WIP - Elder-Earth

[Christopher Johnstone]

Hi everyone,

I posted this yesterday, but we had the server crash so I think the post was eaten by the digital abyss.

Anyway, this is my first post here. I've been lurking a while and am really impressed with all the great work people are doing. This map is a WIP for a pencil and paper roleplaying game (that is also a WIP). The working title for the world is Elder-Earth, though that may change.

I used the mapping tutorial that pasis posted here a while back. The map is stil under construction and this segment is just a small piece of the total. It wanders off into other continents, jungles, seas and islands. I'm slowly stitching it all together.

It has a couple problems I'm already aware of. The patterns I'm using for the pattern stamp are too small, so lines are appearing in places. Also, the rivers are a bit rubbish and need work. Obviously, also, large areas still need to have woodland, roads, rivers and towns added.

Anyway, that said, here's the map so far. I've inserted a small image and added a link to a full size image hosted off-site. Any and all comments welcome, though mostly I just wanted to share this as it ticks along. I'm afraid I won't be able to post to this thread very frequently, just because of being very busy and not having enough time to work on the map regularly, but I will keep it ticking along as I add material.

WIP-SPELLWOVEN-MAP-SMALL.gif

Link to full size map:

http://mythopoeticgames.com/images/W...LWOVEN-MAP.gif

Thanks,

Chris

[Diamond]

That's quite lovely, actually. The mountains and forests look pretty great, and i like that layout of islands & continents. I can't say I'm too moved by that thick gray line around your coasts, though. It seems really jarring and out of place compared to everything else.

Have some rep for jumping right in with a map, and hope to see more stuff from you!

[Christopher Johnstone]

Thanks. I've always liked drawing maps, but this is the first non-hand-drawn map I've tried. My hand-drawn maps aren't anything spectacular, but I might post some into a thread if I have a chance to dig them out and scan some. Just black and white linework stuff, but fun to draw.

The coastlines do need work, don't they? They're currently a placeholder layer (more or less to give me lines to draw inside). I wasn't quite sure (as yet) what to do with the coastlines and need to do some playing around with a coastal layer I think. Eventually what will happen is I'll switch off the grey lines layer and work on the coast that is hidden underneath.

Thanks,

Chris

[kaelin]

Yeah, I'd have to agree with Diamond. It's a fantastic start.
Since you've addressed the gray outline, I won't beat a dead horse. I like the colors, very vibrant and alive. The land masses and shapes are cool as well. And yes, the mountains look good. I'm not sure how I feel about the hills though, especially on the eastern isthmus of that large central island; almost too pointy, maybe?
The lower right hand section threw me for a second until I realized it was an incomplete land mass.
Also, I think the font and labels are perfect for this map!
It's a great start and would love to see how this progresses! Have some rep!

[Christopher Johnstone]

Thanks. I'm glad people like it. I had a play around with the coasts and rivers. I've inserted a cut section below. It still is very much a work in progress, so this won't necessarily be the final form the coasts and rivers take (I think they need a bit more 'hand-crafting' to make them look good) but it seems like an improvement.

I also generated a pine trees pattern which I'm using in the northern parts of the map. I've inserted a cut of that too.

COASTS AND RIVERS (new attempt)

WIP-SPELLWOVEN-MAP-COASTS.gif

PINE TREES (With some painting in next to the broadleaf forest on the north-western shore for comparison

WIP-SPELLWOVEN-MAP-PINES.gif

Let me know what you think.

Chris

[- Max -]

Pretty nice job! I agree with Diamond about those grey coastlines though. Also you should avoid straight diagonal labels and rather curve them which is more aesthetic and the white stroke is a bit too obvious for my taste.
Some moutains/geographic terrains aren't fully blend and show some harsh edges (visible on the full map) and yes you have issues with your patterns

[Aredhel]

Nice. I especially like land shapes

[Christopher Johnstone]

@ Max: Thanks. I didn't even think of curving the text, but you're right, that'd look a lot better. I'll play around with the outer glow for the text. It's part of the layer settings, so I can player around with that easily. Going to have to fix the pattern stamps. AT the moment I'm distracted by trying to make a nice pattern stamp for an open woodland but will come back to fixing up my earlier patterns stamps after that.

@ Aredhel: Also thanks. I like drawing curvy lines, islands and peninsulas. Much like Slartibartfast, I guess. I tend to find I have to reign in the urge to do that with the land masses that are farther from the poles as they would not in all likelihood have seen glaciers recently.

Chris

[bartmoss]

Looks nice - Definitely reduce the cloud fractal pattern in the ocean, but do keep the oceans dark-ish, I think.

[Diamond]

Any more to come on this? I was really liking what you had so far...