Haster, Imperial City

[joferma0]

Hello Cartographers' Guild!
I'm new posting in the forum, though I've been lurking for a while. It's incredible how many talented people are here. Congrats and thanks to you all!

I'm not sure if this is the place to post my map, but as I consider it a "finished" project, I've opted for uploading it here.

This is my first attempt to create a city, and I've been very ambitious (too much I fear ), selecting the most important population spot in my campaign setting: Haster, the once-proud now-rebuilt capital of Trivadálma Empire.

Created with Photoshop using some elements from other programs such as Campaign Cartographer and Dundjinni.

Hope you like it.

[Gamerprinter]

Ambitious indeed, and a great result for your first posted map! The city seems to make sense. I love the detail. Have some REP!

I might have liked to have seen some dirt roads rather than green grass on the villages in the outskirts and the patches of houses their look almost like crops. Almost too orderly. Also its difficult to tell if there are alleys or smaller streets carving out those swathes of buildings between the large roads. Still, too many city maps I see have vast spaces between buildings, when it should really be more like this map.

It would have been nice to visualize the missing alleys though. Still good job!

GP

[AslanC]

Outstanding!

I am simply blown away by how good that looks.

Bravo sir!

[Steel General]

Very nice...great job of incorporating elements from different sources.

[Gandwarf]

Very, very impressive. This must indeed have taken a lot of hours to finish! Have some reputation. Really like the layout of the cities and the vibrant colors. The smaller houses on the outside, the bigger near the centre. You have some beautiful fields as well.

Will look at it later today to see if I can give any suggestions for future maps.
Only thing sticking out at the moment: there's not enough roads to my liking. There's a lot of green (grass?) showing between the houses and that isn't very realistic. With lots of people traveling grass would become dirt very quickly.
I just noticed Gamerprinter offered the same suggestion.

[ravells]

A real labour of love! Have some rep for the result!

[NeonKnight]

A fantabulous result!

[Karro]

Yes, indeed, a pretty impressive and ambitious city map.

My only point of criticism is that we only get to see the major roads covered in any detail. It looks like there must be tons of minor roads and alleys winding through the large blocks of buildings.

One particular point of praise: I often see it mentioned that in real medieval cities the buildings abut directly against each other, without any yards or space between, except occassional alleys. You appear to have accomplished that effect, with tons of tiny buildings packed into a very small space without yardage between.

One question: what is meant by "Insulae" in the map key, referring to a particular type of building?

[cereth]

Fantastic colors! City layout looks great. I like the key and the defined yet subtle coloring of the different types of buildings. I agree with the other comments regarding the grass showing between buildings, but overall it is a fantastic effort. I look forward to seeing some more.

Have some rep!

[NeonKnight]

Yes, indeed, a pretty impressive and ambitious city map.

One particular point of praise: I often see it mentioned that in real medieval cities the buildings abut directly against each other, without any yards or space between, except occassional alleys. You appear to have accomplished that effect, with tons of tiny buildings packed into a very small space without yardage between.

Thank You Karro! This is my major gripe about most city maps I see. They all seem to be City Size Suburbias. With yards etc, that not a single medieval city in the real world has ever had (if someone can post a real world medieval city up as an example of the exception, I would be most appreciative).

I looked at Haster and noted that other than the outlying regions, most of the city is indeed packed (I think the outer regions should be a little more packed, but am forgiving as the inner regions fulfill this).