City of Fortune (reality check request)

[Aristotle]

Not much of an update, but...

<deletion: long winded paragraph where I propose increasing my map to 10k sq. miles.>
<addition: So I did a little more research and it appears I am using the term "square miles" all wrong. 800 miles from side to side isn't an 800 square mile map. It'd be... 640,000 square miles? So, a "bit" larger than my proposed increase to 10k. Excuse me while I go back to 5th grade and pay a little attention this time around.>

Also. I've been messing with some tutorials and am torn between the 'hand drawn' look and the more realistic look some of you have perfected. I've seen some amazing examples of both. I might have to save my coastlines and try my hand at each. I need coastlines first though, so I spent all night last evening playing with RobA's 'not so random coastlines' tutorial. I may have fallen into a (common?) trap of generating dozens of coastlines looking for the "right one."

I did find, given that the majority of my map is land, that working in reverse (black land and white water) tended to give me better lines. That might just be me though. I messed around with using different levels of blurring on my coastline and large lakes, and even rendering small selections with different sorts of clouds (i.e. normal clouds for the coast and difference clouds for the wetlands to create several smaller interconnected lakes). I also noticed that I could adjust Threshold on a selection, so I could break-up or solidify specific section of my map. I didn't get much further than that, but it was a fun night even if not very productive.

[jfrazierjr]

Not much of an update, but...

<deletion: long winded paragraph where I propose increasing my map to 10k sq. miles.>
<addition: So I did a little more research and it appears I am using the term "square miles" all wrong. 800 miles from side to side isn't an 800 square mile map. It'd be... 640,000 square miles? So, a "bit" larger than my proposed increase to 10k. Excuse me while I go back to 5th grade and pay a little attention this time around.>

Heh.. reminds me of the that show here in the US "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?" Of course, I think they just find the smartest 5th graders they can rather than the "average" ones as many of them are way smarter than the tests scores indicate (at least in my area of the US)

Also. I've been messing with some tutorials and am torn between the 'hand drawn' look and the more realistic look some of you have perfected. I've seen some amazing examples of both. I might have to save my coastlines and try my hand at each.

Can you point to samples of the different ones you want to possibly emulate as I am not quite sure what you mean.

I did find, given that the majority of my map is land, that working in reverse (black land and white water) tended to give me better lines. That might just be me though. I messed around with using different levels of blurring on my coastline and large lakes, and even rendering small selections with different sorts of clouds (i.e. normal clouds for the coast and difference clouds for the wetlands to create several smaller interconnected lakes). I also noticed that I could adjust Threshold on a selection, so I could break-up or solidify specific section of my map. I didn't get much further than that, but it was a fun night even if not very productive.

Yep, threshold is a wonderful thing for creating layer masks! I have played a bit with it to try to get "spotty" forests, with some more nature (mostly smallish) clearings and I think it works very well.

Joe

[Aristotle]

Can you point to samples of the different ones you want to possibly emulate as I am not quite sure what you mean.

Well, I consider everything either 'hand drawn' or 'realistic' so the field is wide open, and asking me to pick one of either from these forums is like asking me to eat just one chip.

Hand Drawn Look. Lots of other great maps, but these really caought my eye. Clercon's etrakien map is another great example.

I think Ascension's maps are great for realism. There was another world map I saw with a very realistic look with tips of continents going white towards the poles. I'm stuck for time right now, but I'll see if I can find it later.

[jfrazierjr]

Well, I consider everything either 'hand drawn' or 'realistic' so the field is wide open, and asking me to pick one of either from these forums is like asking me to eat just one chip.

Hand Drawn Look. Lots of other great maps, but these really caought my eye. Clercon's etrakien map is another great example.

I think Ascension's maps are great for realism. There was another world map I saw with a very realistic look with tips of continents going white towards the poles. I'm stuck for time right now, but I'll see if I can find it later.

Well, from what I have found, contrary to popular belief artistic maps tend to take a fraction of the time to produce a very nice map vs the hand drawn look (that is after you have the basic techniques down, which admittedly can take a lot of practice). For example, you could quickly draw some upside down "V"'s for mountains and it would look like a mountain. But to really sell if you have to spend lots of time with shading and stuff you generally can do much faster with the more "artistic" maps. That is one of the reasons I have mostly spend my time trying to "perfect" my techniques for the artistic style as from RobA's tutorial by taking the basics there and expanding upon them a bit to get something I like more. Also, since I tend to equate hand drawn more to me using my tablet, that style is a bit larger scope just doe to hand strain and such. Heck, I guess for all the time I have spent putzing around with the artistic style map, I could have just broken up the sessions and come up with a really nice hand drawn map... oh well... live and learn...

In any event, unless you are seriously pressed for time to get something done, I would probably start a bit on each approach and let your decision form organically as you create each style. Of course, if you are pressed for time, you just have to pick one and I can't help you there....heh...

Joe

[Aristotle]

Not a final map in any way... just messing with layout with one promising set of shorelines.

Now to hit some other tutorials.

<edit: reduced image size. no need to post a monster file at this stage.>