My first city map

[Ascension]

Hello all,

My first attempt at mapping a city. Thanks go to pyradon's tutorial...I have been looking for years to try and map out a city but have been limited to continent maps (or world maps) until now. I'm a detail nut so my map won't suit everyone's preferences. Once I get some patterns and brushes made to suit my style my next should be better. Any kind words or advice would be appreciated (as mean words will be promptly filed under the nearest large rock ). This took me about 20 hours of trial and effort (that's why I'm gonna make some patterns and brushes).

[BlueFalcon]

Things I liked:
I laughed at the "Red Writings" .
I also want to take a magnifying glass to the little people. >.> <.<


These are things I don't like about the map:
I don't like the "White Border" on the flags on the towers. It doesn't quite seem natural... Might just be me though Your bridges look like they're "Floating," but not sure what to do about the floating bridges. Maybe try blurring the edges? One of the bridges doesn't line up with a road, I'd move it to match the road if it were me. I'm new at Gimp/Photoshop, so don't know all the craziness that everyone else seems to be able to do.

I like this map in general though.

[The-Somberlain]

I like your map very much. It is very nice. I have a couple of comments thought, if I may...

First of all it's quite dark for my taste, but then again that's just me.

Another problem are the field I think. They really stand out. They should be mixed with the rest of the ground, seem like they are a true part of the land, not a paint over.

That' all I think. Other than that, very nice map!

[Sirith]

I agree and disagree with The-Somberlain . I disagree on the darkness of the map, it feels mysterious and foreboding, though it depends on the atmosphere you want your map to have. I agree on the fields, and some other objects like the houses. They stand out a bit too much, like they're floating. The red remarks are nice touches as well

[Torq]

Very nice map ascension. I particulalry liked the brooding dark feel to the map. My only gripe would be the fields which dont seem to blend with the underlying scenery very much. IIs there a reason they are all of similar size? Welcome to the guild. Dont forget to post an introduction post in that forum. We are also looking for city mappers in the CWBP so pop in there and check out this month's challenge.

Torq

[jfrazierjr]

Another problem are the field I think. They really stand out. They should be mixed with the rest of the ground, seem like they are a true part of the land, not a paint over.

I agree and disagree with The-Somberlain . I disagree on the darkness of the map, it feels mysterious and foreboding, though it depends on the atmosphere you want your map to have. I agree on the fields, and some other objects like the houses. They stand out a bit too much, like they're floating. The red remarks are nice touches as well

Ditto. I am ok with the darkness, but the fields really need some work. As the above stated, they seem to be painted over the ground instead of being carved out of the ground so to speak. Another thing to perhaps do is to make the fields not quite so perfect. Unless all the field makers are anal mathematicians types, the fields are not going to be so rectangular. Round some corners a bit, perhaps make a few a bit longer on on side or the other, maybe some a bit more round or triangular, etc.

Joe

[Ascension]

Thanks for the heads up on the fields....I'm not very good at making brushes. I just used a scatter on my brush to twist 'em around but yeah I do need to come up with a way to feather out the edges and create something more random looking. The houses just have a drop shadow which makes 'em float so maybe I'll use the same technique as I did for the steeple, tower, and mills. The dark feel comes from my monitor's gamma, white point, and color settings...I change this all the time so it's sorta like Cher...I have no idea where I started and no idea how to get back to the original settings. Anywho...thanks all.

[Redrobes]

Its a real nice map. You'll fit in just fine around here.

Did I get a nice fat cow btw ?

[Ascension]

No actually, your character (for this scenario) is on the slow side so he bought a skinny heifer and is going to deck it out in war armor and attach it to a three-wheeled chariot. Oh my poor players, the things I make them go thru

[mathuwm]

first let me start of by saying that i like your map, aside from the fields.
it is well crafted and nice to look at. I do however have some concerns or thoughts

the wall is huge it looks as thick as the great wall of china.
the town is laid out like a sparsely populated gated community/subdivision
on a disney lot somewhere.

now I am making a few assumptions here but one would think that a town in a dangerous fantasy world would need to conserve resources even more than historic medieval towns did in our world. so to that point medieval towns were densely populated with houses butting up to each other and very little yard space.

this was because they needed to fit the maximum amount of people in a small space because building walls and towers to protect them was quite expensive

but then again this is a fantasy map and I am probable being to critical
http://www.lifeinitaly.com/tourism/map.asp?cityid=25

here are a couple of links illustrating my point

http://www.maps-charts.com/images/22...1560%20(a).jpg
http://www.estonia-travel.co.uk/Images/1_Tallinn.jpg
http://www.romizi.com/pan11.jpg
http://www.teachnet.ie/mmorrin/castle/images/map1.jpg
http://www.hullwebs.co.uk/content/i-...p-medieval.gif

well life intrudes so adieu