Custom Made Worlds (IMAGES)
- Thread starter crabclaw
- Start date
Trainz
Explorer
Just one word of advice:
I have done a sh$t-load of maps in my 20 years gaming. Although what the others have said makes absolute sense, here's my take on it:
Don't think about it too much.
Whatever works, works. It's a fantasy setting, not a satellite picture of Nevada.
When I do maps, I do think about terrain features such as rivers and mountains, and city placement, but more in a "let's put this there" way. When you look at the finished thing, if it looks good, then you're set (don't forget to work with layers, so that you can easilly change something down the road).
I have done a sh$t-load of maps in my 20 years gaming. Although what the others have said makes absolute sense, here's my take on it:
Don't think about it too much.
Whatever works, works. It's a fantasy setting, not a satellite picture of Nevada.
When I do maps, I do think about terrain features such as rivers and mountains, and city placement, but more in a "let's put this there" way. When you look at the finished thing, if it looks good, then you're set (don't forget to work with layers, so that you can easilly change something down the road).
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Eosin the Red
First Post
Crabclaw I sent a fairly detailed list of the more glaring geography errors. You are correct that you could say that a river ran through a deep ravine, it works once maybe twice but there are a few spots and some of them are likely to be very, very long. Longer than anything on earth. It should be easy to fix up with the list that Destin has.
Again, the map is beautiful. I am not knocking that but some of us map heads just love to look and oogle at maps all day long. We look for detail and geography....It is like the people who look at fine art and can pick out a dali from a van gogh. I can't, but I can tell you who drew a map in any given RPG supplement at a glace from 20 feet away
The map is good but it can be professional with a little tweaking.
Speaking of some critisism...I was wondering if Conail would look at my map and see if he can find any errors. I looked at some of the stuff you were doing in the Mor's End thread and holy cow do you have a good eye and way too much topographical knowledge
Here is the map on my forums in a 200 res so it is pretty slow loader. I would really appreciate your tough eye, I have seen the little details you catch and want that kind of scrutiny for my map. Thanks.
Sorry for the thread Hijack.
Again, the map is beautiful. I am not knocking that but some of us map heads just love to look and oogle at maps all day long. We look for detail and geography....It is like the people who look at fine art and can pick out a dali from a van gogh. I can't, but I can tell you who drew a map in any given RPG supplement at a glace from 20 feet away
The map is good but it can be professional with a little tweaking.
Speaking of some critisism...I was wondering if Conail would look at my map and see if he can find any errors. I looked at some of the stuff you were doing in the Mor's End thread and holy cow do you have a good eye and way too much topographical knowledge
Here is the map on my forums in a 200 res so it is pretty slow loader. I would really appreciate your tough eye, I have seen the little details you catch and want that kind of scrutiny for my map. Thanks.
Sorry for the thread Hijack.
Eosin the Red
First Post
Here are what my notes said...in graphic form.
Remove rivers in the Red Areas.
Extend or Widen the yellow rivers.
I made a note about the size of the swamp in yellow.
That Northern coast is a desert?
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crabclaw
First Post
Very very good Eosin and thanks for taking the time, gah! Luckily I do have everything for this map on layers in Photoshop so editting is no problem at all. A note on my idea for shading the river water to signify flow direction, I should shade the stream(s) a light blue then go darker as I approach the river mouth(s) -- and blend into a dark ocean.
Any erasing and additions to the map will have to be approved by Destan. I think this map is like 1500 miles across btw.
Any erasing and additions to the map will have to be approved by Destan. I think this map is like 1500 miles across btw.
I agree with all the changes Eosin suggested. Still leaves a few problem spots (rivers that hug the coast, or radically reverse direction), but nothing that can't be explained by some radical creation processes...
Eosin your own map looks pretty good. Lake Greyfall looks like it would outflow along the stream that comes in from the west. With that many streams feeding into it, it should be growing or evaporating rapidly (think Salt Lake City). The latter seems unlikely considering how many forest are nearby. Lots of rivers in the SW corner of the map. Indicates lots of rainfall... add some forests and swamps? Or just make the rivers more in line with the rest of the map.
Have to catch a plane in a few hours, but I'll try to post more comments later this week.
PS: I'm just an amateur geographer myself, so feel free to take any suggestions with a grain of salt. Besides, it's not as if mother nature hasn't come up with some truly weird stuff herself...
Edit: coloring suggestion for Eosin's map... use white for snowcaps. I'd suggest green -> brown -> grey -> white (as opposed to green -> white -> brown now).
Eosin your own map looks pretty good. Lake Greyfall looks like it would outflow along the stream that comes in from the west. With that many streams feeding into it, it should be growing or evaporating rapidly (think Salt Lake City). The latter seems unlikely considering how many forest are nearby. Lots of rivers in the SW corner of the map. Indicates lots of rainfall... add some forests and swamps? Or just make the rivers more in line with the rest of the map.
Have to catch a plane in a few hours, but I'll try to post more comments later this week.
PS: I'm just an amateur geographer myself, so feel free to take any suggestions with a grain of salt. Besides, it's not as if mother nature hasn't come up with some truly weird stuff herself...
Edit: coloring suggestion for Eosin's map... use white for snowcaps. I'd suggest green -> brown -> grey -> white (as opposed to green -> white -> brown now).
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James Heard
Explorer
I like the general feel of the map, but I have a few points beyond what I think have been talked about so far.
I think it would be nice if the the elevations had a bit more weight to them somehow, perhaps by affecting a shadow cast along a line so that the heights were more clear. Currently the height illustration is adequate, but tends to get lost in the "greening" occassionally and doesn'tseem to leap out as much as it would seem possible.
I'd drop the white outline for the land masses in favor of another color now that I'd decided to go with a similar color for the lakes and rivers. That's a personal thing perhaps, but I think that a darker color would still provide contrast without washing things out. Of course, since you've indicated that this is for print the actual whiteness will probably be much more subdued so it becomes a print issue as well.
I think the greening effect looks awful, especially as the map moves away from the left. The more dramatic the green, the less appropriate it looks and the more it looks like nuclear moss. If the effect is supposed to show forests, meadows, and not moss I think a more subdued green would be nicer. Perhaps a collection of greens, browns and yellows. If the map isn't supposed to show a completely bald rock of a continent I think I'd add in some greens throughout the entire map (properly translucent, because your initial continent work is quite nice), and maybe scrub the forests and such on with a texturing effect of some sort perhaps.
BTW, is that your own border creation? It's quite nice. Keep up the good work!
I think it would be nice if the the elevations had a bit more weight to them somehow, perhaps by affecting a shadow cast along a line so that the heights were more clear. Currently the height illustration is adequate, but tends to get lost in the "greening" occassionally and doesn'tseem to leap out as much as it would seem possible.
I'd drop the white outline for the land masses in favor of another color now that I'd decided to go with a similar color for the lakes and rivers. That's a personal thing perhaps, but I think that a darker color would still provide contrast without washing things out. Of course, since you've indicated that this is for print the actual whiteness will probably be much more subdued so it becomes a print issue as well.
I think the greening effect looks awful, especially as the map moves away from the left. The more dramatic the green, the less appropriate it looks and the more it looks like nuclear moss. If the effect is supposed to show forests, meadows, and not moss I think a more subdued green would be nicer. Perhaps a collection of greens, browns and yellows. If the map isn't supposed to show a completely bald rock of a continent I think I'd add in some greens throughout the entire map (properly translucent, because your initial continent work is quite nice), and maybe scrub the forests and such on with a texturing effect of some sort perhaps.
BTW, is that your own border creation? It's quite nice. Keep up the good work!
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