Then the country is about 4 million square miles, roughly speaking. About the size of Canada with a bit of a hole in it.
I wouldn't say there's too much going on for that kind of area.
As for the ocean fills, you coul dtry increasing the edge fade/blur (I can't remember which effects are on there right now) by a considerable amount and making the transition a lot smoother.
I had a lot of trouble with 'Trace': this command failed to register the nodes on my convoluted shapes. Note that this style is opposite of other styles in that the drawing area is Land and you draw in the water. That may be what is affecting the Trace functionality. Unsure.
For the Scale I set this map at (2700 x 2700) the actual drawing area turned out to be smaller. The symbols did not auto-scale. I had to manually set scales via Scale Symbols in Map or, use Symbols in Area. Both of these actions were difficult to do. (more on SIA later)
Typical symbols, fills, etc, going to the wrong sheets and layers. It was a frickin constant battle to put things on the 'correct' sheets. No doubt, many entities are still on the wrong sheets.
I was compelled to create many different SHEETS and LAYERS and apply my own effects---despite the fact that this style comes, out of the box, loaded with tons of SHEETS and LAYERS. Each of these with varying effects, and many of those I could not duplicate other than to copy and paste. I wonder, now, if the entities used multi-sheets though I cannot remember or check at this time.
Symbols in Area: this was a gargantuan hassle. No matter what value I placed in Max Symbols to Place, the area was always sparsely populated. I had to use SIA 4 or 5 times to fill my 'area'. Never had this problem before on other maps. I'm thinking Remy will break in here with an explanation heh 😁
Drop Shadow Effect: on my TEXT sheet! This was unbelievably useless. I couldn't get a dark drop shadow regardless of blur or offset, merely a fuzzy halo of black. Never had this problem before.
Light Sea Contour: omg. I tried activating my own drawing tools with various fills and could not get this to work. Again, I believe this to be because the obverse of land vs sea is how this style must be drawn.
Missing TERRAINS: marsh/swamp, ice/glacier/snow. I had to delve into other styles (per Remy's instructions, of course) to install acceptable fills for these terrains. It may be that Sue planned on this, as Darklands and Spectrum styles compliment each other very well.
OVERALL: I love Darklands style. It's just beautiful. It satisfies my hankering for a mix of realism vs artism (I'm making up that word). It can allow the mapmaker to do a quick, artsy map; and, with some effort, a more realistic map. I highly recommend this style to my fellow mapmakers.
Unfortunately I did not realise when I designed the style with a border that the border would be counted as part of the map and included in the dimensions. Retrospectively, I would perhaps have done it differently without the border, but that is one of those things you can only regret at leisure. I'm sorry for any inconvenience it caused.
Niether did I deliberately make Spectrum and Darklands in a way that the fills would compliment one another. I must have a set palette in my head no matter how pale or dark I attempt to make everything be! LOL! This is something that you discovered.
There's tweaking that could be done: text sizes here and there, and omitted terrain (like forests in Alcara) which I didn't add because I thought it was too busy already. But the FCW is avail for anyone who wants to alter any or all of those heh. Regional maps made from this would include much more detail heh. Again, thanks for all the advice and encouragement.
Comments
Should I remove the darker ocean fills? Or redo them?
HEH..I can't tell anymore
Cal
Then the country is about 4 million square miles, roughly speaking. About the size of Canada with a bit of a hole in it.
I wouldn't say there's too much going on for that kind of area.
As for the ocean fills, you coul dtry increasing the edge fade/blur (I can't remember which effects are on there right now) by a considerable amount and making the transition a lot smoother.
Well, thankee, @Loopysue
I went on with it and going to call this done pending review by our fellow mapmakers.
It's beautiful :)
Thank you, Sue. 🙂
Post-Mortem
I had a lot of trouble with 'Trace': this command failed to register the nodes on my convoluted shapes. Note that this style is opposite of other styles in that the drawing area is Land and you draw in the water. That may be what is affecting the Trace functionality. Unsure.
For the Scale I set this map at (2700 x 2700) the actual drawing area turned out to be smaller. The symbols did not auto-scale. I had to manually set scales via Scale Symbols in Map or, use Symbols in Area. Both of these actions were difficult to do. (more on SIA later)
Typical symbols, fills, etc, going to the wrong sheets and layers. It was a frickin constant battle to put things on the 'correct' sheets. No doubt, many entities are still on the wrong sheets.
I was compelled to create many different SHEETS and LAYERS and apply my own effects---despite the fact that this style comes, out of the box, loaded with tons of SHEETS and LAYERS. Each of these with varying effects, and many of those I could not duplicate other than to copy and paste. I wonder, now, if the entities used multi-sheets though I cannot remember or check at this time.
Symbols in Area: this was a gargantuan hassle. No matter what value I placed in Max Symbols to Place, the area was always sparsely populated. I had to use SIA 4 or 5 times to fill my 'area'. Never had this problem before on other maps. I'm thinking Remy will break in here with an explanation heh 😁
Drop Shadow Effect: on my TEXT sheet! This was unbelievably useless. I couldn't get a dark drop shadow regardless of blur or offset, merely a fuzzy halo of black. Never had this problem before.
Light Sea Contour: omg. I tried activating my own drawing tools with various fills and could not get this to work. Again, I believe this to be because the obverse of land vs sea is how this style must be drawn.
Missing TERRAINS: marsh/swamp, ice/glacier/snow. I had to delve into other styles (per Remy's instructions, of course) to install acceptable fills for these terrains. It may be that Sue planned on this, as Darklands and Spectrum styles compliment each other very well.
OVERALL: I love Darklands style. It's just beautiful. It satisfies my hankering for a mix of realism vs artism (I'm making up that word). It can allow the mapmaker to do a quick, artsy map; and, with some effort, a more realistic map. I highly recommend this style to my fellow mapmakers.
thanks
Cal
A real privilege to see this develop from beginning to finish.
Thank you, sir. So, I will include the FCW below for anyone's use:
I hope you enjoy my map.
Cal
Thank you, Cal :)
Unfortunately I did not realise when I designed the style with a border that the border would be counted as part of the map and included in the dimensions. Retrospectively, I would perhaps have done it differently without the border, but that is one of those things you can only regret at leisure. I'm sorry for any inconvenience it caused.
Niether did I deliberately make Spectrum and Darklands in a way that the fills would compliment one another. I must have a set palette in my head no matter how pale or dark I attempt to make everything be! LOL! This is something that you discovered.
Doesn't look crowded to me. Larger you make it, longer it will take to map all of it.
Well, it works perfectly! Nothing to regret. It's awesome and I am eagerly waiting for the city versions! I need it! heh
Cal
Heh! Good point, Sir
Cal
Stunning map. And to think it all started with a couple of circles on a green background. The coasts looks so dynamic and compelling.
Thanks, everyone.
There's tweaking that could be done: text sizes here and there, and omitted terrain (like forests in Alcara) which I didn't add because I thought it was too busy already. But the FCW is avail for anyone who wants to alter any or all of those heh. Regional maps made from this would include much more detail heh. Again, thanks for all the advice and encouragement.
Cal
Just updating the FCW for those who want it.
HI Calibre,
You've done a fantastic job on this map, it looks magnificent.
Heyyas, Dak
Thank you so much!
Cal