Reply With QuoteGood first steps. Every map you create, you improve your skill, so even if they don't turn out exactly like you'd hoped, it's still valuable practice.
Synzon Commonwealth
My DM handed out this hand-drawn map for our campaign, and I thought it might be a fun exercise to try to create a more "map-like" version of it.
IMG_5145.jpg
My first attempt was to do something following RobA's tutorial. However - due to my newness with GIMP - it did not turn out quite how I was hoping. It looked too "digital" for the setting. I stopped after placing the towns when I realized that I was unsatisfied with the mountains and forests especially.
Synzon Commonwealth.jpg
So, now I've moved on to trying something new, by mixing and matching from various tutorials and generally starting to discover a style of my own. So far I have the background parchment and the water laid out. Hopefully, I'll slowly work my way through the remaining elements. It'll be fun to see how the map evolves as I play with it.
Synzon Commonwealth.jpg
Good first steps. Every map you create, you improve your skill, so even if they don't turn out exactly like you'd hoped, it's still valuable practice.
It takes some time to get used to Gimp and in the beginning it's a lot of trial-and-error.
I love the background of your new map - it looks quiet realistic! I'm curious how your map will develop.
Thanks for all the encouragement! To get the texture, in addition to a noise layer on top of the paper, mode I added a layer of fuzz on top using a plasma cloud in overlay and draining most of the color, but I left a little color peeking through, giving some red and green shades. I'm pleased with the results and I'm glad to hear others like it too!
I spent a little more time on the water, getting the shading right, stroking coastlines, and giving the River more shape and tapering.
Synzon Commonwealth Water Rings.jpg
Next I'm going to focus on the mountains. I'm trying for a hand drawn feel, but unfortunately, I don't have a tablet, so it'll probably be a slower process trying to get the lines just so.
Now I've added in the Mountains. I'm sure that more work could have been put into them, but I feel fairly happy with the results.
Synzon Commonwealth Mountains.jpg
Critiques and improvements are always appreciated.
I've added in some desert, mostly to avoid doing the forests...
Hopefully in the next day or two, I'll get some forests down, then I'll move on to borders and cities.
Synzon Commonwealth Desert.jpg
Finally got to finishing up the forests. Would have gotten to this sooner, but I got caught up working on the Lite challenge. Anyway, the next step will be the borders of the commonwealth, cities, and roads.
Synzon Commonwealth Forests.jpg
Comments and critiques welcome as always - although I don't want to make changes that take me too far from the original map.
I've added in some man-made features now: national borders, cities, and roads. All that really remains is to add in the names. I may also see if my DM has anything to add to the original map to flesh it out a bit more.
Synzon Commonwealth Cities & Borders.jpg
Now all the names that I have are in place. All that's left is some touch ups and adding any other names that my DM may give me as we play through.
I'm fairly satisfied with the result so far.
Synzon Commonwealth Names.jpg
Interesting and pleasant color palette. Some elements are a bit pixellated (like the borders) like it's lacking an anti-alias, though.
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