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Thread: Map of Skelor

  1. #1
    Guild Novice CaptainAhab's Avatar
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    Default Map of Skelor

    Hello everybody,

    I'm Ahab from Germany, and this is my first map. It is supposed to be used in a fiction project of mine, and I just started off with it. I followed the steps of the Saderan Tutorial which I found somewhere here.

    I'm not that happy with how my underwater geology turned out, and my mountains don't look that high as well. Some of the mountain ranges should've turned out quite high, but somehow they didn't. Well, first try...

    Please check it out:
    skelor_map.jpg

  2. #2
    Guild Member Facebook Connected Thordred's Avatar
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    I agree with the mountain-part, they doesn't really look high.

    The water looks good imo, however maybe a bit less glow on the continent would improve it.

    But I think it's a good first try!

  3. #3
    Community Leader mearrin69's Avatar
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    It's a great first try. Have some rep for jumping right in!
    M

  4. #4
    Guild Novice CaptainAhab's Avatar
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    Thanks!

    What do you guys think about the land mass itself? And the arrangement of forests, mountains, desert and rivers and so on? I'm not sure whether this makes sense in a geological way. I know it's fantasy, but the more believable it is, the better it is, right?

    Really like the shape of the land masses, though.

  5. #5
    Guild Journeyer Freehand 5.5's Avatar
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    I like your map. The graphic is nicely done.

    The River Police:
    There's a dividing river that flows partially into a dead-end lake. Very very rare.

    The Mountain Police:
    Mountains are more likely in the center of the land. Your's are all at the coasts. Maybe okay, but rare.

    The Desert Police:
    Coastal deserts are quite rare. Deserts which are surrounded by coastlines are even more rare and can only be deserts due to soil erosion.
    But what is the reason of that partial erosion that didn't hit the woody neighborhood? Questionable.

    The Coast Guard
    The undersea mountains don't look very realistic. They look more like land mountains. However I like them.

    So at an overall point of view the geological reality of this map would be very very unlikely.
    One can say more precisely if you put a scale onto your map.
    Last edited by Freehand 5.5; 01-31-2013 at 06:12 AM.

  6. #6
    Community Leader Guild Sponsor - Max -'s Avatar
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    pretty nice first jump that deserves a bit of rep

    Colours police : The map lacks of a bit of contrast imo and so lands seems a bit flat.

  7. #7
    Guild Expert Facebook Connected Caenwyr's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CaptainAhab View Post
    Thanks!

    What do you guys think about the land mass itself? And the arrangement of forests, mountains, desert and rivers and so on? I'm not sure whether this makes sense in a geological way. I know it's fantasy, but the more believable it is, the better it is, right?

    Really like the shape of the land masses, though.
    Hi Ahab, this is a stunning map for a first-timer. Before I lauch into any kind of critique, I'd like to say I too like the landmasses in this map! The mountains... there's tons of tutorials on the Guild that can teach you how to do them, it all depends on the style you prefer to use. But I really like their position on the map, they appear to be in really logical places. So thumbs up from me with regards to the mountains!

    When it comes to the rivers though, I have two remarks:
    1. the river on the eastern landmass seems a bit too "snakey" if you ask me. Rivers generally flow downhill, they won't double back unless the geography makes them, and even then erosion will eventually take much of that effect away.
    2. My second remark is about the river on the western landmass, the one that flows through what I suppose is a desert. I'm not sure, but it seems like it splits up in two rivers, one discharging into a lake, another flowing into the ocean. If that's how you meant it, I'd like to point out that rivers almost never split up like that, and if they do, it's only for very short stretches. Another remark to be made if that presumption is correct, is that water that flows into a lake, must flow out of it again as well, and there seems to be no river flowing from the lake to the sea.
      Then again, I might be wrong, and perhaps that "strange" river is actually flowing from the lake into the other river. This would make much more sense, even though the joint of the two rivers seems to be in the wrong direction then. I guess if the river is flowing out of the lake, there should be a river flowing into it as well, but perhaps its absense could be explained away by the fact that you simply don't draw that small a river.
      Whichever of the cases is true here, I guess you should look into that river basin a bit.

    Before you start panicking: don't worry, these are just minor remarks, I've seen maps that have way worse mistakes when it comes to rivers. Apparently rivers are one of the tougher things to get your head around. It's easier to draw them than drawing mountains, but finding the correct location can be a real pain in the butt. I would like to point you to this massively important thread by none other than the great Redrobes. I'm sure you'll find all the information you need there.

    Lastly, when it comes to climate zones (forests, deserts, etc), it all depends on where on the globe this cluster of islands (or is it continents?) is situated. And for that, my friend, we need your input ;-).
    Last edited by Caenwyr; 01-31-2013 at 08:55 AM.
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  8. #8
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    really nice first map. I like the Sea, and the landmasses as well. My only critique would be the lack of depth in the land masses, the coloring is very subtle, which I think adds to the flatness of the mountains.

  9. #9

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    This is your first map still looking really great. Great start friend. Keep it up.
    "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."-Confucius
    Old map and Historic map

  10. #10
    Guild Novice CaptainAhab's Avatar
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    Thanks for the inspiring feedback everybody! And also for the Rep.

    I thought a lot about the rivers and decided to redo the whole thing. I just kept the land mass because I really like it. The new mountains look more plastic, and I did my best to let the rivers flow in a way it makes sense. Also I redid the ocean geology. I kinda learned how to better paint in layer hide masks.

    What do you think of the progress so far? I just hoped to get some feedback at this point before I dig into grass and forests again.

    Thanks in advance, people!

    skelor_map_2.jpg

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