From small seeds, such things grow. World Map WIP

[pyrandon]

I don't know why, but the idea of drake-drawn dirigilbles & your illustration make sme very happy!

[Venardhi]

It just makes so much sense you wonder why you've never thought of it before, ehh? My setting is very wild-west/Victorian inspired, and one of the first thoughts I had was "If cowboys and carriages didn't have horses to draw them. . . what might they use?" and so I came to the conclusion that at least in parts of this world, dragon-like creatures became one of the dominant life forms, possibly evolving out of a large bat-like creature. I like the idea of a non-reptilian dragon with the sort of natural fleshy armor as Rhinos and the like(to a higher, and more finely tuned degree of course.)

[Venardhi]

Finished, and just about finalized (assuming I don't change my mind) the borders of the various territories of Esterlen. Posted for your perusal and approval.

[pyrandon]

Nicely done. Looks great. Very clean, artistic, and soothing.

I suggest blurring the borders just a tad more to reduce their sharpness a bit, and maybe play with color (or hue/saturation or darkness) variation in the ocean (but only verrrrrrry slight!) Otherwise, consider this my stamp of approval!

[Venardhi]

I phrased that badly, I finished the territorial lines, but there is still much left to do on the map as a whole. Thanks though!

[jaerdaph]

I like the font selection - very Middle East/A Thousand and One Nights.

[Eru]

I heartily approve!

BTW, if you're going to post your world somewhere, please let me know...I love following the development of unique and creative worlds such as this. If you don't have a place picked out yet, you'd be welcome to use the free tools at Eruvian.com to build a site around it. With such a unique perspective (cowboy victorian? =)), you might even find a few people there to help you flesh it out - if you're open to help, that is.

Thanks for sharing!

(Oh, and I loved the drawing too...thanks!)

[Fister]

I really like your color choices. Muted colors always lend themselves to greater plausibility for me and create a cohesive look and theme. Your idea for air transportation is fun and I can appreciate how it might affect a world's economy depending on its availability. I love the fact that many of the maps posted on this site are commercial grade or even higher.

[ravells]

Lovely! And I echo what Fister said about the colour choices. One thing that may be worth trying is not to put the text labels (great font) on slants and to keep them all horizontal at the same point size if they represent places of equal type (for example countries). If the label doesn't fit within the borders of the country just make sure that the majority of it and the end of the label are within the border.

This will then give you the opportunity (if you need it) to do, say city labels in a slightly smaller point size which will make the map easier to read.

Ravs

[Venardhi]

I heartily approve!

BTW, if you're going to post your world somewhere, please let me know...I love following the development of unique and creative worlds such as this. If you don't have a place picked out yet, you'd be welcome to use the free tools at Eruvian.com to build a site around it. With such a unique perspective (cowboy victorian? =)), you might even find a few people there to help you flesh it out - if you're open to help, that is.

Thanks for sharing!

(Oh, and I loved the drawing too...thanks!)

This is a personal project for the most part. I tend to annoy partners with my constant alterations which occasionally means throwing out work that might have taken them a long time to write or draw. Right now everything is in flux and it isn't fair to do that to someone.

I really like your color choices. Muted colors always lend themselves to greater plausibility for me and create a cohesive look and theme. Your idea for air transportation is fun and I can appreciate how it might affect a world's economy depending on its availability. I love the fact that many of the maps posted on this site are commercial grade or even higher.

Well, seeing as this is my first attempt at a map, commercial grade is good. =)

Lovely! And I echo what Fister said about the colour choices. One thing that may be worth trying is not to put the text labels (great font) on slants and to keep them all horizontal at the same point size if they represent places of equal type (for example countries). If the label doesn't fit within the borders of the country just make sure that the majority of it and the end of the label are within the border.

This will then give you the opportunity (if you need it) to do, say city labels in a slightly smaller point size which will make the map easier to read.

Ravs

This is the 'wide view' version. There will be another with cities and major landmarks and another series of smaller regional maps with further minor cities and the like.

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. I've almost finished the second major continent so that should be up as soon as I get online in my new place (moving this weekend up to Oregon).