If only I had kept updating the same map over my years of gaming...
I always seemed to scratch and start from new.
Really nice maps.
okay, i've been using corel draw and paint for about 2 years now, and i've never thought about making a map this beautiful because i didn't know how to do it. please, you've got to tell me the secrets, so that i could make a map this great. any advice you could give would be awesome. thanks!
I love the idea of the map evolving with the play! Did you draw the trees individually by hand or was it a pattern fill? They look gorgeous!
Hi quindia -
Beautiful map! So what is the backstory on Ram's Wall? It is so rare to see constructed features on a map of this scale it really jumped out at me...
-Rob A>
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It would be very hard in this format to reveal all of the secrets of CorelDraw. I've been using the software for everything from graphic design to illustration to layout to cartography for about 15 years.
This image, aside from the sky in the background and the lens flare on the sword, was created entirely in CorelDraw.
Suffice to say, CorelDraw is a very powerful tool and while it requires more dedication to learn than many programs that are designed for cartography, the results are well worth it.
I will consider trying to work up a tutorial for CorelDraw, but the two most important pieces of advice I can give out quickly is learn to use layers and vary the width and angles of your pen tool! The former makes editing easier and the later adds a hand drawn aspect that is lacking in many computer generated artwork.
In the meantime, I will try to answer specific questions...
Insanely, the trees are drawn individually. The Jungles of Omeer contain over 3500 of the little buggers. The good news is that I only had to draw about 1000 before I had enough to start a copy/paste routine to expand the initial section. Variation was created by mirroring sections, deleting or adding individual trees to make the pastes fit together without patterns, and occasionally hand drawing new small sections. After the Jungles of Omeer were finished, I was able to grab chunks of it, drop it down in another spot and delete or rearrange pieces to form new sections of woodland.Originally Posted by ravells
Another cool aspect of vector maps - if I decide to work up a full color version, I can instantly go into my "Forest" layer, select all, and fill every one of these trees with a shade of green (which I would then likely import into Photopaint to add textures and airbrush color variations).
Absolutely amazing...
Last edited by cereth; 02-27-2008 at 01:56 AM.
"Listen, strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government."
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Ram's Wall is basically a Hadrian's Wall style structure built along the eastern border of the Kingdom of Bronet to protect the area from the denizen of the Troll Lands. Ram the Paladin, a high level character of a player in one of my games in the late 80's announced his intention to build such a fortress. There were already a series of forts along the border (see the original colored pencil map from website). The player actually worked out the cost at one point according to the DMG per mile and began allocating resources to the fortress. Realistically, I didn't give out that kind of treasure, but the idea was so cool, I began to devote resources from Bronet.
The PC eventually became an NPC, but his goal in the game carried on. Over the years, the wall was expanded. Sometimes, decades passed between campaigns and the wall grew more quickly. At one point civil war in Bronet ended construction for a generation. In the current time line, Ram has passed on, the civil war is over and new king reigns from Haven, but strife and skirmishes with the neighboring Kingdom of Goland (they supported a loosing claim during the civil war) have still kept any new resources from being alloted to construction. Not only that, the wall is crumbling or even collapsed in places. The time may come when the new king wishes he would have seen to Ram's Wall sooner...
This kind of stuff is the reason I keep returning to Quindia. There is a history that has evolved that I could never have written.
Wow, what a beautiful map!! I always liked Tolkien's style...and you perfected that style imho. Great work. And a tutorial-kind of thing would be great.
Just out of curiosity: would you do comissioned work in that style?
And please show us some maps of your other worlds
Cheers
Eilathen
I'm trapped in Darkness,
Still I reach out for the Stars
I would certainly consider commissions, but I usually carry a full schedule. Any projects of that nature would need to be sought by a patient person as it may be a few months before I could start on it!
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