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Thread: Iskandarion

  1. #1

    Wip Iskandarion

    Hey guys,

    I've been lurking here for a while and playing with the tutorials, and I've finally gotten to the point where I'm ready to put my map out in the open! I made it with photoshop, very loosely using the Saderan tutorial, which was amazingly helpful.

    Iskandarion doesn't really have a practical purpose like a story or an RPG or anything, but I still had a lot of fun making the map. It's just populated by humans (no fantasy creatures). Parts of the world are very interconnected by trade routes (I'm thinking like China, India, and the Middle East while Europe was in the middle ages) especially around the Makrioni Archipelago, but other parts are total backwaters.

    I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, but I'm not really sure where to go from here or how to make it better. Any criticism or suggestions are very appreciated.
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  2. #2
    Community Leader Facebook Connected Ascension's Avatar
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    It looks very nice except for the really big words (in my opinion). You can use smaller sizes and just space the letters out by using the tracking option on the Character tab (have text selected first). I like the soft feel of a painting here, nice job with that.
    If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
    -J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)


    My Maps ~ My Brushes ~ My Tutorials ~ My Challenge Maps

  3. #3
    Community Leader Facebook Connected tilt's Avatar
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    I'm with Ascension on the words, they are a bit dominating ... otherwise nice first map... the mountains could use some more definition, only Jabal have any shape to them ... have some rep for your first upload
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  4. #4

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    Thanks, guys. I fixed the continent names. Are these any better?

    The mountains were probably the part that I struggled the most with. When I have some time this weekend I think I'm going to try to dive into the tutorial section and maybe try to fix up the mountain ranges!
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    Community Leader Facebook Connected tilt's Avatar
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    yes they are better - although a little smaller wouldn't hurt.. and the same goes for oceans ... they don't have to be big to take up space - just use spacing on the letters to make them "stretch" longer
    regs tilt
    :: My DnD page Encounter Depot free stuff for your game :: My work page Catapult ::
    :: Finished Maps :: Competion maps - The Island of Dr. Rorshach ::
    :: FREE Tiles - Compasses :: Other Taking a commision - Copyright & Creative Commons ::
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  6. #6
    Community Leader Facebook Connected Ascension's Avatar
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    Here's an example using smaller text with larger spacing. This allows you to put more info into the map without it getting dominated by big letters. If you don't see the Character window just click on "Window" at the top of the screen and scroll down to Character.
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    If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
    -J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)


    My Maps ~ My Brushes ~ My Tutorials ~ My Challenge Maps

  7. #7
    Community Leader Facebook Connected tilt's Avatar
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    yep, what Ascension said
    regs tilt
    :: My DnD page Encounter Depot free stuff for your game :: My work page Catapult ::
    :: Finished Maps :: Competion maps - The Island of Dr. Rorshach ::
    :: FREE Tiles - Compasses :: Other Taking a commision - Copyright & Creative Commons ::
    Works under CC licence unless mentioned otherwise

  8. #8
    Guild Member simpfan1's Avatar
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    I would suggest that if you want to use large text, fool around with the opacity and directions of the text

  9. #9

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    Wow, Ascension, thanks so much for the example! It definitely helped!

    Okay, so I went into photoshop with the intention of changing the ocean names and maybe tweaking the mountains, and I kinda sorta ended up with a completely refurbished map! Funny how those things happen

    I spread the ocean names out more, made them smaller, and played with the opacity a little, with pretty good results, I think. These mountains I did by copy/pasting elevation maps in, and then using a gradient for the colors. I also used jwbjerk's elevation brushes to change some parts up. I like this version of the mountains a lot more than the other ones – they definitely feel more real. The lowlands still look a little flat, but I'm trying to use some textures to liven them up.
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  10. #10
    Community Leader Facebook Connected Ascension's Avatar
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    you're welcome. now to just keep plugging away at it.
    If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
    -J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)


    My Maps ~ My Brushes ~ My Tutorials ~ My Challenge Maps

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