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Thread: Escarand - Regional map

  1. #1
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    Default Escarand - Regional map

    Old world, new map. Not everything is precisely placed so far. I'm not perfectly happy, it looks a bit empty I guess. Any feedback or criticism is welcome.

    Other things that are in progress are e.g. the lakes. They don't fit into the map somehow and look a bit odd connected to rivers.

    Mountains are from here: http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...drawn-elements
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  2. #2
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    I like it, an attractive simple b&w style. The trees aren't to my taste, per se, but they work with the whole. And you are correct, the lakes do look a tad disconnected from the rest of the map. I have a waterfall on an island on a map I'm tinkering with that is giving me that issue, although it looks pretty cool. In this case they just look so flat surrounded by the pretty mountains.

  3. #3

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    No islands?

    I like the style and the names are nice as well, but there just isn't anything unique about the landscape.
    Try splitting it into 3 or more parts, make it so that large rivers run through the land with countless bridges above. There's also too many mountains, try making what you call 'Sela' (nice name by the way) a land of plains and woodland, similar to France's landscape. The political map of the area should be diverse, with many lords struggling for power. A game of thrones if you will? always found the concept interesting.

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    Community Leader Lukc's Avatar
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    The kings of Goatfinger demand the right to institute an elective monarchy.

    Otherwise, one problem I have is telling the sea from the land, particularly in the south-east.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheMadKing View Post
    No islands?

    I like the style and the names are nice as well, but there just isn't anything unique about the landscape.
    Try splitting it into 3 or more parts, make it so that large rivers run through the land with countless bridges above. There's also too many mountains, try making what you call 'Sela' (nice name by the way) a land of plains and woodland, similar to France's landscape. The political map of the area should be diverse, with many lords struggling for power. A game of thrones if you will? always found the concept interesting.
    I don't really get what you mean with "unique", can you specify that a bit more?

    I aimed for making "Eldaron" a cold land with boreal pine forest and tundras, and "Erotin" more a woodland area. For "Erilona" I wanted a "golden landscape" of Aspen trees. For "Sela" I thought of plain valleys surrounded by mountains. The southernmost mountains are actually important for the people's religion, so I can't delete them.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sel93 View Post
    I don't really get what you mean with "unique", can you specify that a bit more?

    I aimed for making "Eldaron" a cold land with boreal pine forest and tundras, and "Erotin" more a woodland area. For "Erilona" I wanted a "golden landscape" of Aspen trees. For "Sela" I thought of plain valleys surrounded by mountains. The southernmost mountains are actually important for the people's religion, so I can't delete them.
    Sometimes you just have to start over. I learned it the hard way.. spent months developing this fantasy universe but then nobody liked it. A few months later I tried again from scratch and this time everyone found it interesting, if not great.

    Though it's hard to judge your work only by the map and details that you have provided us. Maybe you just need to rework the map a little.

    And by unique I mean, well, unique. Different from your average fantasy map which is often uninspired, drawn by someone with very little creativity to speak of.
    Last edited by TheMadKing; 04-17-2012 at 11:44 AM.

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by TheMadKing View Post
    Sometimes you just have to start over. I learned it the hard way.. spent months developing this fantasy universe but then nobody liked it. A few months later I tried again from scratch and this time everyone found it interesting, if not great.
    Ain't that the truth. Have some rep.

  8. #8
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    But what makes it look average and what can I alter to make it look unique? I need some input on what I did wrong this time.

    You said earlier, you want more rivers, I think there are already a lot of them. You talked about making the "political map" more diverse, although the map isn't political at all and doesn't reveal anything about the political system and struggles.

  9. #9
    Guild Apprentice Ourea's Avatar
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    Something I struggle with is having areas of land/formations that are interesting in their own right. It's difficult to articulate, but something that just makes the land interesting. A site or feature that draws the eye and maybe tells its own little story. Perhaps that's what they refer to?

    Anywho, I like the simplicity, but I can see your viewpoint of it missing something. It would be interesting to see some political or territorial boundaries, maybe with a splash of color. I'm not sure what further plans you have with this, but I hope to see them soon

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    One thing that confused me immediately was that large area in the southeast labeled 'Antragar'. I see now that that's a land area with a river marking it's northwest boundary, but the tilted label and lack of geographical features makes it look like an ocean. Even knowing what it is, every time I look at it, my brain says 'ocean'.

    You could either straighten that label so it matches the others, lending uniformity, add a few trees or hills or desert dunes (depending on the terrain) to the area to break up the white, or alternatively add a coastline ring or stroke or waves, something to make the coastlines really stand out a bit more.
    Last edited by Diamond; 04-22-2012 at 02:24 PM.

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