need some advice on a futuristic Minas Tirith like map

[Knight]

alright i am getting ready to make a map for a city in a valley that has been cut out of the side of a mountain.

cold springs final design.jpg

the idea is to have only one entrance into the city. there will be a defense system all around the mountains side and a tower in the center of the cutout so that everything can attack any invaders trying to take over the mine that the town is based on.

cold springs final design.jpg

the problem i am having is designing how the city would have developed as while it is sci-fi in nature game wise, the cities are new settlements that have only been around for about 300 years. i have tried different tutorials on youtube using rpg city generator but they don't feel right they seem too random or planned out which to my knowledge is not how cities were started at first. here is what i have at this point.

for web.jpg

[Bretton]

Just some ideas that might help (or hope so...)
If it's SCI-FI I suppose people who built the city woud have advanced technology (wouldn't they? Maybe not; will depend on the kind of future...). But if they did, they would have used straight, machine-based lines to carve the city into the mountains. They would have used resular patterns for their streets layout and would have channelled the river to fit their interests as well.
I find that the organic, curved nature-based lines you're using now do give a medieval, low-technology feeling that does not fit into a conventional sci-fi idea.
If that's the case you may find some inspiration in some cities and settlements that have been founded from scratch in the last 50 years. Asia and some middle-east regions might prove helpful, if you're thinking of a big metropolis and censtralised political power (your city is a colony); contemporary terraforming techniques against hostile environments would fit better for smaller, mostly agrarian settlements (your city was founded by a self-ruled settlers community).

[Knight]

while they do have advanced technology the idea was to give it an old school feel where things were spread out. but thanks for the information i will incorporate that into the map. i would love for it to be a city but i wasn't sure if it would make sense to have a grid-like structure to roads and city blocks (which i want to have) thanks very much

[Styescape]

I think as Bretton already said, it is strongly depending on your concept. Of course a SciFi settlement could look like a medieval village. But than it might be hard to show in a map, that it is futuristic, because it... well... looks like a medieval village

But maybe it could help to make a clear concept for yourself and seperate some things:

*Should the settlement in its structure look more like it is grown over time? Then it might be good to have that organic look Bretton mentioned. For that you can have a look to medieval village forms: (sorry for linking a german site, but the pictures might help anyway) https://diercke.westermann.de/conten...00800-5-77-5-1. If not, a more grid-like alignment of houses (rectancle, concentric or the like) might be better.

*Should the buildings have an old-fashionend look themself or should they look futuristic? What you placed in the middle looks more like SciFi to me than the red, rectangle roofs of the rest. So you might use some other forms for the houses an for example a metalic or even a white-plastic look. Or flat roofs with some "tech" features for example.

* Is the surrounding and infrastrucure also "grown" over time or is it plannend and terraformed with use of high-tech? There you might also be able to get a more futuristic look by using some other textures for the ground of the village, for streets and maybe some other stuff within the village (terraforming "tower"), a spaceship plattform and the like

Don't get me wrong, everyone has his/her own idea of style and an own workflow of course. It is just my idea, to clarify for yourself, which parts of the settlement should look "old school", because I feel it might be easier to realize, where and how to give it a more futuristic touch.

[Knight]

Okay let me explain everything. the city was founded 300 years ago just after the apocalypse. it produces gems that can be used to make powerful techno-wizard devices. I am getting ready to run a rifts savage worlds game, and the city is the main location. i have stuff to make battle maps of the town, but i do not have a regional map or city map. i also do not have the money to pay someone to make the map so i am trying to do it myself. are there any tutorials that would be helpful in this situation? i mean i can make the buildings high tech by adding a different color or making them look more metallic.

[Styescape]

are there any tutorials that would be helpful in this situation?

There are very few SciFi mapping tutorials unfortunately. The only tutorial I found quickly was a spaceship tutorial (https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ad.php?t=38316) that may give some ideas, but it might not what you searching for.

i mean i can make the buildings high tech by adding a different color or making them look more metallic.

I think that might be a good idea to try. You can play a bit with coloring and textures, maybe that will have a stronger effect on the overall look as one might think.
If you need help with possibilities of using textures, brushes and so on, you should have a look to the different tutorials here: https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ead.php?t=4987
Your options depending strongly on the used software of course and within the linked section, tutorials there are sorted by software. Maybe there's something helpful within

[rdanhenry]

Did they retain photoelectric technology? Rooftops covered in photovoltaic panels won't be mistaken for medieval homes.

[Knight]

sorry for the Late response things have gotten wonky at my home. alright everything is powered through the Ley Line running through the city. the city has turned the ley line into a shield of sorts, and use that to protect them from powerful and devastating storms that usually appear near the Ley Lines. generally every thing is more futuristic technology wise.

[Knight]

this is what i have so far

Cold Springs 2.jpg