Map of Kwandrivia

[BriniaSona]

My first map was for a roleplay forum I was on called Escellsia, which eventually lead to my own forum after Escellsia collapsed.

This is that first map. I used a program to make the water and land colours and whatnot, then decided that program was too limiting and moved to photoshop.
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...wEscellsia.png

this is my Latest Map. It is usually dark green but I decided to experiment with a bone colour so the names of provinces, areas and nations could be easier seen.
http://i.imgur.com/t7nQl4H.jpg

This is the same map done in an old style. I like this but feel like it could be better yet.
http://i.imgur.com/HjgaAL4.jpg


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Here are some interesting styles I like and would like to see my map done into, however I want to do this myself.

Ideally - http://i.imgur.com/zMiHwsG.jpg

http://rpgmaps.profantasy.com/wp-con...5/Sagorike.jpg
http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/20...an-d1y7ico.jpg
http://www.cartographersguild.com/at...8&d=1385906421

[BriniaSona]

Anyone have some tips for me? Or some idea to make things look better perhaps.

[Chick]

I definitely like the darker one better

By the way, there is a way to upload your maps to CG so we don't have to link to an external site to see them. Just use the "Go Advanced" button and the "Manage Attachments".

[Wingshaw]

Your three maps show a definite improvement over time, so the first tip is to keep at it.

There are a couple of problems with your rivers, but I won't go into that, right now. There are others round here who'll try to help you fix 'em up.

Your second map is very clear and easy to read, and a good style for conveying basic information. It does not have the aesthetic appeal of your third map, however, or of the ones you linked. Here's just a couple of things to try:
--text: keep it all one colour across the map. If you want, you could use one colour/style/size for nation names, another for settlements/landmarks, another for geographic features etc. but you should not use different colours for different nations.
--the sea: perhaps make the sea fade to (very) dark blue as it gets further from the shore. A change of colour very close to the shore may also be worthwhile (maybe towards turquoise or white)
--there are things I'm just confused by, and that's never a good thing for a map: is the green blob Uldrelyn Hills a forest? What is that huge red object in the middle? A city?

The third map has some very nice features. The texture and compass rose are really good. The most obvious issue with the third map is that the grey coastline is way too strong, especially in the central sea. Other things that come to mind:
--placement of labels: try to avoid labels that overlap a geographic feature. For example, if you shift the label Zenthel City down and to the right (so lower right of the star icon), it won't cross the river edge, but will still belong to the icon; on the upper Laurentia Empire label, if you put the two words on different lines, you can move it to the east and so avoid it crossing the coastline.
--there is a bit of a shortage of features in this one. The roads, cities, etc of the previous map were good to include (albeit a bit confusing); why not add them to this map to make it more interesting;
--incidentally, what about geographic features: are there hills, swamps, mountains, forests, deserts in this land?

THW

[BriniaSona]

I didn't know if the forum resizes the images, I guess this will be a test.

Anyways, the map is supposed to be this colour. The green font of the one nation is going to be changed. But overall I was hoping to make this look a little less "MS Paint" and a little more like one of the above linked examples. Ideally the first one. Any tips for achieving that kind of look.

There's a lot of information on the map. I was thinking I should just make individual ones for each country and just make a basic one labeling the nation names and capitals. Not sure yet, I need some tips and stuff.

Ive still yet to place the city name too. Oh and everything on the left landmasses is Canon Kwandrivia stuff and can't really be changed,

(Had to go from 9500 pixels to 4500 because the file size was too big.

[Chick]

What software are you using?

[BriniaSona]

Photoshop CS6.

I'd like to have 3 maps in the end. The old style one, a vector one in illustrator, and the style of the one in the OP that has Ideally beside it. The vector one is going to look relatively the same as the current in progress one.

Oh and any odd looking rivers are a result of lore, like the one very straight unnatural ones, those are the result of terraforming and magic from various species in the area.

[BriniaSona]

Here's an updated version of the last. I kept a backup as usual. It looks nice to me (except the placing of names). But I still want the look of one of those other maps. Mine still looks far too digital and amateur.

[Wingshaw]

The first thing to mention is, be patient. Creating maps like the ones you mention takes hard work, and commitment. You have, however, already taken the most important step, which is joining CG and asking for help.

Regarding your latest version:
--you might have already planned to do this but I think you should remove the equator and tropic lines before posting a finished version.
--the text is very difficult to read. One thing you could try is making it off-white, with a dark grey stroke around it.
--the different elements of the map (borders, roads, cities, etc.) don't show up very well now. Try some alternative ways to show them (some possibilities: make roads an off-white colour, give borders an outer glow, put a diagonal parallel line pattern on top of the cities)
--in order to get closer to the map you like the most, make the land less saturated (browner/greyer and lighter), and make the water a lot lighter.
--once you've made a bit more progress with the steps above, some texturing will be necessary, I think (i.e. making the water faint in some areas, dark in others, saturated in one place, desaturated in another)

THW

[Deadshade]

You don't get the look of the map you linked because you have no topographic features on yours.
There are no mountains, hills, forests, plains, canyons, jungles .....
There are also too few rivers and they don't look like rivers - with your scale these "rivers" are dozens of km wide. Where do they take source and where does all that water come from ?
Then there are all those black lines that look confusing to me - what are they ? Frontiers ? Roads ? Waterways ?

Because of lack of features, you get basically only a bicolor map - light green and dark green.
If you compare f.ex with the first map you linked, you see how many colors and shadings there are.

If you want to get something having a similar look, you need to learn how to do all those features, how to color/shade them and how to place them on a map.