ProFantasy Community Forum

Tips for making my coastline cool, unique, and distinct?

jackypaperjackypaper
in Mapping with ProFantasy's Software
When you're working with your coastline, what techniques do you use for making it look "cool" against the background of the sea? I can't seem to find the right sheet effect or other trick, so right now it looks rather plain.

What are some of the things the community members do to give their coastlines a rich or authentic look?

Thanks!
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Comments

  • JimPJimP 🖼️ 280 images Cartographer
    What scale ?

    For large overland maps I don't do anything.

    In CC2 I for small scale harbor areas, I use color 55 rocks on a color 5 ocean near the town/harbor.

    I haven't done a harbor in CC3 yet, but it shouldn't be a problem.
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  • MidgardsormrMidgardsormr
    edited March 2008
    I am not tremendously experienced with CC3 yet, but I have experimented with a small bevel on the coastline along with an interior glow over textured water. This map illustrates those settings. The bevel is so small that it looks like an outline, but it isn't.

    There are also two sheets with polys that roughly follow the coastline that have their transparency turned way up, and they're blurred quite a bit. I tweaked those quite a bit until I found settings that worked, but I never was entirely satisfied with the effect. It worked well for the compass rose, though.
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  • jackypaperjackypaper
    That is one sharp-looking map, Midgardsormr!
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  • RalfRalf Administrator, ProFantasy 🖼️ 18 images Mapmaker
    I'll almost always use a slight glow (white or light blue) on the landmass, and sometimes a yellow interior glow to create a beach along the coast. For sea contours I use the Edge Fade Inner effect to make the transitions smooth, as I don't like to blur polygons with bitmap fills (it destroys the texture of the bitmap fill IMHO).
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  • PatrakisPatrakis
    I agree with Ralph about the blur effect ... except for large rivers. I usually depict rivers with 3 shades of blur, lightly blured and inner edge faded between each shades of blue to get a seamless transition. This usually works for me :)

    Pat
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