomers are getting involved with this month's challenge - its really great, I wanted more of the regulars and less recent newcomers to get in as well.

Thanks for joining in, good luck! Looking good so far, even in such basic "startup" form.

GP

Yeah, I had two great ideas for the challenge. Then I got sick. Bleh! I'm not sure if I'll be joining (time and all that), but I will be watching with avid interest.


Mmmpig, I like the map so far. Look forward to seeing what it becomes.

[Rahva]

I never really knew what the deal is with the radial grid like on this map, it's a cartographical thing I don't understand. Why is the center of it in the top right? Keep in mind I don't know if it's a bad thing or not
You've got your rivers branching/combining in more or less the same vertical line. Maybe add some variation there?
Besides that, I'm really loving it so far. Hopefully we'll see some more updates for this.

[Midgardsormr]

They're called "rhumb lines," and they are a nautical navigation tool. Check out this thread for more detail:
http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=1281

edit: Of course, if that's their purpose here, then they're used incorrectly, but they still look nice, in my opinion.

[mmmmmpig]

rhumb lines are useful in any map where the angles are preserved in the projection. Projecting a 3-d surface onto a 2-d format always creates some kind of deformation. These deformation are most easily described as angular, areal, and distance. Typically if there is a compas rose with graticule that is rectangular, then angles have been preserved for that map. For the purposes of this map, directionality have been preserved. I probably should have preserved distance since the map is about traveling, but the area is pretty small so there is little difference in distance... hopefully.

I have been doing some hand work on ity so far and have not had a chance to scan and digitize as of yet. I hope to have another WiP tage in a day or so.

[mmmmmpig]

Now the issue is to marry the hand work (attached) to the rest of the map. Basically I am going to re-ink this entire bit of work digitally. I was having a bear of a time attempting to create the mountains and have them look right digitally. I guess that is why it is always good to keep the traditional tools around.

Then there is the cities and towns to be added
Political boundaries
flavor text
etc...
wow, that is a bunch to do in very little time

[mmmmmpig]

due to an unforeseen reduction in employment, I have decided to focus more time on looking for new employment instead of finishing this map. I hereby remove myself from this here competition.

Good luck to those still participating.

[Steel General]

Sorry to hear that - good luck in the job hunt.