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The Cartographers’ Guild is a forum created by and for map makers and aficionados, a place where every aspect of cartography can be admired, examined, learned, and discussed. Our membership consists of professional designers and artists, hobbyists, and amateurs—all are welcome to join and participate in the quest for cartographic skill and knowledge.
Although we specialize in maps of fictional realms, as commonly used in both novels and games (both tabletop and role-playing), many Guild members are also proficient in historical and contemporary maps. Likewise, we specialize in computer-assisted cartography (such as with GIMP, Adobe apps, Campaign Cartographer, Dundjinni, etc.), although many members here also have interest in maps drafted by hand.
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Hidroth Lea was an important town in the longest running campaign I've DM'd. I've been meaning to map it for years, but only recently got around to it.
Excellent work! The overall image seems a little too dark / low contrast to me, but that's just a personal preference. Excellent textures! Did you use a 3D program to generate the buildings and the cast-shadows?
Thanks NoneTheWiser! Yeah I think you are right about the quality of light in this piece. I toyed around with the light settings and this was the best I came up with, but I think it could be improved upon. As to the buildings, no actually each building was configured separately (consisting of several layers) and then manually placed and rotated within the map. The shadows are a combination of the drop shadow filter modified by hand drawn elements. Cheers, -Arsheesh
Am i allowed to use this map for a campaign of my own? It would be greatly appreciated as i currently have little in the way of maps to represent towns/cities. In addition can i use any of your other works for the same purpose, in particular "The Ruins of Dragonport"
You bet Magnahail. So long as it's being used for a private campaign rather than a commercial endeavor I'm more than happy for you to do so. I hope it serves you well. Cheers, -Arsheesh
Thanks man (i assume), It'll really help and its just for a private campaign which im DM'ing.
Do you do any tutorials on making maps?
Hi Bradley, as a matter of fact yes, I have several. If you check out my Profile, in my Signature (under the "About Me" tab) you'll find links to these. However I haven't as yet written any tutorials on creating town/city maps. This is a project I hope to tackle at some point in the future. Cheers, -Arsheesh
Nice map! I like the colors and level of detail. I also thought it was done in 3d or with the help of 3d software, interesting to know that it wasn't. I like how this map looks realistic and stylized or even idealized at the same time. Textured but clean and easily readable. Still being new here, I'm not sure if or when it makes sense to comment album pictures, instead of comment in the thread which as I guess also exists about this map. Just wanted to leave some praise.
Hello Yrda, thanks for the kind words! "Realistic and stylized or even idealized" is exactly the sort of look I was shooting for, so I'm happy to here you say that. Welcome to the Guild! It's perfectly acceptable to comment in either an album thread or the finished map thread. Most people tend to do the latter but either works. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work in the near future. Cheers, -Arsheesh
