Thread: My first (and second) maps ever... critique welcomed

Well I do like the colors that you are using, nice and subdued.

I don't often pull out my River Police Badge, but you seem to have a problem with your rivers splitting on the way to the Sea. This almost never happens unless there is some unnatural reason. Water goes from high ground (Mountains and Hills) to the low ground (Seas and Oceans). They will join with other flows on the way there, maybe divert around a bit of harder ground (look up Montreal on google maps), but not split like your rivers do at both Ashadome and Rivercross. The reverse would be more likely with those cities at where the feeders join. Try drawing the rivers from the sea and have them split heading towards the sources, they would look much more believable that way. Just keep it balanced.

Another suggestion would be to not pack your trees so tight. The density makes the forests seem way too regular and "unbelievable".

That said, Like I said earlier, I do like where you are going.

***Edit*** As for lightening the parchment, you could always put it below the rest and change the opacity of the layer

Thanks for the comments Korash. I see what you mean about the rivers. I can play around with that (I have them as a separate layer, so it's relatively easy to change).

For the trees, when I tried making them more separated it just looked weird. I either ended up with a packed forest or a desert with one lonely tree in it. I couldn't figure out how to find the middle ground between the two. Do you have any tips or links to good forest examples?

I am not sure what prog you are using (suspect CC3) or if this is compatible, but do a search for Ramah's "Tree Thing". It is a nice little script which works with tree images to make forests. Works quite well IMHO. As for any tips, it would really depend on the prog....not that I am much of an expert on any of them either - there are much better people to ask around here- but try looking at the stroke frequency...or whatever controls the density of the brush/fill. For links, look through the Finished Maps or Cartographers Choice sections and you should find some that are using a simular style.

Hello Seltsam1, the forum,

I sugess to change the color of the ground under the tree patche's; grass would be perfect; then the trees wouldn't look so alone.
By the way, I love the style of the map! It gives me idear on how to present my city and villages..but don't you worry, I won't copypast your work

Hey, pretty nice job for your first couple of maps! Welcome to the Guild Seltsam.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh