Request for assistance, and additional comments.
Request for help first. As you can see by the WIP that follows I hand-drew the latitude lines. I'd like something that looks a lot better. Is path the best tool (for GIMP) or is there something that'll help me get the curve right - not just even but correct for the projection? (Earth-type world, northern hemisphere, continent lies between ~20th and ~60th parallels. Scale bars on bottom are approximate regardless how precise they seem.
Comments.
First, after some stumbles I realized the reason I was having trouble loading was I'd done the background and the oceans. Given the size of document I'm using it's way too big - especially for just WIPs. I made my WIP images with those two layers stripped and it drastically decreased the size. Just some advice for other Guild Novices.
Second, we had (almost simultaneously) a brief player insurgency and a GM's sudden realization of scale, both of which are having major effects on the rest of the map. So it's on hold while the GM decides how to deal with both issues.
The latter is actually more relevant (I think) to the list. The GM printed the WIP I have here and actually looked at it, with scale, in comparison to Europe. And he realized his population was tiny for the size of the land and development of nations. Since one purpose of maps is graphic guidance to 'what is' I consider it a win even if it never progresses.
The former deals with the GM's "story". RPG discussion follows, feel free to quit reading. The GM was considering a low-level fantasy world (system is called E6 or P6 if you care), and had developed a backstory of a black-plague like event that had caused massive depopulation. Most of the players didn't care, but a couple decided they wanted a full-level world - basically because for the past decade they've been involved in multiple worlds where nobody got past low level anyway and they just wanted to see what higher levels were like.
So the GM is tossing between pre- (possibly never) and post-plague. It'll change forest coverage, it'll change the number of cities that are large enough for a map of this scale, it'll change parts of the road networks. And me, I'm too lazy to do it twice. Especially since the GM's realized his current nations are probably too big and therefore too few regardless of decision, meaning we've got a lot of city placement to do anyway.
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