To get the mountains less "pillowy soft", you might try multiplying the heightfield by itself, and adding a bit of value noise to it before using the lighting effect/bump mapping.
-Rob A>
To get the mountains less "pillowy soft", you might try multiplying the heightfield by itself, and adding a bit of value noise to it before using the lighting effect/bump mapping.
-Rob A>
Soooo...
I carved the rivers into the mountains a little bit more towards their springsources and I like it more than it was before, but its not perfect.
I increased the heightmap on the mountains to get a harder more "craggy" effect and I also added some height texture to the grasslands. I really like this effect and with some more work I think I can perfect it.
What I did was draw some feint lighter greens and feint darker greens to get highs and lows in the grasslands then I copied that into a new alpha channel. I applied the Ink Outlines filter from the Brush Strokes filter menu to that alpha channel then blurred it out a bit to soften it. Then I went back to the grasslands layer and applied the Lighting Effects with that alpha channel I just created and made sure it wasn't very mountainous.
So now I need some opinions and tips again! Does anybody have any ideas for my roads? The red roads were created by the Imperial Legions (in the ancient Roman method) and the dashed roads are more like cart paths that have just been worn down over the centuries. I don't wanna just keep them the way they are, but I'd like to somehow "imprint" the roads into the land.
Also, I'd like to depict farmland different from the grasslands... any ideas? The black dots are villages and the black dots with red circles are larger towns & cities. The farmland would be concentrated among the closer southern towns.
Last edited by Joshua_101; 11-09-2007 at 01:24 PM. Reason: forgot to attach map
Joshua
Graphic Designer
& Amateur Photoshop Cartographer
You may also get some inspiration by looking in this thread:
http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=992
Your work has a very similar 'feel' to his although his method of creation is different.
Okay so I tried some different techniques for the roads and decided to just draw a layer with brown roads, drop the transparency a little, and add a slight pillow emboss to it.
I put some detail and flow pattern into the rivers using the smudge tool and then I added the labels.
I am kinda concerned about the map looking too cluttered with all the labels right now. Any opinions on how I can keep the labels (so my players can say "I wanna go to Marthton following the Kingsway") but make them look not so messy?
And I'm still not sure how I'm gonna do the farmlands...
Joshua
Graphic Designer
& Amateur Photoshop Cartographer
Hey, Joshua: definite improvements in the map as it's evolving. Good work. I like the mountains much more--although tehy now appear as rough, rocks hills vs. mts. because 1) they are still not "Craggy" enough, and 2) the trees give a scale indication of much larger than perhaps you intend (on a large-scale map we should not be able to make out bough and leaf distinctions).
I aslo like the river coloring s you did, although I think the sources of the rivers are too chunky; perhaps slim them down and suggest tributaries flowing in? Also on the river note, the two sources that combine above the "r" in "Elsir River" do not make sense: the flows collide, which would not happen in nature: either a lake should be inserted or the vee should be much more pronounced.
Finally, the map is mainly soft, but the coasts at times have a hard edge which stands out. Perhaps blur that just a teeny tiny bit.
Otherwise, nice map! I do not think the labels are distracting at all, either, BTW. I'd keep 'em. Take care,
Don
My gallery is here
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"Keep your mind in hell, but despair not." --Saint Silouan [1866-1938]
Thanks for the tips everybody! I agree about the rivers, but the way I constructed the map, it might be a little difficult to adjust them at this point without recreating the entire landmass.
At this point, I think I'm finished with this map. I might re-visit it later and fix it up, but frankly I'm tired of looking at right now. LOL
Its not perfect, but its been a great learning experience and it has helped me to develop a personal style and workflow. I'm gonna keep all of this in mind when I create my next map and hopefully it will be more efficient. Again, thanks for the input folks!
Joshua
Graphic Designer
& Amateur Photoshop Cartographer