This is an amazing accomplishment Jack, a definite tip of the hat to you for showing such dedication to a huge project and actually seeing it all the way through. Repped.
Whilst a tutorial might be out of the question, as you say you just simply go at it until you feel it looks right (which is pretty much how I've always done it), it might be useful for some people to you could tell them anything you felt you learned along the way; any little tips that made your process quicker, etc.
Again, great job.
Last edited by Cunning Cartographer; 07-29-2012 at 06:21 AM.
Thanks Yospeck. The main lesson I have learned is COLOUR. For each group of maps, choose the palette before you begin and stick with it. Do not use colours outside the palette. Desaturate most colours and only keep one or two colours bright and saturated. This is particularly important when one is using pre-made map element - each element should be recoloured to the palette. The number one way to make a bad map is to be make it too busy with clashing colours.
I've uploaded the final map. That's it - all done. Now for a holiday.
Great maps!
Fantastic! I am starting this module this weekend. I have used Postrazor before and it does a great job of cutting up the maps for you. I'll just go up to work and use our color printer there.
These look awesome! I will have to give that software a try. I was playing around with Dundjinni for a while, but found myself importing into Photoshop to finish it off. I was spending more time prepping for the game than actually playing. It got to be too much work and I stopped making maps for my games. The crew will be ecstatic to see that there are great maps again. Good job! I'll tell all of my other DM friends about your work. Keep it up.
Wow. Jack, these are amazing maps. I just recently started DM'ing for the first time late last year, and have since, started getting into creating battlemaps as well. Nothing remotely of this calibur. I have so many questions I want to ask you. I'm frequented this site dozens of times, and finally decided to join the community and start getting more into map-making. Is there any way you'd be up for sort of answering some questions about your resources and how you go about making maps?
Thanks guys. Of course Gamma - ask me in my castle thread - that's a WIP thread and still (supposed to be) alive.
Wow! I love your maps. I can see what you did to make the ground textures more varied. Fantastic trees too.
Jack, like all the rest, Kudos! these maps are amazing. I have quickly garnered a lot of interest in mapmaking as well as i delve down the rabit hole of online tabletops like roll20, rpgtableonline, etc. While they have some in-game software that can allow you to build maps, its not as robust as i would like it. So i see from your initial thread that you are using GIMP. I've downloaded it, its a bit of a learning curve but i'm plugging away at it. Is there any tutorial or advice you can share on where/how to pull textures - well just about the process involved in general; i'd appreciate any advice you can dole out. Thanks!
-Kenny
Hi Kenny,
Thanks for your comments.
The best tutorial for GIMP is jpfrziers one on layer masks. If you work through the posts in that, he gets to an example of making a river map. I found this very useful.
Gimp has a steep learning curve but its very powerful.
Personally, I don't use seamless textures anymore. If I want a texture of something, say a cavern wall, I might try and find or take a high-res photo of a brick or something, blow it up to cover the entire map, then recolour it to suit. I find seamless textures bland and too much hassle. I never bother storing any textures or objects on my computer if I can help it. I'd be happy to help you out if you need assistance.
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