The World of Ethiedus
So, this is a project that I have been working on for about two and a half years, and it's become almost an indelible thing in my reality. I could probably unerringly name all the major territories from a blank version of this map in no time flat, whereas I doubt I can place even half of the states in the US if I were given a few minutes to think about it. I started this map out very small, two and a half years ago, as a visual aid for the first novel I was attempting to write. I wanted to be able to "see" the country I was setting the story in, and maybe calculate distances between towns and whatnot. But then I started thinking, what if (this being a fantasy, adventure, save-the-world type story) they end up going to other countries? That's probably gonna happen. So I expanded the map. And then I decided that was still too small, so I added some more to make it a world map. And then I realized, well ****, if this is a whole world it's rather tiny. So I expanded it again, hugely so. My computer groaned under the weight of the file, with over 200 eventual layers - mostly text, but plenty for terrain and outlines and landmarks and rivers and ocean depth and ALL of that. Along the way I tested out tutorial after tutorial, learning the different functions of GIMP and later Photoshop and deciding which processes would best suit the map I was laboring over. Special thanks must be made to Arsheesh and RobA for their wonderful tutorials, and to Coyotemax for his textures, that helped bring this project from a tiny, flat, simple blue-and-tan map with symbols for forests and mountains and poorly drawn rivers, to a semi-believable, lovingly painted satellite-style rendition of my entire fictional world of Ethiedus.
I set the project aside for months at a time, but when I worked on it, I worked on it feverishly, spending hours and hours and hours and HOURS getting every aspect of it just right. But I was never satisfied with it. I always wanted to improve, push the limits of my skills. The cartographical bug had bitten hard and there was no going back. Finally, I got it to a point where I was satisfied, largely, with how it all looked. I had 23 major territories/groups of territories, and 241 named settlements. I had mountains and rivers that were, to the best of my ability, not complete manure. I digested river placement rules as best as I could. I'm sure they're still not that skillfully placed, but I'm going to cut myself some slack, as I am far more artistically inclined than I am scientifically inclined, it is a fantasy world map, and it's my first mapping project. I put them where I wanted them and did my best to fudge it into something semi-believable.
But something was still missing from the final version, so I did something I cannot label as anything but crazy. I redid the map. I worked from the last version I made, so I didn't start over from scratch. I copied coastlines and refined them, I duplicated river placements, etc. I didn't change any of my settlement or territory names. But I made this version of the map at a much higher resolution (having recently learned how such things work, and realizing that if I ever wanted my map printed, it would need to be redone), and I found that what looked 'alright' at lower resolutions looked stunningly improved at a higher resolution. I repainted the landscape, still using Coyotemax's brilliant textures. I spent 4 long days learning how to use Photoshop instead of GIMP, because, even with a newer computer that handled much, much better the large file sizes, I realized I had sort of reached the limit of GIMP's capacity to do what I needed to do. Photoshop did instantly what took GIMP 5 minutes to do and didn't crash 7/10 times. And so, finally, I finished my map after 4 frenzied days of reworking the entire thing at a larger size. I added a frame. I added a sea serpent and spent an hour and a half making a compass. I added my signature. And it was done. Really done. It felt so strange to have completed the map, and to have reached a point where if I tweaked it any further, it would just be pointless artist's nit-picking.
And here comes the best part! I had a friend who had offered a few months prior to print the map for me when it was finished. And he made good on that promise, and turned my two and a half years of painstaking creation and fine-tuning into something tangibly real and totally gorgeous. The finished image was printed at 600dpi and is 55" x 31.5", not including the border, and was printed on canvas. The map is currently pinned up on my living room wall, where I can look at it any time I want. Where it will inspire me to keep writing and working on Ethiedus. I really feel like my effort paid off. And I'm nervous to share it, because it means so much to me. I'm past the point where I want to hear critiques - trust me, if there's a flaw with the map, I know about it and have decided to just say "Oh well, next time I make a map I'll take that lesson with me."
So this is a hugely personal project. It is my baby. I am proud of it and of myself for finishing something so massive. I have lots of unfinished projects that I rotate through. I'm hesitant to share it, but I want to do it anyway to say THANK YOU to all the people who took the time to make and provide freely the tutorials and resources that I used to make my vision reality. I absolutely could not have done it without your aid.
I know that (if I ever finish a novel set in this world) that I could hardly use this map in a printed novel, so it's basically just a thing I did for personal satisfaction and enjoyment. There's no money involved in the map itself. Maybe someday there'll be money in a novel, but if that involves a map I'm sure it'll be a different version.
I'm hoping to get a graphics tablet soon - this was all done with the mouse - and I'm hoping that it will streamline and improve my map making. Because oh no, I am not done with maps. Not by a long shot! There are regional maps to make. City maps to make! Maps of other worlds! Oh, there are so many possibilities. But for now... here is the world map of Ethiedus. I hope you like it and I hope I'll be back to share something new soon enough. I still have SO MUCH to learn.
The final map at full scale resolution is 16,800 x 9,600 pixels, so I had to lower the quality by a lot so it would fit on the forums. I'm also attaching some close-ups of both the digital and printed version, as well as the whole digital map and the whole printed map.
PS: The serpent's name is Hilly. Or Hildegarde, if she's feeling fancy. My best friend and I thought she needed a name, so now she has one.
Heather Landon
Reply With Quote
