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Nice job! Still have a little bit of a feeling that it's square, but it really doesn't matter all that much. Looking forward to cities!
The Region That Has Not Yet Been Named
In continuation of THIS THREAD, which is where I was seeking general answers and it morphed into getting feedback on my map (for a story and created following Gidde's tutorial on hand-drawing maps in GIMP). So here's an official WIP thread. What I've done so far is as follows:
Map 1.0:
Map 1.1:
Map 1.2:
At this point, I am considering beginning adding towns/cities and roads, unless anyone has more suggestions for me to try out.
lol Cities should prove interesting. I think by and large I'll use traditional symbols (dots, stars, etc) to represent cities and villages, but I would like to make one specific, custom icon. I'll have to do some deep thinking about how to do that. Maybe take a look through the tutorials.
For squareness, if I extend the upper-left corner of the landmass right off the corner of the map (so that it's land there too, instead of water), would that help? At this point I'm not completely attached to every inch of the map, so if there's ways to ease up on cliche landmass shapes without sacrificing the bigger picture, I'm willing to give it a go.
Been busy for a while with school and work, and also because I don't know myself all the towns and cities that I wanted for my map. Since this map is essentially for my own use in a story that may never see the light of day, I didn't already have a list made up. So this may be the longest portion of this whole map-making process for me. I feel the map would be very incomplete without towns and cities.
Anyway, I have made one addition to the map. It is a specific location in which ancient trees arch above an old (but relatively much younger) fortress, all encircled by a great wall. Because of its unique design and significance to the story, I wanted it to be more than a mere dot on the map. So I spent some time creating my own brush (which I then made some final touches to after placing it on my map, due to some quality being lost in the scaling).
Thoughts? It's not nearly as pretty and clear as I had hoped for.(and for those trying to find it, it's nestled into the trees on the right half of the map, near the mountains and south of the lake)
Mmmmm.... It is not easy to escape squareness (is it an actual word?). I mean, the map reminds me of my own, of Middle earth, of other maps... The problem is the rectangle made by mountains AND coastlines. We tend to, without noticing, draw a map for one sheet. What I mean by that is that if you do not have a bigger picture of the continent, you will have a hard time avoiding squareness. At least for me, drawing around my main empire allowed me to escape a little bit.
What you may improve on that ALREADY promising map, at least from my point of view.
1-The mountains on the western half look like they make a 'T', which is the main reason why it feels so square. Mountain chains are seldom straight and without branches.
2-Still on the western half. The rivers from your mountains tend to join altogether in a river going somehow parallel to the mountain chain. It does not look natural to me unless you put some obstacle forcing all those rivers to go South into that lake. I believe that many rivers SHOULD join, but that some should just go straight to the sea. I will irrigate more the inlands.
What I like:
1-Having hills or some kind of elevation on the peninsula is a good idea, normally they are not flat (Italy is a good exemple). The islands curving give it also some artistic touch.
2-Your rivers are not too straight nor too twisty twister, and they almost all come from the mountains! Nice!
What I think may give you some interesting opportunities:
1-The mountain chain to the east sounds unatural a little bit, but they will certainly give you many possibilities for interesting climates! Think of the winds, the lack of rain. Then the mountains themselves! What kind of ecosystem will you have on the mountain side facing the sea?
2-The lake east of the mountain chain looks like it was the leftover from an icecap. A big mountain of ice, when it melts, will not just leave water, but will leave a kind of crater beccause of the weight of the ice having lowered the ground.
What could, if you ask me, help you to give some depth to your map, in knowing what you could add.
1-Work on your book
2-Work on the climates, the type of forests.
3-Trade. If civilizations are trading, what resources do they need or give? May give you some insight on metal veins in the mountains for example.
4-Be stuborn! Sometimes, try to avoid changing something that may sound irrealistic and try to find some way to justify it!
5-Believe in yourself, it has alot of potential!
Last edited by Elterio Delgard; 05-29-2016 at 11:08 PM.
I coulda sworn I'd replied to this already...
Thank you very much for your feedback, Elterio!
Improvements:
1. Yes, I've been trying to find ways to get rid of the T-shape without completely abandoning the north.
2. I could adjust those rivers if needed. I figured water would seek the path of least resistance, even if it means meandering in the wrong direction a little bit, and when the map is zoomed out that far, perhaps there are obstacles. I'm not really sure. I can look at it more, though, and see if I can come up with anything.
Likes:
1. Thank you! I half expected the islands to turn out wrong, but after I put them in I realized they curve almost perfectly to the way I had in mind.
2. I confess, had I not done some measure of reading (here on these forums) in advance, my rivers could have been a catastrophe! xD
Opportunities:
1. I am not really sure. I had it in mind that the mountains would literally run right up against the sea, with steep, high cliffs on the very edge. I imagine it would be a pretty rough area, especially at the northern end of the range. With mountains on both sides that would really funnel the winds up there (at least it seems to me that it would). Definitely wet over the sea and on both sides of the left arm. On the other side of the right arm it goes pretty quickly to desert.
2. I suppose anything is possible. I hadn't really considered the history of the world (like, ice-ages, etc). I do know that during the thaw and rainy seasons, a lot of water comes down from the mountains and floods the lake, which pushes the water level high enough to enter the second exit channel, which then feeds the swampland. Then when the water level lowers, it goes back to having just the one exit channel that goes all the way to the sea.
Final thoughts:
1. Definitely a goal. To be honest, as much as I hate putting this project on hold, I feel like I really can't go much further without knowing more about the land. Not just its physical attributes, but the history as well. What cities are where, etc. I don't want to toss cities in at random just to fill space, and right now I barely know of any cities.
2. I am really not good at climate stuff, but I can try.
3. Definitely trade. The west and the east have a strong trade system, with the west relying heavily on the east. The islands are dominated by pirates who pillage ships passing through the basin, which means that by-land trade is almost the only type of trade they have. A few ports within the basin itself form the majority of the seafaring trade between the two kingdoms.
4. Well, lucky for me, I was born stubborn!
5. Thanks!I can't wait until I can figure more of the particulars out so I can keep working on the map.
And then my own final comments: School and work have kept me extremely busy recently. I have not at all forgotten about this project and I fully intend to complete it, but my time to actually work on it (or the story) is really limited atm.
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