The first real export - just to see what everything looks like so far. No forests yet, and no room for the badlands texture I made, but the rest of the textures are there.
I've changed the name of this thread to reflect the new name of the style - "Birdseye Continental". This is a continental scale style, rather than a regional scale overland. It's possible that I could do a sister style to this one, most likely called Birdseye Regional.
It's possible that I could do a sister style to this one, most likely called Birdseye Regional.
I love complimentary styles that allow for a consistent "vibe" at the continental, regional/local area, and city levels.
(I have heard of Joe v. the Volcano but it came out my senior year of college when I didn't have much time to go to movies, and I never got around to seeing it.)
What do you all think about a drawing tool that simulates an actual city? I'm not sure if this is possible, I'm not really knowledgeable with the drawing tools, but some sort of texture that implies rooftops (wooden shingles for example) and some macro that draws a rudimentary road network through it - et voila: city from a birds eye!
again: don't know if this is a good idea or if it's even possible. I'm just spit balling here...
There are a few tools that make city building pretty easy. One is the random street. It is a tool present in City Designer and Schley Symbols 5. There is a video in the gallery that shows it being used (probably on more than one occasion)
Yes, something like this but maybe a little simpler.
I think this would fit this style quite well. A coarse fractal polygon with either some rooftop simulation bitmap or just solid variable color and something to cut through it to hint at some streets?
Or just something similar to the farmland with a different color for the fields (=densely packed houses) and their borders (= bigger streets)?
These are good ideas, and they are definitely the kinds of things I will be considering for the 'Birdseye Regional' style, later on this year (hopefully).
However...
With this continental/world scale style the cities and towns are so tiny as to be nothing more than dots. That's because Arragosa is almost 2,800 miles from tip to tip, and as long as the entire United States is wide (2,800 miles).
Mike Schley's Structure symbols are the largest we have, but even the largest Mike Schley city symbol looks like a smudge on this map. I put one in the middle of the desert below.
Your ideas are good, but I mean to save them for the regional version of this style.
I'm hoping that Birdseye Continental will become an option for converted FT world maps - a style that will be colourful and textured by terrain type, yet simple enough to be clear if used in a world map.
EDIT: And with that last thought in mind, I might need to do something about the lack of contrast between sea and land...
I agree with the lighter ocean. Again, as this is for at least a continent sized map, I do think you need fills to represent all the biomes, and that does include at least 1 type of wetlands. I don't think symbols will be of much help on the scale of this map. And I agree about using just circle type symbols for major cities, as one would see on a continent wide map of Europe, for example.
The wetlands are already there. I've labelled the marsh, but not the swamp.
The swamp fill may need a bit more definition, across the inlet from Bantu
The forest fills are mere placeholders for now. All the same texture coloured differently by Colorize sheet effects. They will look a lot less like lumpy porridge by the time I'm done ;)
All the fills will be refined before publication.
I've got one river drawing tool. I think I will call it "River, default Amazonian", as it's 3 miles wide.
We are getting a jungle fill like these other forests, right? Or is that the fill that's just north of Nang? Maybe I missed something in your posts and this already answered...
Well, there are only so many ways to do a grass fill. It's basically some variation of greenish, yellowish, orangish, and with some kind of grass-like shading... They're all going to end up looking fairly similar at the continental scale.
Nice map, by the way!
The forest fills aren't even really started yet. They look the same because they are the same fill, but on different sheets with different colorize effects. I got side tracked over the last couple of days working out the hills and the swamp and marsh fills.
I'm not sure about the mountain and hill lines on the latest iteration, Sue. They seem too sharp and clean to me, which I suspect is down to the bevel effect. I've found bevels to be tricky little beasts most of the time. Are there still going to be mountain and hill symbols too, or will this effect version replace them now? Naturally, if there will be symbols in addition, they'll need to match the fill effects is all!
Also, the bright orange lava is indeed much too bright. Lava starts cooling as soon as it hits the surface air (or water), which means it reddens markedly on its exposed surface rapidly, with blackened patches that have begun solidifying. Little of that would be visible at this kind of "low-orbital" scale, however, and unless the area involved is truly vast (as currently seems to be the case - far too large for anything other than a cataclysmic event right now, from the implied scale), the colour difference to the surroundings might not be noticeable.
Comments
Two tundra fills to replace the gold and red high altitude grass. These can be used in Arctic areas as well.
Farm Terrain is beautiful <3
Thank you, Ricko :)
Was waiting to see if anyone caught the 'Joe vs the Volcano' reference. One of my fav Tom Hanks movies, but most people don't recall it.
The first real export - just to see what everything looks like so far. No forests yet, and no room for the badlands texture I made, but the rest of the textures are there.
I've changed the name of this thread to reflect the new name of the style - "Birdseye Continental". This is a continental scale style, rather than a regional scale overland. It's possible that I could do a sister style to this one, most likely called Birdseye Regional.
Sorry Don. I didn't even know that one.
Me neither. I have seen a handful of his movies, but not that one.
It's possible that I could do a sister style to this one, most likely called Birdseye Regional.
I love complimentary styles that allow for a consistent "vibe" at the continental, regional/local area, and city levels.
(I have heard of Joe v. the Volcano but it came out my senior year of college when I didn't have much time to go to movies, and I never got around to seeing it.)
What do you all think about a drawing tool that simulates an actual city? I'm not sure if this is possible, I'm not really knowledgeable with the drawing tools, but some sort of texture that implies rooftops (wooden shingles for example) and some macro that draws a rudimentary road network through it - et voila: city from a birds eye!
again: don't know if this is a good idea or if it's even possible. I'm just spit balling here...
There are a few tools that make city building pretty easy. One is the random street. It is a tool present in City Designer and Schley Symbols 5. There is a video in the gallery that shows it being used (probably on more than one occasion)
There is one video that shows how to import the data from Medieval Fantasy City Generator by watabou
Here is the video showing the conversion. Live Mapping: Watabou Cities Revisited (postponed till 11 July) — ProFantasy Community Forum
Yes, something like this but maybe a little simpler.
I think this would fit this style quite well. A coarse fractal polygon with either some rooftop simulation bitmap or just solid variable color and something to cut through it to hint at some streets?
Or just something similar to the farmland with a different color for the fields (=densely packed houses) and their borders (= bigger streets)?
These are good ideas, and they are definitely the kinds of things I will be considering for the 'Birdseye Regional' style, later on this year (hopefully).
However...
With this continental/world scale style the cities and towns are so tiny as to be nothing more than dots. That's because Arragosa is almost 2,800 miles from tip to tip, and as long as the entire United States is wide (2,800 miles).
Mike Schley's Structure symbols are the largest we have, but even the largest Mike Schley city symbol looks like a smudge on this map. I put one in the middle of the desert below.
Your ideas are good, but I mean to save them for the regional version of this style.
I'm hoping that Birdseye Continental will become an option for converted FT world maps - a style that will be colourful and textured by terrain type, yet simple enough to be clear if used in a world map.
EDIT: And with that last thought in mind, I might need to do something about the lack of contrast between sea and land...
That's a valid counter argument, Sue. This type of cities make much more sense for the regional version!
I mean to have quite a bit of fun doing the Structures for Birdseye Regional.
About that lack of contrast between land and sea...
I love dark oceans, but sometimes that can get in the way of clarity, so what do you think about a light ocean?
At the moment this is done with sheet effects only, but if it's more useful I will alter the ocean textures.
I also love dark oceans but you’re right, the lighter one provides better contrast against the rich hues of the land.
I agree with the lighter ocean. Again, as this is for at least a continent sized map, I do think you need fills to represent all the biomes, and that does include at least 1 type of wetlands. I don't think symbols will be of much help on the scale of this map. And I agree about using just circle type symbols for major cities, as one would see on a continent wide map of Europe, for example.
The wetlands are already there. I've labelled the marsh, but not the swamp.
The swamp fill may need a bit more definition, across the inlet from Bantu
The forest fills are mere placeholders for now. All the same texture coloured differently by Colorize sheet effects. They will look a lot less like lumpy porridge by the time I'm done ;)
All the fills will be refined before publication.
I've got one river drawing tool. I think I will call it "River, default Amazonian", as it's 3 miles wide.
thanks, sue. i hadn't noticed that.
Well, they do need a bit of work to give the impression of what they are really supposed to be ;)
I do remember the movie, from back when it came out I guess (don't go looking for the release date, please).
But I failed to recognize the reference. Maybe it's time to look where to watch it again. :)
The forests still aren't finished, but what do you think of everything else so far?
I like the swamps, are they a fill? Or result if a sheet effect?
Thanks :)
I improved the fill.
Argh, Ms. Sue
Now I'm going to have to halt new version of my continent, Estonisch, to use this style!
ARGH!
😁
Strange but some of those fills are close my own.
Nowhere near as good as yours, of course. So, I'll put this on hold till the new style comes out! I can't wait.
thanks, Ms. Sue
Cal
Ms. Sue,
We are getting a jungle fill like these other forests, right? Or is that the fill that's just north of Nang? Maybe I missed something in your posts and this already answered...
Just love this style; it's awesome!
Cal
Well, there are only so many ways to do a grass fill. It's basically some variation of greenish, yellowish, orangish, and with some kind of grass-like shading... They're all going to end up looking fairly similar at the continental scale.
Nice map, by the way!
The forest fills aren't even really started yet. They look the same because they are the same fill, but on different sheets with different colorize effects. I got side tracked over the last couple of days working out the hills and the swamp and marsh fills.
I'm not sure about the mountain and hill lines on the latest iteration, Sue. They seem too sharp and clean to me, which I suspect is down to the bevel effect. I've found bevels to be tricky little beasts most of the time. Are there still going to be mountain and hill symbols too, or will this effect version replace them now? Naturally, if there will be symbols in addition, they'll need to match the fill effects is all!
Also, the bright orange lava is indeed much too bright. Lava starts cooling as soon as it hits the surface air (or water), which means it reddens markedly on its exposed surface rapidly, with blackened patches that have begun solidifying. Little of that would be visible at this kind of "low-orbital" scale, however, and unless the area involved is truly vast (as currently seems to be the case - far too large for anything other than a cataclysmic event right now, from the implied scale), the colour difference to the surroundings might not be noticeable.
Hope your 'flu's improving!
@Wyvern But I love the mountains looking as they are. Perhaps either have versions OR just adjust the bevel by each user?
Cal
LOL! Yes, the lava pool is a bit big and bright isn't it.
Those are just the hills, Wyvern. I've yet to do the mountain symbols. Just taking some time to work out how to do it for the best.
And thanks - I'm feeling much better than I did on New Year's Day.