Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: WIP - The Cranmoor Marches

  1. #1
    Guild Novice The Stoat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Federal Way, WA
    Posts
    12

    Map WIP - The Cranmoor Marches

    This is my first map for my campaign. I am choosing a fairly small area at first since the players will not be moving around much at first. This map is mostly done at the moment except for some additional lables. I created it with Gimp. The trees and cities were created by creating a second picture including each image then using the cloning tool to copy them to the map.
    The compuse rose and ships are fonts.
    The lables are not as visible as I would like viewed at a standard 8.5 x 11 page but I wanted to be able to scale the map so I could use it for detail maps of locations on the map.
    Looking forward to what people think of it.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	CranmoorMarches2.jpg 
Views:	134 
Size:	2.86 MB 
ID:	6964  

  2. #2

    Default

    I really like this map. What font did you use, IMO it fits nicely with the style.

  3. #3
    Community Leader Facebook Connected Ascension's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    St. Charles, Missouri, United States
    Posts
    8,392

    Post

    I really like the colors on this...all except for the blue around the coast. I'd switch it to the same color as the rivers and lakes. Nice job.
    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

  4. #4
    Guild Artisan Facebook Connected
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Atlanta, Georgia, United States
    Posts
    928

    Post

    Ditto the blue on the coast (it's just such a bright color, it doesn't sit well with the washed look of the rest of the map).

    Only other critique: on some of the mountains the labels get lost in all the background detail, so you can hardly read them, even at this resolution. You might consider a glow with some other color for the labels (you'd probably have to change the glow on all the labels for consistency) in order to improve legibility, or consider some other method of offsetting the labels from their background. (Some kind of scroll, banner, or cartouche looks like it would not be amiss on a map of this style, and doesn't seem like it would cover too much. Again, you'd probably have to do all the labels this way if you did them over the mountains.)

    Other than that, this is very impressive, what with the mountains and the trees. How did you do all those mountains and trees?
    I think, therefore I am a nerd.
    Cogito, ergo sum nerdem.

    Check out my blog: "The Undiscovered Author"
    It's the story of a writer... follow me in my simple quest to get published, and share your own writing stories, adventures and writerly tips.

    Pimping my worldmap here. Still WIP... long way to go, but I'm pretty proud of what I've done so far...

  5. #5
    Guild Novice waverlyt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Virginia
    Posts
    13

    Default

    Echoing Karro here; my first thought after seeing the overall color scheme, style, and fonts used was "Why aren't there scrolls behind the labels?"

    Very, very nice map.

  6. #6
    Community Leader Facebook Connected Ascension's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    St. Charles, Missouri, United States
    Posts
    8,392

    Post

    As far as that glow effect on the fonts goes...it appears that he has a stroke on the fonts that matches the pale yellow base color...might want to make that stroke a lil fatter or make the fonts a few points larger or just put down a rectangular slab underneath.
    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

  7. #7
    Guild Novice The Stoat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Federal Way, WA
    Posts
    12

    Default

    Thank you everyone for the advise. If font is called Black Adder refering to the BBC series. The mountains and hills were all hand drawn based on the tutorial that is post on this site. The trees and cities I created and used the cloning tool in Gimp to spread them across my map.
    I am working on the lables. I am not using the scroll idea. I want this to have the feel of the maps of the 16th century. My impression is the maps that used the drawing of a scroll for each lable were more fantastic or artistic rendition than realistic maps.
    I will get back to you tomorrow with my updated map.

  8. #8
    Guild Novice The Stoat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Federal Way, WA
    Posts
    12

    Wip Updated

    Here is the Cranmoor Marches with changes made based on what I heard here. I shade the mountains so that the parchment color I chose would stand out where the background objects made it most difficult to read the labels. I put a layer under the labels and used the airbrush tool to enlarge the "white" space around all the labels and to eliminate the hard edge to the white space.
    As far as the layer with the coast line I can only plead temporary color blindness. I wanted it to be distinct from the inland waters but did not realize it looked so neon. I modified the hue and saturation for the layer and hope everyone agrees it fits a lot better with the pallet I'm using.
    Since I was asked about my trees twice I am including clips from the files I used to create them and the towns.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	CranmoorMarches.jpg 
Views:	68 
Size:	3.75 MB 
ID:	7020  
    Attached Images Attached Images    

  9. #9
    Community Leader NeonKnight's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    Surrey, Canada, EH!
    Posts
    5,051

    Post

    HOLY CRAP LOAD OF DETAIL BATMAN!

    I must say, i have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this map.

    When I view it in the unzoomed view, i marvel at the detail, the flow of the visuals, the whole thing.

    And then when I zoom in, I am overwhelmed, having a hard time picking out details, finding the cities, & points of interest, so I go back to unzoomed view and bask in the beauty of of it.

    I see where you are going here, and I must commend you. I don;t know if it is possible for you to globally change the pen width for the hills & moutains as they seem a little 'thick', but for a first post, very well done. Bravo!
    Daniel the Neon Knight: Campaign Cartographer User

    Never use a big word when a diminutive one will suffice!

    Any questions on CC3? Post them with CC3 in the Subject Line!
    MY 'FAMOUS' CC3 MAPS: Thunderspire; Pyramid of Shadows; King of the Trollhaunt Warrens; Demon Queen's Enclave

  10. #10
    Guild Artisan Facebook Connected
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Atlanta, Georgia, United States
    Posts
    928

    Post

    The changes in the color backgrounds for the labels on the mountains help a bit. At least at full zoom they are relatively legible, now.
    I think, therefore I am a nerd.
    Cogito, ergo sum nerdem.

    Check out my blog: "The Undiscovered Author"
    It's the story of a writer... follow me in my simple quest to get published, and share your own writing stories, adventures and writerly tips.

    Pimping my worldmap here. Still WIP... long way to go, but I'm pretty proud of what I've done so far...

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •