World of Mon:Sector 4

[Barek333]

Hello all,

Long time away, decided on some procrastinating so back at mapping

I finally decided to tackle a huge project that will probably last a few years. For my D&D group I made a huge 10200x6600px world sketch, divided it into eight 2550x3300px sectors and started mapping the one their first campaign will focus on.
whole_world.jpeg

So I ended up choosing S4, which is upper rightmost part of the map(2 rows(hemispheres) of 4 sectors each, row 1:S1-S4,row 2:S5-S8 )
sector_4_sketch.jpeg
I chose a different background in the end, it will be used for the whole world as well.

There I first drew in the precise coastlines
sector_4_coastline.jpeg

Then I colored in the sea using an overlay layer
sector_4_sea.jpeg

Then I added the mountains and used two overlay layers to add shades and lights
sector_4_mountains_colored.jpeg

Then I made some tree brushes and added forests to the mix
sector_4_forests.jpeg

And finally I added some color to a multiply layer for the (back)ground
sector_4_color.jpeg

And that is where I stand now. Am not happy with the colors, and would like to hear some advice from the experts on how to color in the land that it doesnt look to bland and in case of this map that should still have this washed white color look..kinda inspired by this awesome map from Max. https://www.cartographersguild.com/a...4&d=1446573496

Besides the colors the map doesnt and wont have many features since it represents a fairly large territory and for details, smaller mountains, hills etc there will be zoomed in maps later on. This one I just want to give some depth with colors..which I'm failing..and then add major cities and names to it.

So yeah thats it, hope you like the step by step images and do help with my problem

Cheers,
Barek

[Diamond]

I think the reason it feels a little empty to you is that it IS empty. Once you start adding in cities, towns, text, etc, you'll be surprised at how much it helps break things up. One thing you could definitely do would be to add one or more layers to your land components that have different textures, then mess around with the layer style type until you find something, some combination you like.

If you look at that map of Max's that you referenced, he actually managed to cleverly avoid having to do a lot of that by having landmasses that were much smaller and so only needed a tiny bit of texturing here and there to give it some oomph. Most of the heavy lifting is done with text. I think you're going to have to rely a bit more on texture since you've got a LOT more open land spaces. One thing I would say is, if you do decide to add more texture, try to keep it consistent across the whole map, just varying it subtly/slightly for places like badlands and deserts - don't use jarring changes in appearance as (to me, anyway) it really takes you out of the immersion.

But, I do like what you've got so far - nice layout, and your mountains are the bomb.

[Barek333]

I think the reason it feels a little empty to you is that it IS empty. Once you start adding in cities, towns, text, etc, you'll be surprised at how much it helps break things up.

I have to say that would have never crossed my mind at this stage. Thanks a lot Will first add these things and see how it looks, before experimenting more with colors.

One thing you could definitely do would be to add one or more layers to your land components that have different textures, then mess around with the layer style type until you find something, some combination you like.

That's something I will look into as well.

But, I do like what you've got so far - nice layout, and your mountains are the bomb.

And thank you for nice words.

Cheers,
Barek

[Barek333]

So I added rivers now(multiply layer) and decided to shade/lighten the coasts just slightly(overlay layer) as I saw it on some maps recently I think by caenwyr and some others and it seemed like a good idea to give the first touches of "oompf" to the map. I think it turned out better than I thought it would..yay.

sector_4_rivers.jpeg

Next on to towns, names and..maybe..very light regional borders.

Cheers,
Barek

[tainotim]

This looks great Barek! I really like the clean style.

Cheers,
Tainotim

[ChickPea]

This is very attractive! I like the style you have here. My only small point would be that the chains of mountains have very smooth curves, and I think they'd look better if you added a few more mountains here and there just to break up the lines. Near the top left, for example, you've drawn a few that stick out a bit from the main chain. I think if you add a few more like that it'll make the mountains look more realistic.

Otherwise, it's looking great.

[Barek333]

Praise from tainotim, I'm blushing. Thank you for the kind words!

And thank you a lot ChickPea, it seems I am getting closer to what I wanted, and also people like it so thats great.

Regarding the mountains I wanted to have these smooth curves, so I drew it like that on purpose, I actually am thinking to curve the upper middle ones a bit more since they stick out to me a bit. I know it isnt all that realistic but I think it suits the "not so crowded" style. They are anyways representing just the main mountain chains(ridges?), the hills and smaller mountains would scale off the sides in a zoomed in map. Regarding those few that stick out that is just a placeholder for a chain that would trail to the left from there forming a big plateau with the ones south. I didnt draw them in since I am still unsure whether to leave it as "uncharted lands" or not. But thank you for the comment, I will have it in mind if I decide to change them.

Cheers,
Barek

[Diamond]

See, once you beefed up the rivers, it looks great! Once you get the towns/cities/text in there, you might not even need to add much in the way of texture.

[Abu Lafia]

Hey Barek, glad to see you back mapping, and even more so with such a fantastic, ambitious project. I like that a lot! The map looks really great already, love the subtle colours and the shading. I somewhat agree with ChickPea's view regarding the mountain ranges, but i can totally understand your rationale behind your choice here. Also very curious to see how it looks more crowded with cities, labels and stuff. Keep up the good work!

[ThomasR]

Really nice job ! I love how you added relief to the land by shading it. The map is really great and I think that some relief to the coast might make it even better. Last nitpick : when zoomed in, the texture seems a little blurry. I dunno if a higher resolution texture would make it better but it could be worth a shot. Keep up the good work !