Heghruil - RPG map in the making.

[voidgere]

Ok, fiddled with some colors and hues to make the land a little more to my liking. Try some different textures for the water and so other techniques trying to get it a bit more fluid. Added some effects to the rivers to make them a bit more true.

I also began fooling around with the coast line. That's still a work in progress. Next will be the mountain over haul. Hopefully I can get them to come out the way I want them to. I will be reading alot of tut's in an attempt to bring them to life. Coyote, I am not sure what you meant to convey about the forest. Can you be a bit more descriptive and maybe provide some examples?

[Gidde]

Looking good! I love that ocean texture, it looks like breaking waves.

Here's a good example of that spatter-effect ... http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=7238

[voidgere]

I have been thinking about putting a delta on one or both of the rivers that empty into the southern ocean. Any tips? Is this against the River Rules? Can a landmass possess two deltas if it is from two separate river systems?

I was also considering the lake in the original map. It is situated on top of one of the mountain ranges. I was thinking it was akin to a really big natural spring that broke loose and has a single river outflow. Is this possible or does it break the rules for springs or rivers?

Link to the original map:

http://i718.photobucket.com/albums/w...TheDuchies.gif

The lake is near the middle of the map on the eastern side.

[Coyotemax]

Pictures are worth a thousand words and all that

One of the best examples I've seen recently are in Ascension's map for the september challenge, here

The forests aren't continual blobs, they break up as they go, especially towards the edges.

If you like your forests the way they are, then by all means go with it!

[Gidde]

I don't see any reason both of those rivers couldn't have delta systems.

As for the mountain lake, as long as you have an outflow you should be fine. Lake Tahoe is a great example of exactly that sort of formation.

[RobA]

Deltas are formed when sediment is pulled down the river and dropped at the river's mouth. Eventually this accumulates into a delta. If you have a river that floods often, then the delta will probably develop faster, as each flood will pull new silt into the river.

So having any delta depends on the terrain the river flows through, but nothing says two rivers can't each have a delta!

-Rob A>

[voidgere]

I allowed the artist that is helping me work on my RPG take a look at my map. He gave me a rather in depth critique that gave me cause for concern. You see, the pages of my RPG are written on parchment paper. He said a realistic map would look out of place in my book. So, he suggested that the map follow the "old" style I was presenting in my book should be mirrored when presenting my map.

I told him about the Guild and after we looked around, the sepia/old style map is what he suggested I should go with. So I am switching gears on this project, and I am presenting what I have so far.

I will be keeping the old map because I think I still have much to learn with the style and I still haven't conquered the mountains or the technique Coyote suggested about having the forest gradually fade as they end. Both techniques I am interested in exploring.

[voidgere]

Okay, here is the updated map. I've added mountains that I pretty excited about and the forest which I am still not completely sure of. I also placed the rivers but they seem to blend to well with the rest of the map and it makes it hard to make them out. Any tips would be appreciated.

I am fooling around with the sea. Not sure if I want to keep the texture I laid down. In a way it looks nice, but I think it might take to much from the "old" feel I was going for. I tried to subdue it some but I am not sure it was enough for the style.

You can also see I started to play around with a compass and banner. These are works in progress but I am pretty proud of myself with the banner. The compass, on the other hand, I feel may be to simple. I might attempt to spruce it up later.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

[Ramah]

Some suggestions and observations I have are:

Your mountains are side view but your trees are top-down. I guess it doesn't really matter all that much but you might want to try making a tree brush that includes a trunk. If you DO keep the round trees as they are then maybe repostion them so they are mostly tighter together and then just draw some simple lines coming down from the front ones.
Also, you mention the sea texture "taking away" from the old feel but you must also be wary of things like the drop shadow on the compass which really shows it to be digital. You might not mind about this and that's fine, just pointing it out if you want it to look as authentic as possible.

Anyway, it's coming along nicely. I really like the shape of the landmass.

[Ascension]

The only thing that I will mention is that I'd take the black mountains and trees and make them dark brown instead.