Nalduway - WIP

[irrayditation]

Nalduway is the setting for the fantasy novel I'm planning to write this November.

Naldu'e.png

Islands and all, the whole continent covers about the same amount of area as Europe or Australia. It also comprises the whole of the known world.

I'm experimenting with map styles (and also still learning what all i can do with gimp, which is the program i'm using) and trying to find something I find visually appealing. Any feedback at all would be very welcome.

[Domino44]

I love the shape of the land! I know it's not done yet but once you get some more texture to it and some landmarks I think this could be an epic map. I would encourage you to add other colors than just green, it would look great with a little brown and you should add more depth into the oceans. I also love detailed forests although they can be a pain to do.

[Meshon]

I'm guessing NaNoWriMo! Just 'cause, you know, a novel in November...

If the dark green areas are forests you could definitely add some texture and a subtle emboss to bring them up a bit, and like Domino says, adding some shading to the coastal regions would set off your land masses a bit more. I don't know GIMP but I understand it's similar to photoshop, so you could start by just playing around with layer effects for your ocean, plains, and forest layers.

I'm also a big fan of the shape of the continents. Satisfying landforms aren't always easy to create.

cheers,
Meshon

[irrayditation]

Thank you both! And, yes, i was referring to NaNoWriMo. I'm very excited.

I am planning to add more colors, particularly to indicate deserts and possibly other geographical areas. (I also have several other layers with information I need for the story, but those are mostly functional). Adding depth and texture sounds like a good idea too.

I'm still not quite satisfied with the mountains. I like them better than my original design, which was basically color-coding for elevation, but they still feel off - maybe adding depth to the rest of the land will help with that.

[Viking]

So far so good but I'd try to add more elevation if you can over more of the map. I am not sure if you are using a specific program or doing it by hand but to me the mountains make the rest of the land feel very very flat.

[irrayditation]

Naldu'e export 2.png
Still not complete, obviously, but I thought I'd share the progress I've made.

[Domino44]

The improvement is amazing! It doesn't feel half as flat as it did before. Keep working on it and I'm sure it will be an epic map just like I said it would.

[irrayditation]

Do you (or anyone) have any specific recommendations?

Especially about the mountains, because somehow I can't seem to get them right.

[Domino44]

I would go watch tutorials on making maps I saw a really cool one the other day...
Cartography in Photoshop - Mountains - YouTube

[irrayditation]

So gimp managed to delete all of my work despite me saving my work at every turn, but this is what i managed to save before that happened:
Naldu'e export.png