Reply With QuoteI really love this idea and execution so far; how exactly did you do that bottom map - Wilbur? I would love to know how you achieved that look.
The Great Valley
Hello Guildies,
After having finally decided to finish a map I start (something I am yet to do) I figured this would be a good place to keep a journal/record of my progress. Wasn't really sure which section to place this in as it will be a combination region/city map (or maybe two maps). There is no time limit on this though I do plan on finishing it. That's the main point of starting it.
Anyway, I wanted to move away from the regular world maps I mess with and decided to focus on a smaller region with a rather unique terrain (in terms of scale). After some brain storming I came up with the idea of a giant canyon or valley set within a very large high altitude stony desert (2500m). Flowing down the centre of the valley would be a large river with an average width of 2km. Flowing from the tributary canyons and valleys would be smaller rivers and streams. Finally, a large empire/kingdom would stretch down the valley. I have yet to decide if the states/provinces will be able to span from valley wall to valley wall (across the river) or if they will be limited to one side of the river (by imperial/royal decree).
Here's what I've done so far;
Sloped Rivers.png
The Great Valley 001.png
The Great Valley 200b.jpg
Colours aren't final and there is still a lot to do. Any comments and suggestions would be appreciated.
I really love this idea and execution so far; how exactly did you do that bottom map - Wilbur? I would love to know how you achieved that look.
I think it's just an enlarged closeup of the area re-run through wilbur.Originally Posted by Diamond
The first two images are made solely in Wilbur. The third is a composition of various layers in GIMP but all of the height info is also generated in Wilbur. Basically, I did 50 passes of 'precipiton erosion' to image two before resizing it. Included is a lot of manual editing to ensure that river flow looks 'pleasing'.
I really must think about getting Wilbur...
Okay, I've now finished the topology and river placement. I'm still trying to find a style for forests that will work well and I'm not happy with the colours but they will do for the time being. The current border is just a bit of silliness that I added as a means of limiting the vast open spaces of the desert plateau. I re-exported the data at 5000x5000 px so as I'd have a bit more freedom to work. I'm currently toying with the idea of rotating the map about 45 deg cw and having a 'landscape' layout.
I'd really appreciate suggestions for a forest style if that would be possible.
The Great Valley 400.jpg
Would a civilization located on the banks of a river that is 2.5 km wide have ferries (with permanent landings) or would it just have shipping lanes? Is there really much of a difference and would they have to be shown either way?
Ferry routes are often indicated as they function as a road of sorts. Without bridges or sufficient bridges for the flow of traffic it would be certain to have ferries. It would also have shipping without a doubt. Shipping channels are not likely to be indicated in anything but a nautical map, and even then all they indicate is the safe part of the river in terms of bottom clearance. There would also be dredgers, water taxis, fishermen, people living on boats etc. Think Hong Kong. I say this because it seems to me that the river would be the center of their life and civilization given he otherwise remote appearance of your location. They would directly rely on it and also on cities farther down the river.
@ Falconius
That's pretty much what I was thinking. The majority of the civilization will be reliant on The River (as apt a name as any). Those living further from the banks less so, though it would still remain the major form of long distance transport.
I understand your point about ferry routes being shown as they are integral to transport and considering that I am showing roads I should probably include said ferry routes. My main concern is that as things are now The River has a width of 4-5 pixels (2-2.5 km). This doesn't really leave much room for the depiction of ferry routes. I seem to have the option to either increase the resolution of my map (already 5200x2800) or leave out river traffic routes and only include them in zoomed maps for particular areas (capitals and what-not).
Ah I assumed you were dealing on a different scale mistakenly. For some reason I though you'd have it down to city scale. I think river routes can be assumed on a region map of this size, or alternatively you can list the routes in a table on the the side.
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