Further Progress.
Greason Wolfe: As the unseen mind behind the artist's hand, I always appreciate appreciation. Thanks!
Amerz and I have made some further progress on the map. The changes are mostly minor, but I'm pleased to say that Amerz's efforts have nearly reached completion. Things to note here are:
1.) Proportions. Amerz stretched the map out horizontally by adding more oceans to the margins of the map, as well as by expanding Laermar (the roughly circular sea around which the continents are arranged). Thus, Urania's map now has proportions realistic for a spherical planet in Mercator projection. Yay.
2.) Colored Borders That Are Real Purdy-like. Neutral territories are left with no borders. Forests are given a shade of green with a "watercolor on parchment" texture (notice how the pools of green color in certain places don't quite line up with the trees). The mountains are similarly colored grey, but in such a fashion as to make them stand "in front of" one another to give the illusion of perspective.
3.) A Visit from the River Police. Though most of my rivers follow the rules previously set out by other CG members, there were a few minor tributaries I eliminated for the sake of realism. I also added a river to Katadria (the wooded island in the lower left corner of the map), since explorers would have to sail up that river to figure out that Katadria has a lake in the middle of it. (Katadria is an exexplored island swarming with baddies, so there would be no other way of exploring the interior.)
4.) Terrain. Amerz has developed a "mountain brush" and a "tree brush" to render the various land features. She used two kinds of trees: deciduous and coniferous. We're hoping to add an icecap or glacier terrain for certain areas in the north and south extremes of the map.
Things we're still working on:
1.) A compass rose.
2.) Re-inserting the place names using appropriate fonts.
3.) A legend.
4.) Icecaps for the north and south polar regions.
5.) Decorative artwork (e. g., gryphons, galleons, sea serpents and stuff).
6.) Navigational lines; longitude and latitude. I'm also toying with the idea of a pair of tropic lines and arctic lines to delineate the climate regions more clearly.
Enjoy!
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