Hey Diamond. Yes, that's the one. So whatever I do, it does need to look fairly consistent for all of them.
I've tried using a simple line (with and without the drop shadow) in various colours, but it doesn't look right/good to me. It just looks like...a line drawn on the map. I've also tried various degrees of blur, to soften them up a bit, but again...it's just looks like a slightly blurry line. I don't know, maybe I'm being too picky, but I really want them to look like roads, you know?
That's why I was so happy when the emboss gave me a carved-out effect. It looked more like an actual road, which I really liked. I decided to give it another try again, on one of the darker terrain zones, and got some better results than my last attempt. It doesn't look as good as it does on the lighter terrain, but I think (or rather, hope) it might be close enough to work. Of course, I still have an even darker terrain that I still haven't done yet (a very dark brown/black barren, lava zone) which will probably be even more difficult...
As for width, I've tried 1 > 4 pixels, and the 2 pixel width definitely seems to look the best for this scale. It's just so frustrating, working with something so small and trying to get it to look like what it actually is. LOL!!In the MMORPGs I've played, the roads on zone maps are usually just lines, that really stand out and contrast with the terrain, which is understandable for game-play purposes. But I really want mine to look a bit more "natural" and aesthetically pleasing...
I'm attaching portions of the 3 zones I've done so far, with the embossed roads. The winter and desert terrains were easy to achieve (and look pretty good IMO), but it's the darker one (the green swampy/plains) that I'm not so sure about. Do you think it looks close enough to the others to work? Or is it too different, or just doesn't look right?
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