[WIP] Arden - Political Map of the imperial Influence

[Schwarzkreuz]

Here is my first draft to make a map about the Influence of the Icathian Empire, one of the most important powers on Arden. I try to make a map that can transport the informations, what country belongs to the empire, which are foreign countries, where important Battles of the past 50 Years took place, and which Countries were integrated into the empire the last century.

[Lukc]

It looks impressive so far. Really it does.

If you're placing battles, I assume you're using your terrain map to decide where to place them? Because battles often tend to cluster around around strongholds, passes, good open ground, things like that. Most historico-political maps I've seen tend to depict fewer battles and focus more on the major ones. Just as an example, two maps of Alexander's campaign: one and two. Now, it's entirely your choice how many battles to depict, but if you're depicting that many over just 50 years or so, you might think about emphasizing the 5-7 REALLY BIG ONES with maybe a larger symbol and text than the other 20 big, bloody and ultimately not *that* big ones.

What else ... the big blue swords. I just find their colour way too vivid (the crossed scimitar symbols are probably too vivid too, but I'm RG colourblind, so they don't look so vivid to me). Would a pale outline around a darker sword maybe look better? Perhaps placed under the political colour layer? That way it would still be distinctive (more visible than most town symbols) but not so dominant.

Keep 'em coming!

[Schwarzkreuz]

Thanks for the advise, I will try to bring the colours in the right ballance.

[ScotlandTom]

I agree with Lukc about the locations of battles; make sure they're placed in tactically important positions. There also may be too many of them, like you've placed one for every little skirmish that's happened over the past half-century.

I disagree about the vividness of the colors. Many of the colors on your map are already quite bold and vivid (I'm looking at you, Sanguin) and the colors of your sword icons match quite well with the rest of the color palette.

One issue I do have is your river at Saragossa. Rivers almost never diverge like that.

[Lukc]

Well, colours are a personal choice, to an extent (cf. red-green blindness again) ... I guess I'm still influenced by Blackie's original Arduin map, which is more or less monochrome and looks gorgeous

[Schwarzkreuz]

Can you show me? I would like to see it, by the way mostly the map is base in Red Green....

[Lukc]

Yeah, colour blindness depends on the type. This wikipedia article is pretty good. I've got "deuteranopia" or daltonism. What saves your map in the red-green dimension (at least for me) is the black line around the red sabres - without it, it would be very hard to see.

If you mean "show me Blackie's original map" though - that's you. "Schwarz" is "Black", right? I meant your original map (and no offense - it was late and I was tired and typing Schwarzkreuz seemed hard).

[Schwarzkreuz]

Ok lol i meant the Second. Was confused by the double namechange. And i am colour blind in One Eye. I have Realy weird Eyes so what is far i See in monochrome what is near i See in colour

[Lukc]

Really? When you focus far away things become dechromatized? Fascinating ... maybe you have the colour sensitive cones concentrated in a small area at the centre of the retina, while further out ... no, that can't be it. The "focus" area is always the same. That's cool ... you should play something like airsoft then, because monochromatism means that camouflage clothing doesn't work the same way on you

Me, I just know I'm RG colourblind because red poppies in a green field are invisible to me

[Schwarzkreuz]

Collours are Funny Things. Well i will work in the Map by Weekend Hope to get it Done than