1st Map - Mídden Mââr

This is a map of the world for 'Riders of the Abyss', a game my son and I have been working on for some time now. I hadn't actually intended to try and make a map yet, I was merely reading through Ascension and Tear's tutorials to see if I was capable enough at my skill level of making it all the way through them.

After making it this far I read Ascension's post elsewhere on the boards here about the proper order of placing mountains, rivers, etc. (great post btw, thanks much for taking the time to do that). At some point I'll go back and redo this map using that guide. The continents here should actually be farther apart than this map would indicate, and there are some islands missing in a couple places.

I still need to figure out how to do borders, and I can't make the compass I want until I can find an actual artist. For now, I want to try and do each of these continents separately as atlas type maps. There are quite a few of your styles that I would love to try. It's like being a kid in a candy store though, they're all very impressive, and it's hard for me to try and figure out where to start. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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I think you've done a fine job. The only thing that I see that could use a tweak is those little goldish labels like Blackfire...I think you could use a stroke around the letters of a dark or dark dark brown.

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Originally Posted by Ascension

I think you've done a fine job. The only thing that I see that could use a tweak is those little goldish labels like Blackfire...I think you could use a stroke around the letters of a dark or dark dark brown.

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Thank you kindly for the pointer. I was trying to figure out a way to make them a little more noticeable without becoming eyesores. Is this better.. or do you think they need to be more prominent?

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The bottoms of the letters look kind of weird, like a gray drop shadow is interfering with the stroke (which is odd in itself since stroke takes precedence over every other layer effect). But, all in all, you could leave it as is if you like.

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Originally Posted by Ascension

The bottoms of the letters look kind of weird, like a gray drop shadow is interfering with the stroke (which is odd in itself since stroke takes precedence over every other layer effect). But, all in all, you could leave it as is if you like.

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You were exactly right... there was a drop shadow. The stroke was a good idea.. and I started thinking about the direction you were trying to show me. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that darker names with a light colored stroke might look better and be easier to read. Wha'cha think.. better or worse?

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If you're going to make them dark then I'd make them smaller as they're too similar to the bigger labels. Now, mind you, this are all aesthetic advice and what you have is not "wrong" in any sense. Personally, I like the tan letters better.

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Originally Posted by Ascension

If you're going to make them dark then I'd make them smaller as they're too similar to the bigger labels. Now, mind you, this are all aesthetic advice and what you have is not "wrong" in any sense. Personally, I like the tan letters better.

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Then my first instinct was correct...lol. I knew the naming thing was harder than just typing out the word.. there's actually quite a few things to consider. Thanks for the time and patience man.

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Very nice work. I like the colors and texures, especially of the sea.

What in my opinion don't fit is the color of the island names. It's a bit too dark. If you make them "lighter" the fit more to rest of your text.