Where can I find references for maps based on real places

[BrassArt]

Hello everyone,

I've been making fantasy maps one way or another, but I've wanted to try my hand at making a board game map. Specifically, a map of Europe in 1939.

Thing is, I'm not a professional cartographer and I therefore need some kind of geographic reference to make a roughly accurate map.

What are some good sources for high-resolution blank maps as well as topo maps?

Thanks for the help.

[Tiana]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...09_1939_de.svg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...1941-blank.svg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F..._blank_map.svg
https://www.flickr.com/photos/24736216@N07/5483697666
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...pe_in_1920.svg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...Vega,_1939.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...owa14-1939.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F..._Amt,_1939.jpg
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/ma...urope-1804891/
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/eu...l-map-2170640/
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages...hp?id=PIA03395

That should about do it; period correct maps, war maps, topography maps, and all of this stuff is listed as free for stock use so manipulate and copy away.

[BrassArt]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...09_1939_de.svg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...1941-blank.svg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F..._blank_map.svg
https://www.flickr.com/photos/24736216@N07/5483697666
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...pe_in_1920.svg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...Vega,_1939.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...owa14-1939.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F..._Amt,_1939.jpg
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/ma...urope-1804891/
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/eu...l-map-2170640/
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages...hp?id=PIA03395

That should about do it; period correct maps, war maps, topography maps, and all of this stuff is listed as free for stock use so manipulate and copy away.

Thank you very much

[KMAlexander]

Here's a few I found on David Rumsey's site:

• Adolf Stieler's Europa
• Rand McNally map of Europe
• Rand McNally Europe 1914-1935 & Relief map of Europe
• Richfield Reporter : War Map
• L.A. Times Save this map! It shows the theater of war

Should be helpful/fine for references. These might not all be public domain—especially the Rand McNally ones.

[BrassArt]

Here's a few I found on David Rumsey's site:

• Adolf Stieler's Europa
• Rand McNally map of Europe
• Rand McNally Europe 1914-1935 & Relief map of Europe
• Richfield Reporter : War Map
• L.A. Times Save this map! It shows the theater of war

Should be helpful/fine for references. These might not all be public domain—especially the Rand McNally ones.

Thanks, I will keep that in mind. I'm not planning to use these as is however, just as a basis for the general geography.

I guess a follow up question is: what kind of software would I need to generate maps as I need them? If that even exists. The information is out there, surely there's some way of generating a barebones map to use for artistic purposes.

These are going to be very helpful for this project, but what about next time? If you know what I mean.

[KMAlexander]

There's a ton of map-making software out there. But it's all generally focused on making fantasy worlds, not recreating our planet.

I use Adobe products mostly—partly because I've been a designer for 20+ years and that's the software I'm most comfortable with, but it's not the only game in town. Some people prefer Gimp. Others like Affinity's suite. Some use Procreate. Depends on what you want to do.

If you want a generic MAP OF EUROPE, you might consider checking out Wikimedia Commons. There's a lot of open-source SVGs (basically vectors) that are good starting points. A quick search lead me here.

[BrassArt]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I really appreciate it

[Tiana]

You could use Other World Mapper (a lower cost, but not free program), which lets you very easily draw a fractal landmass and save styles for them. The reason I would suggest it for you is because it can import GIS data, which is what you're wondering about for how to quickly get a map of this world. That's right, there are techniques for that. Won't save you all the time you spend styling it after the fact, but a free program that will let you work with just GIS data is Qgis.

Wikipedia is where I would go for generic SVG files to tinker with, you can also pull those into Other World Mapper.

If you mean you're going to be doing more historical projects in other time periods and how do we find things to reference for that? https://www.oldmapsonline.org

[OWM]

You could use Other World Mapper (a lower cost, but not free program), which lets you very easily draw a fractal landmass and save styles for them. The reason I would suggest it for you is because it can import GIS data, which is what you're wondering about for how to quickly get a map of this world.

Thank you!

I can also point you to a tutorial using Other World Mapper to do this, we used it to create a SciFi style board game of earth.

https://www.otherworldmapper.com/blo...aphy-data-shp/

Someone was using that idea to make their board game last year of Roman era Europe.
https://caesarboardgame.wordpress.com/#jp-carousel-72

Disclaimer: I'm one of the 3 devs behind OWM

- Alejandro