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Thread: Unnamed Regional Map (River Police check)

  1. #11
    Community Leader Bogie's Avatar
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    Nice map Neyjour! Your rivers all look fine to me. Looking forward to seeing the finished map!

  2. #12
    Guild Expert Guild Supporter Lingon's Avatar
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    This looks lovely so far I don't see any issues with the rivers either. The corner decorations and the cartouche are really nice!

  3. #13
    Guild Artisan Pixie's Avatar
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    There's no point in diminishing yourself, really! Just ask. I have to admit I jumped a little too hard into it.
    There are no real faults, honestly. The only thing I really have an itch about is the shape of the lake.

    Feel free to ignore my ramblings, but here's a "visual help" for what I meant:
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	biglake.jpg 
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Size:	104.1 KB 
ID:	62829

  4. #14
    Guild Artisan Neyjour's Avatar
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    Raptori - Thanks! The tree analogy is great, and when I do the final draw, I'll have to keep in mind that they start out thinner and get wider as they progress. That's something I hadn't really thought about! Heh.

    MadLetter - Yeah, splitting rivers was one of my main concerns! I made that mistake in my first map (Isolden) but eventually decided to leave it as-is, just because I really liked how it looked. But for this one I wanted to avoid that, and get a fresh pair of eyes to check and make sure I hadn't overlooked anything in that respect.

    Domino44 - I'm glad I'm not the only one! LOL!! I'll admit, my brain leans more towards making things "look pretty" rather than real-world accuracy. And my only real exposure to world maps (before joining the CG) has been with fantasy MMOs, where wildly-differing landscapes are usually placed... wherever, and butt up against each other with just a "zone line". When others start talking about creating their world maps with regards to geology, tectonic plates, trade winds, climate, rainfall, etc., I'm like... Wow, just... Wow. That's incredibly impressive, but I just dun' get it. And I definitely wouldn't have the patience for it either. So yeah, I'm tryng to find a balance between the two as well.

    Bogie, Lingon - Thanks so much!

    Pixie - Thank you so much for taking the time to do that! That's incredibly helpful for me! I'm going to make some revisions again, based on your example. Will post an update as soon as I'm done.

    Thanks again everyone! All the help is very much appreciated!
    Last edited by Neyjour; 03-31-2014 at 08:40 PM. Reason: typo

  5. #15
    Guild Artisan Neyjour's Avatar
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    Okay, here's the new revision.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Unnamed Regional Map WIP-4 by Neyjour.png 
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ID:	85438
    Last edited by Neyjour; 07-19-2016 at 05:18 AM.

  6. #16
    Community Leader Guild Sponsor - Max -'s Avatar
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    The map looks fine Neyjour but that's really dark. If ever you'll want it to be printed, you'll probably have troubles with that dark style.

  7. #17
    Guild Artisan Pixie's Avatar
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    Since you took my advice with such heart (and accuracy), I cannot help but saying... that lake looks much more natural to my eyes now, well done

  8. #18
    Guild Artisan Neyjour's Avatar
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    Max - Thanks. Yeah, the darkness is something I'll have to adjust when I'm all done. It's a really annoying problem... a combination of a desk that's too low (or a chair that's too high? - I can't figure out which...) and the weirdness of my monitor... all made even worse by the exaggerated effect that only happens when I'm working in my image editor (PSP8 ). Basically, when I'm sitting up straight and working, my line of sight is on the top third of my monitor, which makes everything look bright. And for some reason, when I'm working in PSP8, it's significantly brighter. I tend to forget about this sometimes, so I'll post my work on the web and then realize... woah, that's kind of dark. And then when I hunker down to look at it with my line of sight directly in the middle of the monitor, a daytime map suddenly looks like a nighttime one. *sigh*

    Pixie - Thank you! Hehe. And again, thanks very much for your help!
    Last edited by Neyjour; 04-02-2014 at 12:28 AM. Reason: typo

  9. #19
    Administrator waldronate's Avatar
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    Color space issues can cause brightness problems like you describe (gamma-corrected vs. not is a biggie for light/dark).

    The rivers themselves are plausible in every version. In my opinion, the rivers are least plausible in the last one because the range of low mountains that appeared would make for relative highlands that the river would need to carve through. It just needs a canyon or something to flow through.

    One thing that I recommend for this sort of map is a scale. Knowing how big the area is goes a long way toward determining plausibility. A map that's two miles across has a somewhat different quality to the waterways than one that's two hundred miles across, which is again different from one two thousand miles across. Meanders on flat plains, for example, are unlikely to appear on a map a thousand miles across, but are critical elements in one a hundred miles across. As an example, pull up Google maps or you favorite atlas and look at the continental US. The Mississippi probably doesn't show any meanders. Zoom in on the Arkansas/Mississippi area, though, and they are obvious.

  10. #20
    Guild Artisan Pixie's Avatar
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    Not meaning to argue, but arguing in favor of this last version (and since I suggested that line of hills), the hills are meant to suggest a rugged area that the river carves through, precisely.

    This sort of technique to depict mountains which is so common in maps here at the guild imho always brings this problem attached. It becomes very difficult to represent canyons and plateaus, because the mountain "icon" only shows relative height to the nearby land. I guess that it's a loss that people accept in exchange for artistic (read "fantasy look") features.

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