Léodmidder
BwenGun
Traveler
[p]A while back I started a thoroughly over-ambitious project to expand the world of my current forum game using the Jon Roberts style as a basis. Suffice to say ambition and my swift descent into too much detail killed that project rather thoroughly. Though I did make a rather detailed map of one section of the continent because of it. Recently I came back and decided to try again, only this time I used the wonderful Fantasy Worlds style, which I find does continent scale maps superbly. [/p]
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[p]For a larger version, click below.[/p]
[p]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/59162065/Exodus/Mapping the World/Eastern Continent southwestern section3.PNG[/p]
[p]The continent in question has several names, though from the point of view of most of the protagonists it is most often referred to as Léodmidder, and is first mentioned in the earliest of their peoples myths and legends. Quite literally it translates as "The Middle Lands", and it does indeed hold a fairly central position in the world. In this current age the New Truewater, often referred to as simply The New Kingdom, many of it's great nobles being players, have previously invaded and subjugated the Western Coast of the San Gunu Empire, dubbing their new holdings the Outremer. To the south Shapayist (a heretical faith that flourished briefly in New Truewater) exiles have spread their faith through the region of Kesh with the help of warlike native allies. Whilst to the south lay lands as yet unknown to the men of New Truewater or the Outremer except in the charts of the Empire and Keshan merchants and Pirates.[/p]
[p]Though really the reason for a lack of names down there is mostly because I've yet to get around to naming them and having a good long think about who or what lives down there.[/p]
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[/p][p]For a larger version, click below.[/p]
[p]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/59162065/Exodus/Mapping the World/Eastern Continent southwestern section3.PNG[/p]
![https://dl.dropbox.com/u/59162065/Exodus/Mapping the World/Eastern Continent southwestern section3.PNG[/p]](https://dl.dropbox.com/u/59162065/Exodus/Mapping%20the%20World/Eastern%20Continent%20southwestern%20section3.PNG[/p]){kind=link}
[p]The continent in question has several names, though from the point of view of most of the protagonists it is most often referred to as Léodmidder, and is first mentioned in the earliest of their peoples myths and legends. Quite literally it translates as "The Middle Lands", and it does indeed hold a fairly central position in the world. In this current age the New Truewater, often referred to as simply The New Kingdom, many of it's great nobles being players, have previously invaded and subjugated the Western Coast of the San Gunu Empire, dubbing their new holdings the Outremer. To the south Shapayist (a heretical faith that flourished briefly in New Truewater) exiles have spread their faith through the region of Kesh with the help of warlike native allies. Whilst to the south lay lands as yet unknown to the men of New Truewater or the Outremer except in the charts of the Empire and Keshan merchants and Pirates.[/p]
[p]Though really the reason for a lack of names down there is mostly because I've yet to get around to naming them and having a good long think about who or what lives down there.[/p]
Comments
Did you use any edge fade effects? I can hardly see it in this resolution.
I think the mountains do not look very natural, some because of the symbols itself (I don't like the mountain ranges that come with this style), and the mountains in the middle of the map look a bit to triangular.
Besides that, its a very nice map. The coastline looks amazing
Think is a great style for continent sized maps but not the easiest one to work with.
Having said that I think you made a pretty nice map.
And I like the background you have given.
I did use edge effects, it's less noticeable on this scale, I must admit, I shall have to tweak things a little to see whether that helps. For the desert it is an especial problem as the desert fill doesn't blend in well with the grass. In the current version I've added a thin layer of wasteland terrain on the edge to soften the border and give it the feel of desert giving way to dry land and then to savannah/grassland.
As for the mountains I can see what you mean, I've been fiddling around with the map a bit since last night and have deleted some of the pre-made mountain chains and put new ones in their place using the individual symbols. I think it makes it look a little less unnatural, or at least less predictable and more interesting. In CC3 it's 2500 by 3500. In game terms it's a little less than that as the game has an economic model based on sectors of 17*17 tiles (each a mile squared) with varying terrain. Players can then build their economies based on the terrain in order to furnish themselves with an economy and thus afford the armies and influence required by a late medieval style Kingdom. If we ever restart I think I will demand that we change that to a 20*20 sectors for a slightly more rational approach to mapmaking as that duty falls squarely on my shoulders.
The mountains are tricky, I must admit, and nowhere near as forgiving as the Jon Roberts style (which is my preffered one for more detailed work). Though I find the zoomed out nature of the maps does mean the lack of variation in the mountain symbols is not so noticeable. Thank you. =]
If I use mountainranges I often put other mountains beside them to give them an individual shape. Then I add smaller mountains and hills on the outside. It gives a quite natural look because the mountains look less like walls and rather like a natural landscape. Therefor my mountainranges are often two or three times wider than the symbol ones.
I'm looking forward to see the next version of the map
cheers
[p]For a larger version of the map just click on the link below.[/p]
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https://dl.dropbox.com/u/59162065/Exodus/Mapping the World/Eastern Continent southwestern section5.PNG
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[p]For a larger version (much larger) click on the link: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/59162065/Exodus/Mapping the World/Eastern Continent southwestern section7.PNG[/p]
[p]My next big task is to put down the borders between all of them (and the provinces of the Djaqur Tar Empire). I tried using the dash feature for lines (like roads) in order to create a more traditional dotted line on the map feel, but it has a tendency to have long solid lines at certain points instead of the uniform dashed line I was hoping for. Has anyone found a way around that or a different way to get the dotted borders look?[/p]