[taken]-[paid]Continent of Agraan

[Spazzle]

Hey there!

Thanks for taking the time to consider this request. I'm developing a fantasy setting and I'd really like to map out the major features of this continent (Agraan).

Initially I would like to create three maps: One overview of the continent in general terms - not photo realistic, but a nice "artist's rendition" style with basic features on it. The second map would be more like an older medieval-style explorer's map with fine details of New Caledonia (see below), but only vague outlines of the great continent. The last would be a small basic map of the City of Port Warden (the kind that might be included in an RPG campaign, which is what this is for).

Time Constraints - I'd like to have them ASAP. I don't know how long this might take - would "within a week or so" be too outrageous? This is negotiable as I can work around a missing map on June 5th, but would need working maps by June 19th.

Paid - This is only for personal use, and the maps don't need to be too fancy, but I believe in compensating people for their work. PM me with a decent price/donation per map (and maybe some examples of your work) and we can take it from there. This isn't for resale, just personal use, so the artist can maintain all copyright/ownership to their work.

Quality - I'm aiming for what you might find in a nice supplement for a game manual. Something I can print on an 8.5" by 11" page and have it still look nice. I don't know what programs might work best, but I could easily use pdfs (or similar) in terms of digital format.

If those details sound acceptable, fantastic! I've included the specifics and a (very bad) rough map drawn up in MS Paint. (I'm no artist!) If this works out well, additional maps may be requested down the road. (again, all paid work)

Cheers,

Richard

I'll give you a bit of the background to give you a sense of where this is going:

The setting takes place in a time similar to the first exploration of the American continent. More technologically advanced (medieval) settlers arrived, considered the continent (Agraan) barren due to the lack of what they considered civilized cities, and started an (unsuccessful) attempt to conquer the continent. The continent is similar in size to Africa. The war has since ended, but the Caledon empire only managed to secure a small peninsula on the east coast (about the size of Florida). They have named this peninsual "New Caledonia" and the primary defensive town/port is Port Warden, which is at the base of the river which connects to the sea at that point. (red dot)

Predominantly, the continent is mostly a savanna similar to Africa. There is a major river that runs from the mountain range in the north, through the savanna, and to the city of Port Warden. The name for this major savanna region is Abarri At a point in the river, towards the eastern edge of the savanna, two major lakes form - Laka Malawai and Lake Malawasi (smaller/bigger). The river that connects all this is called the Malasa River.

Other features of the continent are the jungle region to the south and the more temperate region north of the savanna - transitioning from savanna to classical European style forests with rolling hills.

There are three major mountain ranges. The cold/snowcapped range to the north, the range that runs down the continent on the west side, and a smaller range that breaks off the northern range and meets up with the northern edge of the peninsula. Where the northern and eastern ranges meet it forms a small bay with a small section of inhabitable land (think colder norway/sweden climate) and the northern range breaks off into the sea into a small chain of islands (the Faroe Islands).

There is a stretch of land on the western side of the western range, this is mostly unknown to the initial explorers, though they have heard of two kingdoms residing there. The southern bit is jungle, and it transitions to more temperate forests in the north. I've included a VERY rough draft of what I'm imagining.

[jfrazierjr]

Not to try to take a commission from anyone, but have you considered doing the maps yourself? Lack of talent is not really an excuse since there are many great tutorials here on the guild as well as tons of people willing to assist in helping you get things just right. One issue that may be a factor is lack of time, and I can fully understand someone trading money when they lack the time. Given your timeframe, if you have some spare time, it may well be worth it to consider doing the maps your self using some of the tutorials here on the guild. If not, then I would suggest posting a few more times so that others may PM you to discuss their price quotes(you need 5 posts to be able to send or receive PM's due to spammers.)

If you DO decide to give this a go, let us know which you need first as well as any software you have and we can point you in the right direction tutorial wise.

[Spazzle]

Ah, thanks for the tip on posting to gain access to PMs. I'll rectify that shortly.

I could do this myself with some of the tools available, true, but there are two big factors against this. 1) I have a serious lack of artistic talent when it comes to drawing. 2) Time. Not just the time to take creating the maps, but also the time to learn any new software. I figure why not utilize the amazing talent that's out there and help support folks who have a passion for mapwork.

Of course, that all depends on other folks having available time/interest, but hope does spring eternal.

Cheers,

R

[Lathorien]

I am interested already which caused me to think, what STYLE of map do you want, maybe you could link/post a few "samples" of other maps that you like and would like your map to be like. The main styles i see are "Map as Art" (RedEpic, Stillpond, ect) Digital Terrain/texture map (Pasis, Redrobes, Torq) and "Classical" or symbol/brush based that looks like an old tolkien book map (I cant seem to remember who here specializes in that style... ) might help get yer post count up past 5 too

[Spazzle]

post count should be above 5 now. :-)

I'll link some maps as to what I have in mind here in a sec.

[Spazzle]

here are some samples to help you out.

Port Warden map should be a simple layout like this Obsidian map:
http://www.cartographersguild.com/at...4&d=1242904647

I don't have many thoughts on the city, other than it should be fairly organized in terms of layout, have a keep and outer wall, docks area with plenty of berths. Outside the wall there should be some sort of "shantytown" called nicknamed Bogtown that is rundown and less organized and smaller in scale.
Of course anything extra works too.

For the "explorers map" I have in mind something like this lovely island map, though I understand this is a prime example and probably more work than what we're talking about here. The one difference is that the areas near Port Warden would have all this detail, but the further you get from Port Warden the details should fade away into vagueness. (as those areas haven't been explored as much). Example:
http://www.cartographersguild.com/feature/SheguMap.jpg

For the continent main map, I was thinking something like this:
http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...?t=1774&page=3

Again, this is mostly to get a sense of the basic features of the land and not so worried on placing a bunch of individual features (such as towns/cities) on it. But if it conveyed topography and features such as forested/savanna/jungle/mountains/hills then it would work perfectly.

Again, if I'm asking for too much, let me know. I don't know how much work these styles require. And I'm certainly flexible as long as the finished product works for what I need it for.

[philipstephen]

i did a bit of work on a continent... but considering the limited amount of time i have at that the immensely talented Lathorien is interested in taking the commission, i am happy to back out and watch what emerges...

i still have not figured out how to make a good city map and continent mapping is largely new to me anyways... all i have is my rusty trusty photoshop elements 2.0 and a bit of practice on my own world map to go on...

here is a small version of my tinkering... tried to play wit the land masses to make them a bit more jaunty...

phil

[Lathorien]

I am interested, will PM details.

[Steel General]

I may give this a shot, just for the sake of keeping in practice.

[Spazzle]

Thanks everyone for their interest! There is an artist working on this now and I'll keep everyone posted on the progress. As often happens, there may be extra work that is available down the road.