Hmm what bothers me is the pixelaltion and the sharpness of the outlining. Also the numbers labels aren't really legible when zoomed out.
The style is a streamlined version of what I used previously for some of my personal maps, to make it quicker and easier... but actually I'm feeling it works better this way, without needing to obsess on the single-building level as I usually end up doing.
It sort of look like a 19th century map, though this city is apparently more of a low-tech fantasy (as the other ones I mapped for myself in a similar style).
Unnamed and unlabeled as that part is left to the client.
A couple of variations are included. Let me know what you think (if you want!)
Edit: forgot to credit the hachures brush, which is J. Edward's good work
First-City-(Commission)White.png
First-City-(Commission)Parchment.png
First-City-(Commission)Flatter.png
Last edited by feanaaro; 08-15-2014 at 05:11 PM.
Hmm what bothers me is the pixelaltion and the sharpness of the outlining. Also the numbers labels aren't really legible when zoomed out.
At 50% size the numbers should be legible and the pixelation not noticeable.
Hey feanaaro - glad to see that the brushes have been useful.
Did you use photoshop for all the outlines? [buildings, land, etc.]
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J. Edward, yes it's all photoshop. I know it would have been crisper in vectors, but that would have been too much work at my current level of competence.
Max, I posted it at full size, which is 1px = 1m, thus the entire map is ~ 3.3 * 2.3 km. The area inside the walls is roughly 1.6 kmq
If it's intended to be printed, the pixelation should be less noticeable indeed but some labels would be still hardly legible (especially the 7, 10, 11 and 13)
How wide were the lines? Meaning the brush setting?
That may be why it looks pixelated.
Two suggestions to go along with what Max is talking about - the font. A sans serif font would probably look bolder at a smaller size like that.
And the other is that if you move the numbers slightly on certain buildings they will show up better.
I did a quick sample of what I'm talking about. The font is actually slightly smaller but more readable. [It's Adobe Gothic std.]
First-City-(Commission)Flatter.jpg
And aside from that the city looks good. Well laid out.
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The numbers are not that important in the end, since they probably won't be used by the client. I don't like sans serif though.
The lines are mostly 1px wide, but as I said, at 50% size (or at 100% on a retina macbook pro) the pixelation isn't so noticeable. 100% on a standard resolution screen would only show a slice of the map and not be so useful anyway.
Okay. Just a suggestion. No worries feanaaro.
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