Capital City of Tarrin

[Aelyn]

Hello everyone,

after a very long absence, I've begun working on maps again. I'm currently trying to make a new city map and would welcome some critique and advice, especially on the style I should adopt.
Right now, the map is only sketchy and only the walled old town of the city is finished. Any ideas what colour scheme etc I should go for?

Regards,
Aelyn


Just some information about the city: Tarrin is the capital of a country of late Medieval technology standard and has roughly 28,000 inhabitants.

[SteffenBrand]

Hey Aelyn! =)

Really good start of the map! Do you have any particular maps in mind which you could imagine would fit? If you would provide some examples we could help you guide you in the direction you want to go and help you achieve the look you want to go for.
One thing about the river.... I would think about the smaller river to let it flow more gentle in the bigger one. This way you would provide your city with some kind of natural water barrier as this looks heavily fortified anyway. I'd also think about natural growth of the city. It is likely that there are some farmers and houses outside the city.

Oh, and I took the freedom of reframing it. I would also tilt it a little bit more, compositional thinking here...
Provided you with a sketch of what I mean. =)

Best wishes, Steffen

[Aelyn]

Thank you for all your suggestions! Unfortunately, I wasn't precise about what I meant by "not yet finished", so some of your advice was given in vain... this is only the old town, I have planned for former farmland (as you suggested) to have been incorporated over time, so I will add quarter by quarter just as it developed over time. I added a small picture of my recent progress to show you what I mean. But I see what you mean and will definitely keep it in mind! (As you can see, I'm already incorporating moats/canals)

On a different note, about that bridge: I originally considered having that large bridge, but then I took into account the width of the river (several hundred metres) and assumed that a medieval society wouldn't have the knowledge to build such a bridge, so ferry boats seemed more likely. It is quite a large river, comparable to the Rhine, but not as gently flowing. Does anyone know about bridges in the Middle Ages? How much technological knowledge was there actually?

Regards,
Aelyn

[SteffenBrand]

There are several records of bridges, far exceeding what you might think. Look here and here for example. Both were build between 100 and 300 AD iirc. Granted, a lot of knowledge was lost in the middle ages they had before, but nevertheless - the amount of people there is still significant enough that this bridge could just be very old (or if you follow a fictional timeline you don't even need explanation...).

I'm surprised to see you going in some of the directions I thought about, too! =)
Best wishes and keep it going,

Steffen

[Aelyn]

So I have added a few more wards, but there is still much more to come... *sigh* And yes I know that this tiny bit underneath the old town wouldn't remain unsettled, but it's the site of a cloister-like thing that I've been too lazy to paint yet. It will be added in due time.



I've done some research into the bridge thing. This country has not had a previous civilization like the Romans, that's why I thought it unlikely they would have bridges like these just standing around. However I then figured out that London Bridge is not that much shorter and was built in stone in the 12th century, so I guess they could have managed that somehow. So I'll add a bridge, probably covered with houses, which also means I'll have to add another few houses on the other side of the river...

[Frenchie the DM]

I'm glad you've expanded the scope and forayed into showing the roofing styles - there's a lot of great variation and interesting patterns. Tell me more about this cloister, like a religious group?

[Josiah VE]

How did you do all of those buildings? Love it!

[Aelyn]

Thank you for the comments! No new picture yet, had to find some sleep as well But as to those questions:

The cloister is a kind of religious building, but this country doesn't have a classic monotheist religion or something, it's more like a kind of animistic religion (worshipping spirits of nature, ancestors and such), so this cloister is called a "hermitage" and is run by lay people who come there for a time to find inner strength and be close to the spirits (part-time buddhist monks, so to say). Since it is a bit more complex than just the average house, I've postponed drawing it and want to put some thought into the general design of it first (what kinds of buildings does it need?).

The buildings are quite easy to make (I'm not good at free-hand so I have to resort to these measures...). They are drawn using the line tool in various widths and a second layer for the roofs. I'm pretty sure there are more beautiful ways to do them, but I don't have the dexterity for it. If you are really interested in it step-by-step, let me know, then I'll write a quick tutorial.

[darcycardinal]

Thank you for the comments! No new picture yet, had to find some sleep as well But as to those questions:

The cloister is a kind of religious building, but this country doesn't have a classic monotheist religion or something, it's more like a kind of animistic religion (worshipping spirits of nature, ancestors and such), so this cloister is called a "hermitage" and is run by lay people who come there for a time to find inner strength and be close to the spirits (part-time buddhist monks, so to say). Since it is a bit more complex than just the average house, I've postponed drawing it and want to put some thought into the general design of it first (what kinds of buildings does it need?).

The buildings are quite easy to make (I'm not good at free-hand so I have to resort to these measures...). They are drawn using the line tool in various widths and a second layer for the roofs. I'm pretty sure there are more beautiful ways to do them, but I don't have the dexterity for it. If you are really interested in it step-by-step, let me know, then I'll write a quick tutorial.

Nice start to the city Aelyn - How many layers are you working with in your program? and how far are you going to grow the city? Sometimes simple is best, especially if you are try to get a certain look and feel. My only suggestion would be for more terrain features like mountains and forests.

Darcy Cardinal

[Josiah VE]

A tutorial would be nice, because I still don't know how you can do so many buildings like that! The castle looks awesome too by the way.