Have to say, I liked it without the colour wash. Maybe make the graticule red?
Yeah, There was something about it bothering me too, but at the same time I felt the map needed something. I'd like to keep all the 'ink' the same colour but looking at some real Victorian maps has given me an idea:Originally Posted by ravells
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I get the red, the highlighting of the ice caps and reservoirs, it's not so overwhelming, and I think it helps give a bit of depth.
Added lines for the tropics and polar regions, changed the title font to something that works a bit better at such a large size, and made a few other minor tweaks.
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Another idea though I'm not sure if I'll keep it, two more insets displaying Mars's orbit along with that of the other terrestrial planets, and the orbits of Mars's two moons.
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I think this is the best map entry. The only thing I think that might hurt is it doesn't strike me as "scanner-ish". It looks fantastic though.
“When it’s over and you look in the mirror, did you do the best that you were capable of? If so, the score does not matter. But if you find that you did your best you were capable of, you will find it to your liking.” -John Wooden
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Those blank bottom corners were bothering me so I've tossed in some more insets. Scale references for the inner planets, and the moons.
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As it seems to be the thing to do this time around, I'll add a bit of description about the context for the map:
The basic idea is to incorporate some roughly Victorian ideas that have since been discredited, canals on Mars, and the Luminipherous Æther. The canals are actually constructed by the colonists, rather than Martians but I could hardly have a Victorian Mars without canals. The Luminipherous Æther is a discredited theory of electromagnetism that has since been replaced by Quantum Mechanics and Special Relativity, it posited an 'intangible stupendously rigid substance' which acted as a medium for electromagnetic radiation (like light) the same way normal matter carries sound waves, ocean waves, etc. If it existed and we could 'push' on it, it would make for an effectively reactionless space drive which is how my Victorians managed to reach Mars.
If you look closely, a few of the cities are named after Queen Victoria and her family, a few after the local geography (Aereography technically) and most are jokingly named after people, many of whom were born significantly after the Victorian period. I leave it as an exercise to the reader to figure them out.
Some clues though: two of the cities are named after the same person, one of the cities has a double meaning, another has a different double meaning, and one has a triple meaning, though two of those meanings are the same person.
Love this... but then I am a weird-Mars-freak. No canals though? ;-)
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The river looking things are the canals channelling the meagre supply of water to the reservoirs.
