Thread: [Award Winner] Eriond - A Tutorial for GIMP & Wilbur

That turned out fairly well Morgan. You managed to blend the mountains fairly well (which is one of the tougher bits). My only bit of corrective feedback would be that the map looks just a bit hazy, as if a Gaussian blur had been applied to it. Also, there isn't a whole lot of texture on the mountain areas. I'm not quite sure why this is, and so I don't know quite what to recommend to fix these issues. That said, even with these little faults I think it turned out pretty well. Great job.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

I'm glad, myself, to see Morgan's post. I printed out the tutorial a few weeks ago and tried...and failed to produce any kind of map. My map at one brief point looked something like a map but when I did the next step I lost it, ending up with what seemed to be just the bump map. Seeing Morgan's work reassures me the problem has to be between the keyboard and the chair (as expected!). I'm planning to try again soon. Each try teaches me more, so I'm already learning tricks even if I'm not yet getting what I'm trying for.

That said, I'd be interested in finding out if it was indeed a Gaussian blur that was the issue. To me, it looks great but a little bit as if looking down on it through a very thin layer of clouds. Kinda cool, I think.

Bill B.

Welcome to the Guild Bill. You picked one of the more difficult tutorials to learn with, so don't feel too discouraged. But if you post up a WIP of your map and the step(s) you are having trouble with I can try to offer advice where I can.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

Thanks for the welcome, Arsheesh.

I had noticed it was mentioned somewhere that it wasn't exactly a beginner's tutorial, so I went into that with both eyes open. I'm not discouraged at all...in fact, as I mentioned I'm learning a lot. (And re-learning stuff I'd forgotten!)

I might have to look into posting a WIP if I continue having problems, thanks for that suggestion.

Best,
Bill B.

Thanks Arsheesh! I think the blurry effect has two causes. First, I did an erosion pass to get my rivers - incise flow didn't work properly for me - and I think that may have given me a softer result. Second, I painted the masks for my different color layers with a soft brush. Next time I'd use something with some texture. Definitely room for improvement, but at this point I'm happy to have something that isn't a complete eyesore.

Yup, every time I do a map in this style I learn something new myself, so there is always room for improvement. It is definitely a respectable map though.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

arsheesh, I fell in love with your maps on Obsidian Portal and followed your links to this lovely site. Thanks for the breadcrumbs that led me here. I can only hope that eventually through all of these tutorials I will be able to come up with a map even half as good as yours.

Awe shucks, that's very nice of you to say Coppermane. When I first came to the Guild I had absolutely zero experience working with digital software, and the tutorials here really helped me learn the ropes. So if you spend some time practicing I have no doubt you'll be able to develop the skills to craft wonderful maps.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

Well Arsheesh, I must say this is an amazing tutorial. It took me quite a while to master it, and it sure isn't the fastest way to draw mountains, but the result is far, far, far better than before I learned your technique. I'll create a seperate thread about my map in the near future, but I'll give you a quick peek at the semi-final result already. Let me know what you think about it!


A larger version of the image can be found here.