Introduction and first maps

[landorl]

Hello,

My name is Steve Landers, and I have been mapping for some time. Early on, I did a lot of hand drawn maps, then when CC2 came along, I converted them to that, and now I am using CC3 as well as Photoshop. I am not well versed in Photoshop, and there is quite a learning curve there, so I am right now using the Terraficta add on, but I have also done some hand drawn maps that I edited and colored in Photoshop.

Here is my game world, that I am working on in CC3, and one of my regional maps from that in Terraficta. I am still working on both, and probably always will be!
New Kesumi.JPG

Calahorn.jpg

[thebax2k]

Wow! I'll leave it to the pros here for specific comments on how to improve your map (paging Publius...), but I like what I see so far. Your regional map reminds me of the pseudo satellite looking maps they use for regions in the German RPG, the Dark Eye--very sharp looking.

[pyrandon]

Very nice work--especially the Terraficta regional. The world map--to my tastes --is far to "computer-ish", meaning it looks like a computer generated jpg vs. an authentic map, but (if you choose) this could easily be tweaked in Photoshop with some blurring, color (esp. hue & saturation) play, and other such things.

Great posts! I look forward to seeing where you go from here!

[RPMiller]

Welcome to the community landorl! Great maps you have there! I agree about the regional map. Terraficta is a great tool, and it just so happens that its creator is a member here.

I really like how the cities look on the regional map and there seems to be some decent thought to the placement of the geography. I am curious about the mountain ranges on the global map though. They don't really give a strong impression of plate tectonics, but rather an assumption that everything is moving toward the center of each continent from all directions, but that isn't entirely accurate either.

I would be interested in more information regarding how the continents were shaped. Also, do you have other geographical information such as climate and rainfall for your world?

[ravells]

Wow...great stuff! Is there any chance you could post a bigger picture of the world map? It's hard to make out the detail. I haven't used Terraficta before but if what you have posted is a straight generation from it without any post work, it looks glorious. If you have done postwork (apart from the labels etc) I'd love to know what you did!

Welcome!

Ravs

[landorl]

I have to admit that plate tectonics is rather weak in the world map. I had originally designed the northeastern section of the central continent for a story that I was writing, and slowly built more of the world around it.

The world is a fantasy setting, and is a combination of natural ebb and flow of things, as well as some unnatural cataclysmic changes that happened a few thousand years ago. (Think of Middle Earth at the end of the First Age)

I am still working on climate and temperatures. For the most part, the world is similar in size and scale to our own world (work with what you know!). I still have a long way to go on general world creation, but I have an idea as to where I am heading. I may do a little redesigning as I look to make it a little more accurate with the adding of plates and faultlines.

[RPMiller]

There have been some great links and posts regarding world creation in these forums so do some searches and I'm sure you'll find a few things that will really help and inspire you.

[landorl]

I have mostly used the Terraficta tool as is. The only thing that I did extra was to use the brush tool to spray different shades of green and brown for the background(ground surface). I also expanded the default size of their templates to fit the drawing that I was using.

Terraficta is a great add on for Photoshop, it has all of the layers predefined with the effects that they need to get the look that you are looking for.

[landorl]

This is a new map showing the general lines of the major faults in the world. the red lines mark the faults. I have put an arrow showing the general drift of the plates. In general everything is drifting away from a central range of mountains that mark the spine of the world. I have placed in a blue line where the deepest ocean trenches would be, and in a brown line (which is hard to see) where some undersea mountain ridges would be.

I am not sure that the trenches are in the right location though. I don't know exactly which side of the fault that a trench would form on.

[RPMiller]

Based on that diagram you actually wouldn't have mountain ranges in a couple places. Mountains don't from because there is a fault line. They form, typically, because one plate is moving underneath another plate. For example, look at North Arafran. See how the arrows are pointing away from each other? This would not form a mountain range. Instead it would create a canyon or rift, and actually break the continent apart at some point much like South America and Africa. Note how the mountains in South America are on the western side. That is because the plate is pushing away from Africa and into the South Pacific plate.

Of course a lot of it is also going to have to do with the age of the world as well. The younger it is the lower and fewer mountains there will be.

And of course we can't discount magic in a fantasy setting. Once magic enters the picture you can toss out any 'real world' issues.

You obviously have put some serious time and consideration into the world and I would love to see how it evolves as you continue to move forward.