Regional Map - WIP - advice / general feedback

[Teh Tarek]

Hi everyone. My first post.

I've made a map using a simplified version of Ascension's Atlas Style for a Dungeons and Dragons campaign I'm preparing.

It's not finished, but I thought I'd post it here to get people's general advice and comments, and ask some specific questions:

- It's a 2000x2000 pixel image in Photoshop. What's the best way to ultimately get it printed? e.g. convert it to JPEG? I want to produce reasonably large printouts for the players.
- Any suggestions for a name for this region (take a look at the naming conventions I've used for the cities and rivers)?
- I'm having trouble developing a scale for the map. The intention was for this region to be roughly the size of Greece (including the Greek islands), but it looks like it now needs to be bigger. Any tips on how to figure out an appropriate size for the region, and how long it should take my Dungeons and Dragons party members to walk or sail a particular distance?
- Once this is finished, I will need to move on to mapping particular islands and cities. Any tips on good resources for smaller scale maps of that type? Also, the region is modelled on East Africa, so I'm looking for resources that will help me populate city and island maps with African and Arab style objects.

[Josiah VE]

I actually love how this is looking! The mountains really feel as if they're rising out of the earth.

For converting to JPG with PS in file do "Save as" and choose JPG to save as. I have a older version of photoshop it might be "Export" or something now, I'm not sure.

I can't really help you with the other questions.

To me, other than the desert and mountains the whole thing seems like forest. Do you want it all forest like that or is there actually plains that just look like forest.

Anyway, looks awesome.

[HBrown]

I like the mountains style. Very cool. There are a large number of circular mountain features, for example, the one near the Fort of Turquoise. These stand out to me because you won't see many of these on Earth. Giant caldera? Impact craters? I find myself wondering about them instead of appreciating the map, which is beautiful.

[Teh Tarek]

Thanks both!

Josiah - it's meant to be a small region, fitting wholly within the tropical climate zone of this planet, on a series of rugged islands and peninsulae, hence the limited climate or terrain types. The dark areas surrounding the rivers are meant to be swamps. I tried to give a swampy feel by shading in black. And thanks for the tip!

Hbrown - the mountains are supposed to have been generated by magically induced volcanic activity. I'm really glad to hear that the map makes you wonder where they came from! I want to use this map as a tool to draw my players into the world.

[Korash]

That style IS very evocative, and I think that you succeeded in creating something that will draw your players in.

I do have a critique about the text...I find that some of your black land text get a bit lost in the shadows of the mountains. I would suggest sticking with black text on the water and white on land. the white is very easy to read.

As for the scale, you could just say that it is the size of Greece, and then figure out miles per pixel, or assign a travel time from point A to point B and figure out the scale that way. You could also look at google maps and figure out what scale matches the features of your maps and those of Greece.

[Teh Tarek]

Thanks for the feedback!

I did notice that some names were difficult to read, but I like how the black text in dark terrain enhances the sense of foreboding about those locations, and has the potential to convey a "deep, dark, jungle" feel to my players. I'd love to find a colour that retains that sense of foreboding, which might not come if I use white. I'll try posting a final version at some point.