Continent of Madarra, Advice Welcome
So, this is my campaign world of Astyria's largest single continent. It's a map I made for a D&D world, but is mostly a composite of my favorite maps from other games and campaign worlds, or real world locations. In a sense its a loving fangasm for other things as well. Borrowing coastlines from a lot of different maps I've seen. Lordaeron, Hoenn, Johto, Kanto, Hyrule from the second Zelda, ect ect a lot of favorite maps went into this.
My questions are....
- I need advice on labeling. The two regions most finished and labeled are Almastyra and Maeb. Highlighted in the subdued brown in the North West. I'm wondering if the sub-labels under Maeb are excessive and add too much clutter OR if they are fine as they are.
- Also about the Highlighting of regions. Ideally this repreasents just generally named regions/domains/areas of common culture and geography. Not necessarily actual countries. So more like a Forgotten Realms map. I'm debating if each region should have a slightly different tone/hue and or only tough slightly different hue/tones?
- Some areas are more populated than others, Some are simply open wilderness with nothing. Should they be given a duller hue? Or some way to differentiate areas with people from areas with almost none?
Other comments, input and suggestions are welcome infinitely.
Continued changes and progress. One thing I decided was to cut back on the labeling underneath the main labels.
Likewise I've adopted a coloring process rather than just use the dark autumn colors for geographic zones. Also upped the topography contrast.
You might want to try white for the text over land, it might be easier to read. Also, try to avoid using well-known fonts from games or movies or whatever. If you're going to label cities, forests, rivers, etc then the text will have to be smaller (future consideration there.)
If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
-J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)
My Maps ~ My Brushes ~ My Tutorials ~ My Challenge Maps
I think for now this will serve as just a "This is were this region is compared to that region." Map. Over all each region will probably never be developed beyond "Hey, your character can be from here. It has X, Y, Z city..... and is culturally like this"Originally Posted by Ascension
Territories that will be like focused on will probably get their own individual maps.
As for the font, I might change it, but the color Idea intrigues. The main argument for keeping it is..... well its nice looking and being a D&D campaign map XD.... I felt it suited it well. If I can find another I may change the font. The color though I will take into consideration.
So further progress, hopefully the color scheme is still good.
Nice, so far.
You get the best legibility when labels don't cross coastlines - particularly strongly shaded ones like your color-coding. It isn't always possible to avoid, but you could fix 75% of the instances on here. Ashnegon, Vespus, etc could probably fit on land - unless you're avoiding cities or other features not visible yet? It would be legit for Tarmos to fit between the major island and the archipelago. Since Almastyra can't all fit on land, first see if it'll fit all on ocean adjacent, then see if you can minimize the times it crosses coastlines. "Sea of Kariel" gets lost in the wavelines - I bet it could be situated all at sea - it's fine for area labels to stretch across a broad extent of the feature they refer to.
As far as the font - it's pretty, and as you say evocative - it just borders on illegibility. F, T, and P are all so close. Is that an I in the east.... Icharon?
You could gain clarity by losing some minor loops and intersections of the wavelines - the little scrap NNE of Kaory, and the embayment at its SE. Is that an island or an errant bit of autogenerated wave-line in the middle of Erys' middle lake? The loops W and SW of Lydia. The lake-loop in Ashnegon, and offshore dots south of it.
Your river networks are pretty sensible, but I'm not buying the way Feyrilon's splits nor how close the one in Lydia skirts that inlet.
Good stuff - eagerly await to see further development!
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