The World of Charun

[Soixante]

Hello all. I've been browsing this forum for a while now. Time to get some feedback on the map I've been working on.

I've read through many posts here, and seen many excellent maps which have been great for inspiration. Of particular use to me have been the tools aeronox posted in this thread. I've modified them extensively to fit my own needs, as well as created several brand new brushes and layer styles of my own making. All work was done in Photoshop CS3.

The map is too big to post as an attachment on this forum, even after compressing it as much as I could without losing too much quality. Anyway, here's a link: The World of Charun

It's a map depicting the World of Charun, an NWN2 persistent world. Feel free to check it out here. Please note, I'm not the creator of the world, I'm just a player there. This map was made partly as a tribute to the WoC project, but mostly because I wanted to learn how to make a semi-realistic map using Photoshop.

It's nearly finished, but there are a few things I'm not entirely happy with. The symbols I've used to mark cities, for one. Please let me know what you think.

:Edited to add a preview of a small part of the map, for those who are reluctant to download something without seeing it first.:

[Redrobes]

Hey thats nice. I'm particularly interested in the mountains. These look more realistic than most. Whats the technique for generating them ?

[Soixante]

Mountains were made using a slightly modified version of the brush and layer style that areonox posted up in the thread I mentioned. So the majority of the credit has to go to him for that. I just tweaked the settings for blending options a little.

[pyrandon]

I agree that I like your mountains, Soixante; they are not as pillowy as many of this style, and so they come across as much more authentic. The color scheme of the entire map is a bit too washed out/pastel for my taste, though; this is just personal preference, but I would add an adjustment layer on top and play with the levels, just to see if anything good comes of it. The brightly glowing white coasts may also add to this effect, too.

I myself do not mind the dots for the cities and such; they are clean and simple, which is just fine!

Overall, I like it! Good work!

[Soixante]

Here's the whole map zoomified, if anyone's interested: World of Charun.

It did end up a tad too desaturated in places, but you live and learn. I'm still pretty happy with it, considering it's my first map ever and also my first big foray into Photoshop.

[MadLetter]

Hi there.. I like the style and all.. and I would like to know which fonts did you use for the labeling? I would be glad to get my hands on em...

[Soixante]

For the labelling, I used a font called 'Ale and Wenches' (best font name ever?). You can find it on http://www.dafont.com/, I believe.

[MadLetter]

Found it! Big thanks, I will probably make good use of it!