WIP: Regnum Commission/Sw (I make him a Fantasy Map, he makes me a real-life shield!)

[Azélor]

Green is my favorite color. But I feel yours are too saturated.

I really like the map so far.

[Coriolis]

Love how this turned out. The only part I'd have done differently myself is maybe give the shields/banners/crests and the ocean a bit of graininess to them to match the rest of the map (the terrain and border). It's still VERY well done, but a little more texture on the crests and water would have tied it together that much more.

Great work though!

Excellent points. I have larger, standalone shield files that I shrank down for this map. I saw the same issue you see now when I started the shields, so I added in a wood texture in a low-opacity overlay and a cloud overlay to the heraldry. Problem is, I made these standalone shields at a larger scale, and some of the texture is lost in the size reductions. I'm not sure if it's worth re-doing all 14 shields at this point, but it's a good learning point to remember to do some touching-up at the intended scale.

Texture for water is a tricky thing for me. I'm not a big fan of doing underwater topography for maps that focus on the land (as is the case in all the maps I've done so far). That said, I don't like a featureless blue, either. What I wound up using was the same difference cloud construct I used to sculpt the terrain, but inverting the mask (sea instead of land), and then using the smudge tool to give it a sense of ocean currents/flow. I'm not completely satisfied with the technique, but it's an adequate compromise for now.

I wonder if you'd have the same opinion seeing the map at its full, intended resolution. Since the final map size is slightly higher than the allowable limits here, you can see the final map on my deviant page. Just make sure you zoom all the way in.

[Coriolis]

Green is my favorite color. But I feel yours are too saturated.

I really like the map so far.

Hrm... I actually toned them down a bit, but I'll keep that in mind. Thanks!