WIP - Ara World Map

[wynn]

]I've been running a roleplaying campaign world that I've been creating for about 8-9 years and I've finally decided to make an honest world out of it by making a decent map for it. This is somewhat of a large project since what you see right now is only one of four continents. A lot of it is still pretty rough, some parts are done more than others mostly since I've been using what I have for my roleplaying group, and I've jumped ahead in some spots. Anyways, I hope to keep a weekly update on this thing and I'm really hoping for some constructive feedback and ideas to help me take this project forward.

As for software, I've been using photoshop.

Hope you like it thus far! Thanks

ara1.jpg

[Radu Vlad]

Hey wynn, welcome and good job so far.
Your map looks quite original (from what ive seen on the site), and is has features i really enjoy.
First thing, it has a pretty clear layout, that helps distinguish things; guess its a great help for RP-ing this map. Totally love the sea - the shades, the texture, the color scheme - looks more like lagoon waters, but i love it. And VERY interesting, i love the way you rendered the mountains. If u did it in photoshop, using brushes etc, then gratz! ive been thinking of trying to do some manual shaded relief but ive thought it would be much too tedious, having to figure out the orientation of all the peaks/faces/valley for whole ranges. I really like the looks of it

Points im not that high about: The colour of the land. The brown-clay colours u've chosen doesn't strike me as realisitc. Barren soil may look like thast, but not grassy land, not even rock cropping out. It also impacts on the mountains, as they look modeled in clay, instead of rock (imo). The central kingdom area seems very appropriate for a swampy zone, at least for me. Also, the roadlines are a bit too strong, overshadowing other important features, like the rivers e.g. But this are just relative point. I like the overall look of it, and i think its original too. Go for it.

[wynn]

Hey thanks for the feedback Radu! I appreciate it. Yeah I can see what you mean with the colors. I might take another look at it, maybe add more green to the brownish areas? The roads are a little too thick, I think I will def. redo those a bit.

The mountains are actually done with a simple round brush, the trick lies in the layers effects. I'll post a screenshot of my settings when I get a chance so you can see how I did it.

[Mulliman]

I think it looks quite great . Can you give me some background on the story of the world?

[wynn]

Hey everyone Been a while since I updated but I'm still hard at work at this. After thinking about the direction of the map I decided to change quite a bit of it, at least how I was going about it. I'm going to redo the forest areas once I get done with the rivers and water but the mountains are pretty much complete. I'm also changing the roads quite a bit, seeing as how the quality wasn't quite there with those as well. Anyways, let me know what you think. I have a long ways to go, but I think this will look better when I'm done.

Oh, the background for the world. Well basically, the world is in sort of a post-apocalyptic period but in a pure fantasy setting. A great high magic period has been replaced with a low magic feudal society. Everything is in shambles due to a massive and destructive war. I'll post up more when I get a chance but thats the basics of it. I've been developing the history of the world for a few years now, so it goes quite in depth with what has happened and whats taking place.
4.jpg2.jpgAra_Worldmap_rev2.jpg3.jpg5.jpg

[Diamond]

Really excellent work. I love that river valley with the huge cliffs in the last pic.

[Marken4]

I LOVE YOUR RIVERS! Like.. Really love! How do you do that? They look so real ^^ And your islands to

(I would like the rivervalley in 5th pic. to be darker tho, a bit more shadowy?)

[Jaxilon]

That's really nice stuff. You world sounds great. Looking forward to seeing more. You really do have a big project but it's coming along great. I agree with Diamond, that canyon with the river is cool.

[Soixante]

Looks great, wynn. Any chance of a tutorial on this stuff?

[wynn]

Well, It's been a year, but I'm back on this project! Wooo!

Last year, this map met a tragic end when my computer crashed. When I recovered my files, the PSD (along with quite a bit of my other work) was corrupted beyond repair. It was a sad day, but a valuable lesson in backing things up. Anyways, being distraught about losing the map, I shelved the project for a later time.

Now I'm back and going into it full swing again. I've learned quite a few things since my last attempt, and I hope to make this process a bit more streamlined and to try and make it look better. This time, I'm going to try and test my sanity, and map my world in larger more detailed sections. I'm still deciding if I want to go with a hand drawn look, or stay with my old style I was using before. Not sure yet, but I'm mapping out the coastlines and rivers right now. Going to wait until I'm done doing that, before deciding what direction to take.

Let me know what you all think!
Ara_Map.jpg