Finished Map (mostly)

[Larb]

I posted a WiP of this a while ago, but now I've finished the map (aside from the labels, but those are less important).

http://www.imperialcross.co.uk/stuff...eros455wip.jpg

Looking for critique mainly on the mountains and roads. Not so happy with the roads at the moment, so any advice on making them look nicer would be great.

Also, a suggestion on fonts oddly enough. I used Cardinal for the title and Bradley Hand for the legend names. Although I think Bradley Hand is ok, suggestions on better ones would be great.

Thanks in advance!

[Gamerprinter]

Good job, overall. Clean, functional - the monochromatic palatte lends to this feel. The mountains are fine, though the edges where mountain meets the ground cover, I would try to blur or feather this edge so the blend seems more natural and less abrupt. That's just a small quibble.

Regarding your roads, I think its difficult to tell the difference between the trails and the unpaved roads. Because the line width is so slight in difference and you didn't choose to use different colors as a means of differentiating them - its difficult identify the lesser roads.

Perhaps Varos is a dry, grassy place, without forests. I think it needs some color somewhere, otherwise good job.

GP

PS: Have some REP, since you didn't have any, and this is certainly a decent map post!

[Ascension]

First off, nice job. Second, in regards to the roads, there are many options but here are two: 1) I'd try something like spaced out dots and more variation in the color in order to make the road types more distinct. Also make the dots varying in size as well as amount of space between dots. 2) If you don't want to make the roads into dots then increase the color variation from say a dark brown to a light brown to a yellow while varying the line thickness (thicker for more traveled roads, thinner for less traveled roads). The fonts look fine to me and the colors are pleasing so all-in-all...nice job.

[torstan]

I'd actually stick with Cardinal for the legend as well. If someone goes to the trouble of doing proper calligraphy for the title, they're not going to just scrawl down a legend.

As for the map - I really like it. The mountains are particularly good. I'm not sure about the drop shadow around the rivers. It does make them stand out, but I'm not sure it makes sense visually. Anyway, I'm nitpicking. It's a lovely piece. Have some rep!

[Larb]

Thanks for the feedback guys, I appreciate it.

The colour palette is a point I've had quite a few people, including my players, bring up. The area has a temperate climate, but I picked the palette because I have something of a thing for "autumnal" colours, however I've found it tends to cause some confusion or just doesn't do it for people, so I plan on making a version of this map with a more traditional palette. I guess the current palette is very marmite-ish in that regard. =P


As for the mountains, I've been looking for a way to make them that isn't too time consuming, that I can remember how I made, and that look good, and the ones on this map are the result so far.

I used three layers, the bottom two layers consist of using a spatterish photoshop brush with a bevel and emboss style layer added, as well as a texture style (one of the default rock textures). The style effects were pasted to all three layers.

The bottom most layer used a grey colour, the same as the mid layer. But the bottom layer has less opacity. The mid layer has full opacity, but I used it mainly for the higher points of the mountain range. The top layer was just a bit of white (with about 80% opacity) brushed on in places for the highest points and to give it a little more depth (original critique I had for it said they looked too grey and barren, so some white might be a good idea).

It's actually pretty quick and easy to do.