WIP - Aronbor... or Perdon

[Gandwarf]

When does the awesomeness stop?
It's such a living, breathing map... the notes, the stains...

My only regret is that I can't read all the notes, but that's also a bit of the charm of the map.

[Ramah]

Thank you Gandwarf. When I post in the finished map section I'll do a short write up of the state of Aronbor which should make most of the notes superfluous anyway.

CM: I think I'll leave the label as is for now. If public opinion demands that it needs changing then I will probably go for your third option and just leave "the" off as I really don't want to move it if possible. I don't even know what each layer does anymore but I have about 20 of them making up that label and red stain. I don't cherish the thought of redoing it. Hehe.

[Coyotemax]

lol

I know how you feel, usually i get very detail oriented in naming my layers and describing what they're doing, but sometimes i get impatient or caught up in what i'm doing and forget

My own opinion is to trust whatever you come up with, I know it'll look fine, I was simply presenting possible options

[Karro]

Yeah, I'd go with leaving "The" off as well.

And I think it works with the rest of the labels going over the border.

Regardless, though, this is a superb map of the highest calibre. A real work of art.

[Ramah]

Ok, just a quick post to get some opinion on that damn Grey Sea label.

I've removed the half word "the" off and although it looks ok like that I thought I'd have one more try at fitting it in so I've relocated it to above the rest of the label. (By the way, I know that part of the border is still missing where I removed the word - I need to go into a differnt PSD file to remove that part of the mask from the border).

So... does "the" look ok where it is now? I personally think it looks pretty good but others may feel it goes against the look of the other labels. If people think it is ok then I will go ahead with grunging up the part of the label that goes across the stain.

Other changes to this image include: added a hint of agricultural land around some towns and cities (of which I'd be interested to get some feedback); added a new town; finally added an icon for the keeps, although I'm still not sure about it.

[Juggernaut1981]

Okay Ramah... been with you all the way but I have to comment on the fields.
Got plenty of relatives in agriculture (sheep and wheat mostly) and plowed fields will be "of a certain size" and a nice shape unless there is a darned good reason for them to be all over the place.

Your field texture is awesome and shiney, but crazy Citroen Chevrons of field make about as much sense as putting deltas in the Himalayas... Leave those nice "erased roads" but have the fields run along/perpendicular to those roads rather than having 3/4 of a field in one direction then suddenly jagging off at 45 degrees...

[Coyotemax]

I see what is being attempted, the pattern itself would be fine in most circumstances, it's basically squares of lines in alternating vertical and horizontal directions. I used the same thing on my own Trade map, and it looks fine there.

But at this scale, and with the interruptions through them, they do come off a bit messy.

I hate to say it, but there might not be an easy way to make them look good on this map without hand-doing them individually.

(ok, I'm pretty sure that's bad grammar, but I don't feel like correcting it, heh)

[edit]
Incidentally, the field by Kingsfield looks fine, i would expect to see a field pattern like that in the area. Left of Briary isn't bad, but the other side looks odd. The hardest place to look at is by Greybower and Winton - the pattern doesn't work well with the shapes you appear to be trying to create there.

[Gandwarf]

Actually, I kind of like the farmland, really! Only near Greybower it looks a bit weird because of a repeating pattern effect.

[Gidde]

What looks incongruous to me is how flat they are. With everything in this map having depth, it seems like they should curve a little, or something. Honestly though, that's just after studying the fields because of the discussion. They never caught my eye as "off."

[Ascension]

I'm fine with the fields as long as they stay understated the way that they are. This isn't meant to be actual satellite realistic but more hand-drawn representational. The only thing "off" to me is that it's darker than the original Vaniya map. The forests are also different. It might be intended but it might not be, shrug. Otherwise it's still wicked cool.