Linda - it won't let you re-rep somebody too soon, so just try all the ones you wanted to and some will fail :-).
Akkk - it took forever to vote. Because I spent so much time actually mapping for a change, I didn't have time to comment much through the month in the WIP threads, so I'll include a few such. Few:ha. Since when do I ever use just a few words?
Thanks, Tigon. And for the several of you who've wondered how to pronouce Chyogamsidyo, it goes like
<evil grin>. Seriously - A couple of my daughters are learning Korean, so for grins and consistency I tried to come up with names that could be represented in Hangul. I'm sure I loused some up, but it did make randomly slinging syllables easier.
Votes & comments:
Balrathia - definite kudos for using cloud cover above cloud-derived landforms. I'm always counseling people to use fewer fonts and distinguish between features by things like size, bold, italic. You've succeeded in a wiiiiide variety of clearly distinguishable meanings for *one* font. Now, some of the lighting angles may be wonky (are ocean names supposed to be incised in the water??), but I can sho' 'nuff tell features apart! The pixellated coastline kind of detracts from the photorealistic satellite view, BUT that depiction of the terrain is well carried out.
Camulus - *awesome* mountains - actually all the terrain and trees are great, and I too love the flag depiction of I assume cities? But the shaded/beveled coasts and incised rivers detract from the whole hand-drawn vibe you are shooting for, as do the forest names with trees beneath half ghosted out. Cool effect, but how would a cartographer do that with pen, ink, and paint? The wave lines are likewise more mechanical than I'd expect a handdrawn map to have... not that I have a suggested alternative, other than insanity-inducing hand tracery. Unless - did somebody recently post about stroking such with a touch of jitter? Note - I still saved it to enjoy later :-).
Clouds Rest - "map based on clouds"; well, ya can't get more completely compliant than that! I read the concept as 'start with a real cloud', but this take on it is really neat, and is executed delightfully. I sure hope to see more of your work!
Skyfall - nothing wrong with what you've done, it just seems unfinished (which you know, since you wanted to do more on it). Not that continents never have uninteresting/ bare areas, just that one would expect a mapper to have drawn in something, even if just a notation "Here be sand fleas." I bet you'd love the output of Ramah's TreeThing for a map like this.
Bridge of Tears - I love that the sunset clouds already looked like lava. Of course it's a wooden door - half the pile of skulls could be the guys sent to periodically replace the door when it burns. :-)
Hazy Sands - It's cool you were able to coax terrain out of those clouds - nice work. Yeah, the speckle texture screams "sand", but I question whether that ought to have gone across the water and lettering also. I find myself wondering what the swirly patterns depict... you no doubt have a story to tell with this.
Deep Ruins - Wow. I like it a lot. I first interpreted the drowned portion as *revealed* land that used to be continental shelf but is now land - maybe a pictogram key showing the different symbols as above vs. below water would make that clear. You asked how people would use such a map. As-is, it's perfect as a display piece. Perfect. To use for a game, I'd put in annotations in readable script of what the incomprehensible labels sound like -- it's too unwieldy to explain your party comes from the third dot along the south side of the northernmost river. Even if it's some dubious 'romanization' by a drunk scribe, it'll let your players say "Tang Doo Kow" or "Bubbaville" or whatever.
Etheria - Nice advert for what one can do with Wilbur. I have GOT to start fooling around with that. I assume you left in a bit of sampled city? That works, even though generating your own might be more satisfying. Some of the trees look lit from SE, while the terrain looks lit from SW. On such a thoroughly (and effectively!) photoreal view, I'd like the roads better if they were nestled into the trees more, with some shadows and overhang. Ditto for the farmland. Very pretty, though.
Aedenis - Glad you showed the work in progress steps. Otherwise I'd accuse you of scanning a genuine old map, and backfitting a cloud picture to match. It's that good. Definitely saved in my inspiration folder.
Cavern Koretar - The cloud did gen a great cave shape, and the symbology states "this is a cave", yet it looks like outdoors on an evening to me. After staring at the buildings a while I can see you really did a good job of aligning shadows with your 'splotch sources' of light. But I wonder why they need peaked roofs underground - drippy ceiling, maybe? And underground grass? Fungus, maybe :-). I really like the way the whole thing looks, I just have a hard time 'buying' it.
Shrouded Valley - oooooh, purty. I wish you'd had time to do something with the original cloud photo still incorporated. As it is it seems like a really nice drawing/painting inspired by clouds, not based on 'em. I definitely want to see more of your art though! Thanks for the flags/ banners you posted - bet I can find a use for some.
Galilean Commonwealth - Thank you for the innovative cloud start, and for the good-looking result too. My desktop background is a view of the Tarantula Nebula, so now I'm seeing terrain peeking out from behind windows, instead of stars :-). What's your workflow for generating the terrain & drainage? Both are nicely plausible. Thank you for losing the Papyrus font. Nice as it is, it's so overused that there's a blog devoted to exposing its overexposure. Which if you think about it is both ridicule and reverence, of a sort :-). Anyway, I like the whole thing - very pleasant.
Stratocum - delightful WilburWonder as always, Waldronate!
North Nimbus Sea - keep this up, daemaree - the look is really good. Can you maybe show us more of your workflow to get from A to B? Because I'd like to do some maps like this. If it falls short, it's just in being so bare - even with the beautiful insets, I start wondering "is it really empty? No cultural or political features at all?" Even if the focus is the terrain, I'd figure to see a minimum of locator-type info - the locals would care that that peninsula is where Yadda City is, and yonder gap is where the border of the YaddaYadda Republic is. Shoot, even a scale would be adding useful data. Btw, I appreciate you jumping in with a contest entry as your second post.... I hope that's indicative of future input enthusiasm :-).
Altostratus - drop-dead gorgeous. Wish you'd had time to finish. Feel like continuing anyway <hint, hint> ?
And from those, I've voted Aedenis, Deep Ruins, Galilean Commonwealth.
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Originally Posted by jbgibson
I'm just really excited that a forum like this exists. I can't wait to build my skills and get great feedback from people who know what they're talking about. 
