Continent of Dyrna (WIP)

[RobA]

Ohhhhh you have rivers forking downstream...rivers very rarely, if ever do that.

C'mon Rav's...you beat me to it!

I took a good look and it seems all your rivers tend to defy what rivers typically to. Think of them as roots of a plant, with the surface of the soil being where the river ends (ocean, large lake). Small rivulets combine into brooks, which combine into streams, which combine into rivers, and so on, with the. They also tend to flow downhill. (This makes me question the river that appears to be flowing from the SE side of the lake in the Dureen plateau). Lastly, the slope of the terrain (and material) determines the river's "feel". it takes a flat, level, area for a river to widen out and meander. Sharply sloped areas will make water channels deeper and straighter.

I do like the artistic look of the map, and especially how you cluster forest growth near water. Looking forward to its evolution! (and how the lost lands are eventually handled...)

-Rob A>

[ObsidianBlk]

Hmmm... about the rivers...
When I drew them, I tended to think of them as coming from the mountains and flowing down toward the oceans. So, I'm guessing while the source (the mountains) to the destination (the ocean) is correct, my thought that they can be split as they head to the ocean isn't. Ok, I'll have to see about redirecting the rivers some.

Thank you

[RobA]

Hmmm... about the rivers...
When I drew them, I tended to think of them as coming from the mountains and flowing down toward the oceans. So, I'm guessing while the source (the mountains) to the destination (the ocean) is correct, my thought that they can be split as they head to the ocean isn't. Ok, I'll have to see about redirecting the rivers some.

Thank you

Don't worry - the river thing is one of the most common mistakes people make. You see it on a fir number of "professional" (or at least commercially published) fantasy maps, as well. I think it is because we often see depictions of rivers branching in delta regions, so we think it is applicable to the whole river system.

[ObsidianBlk]

Here is a major update to my map of Dyrna.

No... no river fixes. On one hand, I'm lazy and didn't feel like changing the map up (this may change). On the other hand, there ~is~ magic in the world, and, as I reviewed my rivers, I saw some structures in the rivers that could come about by some interesting magical phenomenon.

Also... nope, no compass or scale has been added yet. Sorry about that. Part of it is pure laziness (compass), and part of it is I haven't nailed down my exact scale yet, but I'm still picturing the continent to be roughly the size of the United States.

Three maps have been attached. The first is a completely clean map (except for the title). Nothing is labeled and you can see the drawing in it's uncluttered entirety. The other map is a labeled map where many many major features and locations are labeled. Not all of them are, but a number of them are. The third map contains colored territories for major empires, and territories of importance.

Hope you enjoy :-D

[NeonKnight]

Welcome to the group, and I agree, a very nice map.

[Midgardsormr]

Much improved! I like what you did with the Lost Lands. It gives a hint of the shape of the land, but no details, and it doesn't look out of place as a blank spot any more. The mountains and hills are also looking quite nice, and I'm liking the way you've depicted vegetation following the river across the plains. As a plains-dweller, I can attest to the accuracy of that depiction, although I never thought of showing it in that fashion on a map.

[ObsidianBlk]

Much improved! I like what you did with the Lost Lands. It gives a hint of the shape of the land, but no details, and it doesn't look out of place as a blank spot any more. The mountains and hills are also looking quite nice, and I'm liking the way you've depicted vegetation following the river across the plains. As a plains-dweller, I can attest to the accuracy of that depiction, although I never thought of showing it in that fashion on a map.

I may not know too much about cartography myself, but I am familiar with the idea that, if there's not much rain in an area, there's not much vegetation either, so, in an arid region, the best place to find denser foliage is near lakes and rivers.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "although I never thought of showing it in that fashion on a map". If you're speaking about how I'm drawing it, basically it's a very simple custom brush in Painter IX that I made up and it's drawn onto a white layer which is multiplied over the rest of the map. Work's pretty well, in my humble opinion.

[Midgardsormr]

I simply meant the way you've shown it. I've done and seen maps where there is a greener area along the rivers, but I never thought about throwing down symbols to indicate those trees.

The brief description of your technique is much appreciated, too, though.