It's tedious even with my tablet...there's a whole lotta mountains
That kind of shading on mountains is best done with a tablet. I would kill my wrist trying to do that with a mouse heh.
It's tedious even with my tablet...there's a whole lotta mountains
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
Alright, here's version 3!
I took the advice given and have made the following changes in this version:
- Changed all the fonts to more a hand-written style, as well as applied a minor distortion to give the text even less uniformity.
- Modified the text effects to make the labels feel more like part of the map as opposed to a separate entity.
- Tweaked the color of lakes/rivers to match the sea.
- Added a sandstone overlay to both desaturate the colors even more and to add in some minor texture.
- Added in a crack to give the map an aged, worn feeling.
- Added in a lighting effect to give the map more character.
- Various other minor hue/contrast tweaks.
This version feels like an entirely different map to me. It was a little more difficult for me to work on, since pursuing this style was a venture outside of my normal style/comfort zone, but I listened to everyone's input and tried to accommodate accordingly. Plus I added in some cool effects like the lighting and the crack.
Once again, thanks in advance for any critique and pointers.
Regards,
- Auth
Nice map, have some rep.
This map gets better with every incarnation!
I think this version is much grittier and has a darker mood than the previous versions, and the colours are spot on for making it look aged. I think you did the right thing listening to all the great advice, and have ended up with a 1st class map.
Your mountains are stunning, much more so now you have muted the sandstone effect and they can be seen clearly. If you could shade them in a similar way to Ascension's example I think it would make the map truly outstanding.
I don't have the technical skill to be able to advise you on this map, but from a layman's observations I think maybe a very slight dark glow or shadow on the city/ruin text would make it stand out. I just found some of it tricky to read where it almost merges with the light background.
Great work.
DMG
Looking good...
My Finished Maps | My Challenge Maps | Still poking around occasionally...
Unless otherwise stated by me in the post, all work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
Thanks for the kind words. And in regards to the dark glow around the city texts, I actually originally had it that way, but i thought it may not look right so I took it out at the last minute, haha. Perhaps tomorrow I can put up the same version with the text outlined and see which version everyone likes more.
Thanks again!
Last edited by Auth; 04-07-2009 at 06:29 AM. Reason: typo
I'd definitely go back and add something of a glow to the labels, particularly in the Kingdom of Isteroth region, the Freeland of Amerys title, and the Kingdom of Erenon. The pale-colored labels mixed with a pale, sandy background make them hard to read in those areaa.
Anyway, it looks great. You've earned some rep!
Last edited by Karro; 04-07-2009 at 10:31 AM.
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Pimping my worldmap here. Still WIP... long way to go, but I'm pretty proud of what I've done so far...
I'm in love with your colour palette. Simply gorgeous - have some rep!
And I can't wait until it's finished! It can't be far off!
Last edited by ravells; 04-07-2009 at 04:14 PM.
Outstanding! I really liked the old color scheme but this one totally kicks. I'd add a thin stroke or glow of a dark brown in a few spot for the text but otherwise this looks done...and awesome. That light really adds something and the colors are smokin.
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