June 2014 Entry: The Land of Evening's Shadow

[Tomalak]

What confuses me is why they seem dark. They are green, that is why they are dark. How can I make them seem less 'forbidding?' Some of the people rely on those places, and I want to differentiate the dangerous areas from the safe. Playing with lighting didn't help, washed-out forests & hills look terrible.

[Tomalak]

Here I have reverted the grass to an earlier state, in hopes of reducing the contrast with the rest of the map - I don't want to give the impressions of haunted fantastic forests, I want to give the impression of cultures defined by terrain. Low-fantasy, as it were.

I would really appreciate some feedback on icon styles, I'm not really sold on either method I've conceived, I just really don't like plain symbols for this map.
### LATEST WIP ###

[lostatsea]

I had (am still having) problems with my icons. Hmm post what you have tried so someone can can point the right direction. I agree plain icons don't seem right on a map of this type.

[Tomalak]

These are the two ideas I'd had, although the image itself has adjusted some since posting this.
Attachment 65326Attachment 65329
As noted previously, details like specific item or font are flexible, I am simply trying to decide which style better suits the map in general.