Map This! - Cartography Services

[Vandy]

Map This! - Cartography Services
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Hello, Fellow Cartographers.

My name is Gary and I either go by Vandy or Gary on the 'net. I'll answer to either name.

Map This! - Cartography Services is please to announce its presence on the Cartographers' Guild. The purpose of this thread is to showcase the SimCity 4maps I have created and released and will be creating in the future. Now that I've found this great site, I fully expect to expand my map-making to include maps similar to what I've seen on this site. Obviously, this thread will be used to showcase them as well.

With that thought in mind, I would like to make the following very serious and (for me) heartfelt Statement of Purpose as follows:

"It is not the intention of Map This! - Cartography Services to be in direct competition with or otherwise impede, infringe upon or take away from any other individual or group involved in map making. The sole purpose of Map This! - Cartography Services is that of sharing my map-making skills with others. I will never talk down to another map maker or otherwise cause him or her to believe they are being denigrated, attacked or "slammed". My goal is to offer genuine help in the field of map making and to create a product (maps and tutorials) that will be useful to the mapping community."

The main application I use to create SimCity 4 maps is wouanagaine's excellent application, SC4Terraformer. Regards of how the initial map is created, SC4Terraformer is my application of choice to finish a SC4 map. When I first starting making SC4 maps, I used Landscape Designer to create my initial map then used Paint Shop Pro to edit and finish the map. I also "hand create" maps either completely from "scratch" on a piece of paper then scan them or completely create them using SC4Terraformer.

Within the last two months, I have started to experiment with using a Terragen .TER terrain file as the file input to a World Machine .TMD file. The resultant .TMD file is then exported as a 16-bit .PNG and used as the import file in SC4Terraformer.

AS I become more comfortable with this site and more experienced with the posted tutorials and wealth of member information, I fully intend to select a set of software tools and start creating similar maps as I've seen on this site.

Map This! - Cartography Services currently has active threads at Simtropolis, Pegasus Productions, SC4Devotion and SimCity Polska.

The SimCity 4 maps I have created are available from the following download locations:

Type of Map: Pre-SC4Terraformer Maps
Application Used: Landscape Designer
Locations: Simtropolis STEX, Pegasus PLEX

Gonzo Bay
Prescott Bay Original (The first map I ever created.)
Donovan's Reach
Leonard Lake
Aecheson Crater Field
Puerta Del Dios
East She Who Will Not Be Named's Isles
West She Who Will Not Be Named's Isles
The Lake District
Vicki's Sound
Hadrian's Torch

Type of Map: SC4Terraformer-Created Maps)
Application Used: SC4Terraformer
Locations: Simtropolis STEX, Pegasus PLEX, SimCity Polska SPEX

Maps under the Map This! - Cartography Services Name

Shaphiyr Harran
Koyama Island
Silver River Valley
Smierc Smoka
American Southwest - Monument Valley
Republika Tawalsu

Maps under the New Horizon Productions Name (Simtropolis STEX only -- Other exchanges under the MTCS name)

Carthage - Region of the Stones
Heartland
Okeanidies
O'Shawnasee's Crossing

Finally, please know that I am always open to suggestions, GOOD constructive criticism and genuinely enjoy the banter back and forth between the interested people who will be posting to this thread as well as downloading and enjoying my SC4 maps.

I'm a bit hesitant to post any pictures of my SimCity 4 maps as I'm not sure they are appropriate for this site. I would very much like to read you opinions as to whether or not I should post pictures of my finished SC4 maps.

Finally, if folks believe I should post pictures of them, I believe I would be more comfortable posting them in this thread rather than in the Finished Maps forum as I don't believe them to be in the "spirit" of this site (that is, the type of map they are compared to what is on this site). What do y'all think?

Thanks, in advance, to all who come visiting and WELCOME to Map This! - Cartography Services.

Regards,

Gary (Vandy)