My first maps

Greetings,

I just started recently using CC3 and wanted to share my first maps.

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This was supposed to be a continental map for my Dungeons and Dragons Campaign. I say "was", because I won't use it.
I simply don't like the look of it. It doesn't really appeal to me.

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The Dragonfire Bay was a more detailed map of their starting area and was supposed to give them and me a better idea of their surroundings.
As you can see the Dragonfire Bay isn't covered in snow. This is due to the dragonic energie that the bay is infused with.
But then again I didn't like this map either. The mountains circling around the entire bay seemed a bit unnatural to me.

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For this map I started from scratch, only knowing that there will be some kind of bay.
I used the Pete Fenlon style, because it gives the map a great look. It feels more like a drawn map, which matches a fantasy setting.
I really like this map and I'll probably use it.


Feel free to share your thoughts on the maps. Criticism or hints and tips are welcome.

Comments

  • jaerdaphjaerdaph Traveler
    Excellent work, BlackSheep! You've really mastered CC3 rather quickly. I love the Peter Fenlon style map - I use that style from the Annual myself a lot now too for the same reasons.

    On the second map, I would suggest using a stronger blur setting on the sea contours to get a better blend.
  • Well, thank you. I'll make sure to try out different blur settings, although I'm not that familiar with the sheet effects just yet.
    But there's a reason it's called: learning by doing :).
  • jaerdaphjaerdaph Traveler
    Posted By: BlackSheepWell, thank you. I'll make sure to try out different blur settings, although I'm not that familiar with the sheet effects just yet.
    But there's a reason it's called: learning by doing :).
    This is exactly how I learned how many sheet effects worked. I just plugged in different numbers, checked the results, adjusted the numbers again and checked the results until I found something I found aesthetically pleasing.
  • RalfRalf Administrator, ProFantasy 🖼️ 18 images Mapmaker
    Excellent work, Blacksheep. I especially love the Pete Fenlon-style map.

    The only thing I would take another look at is the layout of the rivers, they do seem to flow in an unrealistic manner (particularly the river splitting at Korrol and the river "crossing" at Dreem. I'd take a look at a real-world atlas to see how a natural river pattern would look.

    Here is an example of river flow in France. You'll notice that rivers rarely split to run in very different directions (I think there are 3 or 4 examples on our planet), and they never, ever cross. Sorry, bit of a pet peeve in fantasy mapmaking.
  • edited June 2008
    Thank you Ralf I didn't notice it until just now. I didn't have that in mind when drawing the rivers.
    Especially the crossing seems very odd indeed. I think I'll leave the Korrol rivers as they are, because they somewhat flow downwards until the one makes this pretty harsh turn.
    But I'll keep it in mind for future maps.
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