WIP New world maps - Fantasy Settings

[mr_rathburn]

So, I've been gone for quite some time. 3 years I see, since I put up a post with what I found with what one could do with RPGMaker's brushes for water levels. I had completed maps in 2014, and if I can find my offline storage I'll post what I'd done, post tweaks, etc. But things had gotten a little complicated, hence a long silence.
Rough World.jpg
I was struck with tragedy when my old PC bricked. I am still in the midst of trying to recover data from the hard drive - yes it bricked that hard. So I am now loaded up with a new system after a good 4 or so months. Lacking photoshop at present I am attempting to work via GIMP once more. I've never been so good with GIMP, so I will be learning from an award winner here on the site and shall be studying via RobA's tutorial After all, credit where credit is due.
Major Islands.jpg
As I had when I'd worked from previous works such as the brush sets for Photoshop RPGMaker had created (and buried the links for in his youtube channel), as I discover other uses, methodology, etc. I'll try to make note, possibly throw up a few little 'how too' posts as I had intended to do on the old maps before catastrophe loomed.
Koskrae.jpg
Verbose preamble aside, the maps I've roughed out will be crafted from the images I've been peppering through this post. Starting with the rough world map in landscape form, with the places I feel like mapping drawn out with some notable tweaks here and there to the design, because something in me decided it likes straights and isthmuses. So, fingers crossed eh?
Tyulm Base.jpgGulras Base.jpg


PS whoever put the autosave feature into post writing is my hero... Accidentally closed a tab and had that one lone tear for a few moments.

[Tucker Omberg]

I really like it! It's got plenty of verisimilitude to spare, the coastlines are awesome! I especially like the Isthmus of Raer, I can see that being a hugely important location for trade or military defense. I also really like the area around the Fusari Imperium in the South, the combination of the peninsula and the two straits leading into the Fusari and Gold Seas is really cool. If I had to give a critique, I would say that the second continent, the one on the right in your post seems a little less varied in terms of biomes. There are five different plains named on the continent, in both the north and the south. I think a Continent without a lot of elevation could be interesting from a worldbuilding perspective, but maybe swap out a plain or two for a desert or tundra? It's by no means a fatal flaw though. Thanks for sharing!

[mr_rathburn]

So, here's the current WIP, using RobA's still, I'm operating on an image approximately 7 by 9 on an 8.5x11 canvas

Per his own notation, you have to extend your blurs and such beyond what he notes to account for size differences. For those using this as a guide to getting some GIMP practice, if you go big, expect some of the sizes of blurs and such to go from 50 to 200 in some parts

Also, as of step 10 when you have a render mask on the dirt layer, make sure to use a soft, less opaque brush, to clear up the area. The image here is with the original sketch map as a burn layer so that I can see where mountains, desert, etc are so I can tweak.


gulras.png

[mr_rathburn]

I am terrible at step by steps I guess, as far as my WIP - but I had dropped the earlier idea, wanting less a sort of photo realistic map to go with my fantasy, and instead went with Gidde's guide, reading through (thank you for the brushes! I was doing horrible at them!) If I knew how to directly link them in here, I would. But using their methodology, tweaking, adjusting, dropping some aspects, etc. I have come up with this.
Gulras.jpg