Annara (D&D4E Regional)

[MadLetter]

Hi folks!

Long time no news from me, but again I return to present some new stuff. I've recently (shortly before christmas) got myself a Wacom Intuos3 and have been playing around when college let me have some time for myself.

I also recently got a few friends of mine to try roleplaying and for their effort in getting into the game, I make an effort to make it as pleasing as possible, including visuals.

I've been mapping thusly, since yesterday, creating the map I simply call "Annara"

I wish to ask of you all to answer me a question: Which of the 2 versions looks better? The one with brown color included, making mountainous and hilly regions more visible, or the brown-less variant with hills/mountains being marked less obviously.

Added Note: No rivers yet, they will come in time

[Soixante]

Looks very nice. I think I prefer the one with brown in it.

[Redrobes]

Brown for me too.

(Good to see you around again !)

[MadLetter]

So I'll work a little more with the brown, until the majority tells me otherwise.

Also I'm happy to be back... I've trained a little, specifically with THIS tutorial. Honestly, I do not like the outcome of those tutorials all too much, but it gave me some insights on how to find my own style, seeing as I always had huge problems with mounts (I always drew them "comic"-style, as evident from my older material).

If everything goes well, I might get around to be a little more active again, even though I doubt it with the lot of projects going on (Teaching folks Go, RPG's, College, Personal Matters, ...).

Anyways, thanks for your opinions, I've got some more stuff worked up. Added rivers and a little bit of plains here and there (brighter greenish-yellow areas).

[thebax2k]

Nice start MadLetter, add my voice to those who prefer brown in your maps as well. If you can further blend the landmasses with the water (or at least make the relief between the two a little bit less sharp), you'll have a great map.

[MadLetter]

Okay I tried it without the "Stroke" I used to make land and sea more distinct. I'm very pleased with the outcome, thanks for the input.

More input is always welcome

[Steel General]

I'll throw in my vote for the one with the brown.

Keep going, this is coming out nicely.

[Ascension]

I don't have any suggestions whatsoever but I like how this is going...good job.

[ravells]

I really love the forest distribution in this map. How did you do it, Madletter? It's beautiful.

[MadLetter]

Thanks ravells. I used a home-made brush, very simple one.

Diameter 2px
Hardness 0%
Spacing 422%

Shape Dynamics:
Size Jitter Control: Pen Pressure (using Wacom Intuos3, sometimes I turn it off. Okay mostly I turn it off)

Scattering:
Scatter Box Axes
Scatter 1000% (max.)
Control: Off
Count: 8
Jitter 0%

Dual Brush:
I use a secondary bursh to give it more texture. I used a 100 px diameter round bursh that looks "wet" somewhat.


The distribution I did per Intuos3 and my mood, then. Just a patch here and there. I did also with purpose put trees everywhere. Even in the north of germany where I went last year there were trees everywhere, even if only a few in comparison to the huge woodlands that surrounds my home city... (you can google "Pfälzer Wald" if you are interested).

Hope that helps!