Novel Map - The Tornlands of Baedar (WIP)

[Azhel]

EDIT 3:
Made the base terrain and some of the mountains. It's just a test right now but I'd like some thoughts on it as it is before I proceed.

[Azhel]

EDIT 3:
So after a productive afternoon I have gotten some grass into the map and some elevations. Forests too

[Azhel]

EDIT 4:
After 2 days without internet I managed to advance quite alot in my map. I've done a very crude ocean and labeled most of the terrain and the major cities.

[Azhel]

Edit 5:
Oh dear, it appears my coffee has turned me into an unsleeping workaholic. Added labels to towns and etc. Also some themed names to determined areas.
There's lore to determined names, especially the "Numbered Keeps" on which the number symbolizes their building order (chronologically).
The names in Dalastaer are greatly inspired by Elvish peoples that used to inhabit the plains.
The mass of cities in the Tornlands are all bandit shantytowns, inhabited by bandits and pirates.
Every single waterside town usually has "port" or "dock" in their name.. for obvious reasons (other than a few exceptions)
The cities in Longshore have names that are really similar due to the culture of the area and the fact that these cities are sort of smaller versions of the capital Dragosten. Each of these is name after a king of Longshore.
The R'Faar Peninsula is inhabited by a strange race that doesn't let humans inside. (Also includes a tribute to Tear and his tutorial that helped me make this "Saldera'n")
The Land of Monsters is basically a huge desert inhabited solely by monsters (giants, thorny-lions, huge dune-scavengers...) and it's surrounded by a huge wall with keeps all around it to secure it. These keeps were build by the same people that built all the other numbered keeps
Last but not least, the Shield of the South near the Riverlands is basically an island that used to be connected to the land, but after misterious circumstances, the landbridge dissolved.
That's all the lore I can condense ATM

[groovey]

Oh my, it looks great to me. I love color palette and the terrain. Did you use any tutorial for the terrain or did you use your own technique? I ask because the style of the mountains is familiar to me but I can't remember from where.

[Azhel]

@groovey - Thanks the technique I used is similar to one i had used previously, but I just might work up a tutorial on these. The rest of the map was made using the Saderan tutorial by Tear along with some personal inspirations. I'l write up a quick and simple tutorial on the mountains and put it here.
EDIT: Made up the tutorial

[Azhel]

FINAL EDIT (hopefully):
This map has been a trial for me. After I made the land mask (Which took me around 2 hours) I was stuck gazing at it for a day. I was a bit depressed that I couldn't make my own good looking styles, even tho I tried really hard.
So I searched for some Tutorials and ran into Saderan by Tear. Instantly I fell in love with the way it was made. Such simplicity, yet such power. I did make a few changes tho, and they were for the best, seeing as Saderan was meant for small maps, and mine is a large one (quite possibly the largest i've made).
It was a personal achievement when I finally reached the end of the landmaking process. I had been up all night doing it, too much caffeine was inside me, and I was overjoyed.
Labeling was yet another challenge, but it proved worth the trouble. Took lots of font websites, lots of trial&error, but I achieved a satisfying result.
After almost one year of attempting to get my map right, I finally did.
Thank you all for your support along the way

EDIT: Maybe some stuff left to do before the big speech xD

[groovey]

The link to the image is broken isn't it? I can't see it or get to it through the link.

By the way, I'm a big fan of the Sederan tutorial so I love to see how each guild member applies it to their maps with their own touch. You clearly made the best of the already awesome tutorial. Interesting that you had the scale issue, I wanted to apply the tutorial to my world map when it's ready for terrain, but I'm not sure if the tutorial is really fit for a world map, for example the rivers wouldn't even be visible or just as thin single lines. So it's a pain because I really wanted my map to have the Sederan style. But well.

[Azhel]

@groovey - Fixed the image

Anyways the Saderan style is very versatile. You can actually make the rivers by editing the Layer Mask (land shape, if you will). By this I mean, actually make the rivers in the land, don't just draw them in. That's what I did anyways.

[- Max -]

Using curved text effects isn't really a good thing for labeling. It badly distords font and doesn't look aesthetically good. You may want to use path tool to create curves instead.