How do you start your maps?

Barliman

So I'm noodling with some ideas for another map and I was wondering how people get started on theirs. Do you do a rough sketch on paper, first, or do you just start drawing and editing the basic landforms in CC3+? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Deleted User]

Both. If a world, I import from Fractal Terrains (eg Myirandios); otherwise, just doodling staight off in CC3+, or a sketch on paper for more 'serious' stuff. This is my take - not that helpful in choosing between methods, sorry

Topdecker

I write down everything that has to be on the map (a list) and go from there. There is usually a pencil or pen quick sketch once I have the list.

Lorelei

Both, as well, but less often with pencil and paper these days

Barliman

Posted By: QuentenBoth. If a world, I import from Fractal Terrains (eg Myirandios); otherwise, just doodling staight off in CC3+, or a sketch on paper for more 'serious' stuff. This is my take - not that helpful in choosing between methods, sorry

Nah, not trying to choose between, just curious what other mappers finds works for them. I've done both.

HadrianVI

It really depends on the map. For my own world sketched the rough shape of continents on paper, then did the rest in cc3. However, I only sketched the continents that were relevant to me at the time.

Monsen

I either start with a coastline exported from a larger map, or from FT. If that is not applicable, I just start working directly in CC3+. I usually review the purpose of the map and the required features mentally before I start, but I rarely write anything. For maps intended for my RPG campaign, there are often prior background information available that help me figure out the contents of the map though.

Drammattex

If it's a city, I often sketch a general layout, and when I say "sketch," I mean like a square that says "slums" and a circle that says "rich!" and a square that says "docks" or something like that.

If I start directly from CC3+ with a city I'll probably confuse myself.

For overland maps I usually start directly in CC3+ and start playing around, figuring it out as I go. Which is what I do with a city too, once I have an idea how the city is organized.

JimP

I decide what type; overland, dungeon, city, and decide if I can use a template or or own size with a template, or just toss something together.

Then I go from there. Overland. I draw a continent, or coast. Decide, a bay would look good in a particular part of the coast or continent. And then close the multipoly.

Maybe do one or two fractal clicks.

Then add mountains or just a gray area and label it mountains. Add ruins near the coast or mountains, add a city and towns on thge bay.

crb31

I usually do a little hand drawn sketch and then try to recreate in CC3+. The sketch gives me a reference and a place to refine from. I do this with all my maps, overland, city, and dungeon and interior. Obviously, since my initial sketch is usually a bare bones affair, the CC3+ stuff is much more clear and detailed. I also work on index cards because I can stuff them into shirt pockets and behind something with out them becoming to obvious or taking up to much space. My wife has learned to watch out for loose cards...

Wyvern

I have to have something to work from first before thinking of going to the computer. That might be a really rough sketch - maybe essentially a flowchart for something like a dungeon or cave system - through to a quite detailed hand-drawn map. If the latter, I generally scan it and insert it in the CC3 drawing so I can trace everything I need from it.

Also, because I often use CC3 to create historical real-world maps, where I can alter the settlements and coastlines to reflect known landform changes over time, I usually start with a scanned map from an atlas that shows the area I need in sufficient detail, or with important items (like contour lines) already shown. In fact, I typically end up creating a composite map from scanned atlas images, because I'm generally wanting to be awkward and have a map showing an area nobody does at the scale I need - like a recent one I did for the ancient tale of the Argonautica, which needed all of mainland Greece, all of Anatolia, the whole of the Black Sea and all the lands surrounding it as far east as the Caspian Sea.

CC3 is such a powerful tool for this kind of work, because for a region like, say, ancient Mesopotamia round to the Indus Valley region in modern Pakistan-India, it's really easy to create new sheets to show the coastline for different epochs, as The Gulf slowly receded between the fourth and first millennia BCE, for example, then just hide the ones you don't need for a specific use. I've also been mulling over trying a recreation of near-glacial Europe, including Doggerland and the Ancylus Lake, but haven't got past the "nice idea" stage as yet!

Barliman

Posted By: WyvernAlso, because I often use CC3 to create historical real-world maps, where I can alter the settlements and coastlines to reflect known landform changes over time,...

What you describe is almost exactly what I want to do with the world I'm designing, except in this case it would be the ebb and flow of various realms over time.

Lorelei

Posted By: DrammattexIf it's a city, I often sketch a general layout, and when I say "sketch," I mean like a square that says "slums" and a circle that says "rich!" and a square that says "docks" or something like that.

If I start directly from CC3+ with a city I'll probably confuse myself.

This is why i usually shy away from cities.....maybe i should grab my pencil and pad more often....hmmm

Loopysue

There's something of a new craze starting over at the Guild for 3-5 minute postage stamp sketches, that are little more than scribbles. No matter, though, they really are inspiring. I might try it myself

crb31

@Loopysue could you post a link?

Loopysue

This is the comment that really started it:

https://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=23255&p=338024&viewfull=1#post338024

Chashio is blessed with an enormous and totally unfair amount of artistic talent, and J.Edward is just as bad, but we forgive them because they are genuinely beautiful inside - just like their maps

This is J.Edward's pre-existing experimentation thread. I've put you right at the beginning because his work is totally stunning. He's a bit like Lorelei, in that it sometimes seems like there are 10 of him, to produce as many lovelies as he does.

https://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=29817

You will find his equivalent of Chashio's sketch maps towards the end of this thread

CharlesWayneRobinson

My main project comes from the original pencil drawings from back in the day (Kelleemah). The ones for the Atlas comes from the world map that was pregenerated. My commission maps start off as a series of pencil drawings based off of customer input (I always give multiple concept designs for the customer to choose from). For the rest of the maps (especially when I am just playing around with a new style) are just thrown up there. I have a general idea of what I want to try and create and develop it further as I go.

ScottA

Little late to this party, but I start maps a few different ways. If I'm doing something big I render an area or continent in FT and then import the image as a jpg and trace it into CC3+, put down my mountains and lakes over top of the FT map, and then fill in everything else from there. Dungeons, floorplans, and smaller overland maps I do pretty much "free hand" with just notes and ideas of what I want and need or maybe a rough sketch, and then just create as I go, editing here and there as I need to. Cities... oh, god, cities...! Cities have always perplexed me and I've never had any satisfactory results trying to do cities. I'm working on my first real, major city map right now and have forced myself to just muscle through it and stick with it. It has been incredibly frustrating at times, and I've re-done some things over and over again, but so far it looks pretty good and I'm happy with it. For this one, I traced the city outline and street placement from an overlay I imported into CC3+ as my previous attempts at just doing it "free hand" were awful! I'm the least familiar with city mapping, though, so have been hitting up the forum here with a lot of questions, and the tips and tricks I've received from the community have been invaluable. I LOVE The Tome of Ultimate Mapping, and Joe Sweeney's fantastic tutorials, but sometimes it becomes information overload because there's SO much, so quick little tips and fix-its are great to learn on the fly.

[Deleted User]

ScottA, just a thought - how about doing some different maps in various styles - overland, dungeon and cities/villages for the Community Atlas (see sticky at the top of the forum discussion list). We would LOVE to have you, and we are all very supportive

ScottA

I have been thinking about that, Quenten. Probably when I wrap up what I'm doing now.