World Map WIP in GIMP

[Jykke]

you can also do this easily with outer glow no additional layers needed. (this was done in few minutes with photoshop, I guess there's similar tools in gimp also. there's psd file attached for photoshop users, if they want to copy the style used here to other layers.. or just study it otherwise..)

[RobA]

@Jykke - there are no effect layers in gimp.

-Rob A>

[Jykke]

@Jykke - there are no effect layers in gimp.

-Rob A>

Ah, dammit I guess I thought too much of GIMP then, as it said to be a photoshop clone

EDIT: There seem to be some type of plugins that try to emulate layer effects.. (including outer glow)
features listed here http://registry.gimp.org/node/186
Don't know if it works, but.. might be worth a try
EDIT2: Actually RobA had already posted on this http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=2742 x)

[Karro]

And Lo! there were Mountains!

No... my work on this project of mine never stalled, was never "put on hold", and certainly never abandonned. It just takes a very long time for me to accomplish even simple tasks in GIMP. (No joke: it took me over an hour to run Image>Scale command to get the image down to 75% of original size to fit in CG's pixel constraints; just set up, run, then go do something else that doesn't require computing power for an hour; but a minor example of the troubles I go through for this work of love.)

So, yeah, there's still a lot to do... I'm probably going to redo the oceans/seas/shallows coloring at some point. Forests, deserts and jungles are another nightmare waiting for me in the near future. I'm not satisfied with the foothill coloration in these mountains, particularly those around the "sandstone" style mountains (which I tried to "cover up" with something that just didn't work the way I'd planned).

So... anyway... C&C welcome, but know that the degree to which I can affirmatively respond to C&C is limited by the aforementioned computing shortages.

So, without further adieu, I give to you the latest update in this infrequently updated, as-yet-unnamed project of mine:

[Gandwarf]

Nice job on the mountains Karro!
Some of them are a bit too green I think, though. I like the brown ones better.

[Karro]

Nice job on the mountains Karro!
Some of them are a bit too green I think, though. I like the brown ones better.

THANKS!

The theory on the green mountains is that they are older ranges that have been weathered down more than the others and are now more heavily forested at their peaks. I may have to go back and add a touch of other color to them, though.

[Gandwarf]

I see you pimped your signature

Anyway, don't change the mountains if noone else comments. To me the green mountains look a bit weird though, can't help it... I guess I am used to mountains being black, grey or brown.

Oh, and maybe some (more pronounced) snowy peaks?

How's the writing going by the way?

[Karro]

I see you pimped your signature

Hey, it's in my best interests to get as many comments as possible; helps me make my map (eventually) better!

Anyway, don't change the mountains if noone else comments. To me the green mountains look a bit weird though, can't help it... I guess I am used to mountains being black, grey or brown.

Oh, and maybe some (more pronounced) snowy peaks?

Well... I might tweak it just a little, if I find I have time after trying to tackle some other things. These days, that's a very big if. (Finals coming up next week, and then an intensive mid-semester course, so won't be progressing in the near-term on this.) But most of these mountains are variations of gray & brown!

As for the snowy peaks, I found I had to reduce the opacity of the mountain color layer because the color of the hills was too intense. But the white for the snowy peaks was on that layer, so that color got reduced as well. I may go back and add some more white, as well, and brighten it up.

How's the writing going by the way?

I'll worry about that later. I feel like I have to finish this map, first! (Since I was a kid... I just always had to have the map first, it's like a map of the story, or an outline.)

Actually, last night, as I was doing some things around the house like wash some dishes, I thought up a pretty snappy first line for the book. Didn't write it down yet, though

[altasilvapuer]

Really glad to see another WIP on this map, Karro! Yours was the map that first got me to decide to make my own, and was one of the big guides I followed to make it. And as I near a sort of completion on it, I've also started another, too.

I think the issue with the green mountains is just that you don't have any forests around them, yet. The only forests you've laid so far seem to be on the 'older' mountain ranges. They also seem every bit as craggy as the 'newer' ones, which might also be part of it. The older mountains are usually smaller and forested because they're more eroded, and thus smoother (relatively, anyway), unless I'm mistaken.

And as for the long save times, I hear you on that. Geidor gets updated (and more scarily, saved) very infrequently, because it takes me currently about an hour and a half, minimum, to go from full-resolution PSD unsaved to having a properly-sized JPG to upload to the CG.

Can't wait to see more on your project!

-asp

[Gandwarf]

Ah yeah... it might be the green mountains stop looking so strange when there's forests around it.