the Globe of Elyden (yes, again!)
Been away for a while, not doing that much in terms of mapping, though I have been able to get this personal piece, detailing Elyden in a Molliweide projection, done. It’s from the point of view of the Parthisan Empire.
It’s very similar to the Stereographic map I keep on resurrecting every so often (but that never seems to get anywhere despite my occasional tinkering with it, adding labels as I slowly flesh out the world), though it’s much smaller (I’d say about a quarter of the total area of the stereographic map – by the demiurges, I struggled with manipulating this map, let alone that one!) and contains much fewer extraneous details. And its those details – treatises, short essays, physical data etc. – that are really time-consuming. Well, those and the labels! My drive for perfection with such things means that I cant just add a random label or just write gibberish for the text boxes – whatever I write needs to fit in with established timelines and regional histories.
As a case in point: take the text boxes I this recent map. There are three in all (not counting small key information scattered around the map detailing the individual images): one detailing the state of the world, another detailing recent Parthisan history and another listing all the Emperors elect since its formation as a Republic. I had to come up with all that information specifically for the map as Parthis is one of the regions for which I have written very little, and that threw a spanner in the workd for a while, though I think It adds a bit of reality to the map. Same with the National crest (made on the fly, though I’m still not 100% sold on it). The physical data beneath the National crest I had already calculated for the larger stereographic map so replicated there.
The map itself is not completely finished yet – I still have to add a few labels (many of the eastern and southern regions are not entirely fleshed out, so many nations are still sans capital cities, as you say, so I’ll need to concoct them specifically for the map – something I’m never too keen on doing as the languages for those regions haven’t been developed (or even thought of) yet and I don’t like naming areas that don’t have at least a basic language set in place (determining certain suffixes and prefixes, for instance). I also need to add a map key (kind of write myself in a corner with that as I have no idea where to add it – I might just have to remove some of the smaller text boxes to add the key) and some details (not sure what yet).
That brings me to something else – I’m never really happy with a map. I set out to make something that’s pseudo-realistic though always feel as if there’s something else I can add – a nicer neatline, more period-defining details and so on, though always stumble on such details. Grrr!
I really like it and the text is not full of Lorem Ipsum.
There is something starge in the legend, your are mixing the international metric and imperial systems. Is it intentional ? (Celsius and miles) or is it another system?
what about the gravity ?
the Celcius is something I've been thinking about and might change it to something else, though given that celcius/centigrade has been around since the 16th century im not that bothered about it for now.Originally Posted by Azelor
The gravity is just converted to feet/second (though i noticed that the squared isnt written in superscript) - are the systems of measurement jarring? iwant to stick to imperial systems as much as possible to give it an older feel (that for some reason I still measure things in imperial. thats what i get from living in a commonwealth country!)
and thanks for the comment about the test - i hate lorem ipsum with a passion and the text probably took as long to come up with as the map itself. I hope the wall of text isnt too big!
6023 miles is 9691 km and that is larger than Earth. This would also impact gravity, but it can be mitigated by lowering the planet density.
Last edited by Azélor; 11-21-2014 at 03:41 PM.
Oh Yeah almost half again the radius. I haven't calculated exactly though was thinking a density of about 4.2g/cm3
Adding a scale bar with a note pointing out that the scale bar is useless is a tad silly. Given the map is equal area, it would make more sense to include an area scale instead: one or more circles labelled with their areas.
I love how detailed and complete Elyden is. Never sad to hear that you're having another go at it.
A few text errors I noticed and suggestions to improve (haven't read it all, yet):
--lower left I, paragraph 2, line 4: typo in the word region
--lower left I, paragraph 4, line 6: as well as well as
--lower left I, paragraph 4, line 9: I think you have misused the word abdication; do you mean secession?
--lower left I, paragraph 5, line 1: lower-case S on Strait; I don't know if you did that deliberately?
--lower left I, paragraph 5, line 6: comma after the word xenophobic
--lower left I, paragraph 6, lines 1-6: this paragraph reads as one long sentence. Could you break it up, a little?
--lower left I, paragraph 7, line 1: this line is repeated at the top of the next panel
--lower left II, paragraph 1, lines 3-4: repeated use of word strengthened/-ing
--lower left II, paragraph 2, lines 1-4: first two sentences are a bit messy
--lower left II, paragraph 2, lines 2-3: missing word the region emerged from ... the with a clearer identity
--lower left II, paragraph 3, line 2: do you mean region's or regions'?
--lower left II, paragraph 3, lines 7-9: could you shorten this sentence or break it up a bit?
--lower left II, paragraph 5, line 3: I think millennia should be millennium
--lower left II, paragraph 5, line 9: same as above. Also, looks like a missing word in as much as millennia
That's as far as I went, so far. Hope it's helpful.
THW
Formerly TheHoarseWhisperer
Very nice, Vorro. I always like to see something for your Elyden universe. A very informative map, so to speakI like it. Will have to dig into the texts.
I'm trapped in Darkness,
Still I reach out for the Stars
Nice map! It has a great "authentic feel" with both this style and the numerous informations.
Gah! thanks for that, updated the original file
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