City Of Riverhewn WIP First map in GIMP

[jtougas]

The thief crept quietly through the room until he reached his target. "Now" he said to himself "How to make off with a bagful of those little houses...."

If you'd rather I didn't use them I'd understand, but your blocks just fit what I was trying to do perfectly....and I see your point about the trees, they have given me nothing but grief since I put them there. They are just an embellishment anyway the area around Riverhewn isn't forested. Hmm..maybe a field of stumps?...

[jtougas]

Well I think this is about it. I managed to get SOME text on it. I wasn't really shooting for labels the style of this map doesn't lend itself to that I don't think. I'll still sit back and look at it fir a few more days to see if I missed anything critical (like those trees..) And thanks to tilt for the awesome compass rose!! And jfrazierjr for his patient explanation of layer masks it might not be perfect yet but my understanding is growing with each day. Another great tool in the box. This has been a lot of fun. I sincerly appreciate everyone's advice and kind words. as always feedback is requested and appreciated..Thanks!!

[jbgibson]

Are the bastions on a separate layer from the walls? They don't seen to be casting shadows - it's most noticeable on the easternmost and southernmost ones, but all seem to be shadowless.

Dumb question, maybe - does the river flow into or out of the lake? The tributary *could* join like that, with river flow either way, but to me the angle says the main river flows north. They're pretty wide rivers - sandbars at a couple of places could 'trail off' downstream giving a better visual clue to flow direction.

The forest looks a little out of scale to me. I like the look of the trees, but I'd expect individual crowns to be what, 30-50 feet across? These look to be maybe 100-200 ft in diameter? If that matches what you intend, no prob. The size impression wouldn't matter if they were symbolic trees like on a regional map, but you're going for an areal photo vibe here, right?

Is there an active ruler in that castle, or is it a relic? The roads don't say "this is the center of the realm and all these peons exist to support My Magnificent Royal Person". If your nobles just CANNOT stand the smell of fish, maybe they stay away from the lakeside quay, but there's no carriage-width road toward the lake from the castle entry. I really like the look of the city, though.

Good stuff!

[mearrin69]

The thief crept quietly through the room until he reached his target. "Now" he said to himself "How to make off with a bagful of those little houses...." If you'd rather I didn't use them I'd understand...

I don't mind at all. It was just sort of funny when I first zoomed in and thought, "he did those houses just like mine", then I realized the repeated and figured it out. Hmm. How about more fields. Don't want it to get repetitive but fields would make sense.
M

[jtougas]

Are the bastions on a separate layer from the walls? They don't seen to be casting shadows - it's most noticeable on the easternmost and southernmost ones, but all seem to be shadowless.

Dumb question, maybe - does the river flow into or out of the lake? The tributary *could* join like that, with river flow either way, but to me the angle says the main river flows north. They're pretty wide rivers - sandbars at a couple of places could 'trail off' downstream giving a better visual clue to flow direction.

The forest looks a little out of scale to me. I like the look of the trees, but I'd expect individual crowns to be what, 30-50 feet across? These look to be maybe 100-200 ft in diameter? If that matches what you intend, no prob. The size impression wouldn't matter if they were symbolic trees like on a regional map, but you're going for an areal photo vibe here, right?

Is there an active ruler in that castle, or is it a relic? The roads don't say "this is the center of the realm and all these peons exist to support My Magnificent Royal Person". If your nobles just CANNOT stand the smell of fish, maybe they stay away from the lakeside quay, but there's no carriage-width road toward the lake from the castle entry. I really like the look of the city, though.

Good stuff!

The city designer hangs slackly from the chains as blood runs from the many scars on his back...."NEVER AGAIN will you fail me in this manner!!" screams the whip wielding sovereign...

In other news: The city of Riverhewn is in a state of total gridlock this afternoon after His Royal Majesty decided to take a coach ride to get a sampling of his favorite pastries. It seems that the coach became lodged between two buildings as a result of overly narrow streets. His Royal Majesty was quoted as mumbling "off with his head.."

Those thrice damn*ed trees. That's it there all coming down. jbgibson your absolutely right. The city streets are on my list of "fix it's" scale is giving me trouble here in the digital world. My hand drawn maps didn't suffer as much form that particular problem but I'm having fun learning. and I greatly appreciate everyone's advice and comments.

[jtougas]

*The city designer sat gingerly in front of his desk looking at a blank piece pf paper...."Any thing worth doing is worth doing right" he mumbled to himself while reaching for the healing salve....*

Ok as the man said..The forest is gone the city is gone...to be replaced by something a bit better (we hope)

Phase 3

[Ascension]

The streets didn't make much sense but the buildings were done very well with all of the differing colors...wish I knew how to do that.

[jtougas]

The streets didn't make much sense but the buildings were done very well with all of the differing colors...wish I knew how to do that.

No magic there I just *ahem* borrowed the building images from mearrin69 they were awesome but the streets bothered me as well hence the redo. No rush on this I'm enjoying the process.

[Steel General]

I think street layout/design is one of the hardest parts of creating a city map. That's why I often use pieces/parts of real city maps to layout my streets.

[Aval Penworth]

Just when I was about the give commentary, ye starts again. Glad you're having fun, and looking forward to the next post.