[WIP] Inner Sea map

[vorropohaiah]

That is an incredible level of detail! Thank you for posting the link to your guide. I am looking forward to reading through it.

You probably already know this, but you might be able to help Photoshop use less memory if you adjust the level of History states you have

Thanks! I'm currently working on 5 which far less than I'm used to, though it does seem to help. For some reason the worst is when I'm using the text tool.

[vorropohaiah]

So, over a year and a half on and I've done close to no work on this. I have, however been working on maps that will eventually make the completion of this one a lot easier.

Going back to December 2-years ago, I was trying to get this done to reach the deadline for the first Cartographers Awards, with the hopes of having something impressive to throw into the ring. The map itself was the result of stitching together the many different maps that I had worked on until then, tracing over the variously-scaled component parts to make a cohesive whole. So far so good. The main problem was that I hadn't completed all the regional maps needed to be able to finish off the Inner Sea map, though I decided to carry on.

Needless to say I was never able to finish it in time, and then I carried on working on the regional maps and never really got back to it. I did start working on it again last year, and realised that I had merged all the layers together (basically turning it into a JPG) after saving my work with no back-up, and that kind of put me off starting from scratch. In my experience when that happens I find the best thing is to stop, start something different and then come back to it with a fresh perspective.

I'm now working on the last region needed to finish off the base maps needed to complete this map (if anyone's interested its the top-left part of the map and is a pretty big region.

Once that's done I'm going to carry on working on this map, hopefully getting it ready for this year's Cartographer' Choice awards.

Here is the map so far, reduced from its original 400 dpi to a mere 125 to be able to upload it to the Guild. It's a big one

3 - Inner Sea labels.jpg

[Naima]

So, over a year and a half on and I've done close to no work on this. I have, however been working on maps that will eventually make the completion of this one a lot easier.

Going back to December 2-years ago, I was trying to get this done to reach the deadline for the first Cartographers Awards, with the hopes of having something impressive to throw into the ring. The map itself was the result of stitching together the many different maps that I had worked on until then, tracing over the variously-scaled component parts to make a cohesive whole. So far so good. The main problem was that I hadn't completed all the regional maps needed to be able to finish off the Inner Sea map, though I decided to carry on.

Needless to say I was never able to finish it in time, and then I carried on working on the regional maps and never really got back to it. I did start working on it again last year, and realised that I had merged all the layers together (basically turning it into a JPG) after saving my work with no back-up, and that kind of put me off starting from scratch. In my experience when that happens I find the best thing is to stop, start something different and then come back to it with a fresh perspective.

I'm now working on the last region needed to finish off the base maps needed to complete this map (if anyone's interested its the top-left part of the map and is a pretty big region.

Once that's done I'm going to carry on working on this map, hopefully getting it ready for this year's Cartographer' Choice awards.

Here is the map so far, reduced from its original 400 dpi to a mere 125 to be able to upload it to the Guild. It's a big one

3 - Inner Sea labels.jpg

Too bad I can't rep again ... Anyway great looking map , it reminds me of the Medieterranean sea and I guess that was the inspiration too .

Have you thought of turning all of the elevation levels you created into a heightmap to turn it all into a possible 3d visualization?

[vorropohaiah]

Too bad I can't rep again ... Anyway great looking map , it reminds me of the Medieterranean sea and I guess that was the inspiration too.

i live right in the middle of the Mediterranean so it's a pretty big inspiration

Have you thought of turning all of the elevation levels you created into a heightmap to turn it all into a possible 3d visualization?

yes I have though given that each level is a flat colour I'm not quite sure how i can do that. It really is something I'd like to explore as it would be a great way of getting more detail for stuff I've already created

[Naima]

You can easily turn all the levels in levels of gray , then add a blur to fade steps and if u want more details you can postprocess in wilbur and PS.. then load it in gis or other softwares .

[vorropohaiah]

Too bad I can't rep again ... Anyway great looking map , it reminds me of the Medieterranean sea and I guess that was the inspiration too.

i live right in the middle of the Mediterranean so it's a pretty big inspiration

Have you thought of turning all of the elevation levels you created into a heightmap to turn it all into a possible 3d visualization?

yes I have though given that each level is a flat colour I'm not quite sure how i can do that. It really is something I'd like to explore as it would be a great way of getting more detail for stuff I've already created

[JonathanCR]

This kind of thing makes me despair of ever producing anything worth looking at! It looks so professional - amazing work.

[Kellerica]

I don't know if I'll ever understand how you can find the discipline to keep going at this project, but my respect for that stamina is overwhelming. It's interesting seeing this world take shape. I think the coastlines here lack the elegance of your most recent work, but the elevation is as impressive as it has always been.

[vorropohaiah]

This kind of thing makes me despair of ever producing anything worth looking at! It looks so professional - amazing work.

thanks!

I don't know if I'll ever understand how you can find the discipline to keep going at this project, but my respect for that stamina is overwhelming. It's interesting seeing this world take shape. I think the coastlines here lack the elegance of your most recent work, but the elevation is as impressive as it has always been.

the first year was rough, though once i got into a rhythm I find it comes naturally now. I try to get one a month made, mostly due to the the payouts I get on my patreon page, as patrons mostly expect one a month, though I am sometimes able to get more than this made

Not sure what you mean by the coastline though - it is after all the same coastline that's on all the other maps. Do you mean the shape of the coastline itself or the outline/stroke?

[Kellerica]

Not sure what you mean by the coastline though - it is after all the same coastline that's on all the other maps. Do you mean the shape of the coastline itself or the outline/stroke?

Not so much the shape but the treatment on it, I guess. The stroke looks a little pixelated, or maybe not literally but just rough-looking, especially in places with little islands (the Rusted Isles standing out the most to me), that makes it look a bit more artificial. The problem is not consistent across the whole map, far from it, but at certain places I can see it.