Westport: The Old Harbor WIP (Final Pass)

[Scarce]

Hello all!

As it's my first time posting, I thought I'd make a show of it with my new (and very nearly complete) map, Westport. This is part of a larger effort between a friend and I to map the more significant regions of our campaign world, yet this is the first I feel that is truly presentable. Please critique honestly, but be aware that I think I'm on the last pass or two, so I might ignore really foundational change suggestions.

Westport - The Old Harbor.png

[feanaaro]

Very nice layout. I think it would look better if you made the black outlines thinner (like 2px maximum) and you did the walls with a less strong trait.
What program did you use?

Edit: also, isn't it missing the port itself? Shouldn't there be wharfs somewhere?

[Meshon]

Fantastic! I really love ambitiously crowded city maps. I agree with feanaaro that thinner lines for the buildings would probably look better. I would also suggest giving your monochrome areas a little texture, either with mottled colour or even just a very transparent overlay of a bump map or clouds filter (if you're using Photoshop) or something similar. Perhaps also a cobblestone texture for the city areas.

Also I notice that a lot of your back alleys are very straight. This may be one of those foundational changes that's not really worth spending time on, but if it's not a lot of work (depending on how you've built this map) I would suggest making the lines of the back alleys a bit more organic.

Ultimately even if you don't change it one bit from here you've got a great, detailed city map that is going to offer a fantastic place to explore. Nicely done!

cheers,
Meshon

[Scarce]

I think it would look better if you made the black outlines thinner (like 2px maximum) and you did the walls with a less strong trait.
What program did you use?

I agree that in retrospect I should have used 2px instead of 5px for my buildings (I anticipated their scaling to be somewhat different.) Unfortunately, that amount of line work will take eons to change, so I'll focus on implementing it on the next map.

I used GIMP.

Edit: also, isn't it missing the port itself? Shouldn't there be wharfs somewhere?

Hm, I intended the brown line along the coast to represent (albeit in a minimal way) the docks. If you have a good example of how this could be done better, I would love to see it.

[Scarce]

Also I notice that a lot of your back alleys are very straight. This may be one of those foundational changes that's not really worth spending time on, but if it's not a lot of work (depending on how you've built this map) I would suggest making the lines of the back alleys a bit more organic.

Thanks so much for your kind words. The occasional straightness of some back alleys was an intentional decision that I thought would help emphasize the sprawling randomness of the city streets by giving it places where it's more orderly, perhaps indicative of a very new or very old row of buildings, which clashes with the surroundings. Do you think my next map could benefit from fewer orderly streets?

[Meshon]

Thanks so much for your kind words. The occasional straightness of some back alleys was an intentional decision that I thought would help emphasize the sprawling randomness of the city streets by giving it places where it's more orderly, perhaps indicative of a very new or very old row of buildings, which clashes with the surroundings. Do you think my next map could benefit from fewer orderly streets?

Nope, you did it on purpose, that's good enough for me. I just think of back alleys as being dodgier than the front streets, but it's a valid design decision.

As to the line width: I use Photoshop so this may not work the same in GIMP, but you could try selecting the colour that is the interior of the buildings and then expand that selection by about 1/4 of your line width. Then fill with white and see how it looks. If that explanation isn't working I can try to do it better, just ask. I'm just short on time right now but will have more later!

cheers,
Meshon

[madcowchef]

Hmm I don't know much about gimp, but could you use a selection tool to just pick out the white parts, then expand the selection and delete that from the black lines or fill with white to make the lines thinner? Also nicely filled city!

Edit: Me and Meshon had the same idea for some reason his post didn't show up till after I posted mine.

[feanaaro]

Or, for the next map, would not be easier to just paint the houses in white (or whatever) and then apply a stroke, so that you could easily adjust it later if needed?
I don't use GIMP, but it should have something like the "stroke" effect, no?

[NedS298]

This is a good map; it is clear and has a clean layout. However, the style is inconsistent - you've used black and white buildings against a vibrant (perhaps overly saturated and bright) background. I also agree that the stroke on the buildings is too large. Overall, though, the map is already quite a good one and if you rectify those problems it will function better.

[Scarce]

you could try selecting the colour that is the interior of the buildings and then expand that selection by about 1/4 of your line width. Then fill with white and see how it looks.

I think I can see how this might be done with my current layer setup. I'll post results when I try it out.

EDIT: I've implemented the thinner lines on the buildings (though I'm not sure that this method yielded the best results) and I've thrown textures on my water and grass layers.

Westport - The Old Harbor 2.png

But, ya know, I'm not sure the textures make it seem objectively better. What do you guys think?