Aenea

Hello, Friends.

I'm posting a map of Aeneus, the nation just south of my main GURPS campaign nation, Pollexia.

I posted the Pollexia map some time ago here--both my first Photoshop map & my first posting here at the Guild. (ahhh...memories!) Anyway, so I went through all the trouble of creating that Pollexia map & what do my characters do? They decide to promptly leave Pollexia! (Should've sent in a few well-placed thunderbolts, I should've...) :)

This map of Aeneus is simply a new place in the exact same style as Pollexia. I utilized many, many improvements in the creation of this map that quickened its creation immensely (layer masks, for example, are divine!), but not many in the hand drawn style since I want to stay consistent on all my national maps.

Enjoy & take care.

Ok, castles and ruins need a slight blur I think. They seem too sharp compared to the rest of the map.

I love the map edge! Very cool.

And finally please tell us how to pronounce "Aeneus" because what comes to mind is not very pleasant and it rhymes with Ranus. ;)

heh, great map...

And Miller... Curse Ye! I was so pronouncing it 'ee nee us' until ye put the other rhyme in me head.

Also meant to say that I love the way this fella separates coastal waters from deep waters with the outline and horizontal lines... looks awesome.

((I'll also agree on those town and city markers needing toned down in contrast a bit but, that's an easy fix :D ))

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Originally Posted by RPMiller

Ok, castles and ruins need a slight blur I think. They seem too sharp compared to the rest of the map.

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Thanks for the suggestion. Done!

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Originally Posted by RPMiller

...And finally please tell us how to pronounce "Aeneus" because what comes to mind is not very pleasant and it rhymes with Ranus. ;)

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Oh my goodness! I just about fell off my chair laughing at that. (Am still chortling now!) I pronounce it closer to Duvik's interpretation: somewhere between "eh-NEE-us" and "eh-NAY-oos"--but nowhere near how you were pronouncing it, for that would make it a pretty crappy nation indeed, wouldn't it? ;)

I love the contours of your landmass (um, that sounds creepy like some Bad Cartographer's pickup line. Hopefully you take the proper meaning). The Oceans and the color scheme give it a nice antique look.

I'd maybe not have gone with a line quite as thick, but if it matches the other map you have used it is fine and doesn't detract or anything anyway.

I'd take things a step further than RP's suggestion and heave the city and ruin icons altogether. I'm no stunning artiste in this sense myself (to create some facsimile of buildings and whatnot) but I see nothing wrong with either a dot (and a triangle for the ruins) or an irregular shaded zone to indicate the city and the surrounding agricultural support area.

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Originally Posted by Publius

I love the contours of your landmass (um, that sounds creepy like some Bad Cartographer's pickup line. Hopefully you take the proper meaning).

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Okay, now you guys need to knock that off! I sometimes ready these postings late at night when my family's asleep, & hilarious posts like these cause to me to snort and bark out a laugh that would wake the dead!!! Ah-Hahaha!

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Originally Posted by Publius

I'd maybe not have gone with a line quite as thick, but if it matches the other map you have used it is fine and doesn't detract or anything anyway.

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Yes, it's in the old map too. (see here: http://www.cartographersguild.com/regional-world-mapping/474-id-appreciate-your-input.html ) Plus, I like it :)

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Originally Posted by Publius

I'd take things a step further than RP's suggestion and heave the city and ruin icons altogether. I'm no stunning artiste in this sense myself (to create some facsimile of buildings and whatnot) but I see nothing wrong with either a dot (and a triangle for the ruins) or an irregular shaded zone to indicate the city and the surrounding agricultural support area.

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You're right; nothing wrong with that at all, but my original intent was to do a sort of old map feel, when the idea of absolute symbolic representation had not yet occurred to cartographers. The Gough map was my original inspiration (http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/guides/maps/goughmap.htm), although I could not bring myself into making something that unattractive. Someday, perhaps.

On this same note, here's a neat site to compare some late-medieval & later styles of map symbols: http://www.geog.port.ac.uk/webmap/ha...map/symtab.htm

Thanks a ton for your input, Publius. You rock.

How did you get your paper texture?

It was a download from the WOTC "Map a Week" forum, I believe. (Sorry, I don't have the link or access to that site right now, from work)

If I were to do ti again now, though, I would definitely create my own. (Look under "parchment/paper" tutorials in the Tutorials Forum here at the Guild.)

Good luck!

I think the map has a great look to it, old school but at the same time its a unique take on the old style. Did you do the symbols yourself, or are they sourced from somewhere? If so do you have a link?

I know you do a lot of maps for your own campaign world. If you have a spare, some lonely map crying out for a context, feel free to drop it in the World Mapping project bin. ;)

Great work again.

Torq

Thanks, Torq. The entire map is my hand-drawn stuff. When I look at it now, a year later, I see some things I'd change, but generally it turned out all right. :)

I do think I'll get into the world mapping project some time, but right now I'm having a lull in my cartography (& rpg) interest; probably the time of year (I'm a teacher, and end of the school year is always rough; once summer hits I'll get recharged.)