Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Nativeflame 01-25-05, 05:42 AM	Something I really like about D&D is the maps... This is a campaign map I created piece by piece over many hours of gameplay; (a lot of the detail is lost in getting it down to a reasonable resolution). Okay, in retrospect I reckon it is ridiculously vast :), but I'd really love to see examples of some of the campaign maps that other DMs have created for their worlds. Are there any other insane map makers out there? http://www.nativeflame.com/users/DansStuff/DaerkMordlen_Medium.jpg Fire away, NativeFlame
Hayabusa 01-25-05, 10:09 AM	I hate it...Because I know I could never draw anything as good as that. Great work, and good job.
Rhineglade 01-25-05, 10:45 AM	Now that is some FABULOUS work! Great job! Did you do all that freehand? It looks like it was all hand drawn with a pencil but I can't tell from the scan. In any case that is a great map. I know there are lots of map lovers on this forum. I am the same as you in that I love big maps- the more detail the better. I figure you certainly don't have to use every section of the map (and probably never will!) but isn't it nice to have in any case? Well, here is my map. I hope every else follows suit. http://legendsofhyerune.com/Hyerunemap.JPG
Rasmus 01-25-05, 11:36 AM	Great map! Wish I'd done it :) I'll probably use it for name inspiration, for my own (in the works) campaign. What's the scale? I like it big, in scale also, which I think is FR's main issue, that the natural features, like forests or deserts aren't big enough to include nomadic tribes, evil humanoids, monsters, dragons etc. without them bumping into each other constantly.
Sarig the Genie 01-25-05, 03:08 PM	NICE! That's really excellent :D How about publishing a book about that world? I'd buy it ;)
True Cavalier 01-25-05, 05:25 PM	OH MY GOD That's GREAT! I know I am good at drawing, but I could NEVER come up with THAT! (Partly because I am bad with geography, partly because I suck at finding names) The second map is also great! Could you post a more high-res version Rhineglade? :D Great work guys, you rock.
Glimm 01-25-05, 07:40 PM	Here's the world map for my homebrew world of Malune. It doesn't show much detail as far as country names, cities, or roadways, as it was drawn with only geography in mind. I added the region names with a computer program after scanning it. http://www-personal.umich.edu/~boehmer/malune/map_full.jpg
MythMage 01-25-05, 09:27 PM	:OMG! :OMG! :OMG! :OMG! :shocked: That :twitch: rocks :eek: so :drool: hard :mymy: I :crazy: wish :inlove: I :blink: made :tantrum: that! :banghead: :bow:
MythMage 01-25-05, 09:28 PM	:embarass: double post.
Ishmayl 01-25-05, 09:29 PM	Here is my hand-drawn, hand-colored, PSPed map. It doesn't have all the details on it yet, but it will within the next few days. http://www.geocities.com/fallen_ishmayl/images/Shadowfell.jpg
ssvegeta555 01-27-05, 06:02 PM	Damn. that is one huge map. Think your world is big enough Nativeflame. ;) Also, Glimm, I see that you draw your maps the way FR does. I'm drawing mine the same way. The mountains are a pain to draw though, for me at least. I always get them looking ugly. How did you make your look so good?
Glimm 01-27-05, 06:15 PM	ssvegeta555, I think getting them right is a matter of practice. That map is the third rendition of Malune that I drew, each in a different style. This particular version has a lot of work put into it. I also think the color helps with that style of mountain. I used finepoint markers for the outlines then filled in features with colored pencils, which I think works pretty well.
Nativeflame 01-27-05, 10:18 PM	Thanks everyone for the encouraging comments. :) Yes I know it is pretty ridiculously large ;) ; but in my defence a major theme and element of my campaign was a series of ancient gates, many lost or in strange locations, that through a means I won't go into here, allowed travel over vast distances; so making the world big and detailed helped in keeping on top of my players whims :) and allowed for a really fun and immersive campaign. On the scale issue I'll super impose a map of our world to show you the scale next post. I really like what you guys were discussing at the end of the thread here about different ways to draw things like mountains. Be good to see and hear more of those sorts of map making techniques I reckon! I did mine in black felt tip pens; but I'd like to try a more illustrated and maybe colour map for my next world. To the guys that have posted their maps, awesome! Really fires the imagination! Thanks! Keep em coming I reckon! Nativeflame
Aliquid 01-27-05, 11:14 PM	Great stuff! Making maps is one of the most fun parts of the game ;) Here is my current campaign setting: http://www.iam.silas.com/dnd/MapBackground.jpg
Nativeflame 01-28-05, 06:02 AM	Hey Aliquid, that looks really slick mate. Instantly loved and was attracted to the feel when I first saw it; summons up memories of a game I played a few times, Pendragon about Arthurian legend. Has a very assured kind of feeling; and looks like someone from the world made it; which is always cool. I'm making a new world at the moment and going through some of my old stuff to see what I can improve on. Here's another map I found, drew it in pencil and inverted it in photoshop to give it a weirder feel (for players). Yeah, the next map I want to do will kind of be more along these lines (I like features like the little walls etc) but hopefully a step up and more interesting. Your map has inspired maybe a more formal look, hmm, not sure.... http://www.nativeflame.com/users/DansStuff/Sul_PlayerMap.jpg Cant get the scale pic I did to upload for some reason... Any cool city maps too? They're Coool.:)
Aliquid 01-28-05, 10:29 AM	Hey Aliquid, that looks really slick mate. Instantly loved and was attracted to the feel when I first saw it; summons up memories of a game I played a few times, Pendragon about Arthurian legend. Has a very assured kind of feeling; and looks like someone from the world made it; which is always cool.Thanks! I was looking over some maps of Europe which were drawn in the mid to late 1500s and I got inspired :) Here's another map I found, drew it in pencil and inverted it in photoshop to give it a weirder feel (for players).Now that's a cool effect. It's perfect for a fantasy map... it has a magical feel to it.
Cunning Gnome 01-28-05, 12:23 PM	Cool map Flamo ill post my attempt back at 'HQ' lol
ssvegeta555 01-28-05, 03:01 PM	ssvegeta555, I think getting them right is a matter of practice. That map is the third rendition of Malune that I drew, each in a different style. This particular version has a lot of work put into it. I also think the color helps with that style of mountain. I used finepoint markers for the outlines then filled in features with colored pencils, which I think works pretty well. Yeah I see the color and of course pratice helps a lot. Right now I'm making my map and it's black n' white right. Maybe color will spice it up a bit. Also word of advise for those drawing there maps, dont use college rule paper!Those blue lines get in the way, escpecially if you want to scan it and touch it up a bit. I made that mistake alrady. :embarrass
True Cavalier 01-28-05, 05:52 PM	Now I want to buy a scanner just to show my maps too :D Any suggestions on good mapping tools?
Nativeflame 01-28-05, 08:39 PM	Here's a little tip based on something ssvegeta noted; and has also bothered me a couple of times. It can be cool to use graph paper because it gives you a really consistent and measurable appearance to your maps. Unfortunately it looks a little wrong when it comes to presenting your maps as artifacts of your world and using them to get players in to the game more. Co-incedentally, the first map I posted in this thread was originally done on HEX grid paper, which gave it its consistent feeling and was very useful for moving around the world in terms of travelling through specific regions etc. But then I took it in to photoshop and used a "replace colour" adjustment; the hex grid being blue (like a bluescreen)was very easy to select and change to cream, and so I was left with a map that was very consistent and useful in a number of ways, but also something that was more pleasing to the eye. Here's a close up of a small part of the map. You can see subtle pattern left by the hexes? Its not the most illustrative way to do it; which wasnt my major intention anyway with that map; and I probably wouldnt do it again for a campaign map unless it warranted such accurate locations etc, but for individual wilderness adventure maps I reckon its pretty cool. http://www.nativeflame.com/users/DansStuff/Closeup_Hex.jpg I'd also like to know if there are any specialized computer software mapping tools out there! That would be very cool. Though I imagine programs like photoshop and Illustrator could be used to create a good set of tools... Cheers Nflame
Aliquid 01-28-05, 09:37 PM	I'd also like to know if there are any specialized computer software mapping tools out there! That would be very cool. Though I imagine programs like photoshop and Illustrator could be used to create a good set of tools...There are some specialized mapping programs, but they are rather expensive and quite specialized. Adobe Illustrator can do pretty much anything you would want for mapping, and many professional map makers use it. I use similar software from a different company (Corel Draw). Personally, I prefer programs like Illustrator to Photoshop when it comes to making maps, but that's just a personal preference.
Glimm 01-28-05, 10:14 PM	If you don't feel like spending the money for a commercial art program, GIMP is a good free alternative. It allows for layers, fuzzy selection, custom brushes, and other nice features for map editing. I used it for the text in the map I posted, but it is also capable of a lot more that that map shows off.
Rasmus 01-29-05, 04:46 AM	There is the Campaign Cartographer, which is expensive, but very advanced.
Cunning Gnome 01-29-05, 03:42 PM	Argonnesson http://img79.exs.cx/img79/5614/Untitled-206.th.jpg (http://img79.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img79&image=Untitled-206.jpg)
iluvdnd47 01-29-05, 04:34 PM	Wow, All the maps here are fantastic. This may be a stupid question, but how do you add them to your post? I would like to send one of my own.
Aliquid 01-29-05, 04:59 PM	This may be a stupid question, but how do you add them to your post?.As regular members, we don't have permission to post attachments.... so what we have to do is use the [IMG]tag The way it works is, you put a web address where the picture can be found between [IMG] tags. So.... if you need to post your map on a web site before you can link the image into a post...
obrysii 01-30-05, 10:49 PM	This is a portion of mine. I lack any real knowledge of maps and have no mapping program... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/obrysii/jutyjicnew23.jpg The line running on the upper right corner is the Great Gash, cut by the great diety Elek during the great war. It has the standard compass. Scale is one inch = 500 miles
Ishmayl 01-31-05, 10:29 PM	Argonnesson http://img79.exs.cx/img79/5614/Untitled-206.th.jpg (http://img79.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img79&image=Untitled-206.jpg) I can't view that map for some reason on that site; do you have it linked anywhere else?
devinmdp 01-31-05, 10:35 PM	http://www.devinweb.com/sazhansiirsmall.gif
die 02-01-05, 08:31 AM	http://www.geocities.com/i_ate_breakfast/entropy.jpg :D The web page (http://www.geocities.com/i_ate_breakfast/entropy.html)
Cunning Gnome 02-01-05, 11:19 AM	I can't view that map for some reason on that site; do you have it linked anywhere else? Unfortunately it is just what i scammed in and hosted on image shack its nothing special ill see if i can get it bigger. http://img114.exs.cx/img114/6140/Untitled-150.jpg
True Cavalier 02-01-05, 03:26 PM	I thought I'd try posting the region in my campaign - till now. I have a world map, of course, but most places are lacking names and stuff so I made a map with the region where the campaign is currently focused. Plus I couldn't use the map editor of Heroes of Might & Magic III to make everything :D http://1stclasspcs.com/uploaded/Map%20of%20Belemar%20Small.jpg The players started in the village of Dever, and recently moved to Belemar. The large shields are important towns held by feudal lords while the small shields are small villages, hamlets, thorps, and so on. Here is a larger version with more detail. http://1stclasspcs.com/uploaded/Map%20of%20Belemar%20Large.jpg
ssvegeta555 02-01-05, 03:57 PM	True Cavalier, thats an awsome looking map. I first looked at the map thinking to myself, "that looks like a map from a game." Well reading your post obvoisly answered my question there. I might pick up the game to make some maps. :cool:
True Cavalier 02-01-05, 05:21 PM	Yeah it looks nice but it's not as "customizable" as a real mapping program would be (it's grid, see the rivers only going with 90 degrees turns?). It's an old game... Also, on games, I sometimes use "Stronghold" to map castles, looks very nice. Also Neverwinter Nights is decent for clothing but I never needed it because clothes, I can draw nicely. Basically mapping programs are just expensive or just mediocre, and I need to improvise with what I have :rolleyes: Till I get that scanner.
malagigi 02-01-05, 11:59 PM	Everyone: Great, wonderful, inspiring works, all. Keep up the good work. Any insights you guys could give as to what you were thinking, planning when making them? Or maybe a few techniques you used to make cool looking mountains and seas? Thanks again! Argonnesson http://img79.exs.cx/img79/5614/Untitled-206.th.jpg (http://img79.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img79&image=Untitled-206.jpg) I can tell this one looks awesome, but the link doesn't work! :weep:
Cunning Gnome 02-02-05, 12:03 PM	Have u tried the link in the post lower down it should work better :) it looks better at a distance :D
malagigi 02-02-05, 07:31 PM	Have u tried the link in the post lower down it should work better :) it looks better at a distance :D Bah, it looks great :) You should see some of my early works :yuck: Map making is like everything else: the more you work at it, the better you and you're creations will get. I've got to agree with those that like to use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. Those two programs make map-making a breeze. Generally, I'll take a sheet of sketch paper and draw mountains and such singly. Then I scan it and copy the image into my Photoshop document. From then on, it's just a matter of copying and pasting that one image to make mountain ranges, forests, plains, what have you. You can flip it horizontally and use different tools to make variations on the image as well, so the map doesn't look the same all over.
Rekko 02-07-05, 02:30 PM	:OMG! :bigeyes: :bow: You are all great map artists! I suck at drawing maps either at hand or on computer. I'm actually writting a player's guide for my setting and having map is a must. I was woundering if one of you guys could re-do my map so it looks better? It is not a big map, half of it is water. Unfortunatly I can't find a way to post it on a thread. Thanks in advance Rekko
Cunning Gnome 02-08-05, 12:22 PM	;) Go to a site called ImageShack i host from there.
Rekko 02-08-05, 04:50 PM	Cool! :) ....but what am I supposed to do over there?
Cunning Gnome 02-09-05, 02:27 PM	It should be pretty self explanitory. Asuming u have your map scanned u browes through your files on the site click host, then select how u want it to appear copy and paste it on to your Thread ;)
Rekko 02-09-05, 04:21 PM	Ok, here's a color version of the empire of Mikra with raw state's borders http://img77.exs.cx/img77/1039/mikra5qg.jpg I would like someone to use this white version to re-do the graphics(forest, mountain ranges, lakes, etc). I cannot decide what feature (forest and/or lake) to put in the Roondar, Mikra and Loderr states. So, suprise me! http://img77.exs.cx/img77/2571/mikrablanc8fi.jpg Anyone interested?
Delfedd 02-09-05, 09:54 PM	your names are really good. Mine are usually like "Orc country."
Xeven the Mighty 02-09-05, 10:39 PM	Nice. That map might just give my cousin's a run for it's money. His is about 5ftx5ft. Me, I decided to go modest... You guys an your big maps... Maybe you are compensating for something? :D Anyway, here is my map: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v56/Xeven/Raath.png Now, I know it's cooler than yours, but yours is still really good. What can I say, I have a talent for creating sexy maps... God gave me a gift, man. I map good. :D PS: Please note the teasing, sarcastic tone in my writing. I'm not serious. For true, your map is really the best thing I have ever seen, besides, maybe, my cousin's map. Even then, your map is about even with his in its goodness and pure scale. I wish I had pictures of his, but alas! He lives in another state, and doesn't surf the 'Net. Ever. He hates it. With a passion.
bobocopy 02-15-05, 10:57 PM	There was some talk of finding map-making software. Now, finding anything that will do the incredible work that some of the posters have shown... next to impossible without expensive software. Most of the stuff you want to show players with your campaign world though? AutoRealm. Free. Here's a linky: http://www.gryc.ws/autorealm.htm Comes highly recommended by yours truly.
Xeven the Mighty 02-15-05, 11:40 PM	AutoRealm is great, but it's a little hard to use. However, if you can get the hang of it it's one of the better mapping programs. I would have done my map with AutoRealm, but I prefer hand drawn maps. That, and I'm a complete n00b at it. :D
Dishliquid 02-19-05, 11:42 PM	http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v223/dishliquid/WysteriaMaplowquality.jpg Wysteria.
Rogue Shadows 02-20-05, 04:34 AM	I love maps, and these are all about 500000 times better then I could ever do. I use to draw huge campaign maps, but now I draw only one of two kind: the one that ecompasses a small area and allows for maximum detail (a la Middle Earth maps) or world maps (a la, stuff in an atlas). I did once tape four pieces of computer paper together andd raw up Adalian for the first time, but I've sense thrown that out. Damn, though. I wanna do this again. Iwish I had a scanner.
Klaus van der Kroft 02-20-05, 10:11 PM	Some of the works I have seen here are simply magnificent, specially your map, Nativeflame. Just looking at it brings forth a wave of flavor and feeling of what that world must be like. My congratulations. Some time ago I drew this map using paint, somewhat inspired on the Warhammer maps. Most of it is directly drawn in Paint (I am not skilled with anything more complex than Paint, saddly enough), although symbols such as cities and trees (but not mountains or geographical elements, excepting volcanoes) I drew pixel by pixel on separate drawing fields. Then placed all together, gave them some storyline, and used it in a campaign last year. It all went quite good, I must add. http://www.andreu.cl/congocuzko/eastthaenor.gif
Bardicstorm 02-23-05, 12:47 AM	I figured I'd add my work-in-progress... This is to be the campaign area of my gaming world, sans names. The image here is linked to the fullsize version (be warned, it's large). (all done with PSP) http://www.crystalforge.com/images/rpg/campaign_area_small.jpg (http://www.crystalforge.com/images/rpg/campaign_area_large.jpg)
Ishmayl 02-23-05, 07:35 AM	I figured I'd add my work-in-progress... This is to be the campaign area of my gaming world, sans names. The image here is linked to the fullsize version (be warned, it's large). (all done with PSP) Man, how on earth did you do that kind of texture with PSP? Got any tutorials or anything?
Bardicstorm 02-23-05, 12:04 PM	That all really depends on whether you're referring to the grassy areas, the forests, or the mountains.. The grassy areas are done with a cloud filter, contrast modified for only slight variation and then embossed. The forests are a simple texture fill. But I'm going to redo them later with a much better texture I found. The mountains are a pain in the arse. I have yet to come up with a method I like for creating mountains, and believe me, I've tried hundreds of different methods.
Ishmayl 02-23-05, 05:34 PM	The mountains are a pain in the arse. I have yet to come up with a method I like for creating mountains, and believe me, I've tried hundreds of different methods. They look pretty good to me.
Bardicstorm 02-23-05, 05:50 PM	They look pretty good to me. Glad you like them, unfortunately, I tend to be overly critical of my work... Eventually I'll find a method I like.. :twitch: In the mean time I can work on redoing the forests, grasslands, oceans, and everything else along the way... ;) I can finish dungeon maps.. It's the world maps that seem to take on a life of their own.
Patrakis 02-23-05, 08:53 PM	Hi all, Map making has always been my favorite part of Dming D&D. I must tell myself often to stop making maps and prepare the game from time to time. Since this thread seems to promote the sharing of our efforts in map making. i thought i would post one of my efforts. Everyting is done in CC Pro, hope you like em and feel free to use em. Have a bunch on my website in the download section. Everything is in french but the way to download is pretty straight forward. One of my maps (http://patoumonde.netfirms.com/PATOUMONDE4/MAPs/HiRes/LOCALMAP-FortSalace.JPG) It is a small scale map because i have yet to find the need to draw a large scale one. I've inserted my little region in FR so i don't need a large scale map yet. Pat
Xeven the Mighty 02-23-05, 11:52 PM	Patrakis, you have given me a spontanious burt of inspirado. That is a great city map, and your lay out has given my some ideas for some of my cities... :D Damn, I love this thread. There are so many good ideas floating around in it.
Aliquid 02-24-05, 12:15 AM	Great map Patrakis! Clearly you know a thing or two about cartography! :)
Ishmayl 02-24-05, 09:00 AM	Pat, I'm trying to translate your page, but am a little rusty on my French. Are the people of Valedale descended from the people of Sessrendale? Also, where exactly in the Realms is Valedale located... I saw Spiderhaunt and Desertmouth; is it between the forest and the mountains?
Cunning Gnome 02-24-05, 11:59 AM	The mountains are a pain in the arse. I have yet to come up with a method I like for creating mountains, and believe me, I've tried hundreds of different methods. So how did u do these moutains ;) may come in usfull for mine.
Sulaco 02-24-05, 12:18 PM	Hopefully I won't get into trouble for posting this... This is a small crop of a town map I did for my upcoming adventure module The Crystal Skull from Necromancer Games. The maps were just my roughs and were never meant for publication but Bill Webb et al felt they were good enough to use. Because of that there are some really rough bits I wish I could fix but it's too late now. http://img2.uploadimages.net/510094mapbit01.jpg
Bardicstorm 02-24-05, 12:27 PM	So how did u do these moutains ;) may come in usfull for mine. Honestly? I can't remember.. this is also one of the problems I have with mountains.. I never write down things as I'm doing them so I can't reproduce them very well. I believe I started with a fractal shape (any non-regular shape should do), add an inner bevel to give the mountain height (you may need to use a plug-in for this as the PSP inner bevel tool doesn't have enough width to make peaks, I use the eye-candy inner bevel plug-in). Once the mountain range now looks like peaks you add a texture to it Sometimes better if done on another layer). Usually I add some type of rocky texture, or something like an asphalt texture but magnified. Increase the depth of the texture to taste. Brighten to taste and throw some transparency on the texture layer (possibly with some blending) then merge. voila, mountains. I think that's how I got those.. if not, the method should work reasonably well.
Patrakis 02-24-05, 08:42 PM	Hi all, Thanks to Xeven and Aliquid for the kind words. I'm glad to hear it kindled the imagination of someone. Frankly, that must be the best compliment i have ever had. As for Valedale. Ishmayl, You guessed right. The people of Valedale are the refugies from the attacks that was done by Archendale on the now dead realm of Sessrendale about 125 years ago. The survivors that were living the farthest to the west of Sessrendale were able to flee before the attacks. I made them flee all the way to the hills of the Desertmouth mountains where they met the Obardin Dwarven clan. A friendship developped between the 2 races. The humans from Sessrendale decided to make their new home there and vowed to keep the region secret from the rest of the Dales. To this day, the existance of Valedale is little know. The dale starts at the south end of the Spiderhaunt woods and goes toward the Desertmoutn mountains. It about 50 mile by 50 miles. Their is one main city of about 1500 souls and many small holdings that range from 200 to 700 people. They developped a clan base society, the clans being the 11 founding families that were able to survive the attacks from Archendale. For reference, here is the whole valedale region: Valedale region (http://patoumonde.netfirms.com/PATOUMONDE4/MAPs/HiRes/ATLASMAP-Valedale2.jpg) That map is the oldest and is obviously in need of touchups. The Forest called FORET D'ALOMEN on the map is actually the southern tip of Spiderhaunt woods. Alomen is the old name used by the elves of the forest. I've liked the invasion of the forest by spiders in the history of the region. I plan on translating my articles on Valedale someday but for now i still can't find the time between developping it all, playing and keeping the website up to date :). It's a nice mix of the Realms, which i love, and creation, which i love even more :) Thanks again. Pat. PS Nice map Sulaco :)
Cunning Gnome 02-25-05, 12:37 PM	Here part of a map im doing.... http://img32.exs.cx/img32/1314/arcanissworldmapcopy6fa.jpg im still stuck on how to do moutains
Aliquid 02-25-05, 12:55 PM	Here part of a map im doing.... http://img32.exs.cx/img32/1314/arcanissworldmapcopy6fa.jpg im still stuck on how to do moutainsI like the island in the top right corner. I think any PCs I played would be nervous going there... looks like a dragon head ;)
Cunning Gnome 02-25-05, 05:00 PM	Yeh that was kinda what i had in mind scary dragon head shaped island :)
Ishmayl 02-25-05, 09:42 PM	Cunning Gnome, What did you use to draw that, and how did you do some of the texture (and color-fading) effects you used?
Cunning Gnome 02-26-05, 06:34 AM	I drew the out line by hand scanned it in to photo shop, then i used a cloud effect on the land and a big brush to put in lighter and darker bits. The sea was easy i just filled it and used a brush with a lighter colour to go around the land making sure it was magic wanded first. :)
The Gel Man 02-26-05, 09:26 AM	wow, im glad i found this thread. Good to know that im not the only nutter going around making up maps. this is a pic of my beloved Patria without the roads. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v474/thegelenforcer/draft3.jpg guess where i got the design idea from, thank god for photoshop.
Hochiu 02-26-05, 01:52 PM	This is a partial world map of my world, Ethendatrem, that I'm developing. The landmass you see right there is roughly the size of Eurasia, so it's a fairly large map. I'm working to develop the regions, such as temperate lands, and then probably zoom in on the north-eastern part (because that's where most of the campaings are taking place) and put a more detailed regional map there. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/chisuchina/Ethendatrem2acopy.jpg
Nativeflame 03-06-05, 02:00 AM	Lots of inspirational stuff there guys! Ive been inspired to go back and look at my world again; I realised I wasnt satisfied with how far Id gone towards really representing the way I can imagine it. So I've taken a little obscure corner of my big map and painted a more fantasy/realist map of it to test out some ideas for making a more complete illustrated version of the world; with written descriptions on locales etc perhaps. I selected the area at random; its actually a little weird from a geographic perspective and not really my favorite lands, mostly wilds; very old land, eroded mountains, a kind of junction of of continental plates. But had a variety of terrain features so not bad for checking things out. I'm looking forward to expanding this style of map; and improving on it a bit more. Some pics for towns etc, roads, Ive got snow and volcano techniques etc. Cant wait to do some different regions with diff terrain! http://www.nativeflame.com/users/DansStuff/Fathusra_Wilds.jpg See if you can find it on the black and white map :) Keep Firing, Native Flame
Cunning Gnome 03-06-05, 05:45 AM	Thats really amazing dont think i could produce something like that if i had the means too :eek: .
Bardicstorm 03-06-05, 09:52 AM	Excellent maps from everyone so far, but man.. Nativeflame.. that's just.. gorgeous... Now I may have to go out and get a graphics tablet just so I can "paint" a map... hmm.. maybe I'll just break out the acrylics.
Woas 03-10-05, 10:58 PM	Eh... what did you use to make that map Nativeflame?
Hochiu 03-10-05, 11:56 PM	Aye, I'm very curious, too.
James Wildspell 03-11-05, 01:41 AM	Now I want to buy a scanner just to show my maps too :D Any suggestions on good mapping tools? Draw it, and they will come.... :cool:
James Wildspell 03-11-05, 02:07 AM	It has been a long time since I have drawn such a map, there seemed to be no reason for it. But now I feel inspired and have the technological wherewithall to upload it. Cool. Watch this space, I want to see everyone post maps! I will upload mine as soon as I can show a sample. I use pencils. And I will need many World maps for the campaign I am working on.... Draw on!
Nativeflame 03-12-05, 05:09 AM	Painted it in Photoshop guys. Great fun, just kinda get lost in the world when I'm painting a map like that... still working on the technique a bit; I'll keep posting more as I improve it. Was thinking about putting together a map tutorial/toolkit for photoshop; but bit of a way off due to lack of enough free time. By the way, I checked out the campaign cartographer; I thought the globe thing coulda been useful. Nflame
Ishmayl 03-12-05, 08:15 AM	Nativeflame, what fonts did you use when you put up the area names on that newest map?
Nativeflame 03-13-05, 03:22 AM	The fonts are nice hey; took a bit to track down a shareware/freeware font that was that cool. The major sites are all Anarchistic, its got a cool, spidery handwriting thing going on, but still with a bold feel hey! Works weel for major sites cause some letters also get those nice flourishes. The Realm text is Desperado 1. By the way I updated the map a bit more, though it is still posted in the above thread post. For any interested in the landscape youre looking at in that map; the theme behind that part of my world is that the Five Kingdoms and Peren are nations founded by men that have come far from the north; they are a people of out of place and are surrounded by many strange nations further south than on this map. the large section of wilds to the left of the map remains a dangerous mystery to the people of the Five Kingdoms; as do many of their own lands; haunted by the ghosts of the people they drove out to take possession of the lands centuries ago. Cheers NF
Gigaton 03-13-05, 03:57 PM	http://www.gigabuster.org/emblem/worldmap.jpg Here's my world map. No labels on it yet I'm afraid but I'm working on it. I did this sort of as an experiment with Photoshop. Painting and use of the clone brush (so its' not as smooth as it could be.) Still a work in progress.:) World setting name is Gaea. This is showing the continents of Aeryth, Cellene and Vantyre.
ssvegeta555 03-13-05, 09:00 PM	Whoa... Gigaton thats one very deatiled map. Looks very cool. Since many of you have used photoshop for their maps I have one question. How the hell did you guys make your maps look like that? I've had some classes for photoshop and worked with the program myself. But I can't figure out how you all made the maps look so freaking cool. Do you guys have some special meshes or whatever their called? I must know your secrets!
Andrewinator 03-14-05, 02:45 PM	Here's the start of my map for a campaign setting that DnDTalk is making, called Anegol (s3.invisionfree.com/dndtalk). I made it completely in photoshop 7. For each different country, I zoomed in on each, darkened the surrounding land of that country, and added trees, mountains, cities, sites, text, and all that crap. http://killer2.com/w3mr/pics/map1.jpg
Woas 03-14-05, 10:43 PM	Andrewinator, D'nni wouldn't have any connection with the race from the Myst books/games would it?
Ayers 03-14-05, 10:47 PM	Wow. These are all really, really good. I see these maps and I'm not sure if I should slap you, or if I should be in awe. :D These are truly awe-inspiring maps. Keep up the good work guys!
Knight-Triumphant 03-14-05, 11:21 PM	Hey Nativeflame, I found your blowup on the big map. It's the bottom middle bulge in the continent. Also, keep up the maps people, they are THE incredible. They make my maps look like a two year old's finger painting. Curse my lack of photoshop..
Darkest90 03-15-05, 12:20 AM	Those maps are simply amazing. I worship you, man! Those are incredible! They make my map of Arrusaent, a fantasy world based off the Roman Empire. It was made in MS Paint, but I put a lot of time into it... hope you like it too. http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y43/Darkest90/Arrusaent.png
Phrennzy 03-15-05, 12:52 AM	Some of the works I have seen here are simply magnificent, specially your map, Nativeflame. Just looking at it brings forth a wave of flavor and feeling of what that world must be like. My congratulations. Some time ago I drew this map using paint, somewhat inspired on the Warhammer maps. Most of it is directly drawn in Paint (I am not skilled with anything more complex than Paint, saddly enough), although symbols such as cities and trees (but not mountains or geographical elements, excepting volcanoes) I drew pixel by pixel on separate drawing fields. Then placed all together, gave them some storyline, and used it in a campaign last year. It all went quite good, I must add. http://www.andreu.cl/congocuzko/eastthaenor.gif I think that map is gorgeous. I was hoping you'd used some program I could find, but PAINT!?! Are you KIDDING me? Pixel by Pixel? My God that's insane! This is my tiny contribution. Paint Shop Pro - it's not much, but it's home. http://www.geocities.com/swordandspell/BlackwoodMap.JPG
Lord Gwydion 03-15-05, 02:57 AM	Here's a work in progress map for an OA campaign I'm designing. Done with Photoshop, and trying to invoke the spirit of some of the old Chinese/Japanese maps I've seen. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/the_boy_from_illinois/detail?src=ph&.dir=/8821&.dnm=7bab.jpg&.tok=
Andrewinator 03-18-05, 02:18 PM	Andrewinator, D'nni wouldn't have any connection with the race from the Myst books/games would it? Heehee... glad someone noticed that, the Myst/Riven games are teh pwnage. Directly, no, they don't have anything to do with the games/novels. However, the territory of D'nni (in Anegol) is scattered with portals to Dunian, a plane of dungeons. And no, Dunian does not have anything to do with the Dragon Weather books, or Larry Watt-Evens.
Bahimiron 03-18-05, 06:11 PM	Gigaton, That map is okay, but would be much better if it had a better name that Gaea. I find that 'Gaea' and 'Gaia' and 'Yrth' and 'Urth' are all very typical of the fantasy genre and far too cliched. Might I suggest something with panache, something that will excite the fellows to play and make the ladies tremble with desire? Something like, hm, I donno ... Rokvaldland! Yes, that is indeed quite the swank name!
Miah 03-19-05, 06:34 PM	I think the real question here is, will these uber photo shop cartographers be lending out there l337 5k1llz for a bit a coin? My map is on 2 pieces of big poster board. How would one go about getting that scanned and converted into 1's and 0's?
Master Mage Regdar 03-21-05, 01:35 AM	YO, WHAT'S WITH YOU AND THE WORD GREAT??????? GREAT GORGE GREAT DEITY GREAT WAR! BLAH BLAH BLAH! :rant: :headexplo no offence...... :ayyyy!:
Nativeflame 03-23-05, 08:15 PM	Hello again.... on the maps fer coin idea.... I'm a graphic designer/illustrator, so be more than happy to do some fantasy maps in place of my usual corporate work. I've worked on my technique since I did the last colour post, so I'm confident I can get some really stunning results. If anyone is interested in getting their map created in high res photoshop illustrated style, send me a private message. Keep Firing, Nativeflame
James Wildspell 03-24-05, 01:56 AM	These examples Rock! Perhaps I will someday be able to master the tools to render my ideas with such color and detail, but I am not going to ask anyone to hold thier breath. But in the meantime, I am now inspired enough to go get myself a nice Bienfang (TM) 11x17 high-grade paper tablet, a dozen graded pencils, and try to re-teach myself how to draw a map. I used to do some pretty nice work that way, maybe I can get it back. And with the new tools that are available now, perhaps I might be able to "WOW" someone else the way these examples have "wowed" me, even if I stick to pencil+paper. A sticky might not be appropriate, but this thread should stay near the top. Perhaps an abbreviated version could migrate to Regdars' Realm.... Something to think about. Thanks, truely, you have all inspired me.
Nativeflame 03-28-05, 07:25 PM	Hi Guys, Just to let you know, my maps have dissapeared as Im changing hosting for my website. Be back in a couple of days. Thanks James for the almost a sticky comment, I'm sure all of us who have contributed to the post reckon map making is such a big and fun part of the game that it is worth a permanent place in some form or other. Keep Firing NF
marathewombat 04-06-05, 11:12 PM	I have serious trouble making maps. No artistic skills what-so-ever. But I love creating cities, and governments, and history. But I'm having so much trouble finding a fun map to connect it all together. Would any of you seriously (or at all) mind if I used one of your maps (sans your names etc). Just the geography of the maps. I think they're absolutely beautiful.
marathewombat 04-08-05, 04:11 PM	(sorry for the double post) How much coin are you talking about?
Nativeflame 04-12-05, 02:54 AM	Hi Mara(thewombat), (Your not from Australia too are you with a name like that?) All my maps are down at moment, so its a bit difficult to show an example and put a value to it. Shouldnt be too long before my hosting is refreshed and they pop back on this thread and then I'll pick up the conversation. When they come back you're welcome to downlaod any of the maps Ive posted and use them, as long as you dont sell them on or anything, but the coolest thing prob about me doing one for you from the ground up is I can do one with all your nations locales etc, itll be in super high res etc - and I'm getting better at illustrating them, so itll be pretty swish, if i do say so myself! :) Possibly even a family heirloom! :D Stay frosty, Nflame
Bazcasta 04-12-05, 08:39 AM	I can't see it?
marathewombat 04-12-05, 05:53 PM	Alabama not Australia. I just like wombats. Time's not an issue. I just milked the SAT scores for evry $ possible. So I've got to figure out some other way to get $. Anyways... So yeah, I'm glad you're willing to do that. No doubt takes a ton of time.
Aliquid 04-12-05, 06:24 PM	I have serious trouble making maps. No artistic skills what-so-ever. But I love creating cities, and governments, and history. But I'm having so much trouble finding a fun map to connect it all together. Would any of you seriously (or at all) mind if I used one of your maps (sans your names etc). Just the geography of the maps. I think they're absolutely beautiful.Are you looking for anything specific? Just a geographic map with all text stripped off it? Any preferred file format?
mathx314 04-12-05, 07:27 PM	:OMG! Wow! This (http://dnd.wikicities.com/images/3/3d/Map_Entry_1.png) is the best I could get to making any sort of good map. Say, if anyone of you actually wants to help this man in need, I could use a good map over at this campaign setting (which is advertised in my sig, by the way) which is still in fledgling form. If you really want to help out, I would be very greatful! See this (http://dnd.wikicities.com/wiki/Map_Contest) for info if you're a kind person!
Aliquid 04-12-05, 08:54 PM	:OMG! Wow! This (http://dnd.wikicities.com/images/3/3d/Map_Entry_1.png) is the best I could get to making any sort of good map. Say, if anyone of you actually wants to help this man in need, I could use a good map over at this campaign setting (which is advertised in my sig, by the way) which is still in fledgling form. If you really want to help out, I would be very greatful! See this (http://dnd.wikicities.com/wiki/Map_Contest) for info if you're a kind person!Do the lines across the islands represent roads or rivers? Just curious.
mathx314 04-12-05, 08:55 PM	Rivers.
marathewombat 04-13-05, 05:19 AM	Aliquid: Due to my complete inablility to create a map or drawing of any kind (I have a teensy problem with proportions and the like) I'm really not that picky.
rover53096 04-13-05, 12:19 PM	check this guys maps out http://www.khoras.net/
Sulaco 04-13-05, 02:35 PM	check this guys maps out http://www.khoras.net/ Not bad, but a little skill and a lot of filters does not a quality map make IMO.
Aliquid 04-13-05, 02:44 PM	Not bad, but a little skill and a lot of filters does not a quality map make IMO.Now I am curious.... what does make a quality map (in your opinion)?
mathx314 04-13-05, 09:15 PM	Hmmm.... I'm redoing the map I posted with a more natural feel. Tell me, how exactly do you people do your mountains? I can't figure out a good method!
Mithridates 04-14-05, 04:22 AM	I find the best way to ensure quality maps, at least in terms of content, is to have two dedicated geology students as your roomates (as I do). This method has done wonders for my mapmaking abilities; I now use concepts like "plate tectonics" to place mountain ranges instead of "throwing darts at a freehand outline of a continent tacked on my wall." I highly recommend the geology-student-roomate-approach to anyone who wants to give their maps a more, as you say, "natural feel."
Sulaco 04-14-05, 03:02 PM	Now I am curious.... what does make a quality map (in your opinion)? Oh don't get me wrong, those aren't bad maps, it's just that they rely too much on filters IMO. The problem is that most people are far too enamored of filters; using a bunch of Photoshop filters on is not the same thing as using Photoshop. My point was not that filters are always bad, rather that they are not a substitute for good design and photoshop skills.
Aliquid 04-14-05, 04:26 PM	Oh don't get me wrong, those aren't bad maps, it's just that they rely too much on filters IMO. The problem is that most people are far too enamored of filters; using a bunch of Photoshop filters on is not the same thing as using Photoshop. My point was not that filters are always bad, rather that they are not a substitute for good design and photoshop skills.Actually, I agree. Filters are a "one click" method for making something look good, which doesn't really take too much creativity or thought. When I look at these maps, I actually pay more attention to the actual cartography. I'm not much of a fan of using Photoshop type software for making maps... I have always been a fan of vector graphics. I make my maps with Corel Draw (we have had the Corel Draw vs Illustrator debate before… you are probably right, but I prefer to stick with the familiar, as well as stick with what I paid for ;) ) Anyway…. I know you are “in the biz” of working with graphics, so when I asked what makes a good map (in your opinion), I was genuinely curious.
mathx314 04-14-05, 07:54 PM	I highly recommend the geology-student-roomate-approach to anyone who wants to give their maps a more, as you say, "natural feel." By "natural feel", I mean that, as a for instance, the seas are blue instead of purple. And sorry, I didn't mean how do you place them, rather how do you render them? (Preferably in PSE 3.0 terms, seeing as how that's what I use. :D )
Aliquid 04-14-05, 11:04 PM	By "natural feel", I mean that, as a for instance, the seas are blue instead of purpleThat stuff is always an issue for me..... I'm colour blind :)
Sulaco 04-15-05, 02:27 PM	Actually, I agree. Filters are a "one click" method for making something look good, which doesn't really take too much creativity or thought. When I look at these maps, I actually pay more attention to the actual cartography. I'm not much of a fan of using Photoshop type software for making maps... I have always been a fan of vector graphics. I make my maps with Corel Draw (we have had the Corel Draw vs Illustrator debate before… you are probably right, but I prefer to stick with the familiar, as well as stick with what I paid for ;) ) Anyway…. I know you are “in the biz” of working with graphics, so when I asked what makes a good map (in your opinion), I was genuinely curious. No worries. When I design a map it is a multi-stage process: - I craft a general overview, then I start looking through the atlas to find real-worl features which match up with bits of my map. - I scan all the real-world features I want and collage them together in Photoshop to construct the map. - I then take that image and bring it in to Illustrator where I do all my detailed outline work. - I then take the EPS file back in to Photoshop and start doing all the colouring, shading, and texturing. It is a time-consuming process but the results are great. BTW, when you see the maps in my forthcoming module (The Crystal Skull don't be too critical guys. They were originally jsut meant to be rough sketches but they decided to use them as-is. If I'd known they were going to be used for publication I'd have done a better job.
Nativeflame 05-24-05, 05:49 AM	Hi Guys, Finally got time to correct my posts. Now maps are back and pleased to see everyones elses are still there! I was interested in Sulaco and Aliquid's debate about what makes a good map and using photoshop debate. What did you guys think of my colour photoshop map? Its still a work in progess, but I reckon its a pretty cool compromise between realism and fantasy style. Kinda reminds me of the colour maps that were sometimes painted inside the covers of some Fighting Fantasy type books, a colourful, very slightly comicbook fantasy, just needs the little ilustrated towns and walls etc. All feedback, good or bad most welcome. Good to be back in town for a while, Nativeflame
Althius 05-25-05, 08:09 PM	Aliquid, your map has totally inspired me. For a long time I've been trying to come up with some way of making a good looking map. I think your map looks great: classy, elegant, yet simple and (hopefully) recreatable for us mere mortals. I have been searching for someone who has put together some sort of tutorial on maps, but haven't been able to find anything. So I'm going to try and put together what I like to call the 'Land of Decent Maps', based off of my attempts to recreate much of what you did on your map. Since I don't want to clog this message, I'm going to start a new thread for it. Nativeflame, of course your maps too rock hard-core. But only because you have an unfair advantage over me with all your imense talent. ;) For those who are interested there is one good tutorial on how to make neat mountains here: How to Draw Mountians (http://www.zompist.com/howto2.htm) Althius
Skaughtisch 05-27-05, 04:10 PM	Here is my world. It is most obviously based off of the world of earth as we know as and love it. The only thing I forgot to include in this map is that Aragon and Castile are both elven nations. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v685/Skaughtisch/Europe3.gif Laterz, Skaught
ravenhearte 06-22-05, 05:53 AM	Thought I'd revive this thread with a map I made recently. This is the capital isle of the main Empire in my campaign setting. The first is the original in autorealm. The second is touched up in photoshop. http://www.ravenhearte.org/studio/d20/angrea/maps/crysanthia.jpg http://www.ravenhearte.org/studio/d20/angrea/maps/CrysanthiaOld.jpg
die 06-22-05, 09:37 AM	I like them both but I like the autorealm one better.
Sulaco 06-22-05, 10:10 AM	On the topic of mapmaking, a chance to toot my own horn. I gto a call from Bill Webb at Necromancer Games. They liked the maps I did for my module so much that they've asked me to freelance for them as a cartographer. :D
Gastogh 06-23-05, 12:46 AM	Here's a map from my favorite game. It started out as D&D, but got converted later. Drawn freehand by me from the GM's pointings and "the mountains end here"s. Not superior in its artistry but I'm more than fine with it. It doesn't have any names, as you can see. The GM doesn't like making up names, so I spare him the need when possible. The valley's name is Dragonvalley. Couldn't omit that. I'm hoping to index all the marked locations in the map sometime soon. There's a rather detailed log to go with it... If Geocities still doesn't like remote linking and you get a red ex to admire, go here: http://www.geocities.com/gastogh87/map.html http://www.geocities.com/gastogh87/map.html
Old French Admiral 06-23-05, 05:20 AM	Everyone, for the love of Pete, PLEASE KEEP POSTING MAPS! So much beauty in one place... :drool: I bow in reverence to you Photoshop gurus
iparcos 06-26-05, 04:09 AM	Nice big map ! So you can see my map with Illustrator. World of Selandia (http://perso.wanadoo.fr/selandia/) Sortilčgement votre
die 07-05-05, 02:03 AM	iparcos, I like your maps http://www.geocities.com/i_ate_breakfast/lolmap.JPG
Sinister DM 07-05-05, 03:24 AM	This is the map for my Shaleria campaign. Basically done using a scanner to import the lines and features and later manipulated in Photoshop. A detailed description can be found here. http://www.brodt.dk/peter/maps.html http://www.brodt.dk/peter/s_shaleria.jpg
mathx314 07-05-05, 07:59 PM	:OMG! Nice map, Sinister! How did you manage that? Anyways, here's two maps, for my new setting (coming in a couple of weeks, hopefully). My friend has agreed to let me host some stuff on his server, so here's links to both worlds involved: Maneterra (http://contrapants.org/duterra/Maneterra.png) Vesperterra (http://contrapants.org/duterra/Vesperterra.png)
Hengwrt Ellesmere 07-05-05, 11:07 PM	I'd like to post a map, but do you have to host the image somewhere first?
ssvegeta555 07-06-05, 02:04 AM	I'd like to post a map, but do you have to host the image somewhere first? I'm pretty sure you need to. Here (http://www.imageshack.us/) is a good free place to go to upload your map.
Sinister DM 07-06-05, 02:27 AM	This is how I did my map: http://www.brodt.dk/peter/maps.html
Lofwyr4 07-06-05, 12:15 PM	Coolest thread ever. Lots of great work, props to yall.
mathx314 07-06-05, 05:11 PM	Sweet, thanks Sinister.
Klaus van der Kroft 07-06-05, 05:45 PM	On the topic of mapmaking, a chance to toot my own horn. I gto a call from Bill Webb at Necromancer Games. They liked the maps I did for my module so much that they've asked me to freelance for them as a cartographer. :D Well then, congratulations, Sulaco! A very good thing to hear. I am glad someone from among us is taking steps into the major leagues. Would there be any chance for you to show us some of your work (given that Necromancer Games allows it, of course)? Once again, my congratulations. Now, I have made a few new maps with Paint. Tell me what you think: Map 1 (http://img127.exs.cx/img127/9654/currath8te.png) Map 2 (http://img133.exs.cx/img133/4244/carbarathjpg3ws.jpg) Map 3 (which is actually a detailed area of Map 2) (http://img216.exs.cx/img216/3340/carbarathfull1me.jpg)
SpiritShader 07-07-05, 06:34 AM	clock they are very difficult to read
Hengwrt Ellesmere 07-08-05, 06:02 PM	http://img271.imageshack.us/img271/3875/ardentry8xx.th.png (http://img271.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ardentry8xx.png) This is the land of Ardentry, where my campaign starts. It's mostly rolling hills, with a few forests, plains, and bogs. The hilly forested region over the mountains to the east is the Walderreich, and the flat region over the mountains to the southeast is Champignon.
elven warriorXX 07-08-05, 06:27 PM	see my site :) **points to sig**
Hengwrt Ellesmere 07-09-05, 11:44 PM	I wonder if we could get this thread stickied. All these maps have been a great inspiration to me, and I'd hate to lose the thread to the oblivion of the forums.
Mindlesstool669 07-10-05, 12:47 PM	This is the southern continent of my Homebrew. It's done in paint and I'm not sure how it will come out when I post it, if anyone has advice on how to make it clearer please let me know. I'm working on an overview of my world for the forums right now, it should be about twenty to thirty pages long once I've finished, so if you like it and don't mind a long read about a higly deatiled world check it out :) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v724/MindlessTool_/Map2.gif
Mindlesstool669 07-10-05, 12:48 PM	^^. . . ok. . .so I can't move the browser over so I can't edit it. . ^^ Let's try this :p http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v724/MindlessTool_/Map2.gif Edit: Ok, that works better :) Just make sure you magnify it so it looks ok. Here's the northern continent, it's not nearly as far along as the southern, but you can see where they connect so you can see how they fit together. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v724/MindlessTool_/Worldmap3.gif
Hengwrt Ellesmere 07-10-05, 04:42 PM	I really like the style on your southern continent, Mindlesstool. Did you draw the tesselating patterns in the forests and swamps freehand, or did you generate them with software? Your northern continent just appears as either a broken link or a blank image when I click it, though. Your dilemma with posting images that are either too big to be seen all at once, or losing quality when shrunk to thumbnail, is one that I'm afraid I might encounter when I finish more of my world map. I avoided it on my initial post by using thicker lines on the "full sized" version, so that when it is shrunk down to a thumbnail, the lines don't disappear. My problem, though, is that what I have already posted is a corner of my continent, about one tenth of the whole. The whole continent won't fit into the 1MB limit for free image hosting, so at some point I'm going to have to shrink it myself before hosting, and the thumbnail is likely to be shrunk further. One suggestion that I do have is to fill in the white space, particularly the ocean. This way, even if the actual outline of the coast is lost with the lower resolution, the change in color will still make it appear as a continuous line.
His Magesty 07-10-05, 05:53 PM	http://img271.imageshack.us/img271/3875/ardentry8xx.th.png (http://img271.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ardentry8xx.png) This is the land of Ardentry, where my campaign starts. It's mostly rolling hills, with a few forests, plains, and bogs. The hilly forested region over the mountains to the east is the Walderreich, and the flat region over the mountains to the southeast is Champignon. Is it supposed to look like a bird's head? :D Also -- do people here want to hear criticism? I draw maps by hand since I've never put any significant amount of time into teaching myself to use computer design program (and am quite satisfied with the results), so I can't give advice about that. I did, however, learn some geology and the like, and some of the geographical features in certain maps here are pretty illogical. Thing is, I'm not sure whether people came here for that, or just to see and be seen. What say you?
elven warriorXX 07-10-05, 06:20 PM	Is it supposed to look like a bird's head? :D Also -- do people here want to hear criticism? I draw maps by hand since I've never put any significant amount of time into teaching myself to use computer design program (and am quite satisfied with the results), so I can't give advice about that. I did, however, learn some geology and the like, and some of the geographical features in certain maps here are pretty illogical. Thing is, I'm not sure whether people came here for that, or just to see and be seen. What say you? i am here to get ANYONE to say what they think about my map(see link in siggy) good or bad note: if you have some thing bad to say tell me what to do to make it better
Hengwrt Ellesmere 07-11-05, 12:54 AM	Is it supposed to look like a bird's head? :D Also -- do people here want to hear criticism? I draw maps by hand since I've never put any significant amount of time into teaching myself to use computer design program (and am quite satisfied with the results), so I can't give advice about that. I did, however, learn some geology and the like, and some of the geographical features in certain maps here are pretty illogical. Thing is, I'm not sure whether people came here for that, or just to see and be seen. What say you? Hmm I hadn't noticed that (the bird's head thing). I actually generated the shape of the continent as part of a hand-drawn fractal. I'll probably rough up the coastline a little, though, if the smooth curves are evoking abstract representations. As far as realism, I didn't really account for plate tectonics when I drew the mountains; instead I decided on how I wanted the continent divided into regions. After that, though, I took into account ocean currents and wind/lee slopes to decide the levels of moisture and vegetation in each region. As you can imagine, this corner of the map is wet and mild, like the British Isles.
Hengwrt Ellesmere 07-11-05, 01:05 AM	i am here to get ANYONE to say what they think about my map(see link in siggy) good or bad note: if you have some thing bad to say tell me what to do to make it better Very nice; I like the detailed timeline and the homebrew gods. Here's some constructive criticism: Draw some rivers. Maybe capitalize the names (or uncapitalize them, just be consistent).
Mindlesstool669 07-11-05, 06:50 AM	I really like the style on your southern continent, Mindlesstool. Did you draw the tesselating patterns in the forests and swamps freehand, or did you generate them with software? Everything is 100% hand drawn. Your northern continent just appears as either a broken link or a blank image when I click it, though. Strange, it seems to work fine for me. Is anyone else having this problem? Your dilemma with posting images that are either too big to be seen all at once, or losing quality when shrunk to thumbnail, is one that I'm afraid I might encounter when I finish more of my world map. I avoided it on my initial post by using thicker lines on the "full sized" version, so that when it is shrunk down to a thumbnail, the lines don't disappear. My problem, though, is that what I have already posted is a corner of my continent, about one tenth of the whole. The whole continent won't fit into the 1MB limit for free image hosting, so at some point I'm going to have to shrink it myself before hosting, and the thumbnail is likely to be shrunk further. Yeah, thicker lines aren't really an option. . . the maps are big and I'm just concerned with getting them finished first. One suggestion that I do have is to fill in the white space, particularly the ocean. This way, even if the actual outline of the coast is lost with the lower resolution, the change in color will still make it appear as a continuous line. I'll give this a shot when I finish them. I plan on filling in the water with shades of blue to show depth and the costal shelf, but it's probably the final touch. I may fill in the land just to make it clear for people on line, but I'll leave them white (I like white land because it places emphasis on the features of the map) for the final version when I upload it to my website. Thanks for the imput though :D
elven warriorXX 07-11-05, 09:32 AM	Very nice; I like the detailed timeline and the homebrew gods. Here's some constructive criticism: Draw some rivers. Maybe capitalize the names (or uncapitalize them, just be consistent). ya i was going to but it is a to large scale map. BUT i may add 2-4 big ones :)
Andrewinator 07-11-05, 10:11 AM	http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/austin_elliot/murdom.jpg That's part of the one I made for my campaign world. Keep in mind that that's only one eighty-first of the entire thing. That's the very center piece. The entire map is 6 ft. 4.5 in. by 8 ft. 3 in., and that only covers a portion of the southern hemisphere. If enough people want to see more, I may go to the trouble of scanning in the entire thing.
elven warriorXX 07-11-05, 10:35 AM	THAT IS GREAT!!! i could never hand draw that good of a map (i draw all mine on paint) it rocks :bow:
Hengwrt Ellesmere 07-11-05, 12:40 PM	Yes the 3/4 perspective on the terrain is very nice. When I get more detail on my map, I'll make a version like that in black and white with terrain in 3/4 perspective to hand out to the players in game. You lose a bit of precision on distances since the "vertical" elements cover up space to the north of their base, but it's more effective for giving a quick overview, and it can be printed in black and white.
die 07-14-05, 03:07 AM	Klaus van der Kroft, I like your maps, if do more post a link!
ravenhearte 07-23-05, 05:19 AM	I went entirely photoshop and made these, one a geographic map and the other political. http://www.ravenhearte.org/studio/d20/angrea/maps/CrysanthiaGeographical.jpg http://www.ravenhearte.org/studio/d20/angrea/maps/CrysanthiaPolitical.jpg
Cymraegmorgan 07-23-05, 08:00 AM	I did these (http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/altvogge/maps.html) for my CS using Bryce for some, Fractal Mapper 7.0 for the latter globe shots and the maps that follow them.
wrecan 07-24-05, 12:09 AM	Here's a link to the campaign world I've been working on. I realized too late that the central kingdom -- the place where the PCs will spend most of their time -- is still unnamed. The Kingdom (technically, an Archduchy) will be named Dragonseye, as will its capital. Comments are welcome http://us.f3.yahoofs.com/users/42e30e70z5ad3b948/1724/__sr_/b313.jpg?phBQU5CBE5FMx8jS
Andrewinator 07-29-05, 10:58 PM	Here's a VERY SMALL portion of my map. This is just the center 8.5" x 11" piece of it. The whole thing consists of a total of 9 maps, each rolled up. Put together, these maps are a total of roughly 6 feet by 8 feet. I may scan in more of it when I get less lazy. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/austin_elliot/murdom.jpg
Great Cthulhu 08-01-05, 11:06 AM	THESE :D MAPS :clap: ARE :ayyyy!: SO :bow: AWESOME :dancin: ! I :pbbbtt: WISH :drool: MY :nonono: MAPS :raincloud LOOKED :bigeyes: SO :tantrum: GOOD :banghead: I'm gonna post my campaign world's map here once I've finished it up. :)
pangalactic 08-01-05, 05:39 PM	Well, I've been lurking around this thread for some time, and really wanting to contribute. Unfortunately I haven't finished drawing my map onto the computer yet (and I don't have a scanner), so I've been waiting until it's done. But I can't wait any longer. So, here's the incomplete map of Déphonia, reduced to about 30% size for the internet (the handdrawn version is just under 1metre square, and the fullsized version of this is exactly the same size - because of my lack of scanner, I ended up pressing the paper against the screen and tracing around the lines with the Photoshop Pen tool). http://mytheory.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/dephonia-map2.jpg
Klaus van der Kroft 08-01-05, 06:56 PM	Hmm. The layout of your rivers seems too random, and in many areas it lacks geographical sense. For example, you have a closed circuit there near the middle, and to the north-east one of the rivers actually goes uphill. Try creating more straightforward rivers, which do not loop over themselves (unless it is travelling through a very rough terrain or through a soft-soiled flatland, such as the Amazon Jungle). Furthermore, a river source never divides into two separate ways. In fact, rivers that split up and form two entirely new ones almost do not exist, as water will always choose the quickest way (the exceptions can be found on river deltas and the like).
pangalactic 08-01-05, 07:03 PM	Hmm. The layout of your rivers seems too random, and in many areas it lacks geographical sense. For example, you have a closed circuit there near the middle, and to the north-east one of the rivers actually goes uphill. Try creating more straightforward rivers, which do not loop over themselves (unless it is travelling through a very rough terrain or through a soft-soiled flatland, such as the Amazon Jungle). Furthermore, a river source never divides into two separate ways. In fact, rivers that split up and form two entirely new ones almost do not exist, as water will always choose the quickest way (the exceptions can be found on river deltas and the like). The section in the northeast isn't hills, it's a stony desert. I guess I should have saved the map for a thread about my campaign setting - these rivers weren't created as rivers normally are, but due to the fact that the continent (which is actually one large floating island, much like the Arctic but obviously not icy) is slowly breaking up into numerous smaller islands. This has come about after immense disruption to the fabric of reality due to several magical catastrophes (for example, the circular sandy desert in the southwest and the kingdom surround by the red wall, which was overrun by evil Outsiders after the God of that land was overthrown). Whether you think that makes a difference or not is entirely up to you - there's not much I can do about people's opinions, after all.
Aliquid 08-15-05, 01:35 PM	I think it's about time for a :bump:
Manyfist 08-17-05, 12:44 AM	http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/20/callirhoe35we.gif (http://imageshack.us) I know... I don't have Paint...so I couldn't add the scale... one thing about my world... no mt.s It's mostly a Swampy Planet with a few areas of Plains, and Hills. :D
Light Dragon 12-03-05, 02:16 PM	Bump. Anyone have anything new to show off?
die 12-03-05, 04:21 PM	http://www.geocities.com/i_ate_breakfast/jimmap.gif campaign map info and stuff (http://www.geocities.com/i_ate_breakfast/dragonworld.html)
Muniloka 12-03-05, 04:36 PM	Awesome map Die, very pracitcal and detailed! You do it in CC?
BioHazard3200 12-03-05, 10:27 PM	http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/8797/myworld8sv.jpg this is my campina world wich is now under going some changes so tell me what ya think and give idea that ya think would improve my world
cbussler 12-03-05, 10:59 PM	I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in as well. Here's a work in progress. I can post a 300 dpi version for printing if anybody would like to look at it blown-up on an 8.5x11 sheet. http://www.timelessadventures.com/images/saga72dpi.jpg As always, comments appreciated! Thanks...
BioHazard3200 12-03-05, 11:04 PM	Here is the updated totaly renewed map http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/118/improvedricksworld2ee.jpg
die 12-04-05, 08:25 AM	When I made the map my old computer was so slow it would bog down making world maps in CC2 so I just copied some of the symbols and made the map in Paint. I made a few other maps around that time, heres another one of them http://www.geocities.com/i_ate_breakfast/entropy.jpg campaign info for this map (http://www.geocities.com/i_ate_breakfast/entropy.html)
Light Dragon 12-04-05, 03:36 PM	-Impressive.
Hochiu 12-04-05, 09:38 PM	die what did you say you used to originally create the symbols for your mountains and cities and such? I've been looking for something like that for a while (I'm stuck using Paint because my photoshop skills are terrible).
The Vorpal Tribble 12-04-05, 10:36 PM	Man... I wish I could somehow get a map made. I have my world's geography vivid in my head, but I can't get it out on paint program or paper anyway like how I envision it :raincloud
die 12-05-05, 11:18 AM	Hochiu - I just saved a CC2 map as a bitmap and copied each mountain and tree symbol and then cut and pasted them using Paint. So just save one of the maps I made open it up in Paint and then, you know, cut out the mountain and tree and city symbols you want to use and paste away in Paint. The Vorpal Tribble - I have no life and if you can draw a basic outline of what you want I'll make you a map if you'd like. I'll even throw in the html code to make it a clickable map so it'll go to a description of whatever area you click on for the same low price (free, cause I'm bored). Same deal for anyone else if they want that kind of map. I drew this one for another dudes game http://www.geocities.com/i_ate_breakfast/johnnysgame.jpg
coldreboot 12-05-05, 11:45 AM	I have to know what you guys are creating all these in? I see the AutoRealm ones, but I've not had much success with it. Is there anything else I should consider, or are they all just hand drawn/photoshopped from scratch?
cbussler 12-06-05, 01:31 PM	I use different programs and techniques for different things. Before I had Campaign Cartographer and before I had access to Photoshop at home, I did everything by hand. I would just draw the maps on regular paper, and then re-draw them on parchment paper. They made great handouts to the players. I still do this for maps that have limited use: The PC's will be done with them in one or two adventures. I don't worry about color. In my worlds, most map-makers don't use color due to expense of inks, so it works great. Hand drawing gives a realistic feel, it's cheap, and doesn't take as long as working in a program. For maps that are going to hang around longer, I'll use Campaign Cartographer. Campaign Cartographer is great in that it allows you to build maps relatively quickly, and the maps look pretty darn good. The more time you spend with CC2, the better your maps will be in the end. For maps that I plan to keep forever, I'll draw my maps by hand, and then re-draw them in Photoshop. I'll scan the sketch, then set the sketch as a layer. Using a Wacom graphic pad, I'll draw over it. I'll draw elements that I want, such as buildings, and copy/paste them in different spots. This method takes much longer (and it really taxes your computer), but the final maps are worth framing. Just my 2 coppers.
DmMagnus 12-06-05, 02:27 PM	Wow, I just have to say i really admire your maps, all of you! They are really great. The problem is: MIne are not. I have tried to use the campaign cartographer like you but it is so hard. I understand nothing of all the buttons and all that! I have only found out how to load up a template. Now I try to draw an island on it and I made it. But it is exactly the same color as the backround. How do you color it?
cbussler 12-06-05, 02:42 PM	Try this: Select the color you want first, then draw the item. This is easier than drawing, then selecting the item, then changing color.
Lord Nap 12-06-05, 05:32 PM	I have come up with a few decent maps using just Paint, and copying and pasting a few map key symbols. My biggest problem with Paint is the text. The text doesn't seem to save and come out as well, and I can only get it to lie horizontally. Does anyone know of a way to create diagonal or curved text in Paint?
BigUgly 12-07-05, 12:33 AM	Just stumbled apon this message board. In the 20+ years of gaming I have drawn many maps and destroyed many worlds. This is the map I created a few days ago for the new game I'm running with my kids(14-13-12) and a few friends. I used Corel12. Its basic now but I will go through it and create more detail. Like real mountains and forest. The second map is the main city that they adventure in and from. Try to imagine a large city at the foot of Victoria Falls. Most of the city is covered in mist and the rivers all run about 25-40 ft below the city. The city is basically a group of raised islands. The World of Milosha http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c250/BigUgly27/Milosha.jpg City State of Aslem http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c250/BigUgly27/aslem.jpg Hope you enjoy looking at them. If you want a copy let me know I'll email it to you in PDF. Thanks Allan
Lord Nap 12-07-05, 05:34 PM	Big Ugly, Those are some great maps. I really like the atmosphere you have created for your city. But my real question is... Where did you get those heraldry symbols on your map? I have seen many resources, but none that had the "feel" of the symbols on your map. Did you create them or get them from a site? Thanks
BigUgly 12-07-05, 07:23 PM	Lord Nap, I have several clipart disc that I use with my normal graphic design work. The small ones across the botttom are all stock designs from the clip art. I have around 600-700 to choice from. The one's for Milosha and Aslem started as stock designs and I added and took away things until I got the look I wanted. Hopefully I'll have the time to fix up the Milosha map in the near future. Between running one business and opening a new one and having a adventure ready for the kids every weekend. Not much time for playing with the map. Send me your email and I'll send you a copy of the city map and some of the heraldry sheilds. Allan
mathx314 12-07-05, 08:52 PM	This map still needs to be touched up with Photoshop, as its currently only a line drawing, but here's another one for your viewing pleasure: Civilized Realms of Ainae (http://static.flickr.com/24/56981984_43f3d01119_b.jpg)
BigUgly 12-12-05, 03:03 AM	Bump Made some more changes to my map of Milosha. Will update it in the next few days. Just didnt want to have to search for the thread. So it get a little bump back to the front page. Allan
yellowdingo 12-12-05, 03:12 AM	Here's a VERY SMALL portion of my map. This is just the center 8.5" x 11" piece of it. The whole thing consists of a total of 9 maps, each rolled up. Put together, these maps are a total of roughly 6 feet by 8 feet. I may scan in more of it when I get less lazy. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/austin_elliot/murdom.jpg Query Andrew: Do storms break continuously against the Paz Plateau or are they seasonal? Is the eastern desert on some sort of higher ground or strong layered mineral iron rockstrata keeping the rivers from eroding a course into its dry wastes?
Ishmayl 12-21-05, 06:03 PM	Recent map... not yet labled. http://www.shadowfell.org/wiki/skins/common/images/alsaeru.jpg
Nativeflame 02-28-06, 08:24 PM	Some really cool ideas Big Ugly on your map that I'll be inspired by next time I make a map. Thanks! Nflame
gerald_toronto 04-23-06, 05:08 PM	Found this on page 10. I found it to be one of the most inspirational threads in this section so I thought it worthy of bringing back to the first page.
Ogmug 04-23-06, 07:44 PM	Here are my contributions, this is still a work in progress (dependent upon how lazy i feel like being on some days.) http://www.geocities.com/ogmug/narush_v3_amelin_n_s_boronia_sample.JPG and a closer view of one of the more detailed areas http://www.geocities.com/ogmug/narush_v3_amelin_n_s_boronia_sample2.JPG
loaba 04-23-06, 11:10 PM	Here is my offering. This is Ardor, it was made in Photoshop CE. http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y249/loaba/CentralArdorLR.jpg
*Truean* 04-24-06, 12:34 AM	The village of Turnus in the Protectorate of Tenolusia: http://f2.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/QE1MRNL2kVjgKSbPL_MpQmgIrOjoc9_K8HW_IT0q f7z6Jba8XqLSFBpoa65KyT6nX6kQYeE4REAJQhBz YJ8naw/Turnus.bmp My other map files are large enough that they have to be zipped for lack of webspace... but that's a sample :) Later Truean
Amnarii 05-09-06, 07:11 AM	just found this wonderful thread, thought I would give it a :bump: ...
Amnarii 05-27-06, 04:08 AM	Well, even with all the advice I have seen in this thread, and a few dozen (actually, closer to a couple hundred) different attempts, I cannot make my latest campaign map come to life. Everything I make seems just... well, too contrived... too much like a map some DM made for a campaign, not like a world that somehow happened to come into being. I thought I would post here and see if anyone would be willing to help me out in making a nice map. The basic premise of the world is this; there is a fairly large peninsula, roughly twice the size of FLorida (that's about 100,000 square miles, which I envision would fit more or less in a 250 mile wide by 500 mile long box, assuming a decent amount of coastal area eating into that box...) The peninsula is separated from the main continent by a mountain chain; which is roughly in the shape of an X; or maybe more of a Y would be accurate...? Anyway, the mountain chain is large enough to cover the width of the peninsula as it connects to the continent, narrows out as it runs down the middle, and about halfway down the length it starts to split into the Y, with the mountains ending about 2/3 of the way down the peninsula. There should be a few decent sized islands off the tip of the peninsula, following both ends of the Y. The mountains for a ring around a vast desert on the main continent; the desert should be at least a few month's travel (say roughly 1500 miles across). On the other side of the desert and crossing the other side of the mountains, there is the remainder of the single large continent; I would assume it to be about 6,000,000 square miles (2,000 miles by 3,000 miles) in size - though that is hardly important yet; most of the first 5 or 6 levels will be spent on the peninsula; and then a level or 3 spent in reaching and crossing the desert. It will be several months or a year or more before we get to exploring the main continent. I am attaching one of my (less appealing looking, but I think better conceptually than several others) map attempts to the post; I wouldn't mind if it were completely different from what I have, but this is an idea of what I have been shooting for. If anyone IS willing to help, I would greatly appreciate it! In the map below (found at http://www.rrandi.com/pnpgame/maps/crude-map-103.jpg), the green is either hills, plains, or forests (it is crude and without details); the grey is mountains, the light yellow is desert, the blue is ocean. The red dots are probable city locations, though those aren't definite, and the orange is most likely plains where some 'uncivilized' nomadic tribes roam (no permanent cities, just a general homeland).... http://www.rrandi.com/pnpgame/maps/crude-map-103.jpg If someone does have some time to make something similar, or at least in the same general theme, but more tectonically sound and visually pleasing, it would be absolutely wonderful! And since we start in roughly 10 days (Monday June 5th), if it could be done quickly, that is even better!!! Barring helping me by actually making a map for me, if anyone has some advice on how I should lay out the land, where mountains should go and where rivers/lakes would be found, things like that, I am certainly open for suggestions! Thanks!
die 05-29-06, 03:11 PM	http://www.geocities.com/i_ate_breakfast/yeah.JPG :twitch:
Nativeflame 05-29-06, 08:11 PM	I'd be willing to have a go if you can wait til the weekend and I get to name locations :)
AdventChild 05-31-06, 12:38 AM	http://dnd.sytes.net/chat/talaron.jpg http://dnd.sytes.net/chat/overmap.jpg these are the maps for my current psionic campaign setting
ssvegeta555 05-31-06, 01:09 AM	I really like your maps AdventChild, especially the first one you posted. It's amazing! That must of took a while. But how did you do it? It looks a lot like the maps for Forgotten Realms.
AdventChild 05-31-06, 01:13 AM	yes it took me a long time, and yes it feels like a forgotten realms map because thats how i inteded it to look like, what i did was to scan my forgotten realms map and use some of the maps presented in map a week and cutted out some small parts like the patters of forests and mountains and guided myself using those patterns, its hard work but nothing beats a hand made map.
locksley92 05-31-06, 03:41 PM	:shocked: I read this entire post and I have to saw my jaw is :OMG! Props to the posters here, you guys rule! These are awesome! :bow:
Pazas 06-02-06, 11:20 PM	Okay here is my photoshop made map, I have some hand drawns but thier not scanned yet http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/6573/mapgoodwaterbadlandwithforesta.jpg PS: Does anyone know how to do swamps in photoshop or illustrator? Loaba - you made that in photoshop? :OMG! How? How? Tell me please! I don't have CE (central European Version Right?) but that should not make a difference I have access to 3, 5, 7, and CS2(9) I also have access to Illustrator CS2 (12) and After effects 6.0 and Gimp and DAZ and Inkscape and Blender
Sinister DM 06-03-06, 07:42 AM	PS: Does anyone know how to do mountains in photoshop or illustrator? I know this came up earlier but I can't find where. This is kind of what you are looking for..... How to make maps (http://www.brodt.dk/peter/maps.html) /Sinister....
Pazas 06-03-06, 08:31 AM	thanks sinister DM but I was refurring to completely computer generated such as above.
BrokenClock 06-05-06, 12:59 PM	I'm having trouble with my map. I've made the sketch and the outline with a pen, but now I'm stuck. I'm not sure if I should colour it in Photoshop or Illustrator. Also, I have no idea how I should colour it or what style I should use.
AdventChild 06-05-06, 01:28 PM	i would suggest to use photoshop and after that maek the rest of the terrain in an other layer.... for mroe info on how to paint look in the digital dnd forum
Amnarii 06-05-06, 02:12 PM	Here's my campaign's starting city, the Hamlet of Goodbridge (built up around the only good bridge for month's travel down the river coming out of the mountains...). I drew it by hand, and as you can see I am not a great artist. From there I sprayed just a tiny bit of glass cleaner on a dusty scanner bed, and let the droplets of cleaner dry; didn't actually wipe it clean (did this on purpose)... You can see the original scan here; http://www.rrandi.com/pnpgame/maps/goodbridge_scan.jpg http://www.rrandi.com/pnpgame/maps/goodbridge_scan.jpg Then I colored it in photoshop by duplicating the background layer, deleting all of the 'texture' and leaving only a black & white line map. I touched up the lines as neded to prevent bleeding, selected colors and brushed or flood filled all the various areas with dark, rich colors. I then set the layer to color burn, and the splotchy grey of the scan provided texture for me. I added in a label and rosette of sorts, after deleting the horrible hand drawn versions, and added in a map on 1" squares (each square is roughly 25 feet). The (still not up to the quality of most maps here) final version is at http://www.rrandi.com/pnpgame/maps/goodbridge_lrg.jpg http://www.rrandi.com/pnpgame/maps/goodbridge_lrg.jpg Far from wonderful, but it will work for my game...
00_Whupass 06-05-06, 06:48 PM	Woah, Amnarii could you scale down the resolution on those. They're huge!
Elemental_Elf 06-05-06, 08:38 PM	Amnarii Amnarii: Your map is pretty cool, I like it! :) Anyways, I'll post my Campaign map some day. I keep mental tabs on everything then when I go to draw it the world never seems quite right. So I give up for a few days, change the world a little in my head and try again. :D I love the various little tips people post here, they really help! ^_^ I'm used to doing my maps in MSPaint, sure it's simple and boring and tedious and in acurate but it got the job done for my early purposes mind you. I never really thought of using Photoshop (except for adding the names). I dunno why it never dawned on me, but telle est la vie. Anyways everyone's maps are amazing, a true inspiration for the DM peoples of the world! :D
SOPI 06-05-06, 09:37 PM	Dang! There is some awesome stuff in this thread! I'm going to try to post the lands of Bermyt here if I'm able to get my map scanned and such. The lands of Bermyt are from my homebrew world.
alcibyades 06-06-06, 11:46 AM	Here's a map i made of a subsection of my world. Starting small is important, I think. There's no compass, no scale, and although the font is kinda cool and evocative, it's not easy to read. http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g215/alcibyades/ABBASH1.jpg
BrokenClock 06-07-06, 12:56 PM	http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g143/TheBrokenClock/World-Map2.jpg
Holy Warrior 06-07-06, 01:21 PM	I'm working on my map for my campaign, Asthanah: The Grey. When it's ready I'll post it :D
Ishmayl 06-07-06, 04:42 PM	Brokenclock, you intersted in maybe talking and explaining a bit on how you made that map? ;)
BrokenClock 06-07-06, 10:03 PM	Yeah, I can do that. Although I'm nowhere near as good as most of the people in here. Believe it or not though, that is the first thing I've ever done in photoshop. I've never used the program before. It was mostly trial an error. I can give you tips on how I learned to do stuff, but you might be better off talking to a pro.
Holy Warrior 06-08-06, 06:55 AM	Here's mine A little crappy but anyway: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v411/Jordanus/TheGreycopy.jpg
Redcloak 06-10-06, 03:12 PM	This thread is really cool. I'm an old gamer and I hand-draw everything. Here's a version of the local campaign area of one of the regions of my setting (Alterra). This is the version I hand my players, so lots of falsehoods :) I have a handout that describes, from a folklore point of view, all of the places on the map that I hand out with it. Anyway, happy gaming. here's the link: http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4279/1620/1600/Thunder%20Valley.jpg
BrokenClock 06-11-06, 12:13 AM	I decided to ditch the whole bright and colourfull look and start throwing down some names for places. http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g143/TheBrokenClock/DM-World-Map.jpg I find it hard to work from scratch with a world that the party hasn't fully explored yet. I'm always thinking to myself, should I throw in a cave here? Just in case I need it for some random adventure I'll make later? Or perhaps I'm going about it all wrong, and the world map ISN'T what you should start off doing for your campaign. Also, what about scale. 1 square = 20 miles? Is that too much? Is it not enough?
Pazas 06-11-06, 12:38 PM	Broken clock what did you make that with? I... Have... To... Know...
*Truean* 06-11-06, 12:57 PM	I do believe I've been quoted :)
Patrakis 06-11-06, 09:05 PM	I thought i'd post my work in progress here in the hopes of a few comments and tips because frankly, i'm not satisfied with the way it turned out. I think it's the color scheme or something. Here is the link to my map: Valedale (http://patoumonde.com/maps/JPG/HIRES/ATLASMAP-Valedale1200x1800.jpg) It as little region about 50 miles vertically and 40 miles horizontally. Thanks Pat ps.:: there is some very nice work being done by the posters here. Just wanted to let you all know :)
BrokenClock 06-11-06, 10:21 PM	Broken clock what did you make that with? I... Have... To... Know... I used my hand for the outline of the coastlines. I used a scanner to import the image in to photoshop. I used photoshop to colour it. I used illustrator to do the words, symbols and grid lines. Oh, and I used photobucket to post the image. The end. The red boxes are key areas. I use another sheet of paper to refrence them. I'm still at a loss as to how I'm going to get more detail in there. I may have to make an extra 20 maps just to get down all the stuff inbetween the cities that is too small to be seen on a 1:20 map.
Hochiu 06-12-06, 02:09 AM	I used my hand for the outline of the coastlines. I used a scanner to import the image in to photoshop. I used photoshop to colour it. I used illustrator to do the words, symbols and grid lines. Oh, and I used photobucket to post the image. The end. The red boxes are key areas. I use another sheet of paper to refrence them. I'm still at a loss as to how I'm going to get more detail in there. I may have to make an extra 20 maps just to get down all the stuff inbetween the cities that is too small to be seen on a 1:20 map. I was going to say, your map appears really large to even begin worrying about alot of the placement of much else other than important sites to mark relative location. My suggestion is to take this map (it's very nice, by the way, I'm jealous and wish I knew how to manipulate photoshop to do it) and break it up into seperate regions to go into greater detail in their own maps. For instance, the penninsula above the Narthian Ocean could be it's own map, going from the western tip to the city of Tanis. The North could be the ice sheet from the top going down to about Urthis, etc etc etc and so on and so forth. But thats only if you don't mind doing a handful of maps. I don't know how big you wanted to intend your world to be, so other than that, I can't offer much but constructive crticism.
BrokenClock 06-12-06, 01:37 PM	I was going to use the Planescape concept and have a bunch of worlds. Now, I'm not so sure. I think this woulrd might be big enough to keep everyone happy. I think I will do the map thing. Although, I don't believe I'll be doing it in photoshop. I think I'll take a quicker route and use a map making thing. I figure I'll blow up the regions and then put other details in there. (villages, hamlets, caves, waterfalls etc.) Stuff that you can't see on the big scale. I just didn't want my players to be able to go across my world in a couple of days. If they could do this, then there would be no need for horses, and it wouldn't feel as epic. I enjoy the idea of going across a huge area to get to my destination. As long as I don't have fetch quests, I'm sure everyone will enjoy it. (Go get me ummm some silly flower...it's at the other end of the world. If you do this, then I'll help you save the world from blowing up and by proxy killing me) Thanks for the tips.
FolcoTook 06-13-06, 01:48 PM	Here is my full world map (technically a continent on a larger, unexplored world). http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i164/folcotook/worldMap_small.jpg Higher resolution (http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i164/folcotook/worldMap.jpg) Here is a zoomed in view of the area I plan to start characters in for my next campaign. http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i164/folcotook/vensla_small.jpg Higher resolution (http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i164/folcotook/vensla.jpg) -FT
Candarin 06-17-06, 09:07 PM	What a fantastic thread! I thought I was the only one spending hours on maps! Here is a map of the PC's starting town... (permission NOT granted for any use) I have taken my named tags out. http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j52/Candarin/TownMap.jpg
Hochiu 06-17-06, 11:29 PM	I was going to use the Planescape concept and have a bunch of worlds. Now, I'm not so sure. I think this woulrd might be big enough to keep everyone happy. I think I will do the map thing. Although, I don't believe I'll be doing it in photoshop. I think I'll take a quicker route and use a map making thing. I figure I'll blow up the regions and then put other details in there. (villages, hamlets, caves, waterfalls etc.) Stuff that you can't see on the big scale. I just didn't want my players to be able to go across my world in a couple of days. If they could do this, then there would be no need for horses, and it wouldn't feel as epic. I enjoy the idea of going across a huge area to get to my destination. As long as I don't have fetch quests, I'm sure everyone will enjoy it. (Go get me ummm some silly flower...it's at the other end of the world. If you do this, then I'll help you save the world from blowing up and by proxy killing me) Thanks for the tips. Aye, I'm in the same boat. I read books like The Wheel of Time and it takes months of steady travel to get from anywhere with any sizable force. It makes those few transportation spells that I throw in really handy and special, as opposed to "Boom, you're there." The problem is, travel scenes can be really...boring. Candarin, what did you use to make your town?
Candarin 06-18-06, 04:21 AM	I hand draw it in fine liner, scanned it, then coloured (and tagged) it in photoshop. It would have taken probably 3 hours all up to do... Do you like it? I am in the process of drawing a world map at the moment. It will take up approximately 20 A4 sized pages (the town map is on one A4) I actually enjoy the making of the maps just as much as the using...
Patrakis 06-21-06, 12:48 PM	Hello Guyz, I pretty much finished my map of Valedale so i thought i'd upgrade my previous post. Any comments will be appreciated: Valedale (http://patoumonde.com/maps/JPG/HIRES/ATLASMAP-Valedale1200x1800.jpg) Thanks Pat
ElvenOutlaw 06-21-06, 01:47 PM	One of the many maps for my Campaign world of Vidiel. This one doesn't have the mountain or river details, as this one was used more for seperating kingdom borders. The scale is roughly the size of Europe & Asia. There are a dozen or so temples scattered throughout the land for the god of travels and knowledge that offer Stargate-like gateways to make travel from one side to the other faster/easier/cheaper. http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/1430/videil8ai.th.png (http://img513.imageshack.us/my.php?image=videil8ai.png)
Ishmayl 06-21-06, 10:27 PM	Hello Guyz, I pretty much finished my map of Valedale so i thought i'd upgrade my previous post. Any comments will be appreciated: Valedale (http://patoumonde.com/maps/JPG/HIRES/ATLASMAP-Valedale1200x1800.jpg) Thanks Pat Does this take place in the Forgotten Realms? (Spiderhaunt)
Patrakis 06-21-06, 10:50 PM	Hi, Yes it does. This map is a very zoomed it view of the southern tip of the Spiderhaunt Woods where a small community has poped up in my version of the realms. It's a new dale called Valedale. Pat
ssvegeta555 07-07-06, 01:28 AM	Here's a map for my Campaign setting, Soullos (see sig for more info). It's a small island chain named the Shattered Isles. At first I hand drew my map to look like the Forgotten Realms theme, but it didn't turn out too well. After seeing AdventChild's map, I was inspired to recreate mine using photoshop. It's not all the way marked yet. I don't have anything concrete since I'm still designing the area. Anyways here it is. Enjoy! The Shattered Isles Map http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/6489/shatteredislesmarked13as.jpg
BeginnerDM 07-07-06, 09:40 AM	I just want to say that all of these maps are so fantastic, I wish I could do half as good as all of you have done. I'm trying to create a world onto my own for my next campaign, by starting in a small area and where the PC's start and working out from there. ... but now I'm .. disgruntled mainly cause when you see something like you guys have created... just wow. Great job everyone.
CravenJedi 07-08-06, 02:44 PM	These maps are so awesome! You've given me inspiration to redo my campaign worlds' map. Great job, guys.
BeefotronX 07-08-06, 10:05 PM	This is a map of one continent in my campaign world. The base map was done in AutoREALM and painted over in Paint Shop Pro X. http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/6730/newyuinarmap0gj.th.jpg (http://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=newyuinarmap0gj.jpg)
DarkLiChNeaZur 07-09-06, 01:40 AM	WOW these are ALL amazing, how do you do that with such precision on a computer, i treid on paint once but i came out BAD. if there are programs could you suggest some? thanks and awsome work! :D
InnKeeper 07-09-06, 03:05 AM	hey dark if you need a good mapping program theres a free one called Autorealm try to just google it. and yeah all these maps are good :P
Patrakis 07-09-06, 08:29 AM	A free program like autorealm is a good way to start and see if you like doing your maps in a program. After that, there is a ol world of programs oriented to make your life easier and make maps that you can post here and anywhere else :) Pat
darkfuries 07-09-06, 10:24 AM	I have a campaign world I've been working on since 1982. Here's a resized version of the color atlas: http://www.darkfuries.com/images/free/maps/atlas.gif It's comprised of 23 8.5" x 11" maps, with a scale of 150 miles per inch. Anyone interested can download the maps (they're free) at my website: http://www.darkfuries.com/free.shtml
Bazcasta 08-03-06, 07:38 PM	To make my maps I use a combination of AutoRealm and MS Paint. I make a general layout in paint and copy and paste to AutoRealm and add features. Then I put it back in paint and refine them. I do this back and forth until I have something I desire. Here is one that is actually finished. http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/9220/mapofnahlsm3.th.png (http://img383.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mapofnahlsm3.png) EDIT: What is a pretty standard scale for a continent sized map. I'm still up in the air on how large of a continent I want and was wondering what some common scales are.
mikeg 08-04-06, 07:55 PM	Bazcasta- Since a lot of fantasy gaming is based on medieval culture, you might consider using a map of Europe, North Africa and the Near East as a reference. This gives a general limit to what the standard modes of travel would allow for such a level of technology. I'm in favor of scanning an exisiting map and keeping it on another layer, referring to it for coordinate lines and proximity of various cultural and climatic types. Here is a climate map of my campaign setting. Visible latitude lines are from 60N to the Equator. Climatic zones include: Subarctic Humid Continental Short Summer Humid Continental Long Summer Humid Subtropical Marine Mediterranean Steppe Desert Wet-Dry Tropics Wet Tropics http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n22/mgottschalk/climate.jpg Here is the sort of map commonly available to players: http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n22/mgottschalk/continent_common.jpg I drew my world on a basketball with a Sharpie, using the basketball's lines as a guide for coordinates when making flat maps. (I'll have to post a picture, it's pretty guerilla-style, and that's being kind.) I am currently working on a multi-layered Adobe Illustrator doc which includes topographic elevations, as well as settlements and roads. Each layer set can be turned off to print out a relevant map. I used a scanned atlas page for its lines of latitude and longitude. Assuming the world is round, how does everyone else deal with the polar and equatorial distance discrepancy with mapmaking and party travel? Has anyone used 3D software to render a spherical representation? (I think most 3d apps use the equivalent of a Platte-Carre projection, so a Platte-Carre world map would be a good resource as a template.)
FeceMan 08-06-06, 04:38 PM	Needs more Photoshop/PSP tutorials :).
Brandish 08-06-06, 09:00 PM	What I will say is that I have changed, updated, scrapped, etc. so many of my map(s) over the past 10 years that I finally made an Adobe Illustrator file. Maps that are hand drawn on paper ultimately look synthetic because they are boxed-in by conforming with right angles. Vector art in Illustrator has no edge of the page. I can tug anchor points along the coastline if I want to change anything. I can grab whole continents and spin them, resize them, cut them 'open' and add sections, etc. all in seconds. I tend to hand draw sections of coastline - by connecting the dots at random on a star chart and then scanning them, tracing them and joining the sections together. If anyone has Illustrator and knows how to use it and wants to make a map for D&D I strongly suggest it. My file is broken down into various layers that can be 'shown' or 'hidden'. The individual layers have information like biomes, cities of humans, dwarven settlements, mountains, rivers & lakes, historical notes, and any other kind of information I could need on a map is all condensed into one file. And it is all in beautiful crisp vectors that never loose their edges when you zoom in or out. I'm obsessed with my map. Geography is everything in a campaign setting.
Woas 08-06-06, 11:10 PM	This is the map I am using for my game. http://dualkingdoms.pbwiki.com/f/finalmap.jpg
FeceMan 08-07-06, 12:54 AM	Ragh. Does anyone have any fully comprehensive map-making guides for PSP? I just got the blasted thing and have figured out some of the basics, but the only real tutorials I can find are for Photoshop and some of them don't "translate" well. That all really depends on whether you're referring to the grassy areas, the forests, or the mountains.. The grassy areas are done with a cloud filter, contrast modified for only slight variation and then embossed. The forests are a simple texture fill. But I'm going to redo them later with a much better texture I found. The mountains are a pain in the arse. I have yet to come up with a method I like for creating mountains, and believe me, I've tried hundreds of different methods. For instance, this. Where is the cloud filter?! I'm looking through the help files to no avail :(.
Pazas 08-07-06, 03:19 AM	I'm not sure PSP has a cloud filter, better yet I don't even think it has an equivilent. Is there even a way to "fake it" with alternitive methods? I am not good with PSP however, and so do not know. In photoshop it is filter > render > clouds. At least, it is for post photoshop 5.0. I belive it was in a different filter submenu in 3.1
terrainmonkey 08-07-06, 06:30 PM	well, here's some of the maps for my campaign setting. mostly i do towns and such, but lately i've been using coreldraw to get maps of landscapes. the first is a small campaign area map for an adventure i'm planning. the area around mariner's bluff has some great adventure sites. http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/terrainmonkey/areaMB.jpg this is the map of the town http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/terrainmonkey/marinersbluff.jpg This is a map hand drawn, of my underdark setting http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/terrainmonkey/wizards%20game%20maps/img003.jpg here is a map of an area of woods in my campaign drawn with cc2 http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/terrainmonkey/wizards%20game%20maps/wolfwoodpm.jpg this is a campaign setting for C&C that a freind has created, and i had a hand in doing some maps of his city, jendar. take a look at the pdf downloads http://johnwright281.tripod.com/ i'm currently working on a psionics campaign setting, and here is the first work in progress. http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/terrainmonkey/mindath.jpg comments are welcome.
elondir 08-10-06, 04:12 PM	Here's mine: http://static.flickr.com/73/211973952_9e473bdd6a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/12465156@N00/211973952)
Bazcasta 08-13-06, 02:53 PM	How did you make that?
elondir 08-14-06, 09:32 AM	First, I drew it on printer paper with pencil. Then I scanned it in. Then I created a new 100% opaque layer and carefully traced the ocean with the freehand selection (reduce the opacity while tracing). Then I flood-filled the ocean. After that I created another layer at 50% opacity and traced did the light green masking. Then, I feehand selected the mountains and filled them in. For the forests I used a size 18 brush at 100 hardness in the brown color. For other details I filled in as needed. I put rivers and lakes on the same layer as the ocean. The Ocean layer went on top. So stacked from bottom to top, it went scan (100% opacity), land fill color (50% opacity), ocean (100% opacity). I hope that helps!
Moniker 08-24-06, 05:04 PM	Presenting the world of Deismaar http://ogy.cc/L1.JPG http://ogy.cc/mockup.JPG
ORC_Tao 08-24-06, 07:59 PM	As my map was disintegrated in the board switch, I am going to repost it. This is the map for the Thaliin: Shadows of War (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?p=9894835#post9894835) setting. http://www.mattylee.com/images/map_small.jpg (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?p=9894835#post9894835)
Sinister DM 08-25-06, 01:42 AM	WizO_Tao: Nice touch with the background graph paper!:)
Phoenix Knight 08-25-06, 09:47 AM	Moniker, that is awesome.
Bazcasta 08-25-06, 01:24 PM	Here is a small country/province I have been working on for the last two days. I use a combination of AutoREALM and MS Paint. http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/9066/provinceoftalremfc6.png
ORC_Tao 08-25-06, 02:30 PM	WizO_Tao: Nice touch with the background graph paper!:) I suppose there's something to be said for drawing by hand ;) . I generally do maps digitally, but i liked the feel of a hand drawn map for this particular campaign setting.
Atirakis 08-25-06, 02:52 PM	Moniker what program did you use? Do you have a link to their site?
Moniker 08-25-06, 02:59 PM	Moniker what program did you use? Do you have a link to their site? I used Campaign Cartographer 3 from Profantasy Software. Its the standard development software for the WotC maps for Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, etc... http://www.profantasy.com/ It costs around 45 dollars USD, and you can d/l it directly from the website.
ThorGuy 08-25-06, 04:16 PM	Wow, that autorealm looks really nice. I'm downloading it now. By the way, could people link to their larger maps? Because it's really messing up the thread, and plus I think it's against the CoC.
Bazcasta 08-25-06, 11:27 PM	I used Campaign Cartographer 3 from Profantasy Software. Its the standard development software for the WotC maps for Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, etc... http://www.profantasy.com/ It costs around 45 dollars USD, and you can d/l it directly from the website. I was wondering what CC3 looked like. Do you have anything else? I'm actually thinking of buying it. Wow, that autorealm looks really nice. I'm downloading it now. By the way, could people link to their larger maps? Because it's really messing up the thread, and plus I think it's against the CoC. Were you referring to mine??? I think they look like crap compared to the awesome ones on here.
jaw4ever 08-26-06, 08:54 PM	What a fantastic thread. All of your maps are stunning. I'm incredibly jealous of all your talent. I have a question concerning epic campaign map making. I have an IMMENSE campaign in my head. I set out create a campaign world to store all my ideas, so I thought about making my campaign world the same size as our largest planet, Jupiter, then I'll have all the room I'll need to create. My orginal idea is to create mutiple continets on this jupiter-sized world for various cultures: greece/roman, oriental, viking, etc. but then, I see such amazingly large and detailed maps that your have all made, and I'm wondering if I should just create a super-continent. It would still have my gate ideas, to cover great distances, it's just that sea voyages would only be around the the continent and through large inland rivers. I am well aware of the first rule of dungeoncraft in Dragon Magazine is: Never create more that you need to, but I have so many ideas buzzing around my head I feel that I must give them all a place in this huge campaign world. Please send my your thoughts on the various points I've put in this message. Thank you for your time.
Aliquid 08-26-06, 10:09 PM	I'm wondering if I should just create a super-continentIf you go for the super-continent idea, you need to make some sort of physical barrier that makes it difficult to travel from culture to culture. Seperate them by big areas like deserts and mountains where very few people live and travel is hard. This causes isolation, which makes it believable that different cultures evolved in the different countries. Do you specifically need to use a planet? Being a fantasy environment with magic etc, you could consider making it a flat world, that way it can be as big as you want. You could even make it so that nobody has ever found the edge of the world. People have tried to find the edge, but they never come back... Maps of the world just fade out at the edges, and the further you go from civilization, many areas are guess-work or blank. Or if you are using gates, you could go for the whole planescape idea... multiple worlds that are all connected through gates. Your "Greek" culture and your "Viking" culture could actually be on different planets which are connected by gates.
Phoenix Knight 08-27-06, 11:19 AM	You don't need a Jupiter-sized planet to fit all those cultures in. They fit on earth ;) Besides, by saying you want a planet (opposed to just having a world that might be flat or whatever) you give people the impression that you are going for a realistic world. That becomes a problem with a planet that is larger than earth, as things like gravity, planetary density, and stuff get kind of screwy. Are you changing gravity, mineral content, the length of a year, tides, and everything else? If you change enough, we lose the point of reference (which is okay if you want an alien world, but if you want it resemble the Earth middle ages in any way...).
jaw4ever 08-27-06, 04:50 PM	If you go for the super-continent idea, you need to make some sort of physical barrier that makes it difficult to travel from culture to culture. Seperate them by big areas like deserts and mountains where very few people live and travel is hard. This causes isolation, which makes it believable that different cultures evolved in the different countries. Aliquid, thanks for this terrific idea, I'm not sure I'm I will go the super-continent route, but if I do, this seems like a good way of isolating the cultures. Do you specifically need to use a planet? My idea for the campaign world is that a large congregation of pantheons and individual deities would come together a make an emormous world so each pantheon or individual god who had a hand in creating the world would have a contininet of their own to govern, erasing the need for religious wars as various pantheons fight for the faith of each other's follower's. So te world would be huge du to the vast divine energy going into it's construction from the various deities. Or if you are using gates, you could go for the whole planescape idea... multiple worlds that are all connected through gates. Your "Greek" culture and your "Viking" culture could actually be on different planets which are connected by gates. The gates to multiple worlds is a great idea, but not what I'm was really trying to go for. Another campaign maybe. Besides, by saying you want a planet (opposed to just having a world that might be flat or whatever) you give people the impression that you are going for a realistic world. That becomes a problem with a planet that is larger than earth, as things like gravity, planetary density, and stuff get kind of screwy. Are you changing gravity, mineral content, the length of a year, tides, and everything else? If you change enough, we lose the point of reference (which is okay if you want an alien world, but if you want it resemble the Earth middle ages in any way...). Phoenix Knight, My world would be going for a fantastical realistic world.Let me explain. This campaign world of mine would act just like Earth, in respects to gravity, length of day, tides, etc. despite what we know would be different in a jupiter-sized world. My thought is the gods invested vast amounts of divine energy to the creation of my campaign world. With that much divine energy, the gods could be allowed to "tweek" the physics of the world to fit there needs despite what we scientifically known who be different. That been said my campaign world would be in the high magic catergory.
Bazcasta 08-28-06, 10:57 PM	http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/314/arwynregionalmc3.th.png (http://img152.imageshack.us/my.php?image=arwynregionalmc3.png) I figured it was easier to quote myself... Deos the name Arwyn in my map remind anyone of anything? My friend said it did, I'm leaving out what he said so as to not taint my question to you. The reason I ask is that I don't want to have names that people will think of as other things... I guess I just want to be original in my names. For that matter, do any names stick out? Thanks
Thought 08-29-06, 10:10 AM	I figured it was easier to quote myself... Deos the name Arwyn in my map remind anyone of anything? My friend said it did, I'm leaving out what he said so as to not taint my question to you. The reason I ask is that I don't want to have names that people will think of as other things... I guess I just want to be original in my names. For that matter, do any names stick out? Thanks Well it looks like it would be pronounced exactly like Arwen, as in Arwen Evenstar, a character in J.R.R. Tolkien's LOTR. Daughter of Elrond and all that. I wouldn't worry too much (your map wouldn't be the first to use names similar or directly taken from Tolkien), but Arwen was a major enough character in the movies and thus might be a problem. If you want a similar name, check in the index of names in LOTR and see what similar, but not secondary character, names you can find that people would recognize less.
Bazcasta 08-29-06, 11:55 AM	Well it looks like it would be pronounced exactly like Arwen, as in Arwen Evenstar, a character in J.R.R. Tolkien's LOTR. Daughter of Elrond and all that. I wouldn't worry too much (your map wouldn't be the first to use names similar or directly taken from Tolkien), but Arwen was a major enough character in the movies and thus might be a problem. If you want a similar name, check in the index of names in LOTR and see what similar, but not secondary character, names you can find that people would recognize less. I thought that was what you were going to say... However, at the time I thoguht of the name, I didn't know it was from LotR; I never jumped on the LotR bandwagon. I have some other names that I'm going over. Thanks
Phoenix Knight 08-30-06, 09:47 AM	I used Campaign Cartographer 3 from Profantasy Software. Its the standard development software for the WotC maps for Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, etc... http://www.profantasy.com/ It costs around 45 dollars USD, and you can d/l it directly from the website. Was it difficult to get that good with it? I guess I'm wondering how intuitive it is, how easy it was to produce a map like that (which looks photoshop quality).' I have CC2 and could never create something like that with it. I've spent only a little while with photoshop because everyone says the learning curve is pretty steep and I don't have months or more to spend learning a program before I can even start on my maps...
Moniker 08-30-06, 10:45 AM	Was it difficult to get that good with it? I guess I'm wondering how intuitive it is, how easy it was to produce a map like that (which looks photoshop quality).' I have CC2 and could never create something like that with it. I've spent only a little while with photoshop because everyone says the learning curve is pretty steep and I don't have months or more to spend learning a program before I can even start on my maps... It took me a long (LONG) time to become accustomed to using it, as I am not familiar with AutoCad whatsoever. I am a graphic designer, so ImageReady/Photoshop is more my speed. However, there are a number of things you can do on the fly with CC2/CC3 that you cannot with Photoshop. You might want to check out a products called AutoRealm. It is a healthy and viable alternative to the clunky and antiquated feel of CC2/CC3.
Bazcasta 08-30-06, 11:06 AM	I use AutoRealm. The maps may not be (personal preference) as good as CC2/3 or Photoshop, but they seem to be better than MS Paint. Don't use my maps as examples for godd quality AutoRealm, I'm not very good with it. It doens't take too long to get used to, and once you ar it is very handy.
Sulaco 08-30-06, 11:40 AM	While CC3 seems to produce results far superior to CC2, that really isn't saying a helluva lot. The example in their gallery are, on can assume, meant to show the best of the best and yet they are still pretty rough and amateurish. That said, most people will probably are quite satisfied with the results and it will adequately fill their needs. Indeed, were it a more reasonable price I would likely pick up a copy myself for doing simple quick-and-dirty maps, but $45 USD is far too much IMO.
Moniker 08-30-06, 01:19 PM	While CC3 seems to produce results far superior to CC2, that really isn't saying a helluva lot. The example in their gallery are, on can assume, meant to show the best of the best and yet they are still pretty rough and amateurish. That said, most people will probably are quite satisfied with the results and it will adequately fill their needs. Indeed, were it a more reasonable price I would likely pick up a copy myself for doing simple quick-and-dirty maps, but $45 USD is far too much IMO. My biggest gripe is that CC2/CC3 is not intuative whatsoever. It has an atiquated feel, which in this day and age the program should be accessable to the common user. I've had a lot of experience with CC2 and betatested CC3, and is the only reason I know how to use it to produce maps. If I was a player looking for a product to help map out my world, I would recommend using Photoshop and a scanner.
elondir 08-31-06, 08:51 AM	I made a few Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas maps back in 1999. I personally liked CC2. If you know CAD, then CC2 isn't so hard to learn. The most common gripes about the program are about zooming and scrolling.
Sulaco 08-31-06, 09:43 AM	My biggest gripe is that CC2/CC3 is not intuative whatsoever. It has an atiquated feel, which in this day and age the program should be accessable to the common user. I've had a lot of experience with CC2 and betatested CC3, and is the only reason I know how to use it to produce maps. If I was a player looking for a product to help map out my world, I would recommend using Photoshop and a scanner. I ma a professional graphic designer and I use combination of Photoshop, Illustrator and hand-drawing to make maps. The downside is that it is time-consuming. The only reason I would invest in a product like CC3 is cos it's fast, cos it sure as heck ain't pretty. Still too pricey for me though. The results just aren't good enough to justify the expense.
Aliquid 08-31-06, 02:21 PM	I ma a professional graphic designer and I use combination of Photoshop, Illustrator and hand-drawing to make maps. The downside is that it is time-consuming. The only reason I would invest in a product like CC3 is cos it's fast, cos it sure as heck ain't pretty. Still too pricey for me though. The results just aren't good enough to justify the expense.Too expensive? $45? What's the cost of Photoshop and Illustrator these days? Must be around $1000 for the pair.
So-Keher 08-31-06, 05:12 PM	World Map (http://img437.imageshack.us/img437/4425/atlaiaworldmapformattedmz6.gif) Norht Galetea (http://img437.imageshack.us/img437/1599/northgaleteaformattedsmvb1.gif) South Geletea (http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/2638/southgaleteaformattedsmsf0.gif) Evalnys (http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/8674/evalnysformattedsmallxf0.gif) These are the maps for my campaign setting the Faenaed Chronicles that i hand-drew. Visit the Site Please: http://www.thewingedchronicles.net
Bazcasta 08-31-06, 05:21 PM	Wow, those are nice. I always like a hand drawn map better.
So-Keher 08-31-06, 05:22 PM	Wow, those are nice. I always like a hand drawn map better. Thanks :D
Sulaco 08-31-06, 05:38 PM	Too expensive? $45? What's the cost of Photoshop and Illustrator these days? Must be around $1000 for the pair. But I already have Illustrator and Photoshop for my day-job, this would be an additional expense. There are a lot of other RPG/D&D related product that my $45 could go to that are far higher up the list than this, but if it were, say, $20 I'd likely snap it up.
Aliquid 08-31-06, 06:01 PM	But I already have Illustrator and Photoshop for my day-job, this would be an additional expense. There are a lot of other RPG/D&D related product that my $45 could go to that are far higher up the list than this, but if it were, say, $20 I'd likely snap it up.Fair enough. So you are not saying that they are charging too much for the software. You are saying that it's a novel concept, but the cost is too high for you to justify buying it for yourself.
Sulaco 09-06-06, 04:12 PM	Fair enough. So you are not saying that they are charging too much for the software. You are saying that it's a novel concept, but the cost is too high for you to justify buying it for yourself. Pretty much. Subjectively, I think it is too much. Objectively, they must sell enough copies at that price to justify it so it can't be too much. ;)
Khalek D'Ariana 09-30-06, 05:37 PM	I also prefer hand drawn, but can't draw, so this'll have to do for the mo. It's a WIP: http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-9/1217858/Kinyata-World-Map-5.jpg Yet to find a nice site with cartography symbols for fantasy maps. That's what adds the character for me. Some of the maps here look so nice, it makes me want to burn them :P
Atomic Dog 10-02-06, 05:42 PM	This is a map I've just drawn now, for a d20 Past Age of Adventure campaign. It's a fictional group of Carribean islands, 'Las Islas Olvidadas' or the Forgotten Islands. http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/6012/mapadelasislashm9.jpg It's going to be a magical, fantastical place to adventure, very much in the style of Pirates of the Carribean; the island names I got from an English-to-Spanish translator to give me names such as 'Isle of the Wolf', 'Island of Blood', 'Isle of the Damned' and so on.
terrainmonkey 10-02-06, 11:53 PM	heres the maps for my current campaign. these maps are the latest of 5 over the past 20+ years of dming the same world. the first is the western realms of Merceddia http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/terrainmonkey/drakold2a.jpg This is the Eastern Realms http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/terrainmonkey/drakold4.jpg and this is both put together. http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/terrainmonkey/drakkengardall.jpg
77IM 10-03-06, 11:58 PM	I do love maps. I don't know why, I just like them. Some of the maps posted here are beautiful, too. I also like reading the names of places on the maps. It's very inspirational and makes you wonder what those places are like. Anyway here's mine. It's a humble design done in Paint. I realize now that I should probably spruce it up a bit. ;) -- 77IM http://www.wjs3.com/tMtH/tMtH_map.gif
Dr.Digesta 10-05-06, 02:32 AM	Nice work, I hope my post did not interupt the community
elondir 10-05-06, 08:53 AM	That's part of the one I made for my campaign world. Keep in mind that that's only one eighty-first of the entire thing. That's the very center piece. The entire map is 6 ft. 4.5 in. by 8 ft. 3 in., and that only covers a portion of the southern hemisphere. If enough people want to see more, I may go to the trouble of scanning in the entire thing. I'd love to see the whole thing!
obrysii 10-06-06, 01:15 PM	Here's something quick I threw together in Paint on my laptop with the mousepad. I'll go home, where I have PSP (and a mouse...and layers. My kingdom for layers!) to actually do a decent job with it. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/obrysii/map2.jpg
imake13 10-06-06, 08:19 PM	these maps are absolutely beautiful... I wish I had more talent in the area, it would really help my campaign come to life. two things: firstly, are their any tutorials for making maps in photoshop or illustrator? secondly, for those who can't afford PS, there is an opensource program called GIMP, and there is a version of GIMP with a photoshop skin so it almost exactly the same.
terrainmonkey 10-07-06, 12:15 AM	okay, here's how i did it. the main landscape was a hand drawn map scanned as a high res jpg image. this was then imported into the map as a black and white picture. i actually scanned the original by about 1.5 times it's original size and then shrunk it to fit so the resolution would be better on the map. Then i just chose a color pallet for everything. i drew polygons around varous areas, art effects, and lines, then painted everything the color i wanted. when this was done all of the colors were changed to bitmaps and then blurred to a 50 pixel resolution. this still made the areas a little thick and obscured the mountains, hills, and darker areas on the map. then it was a simple matter of making everything transparent, in a uniform 20% lens transparency. this made the colors a bit pastel like, and actually came out sort of the way i wanted. the seas were actually done the same way. i used a blue line around the coastline, blurred and transparencied, and then added the darker blue to the exterior parts and did the same thing. when i got the technique down, it only took a few minutes with each layer to do. basically that's how it's done. layers. every color is on a separate layer, which i have labelled by it's corresponding terrain feature, such as Mountains, Forests, Swamps, etc. then, it was a simple matter of putting in the roads and towns. then naming everything. on some of the text you can see that it is slightly floating above the terrain feature it is listed as. this is simply a matter of doing the following. type your word, choose the font and style, etc. season for looks. then copy/paste it. at this point you should have 2 of the same text. then, change the bottom one into a bitmap and gaussian blur it by 2 pixels. This will make it look like the same words only a little shadowed. then move it to a point where it looks like it is floating just underneath the main word. look at the example following. http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f127/terrainmonkey/exampletext.jpg the roads are just simple lines. the towns are just one dot copied multiple times. the squares represent walled towns or keeps, and then the dots with stars are all centers of government, major cities, capitals, etc. anyone wants information about this world, let me know. thanks for the feedback. also, yes, the two do go together. the mountains in the center, called the Easternedge mountains were called that because up until that point they were the eastern edge of the empire of Patagonia during the founding of that nation after the War of Tribes.
imake13 10-10-06, 11:50 PM	ok, here is my first attempt at a map for my world Talis: http://www.johnhoey.org/talis.jpg This has been scaled down to 4.5% of the original... so you can imagine how large it is.
tryco 11-22-06, 09:03 AM	:bump: this is a great thread and should not be lost.
Hengwrt Ellesmere 02-28-07, 03:57 PM	Agreed.
tryco 02-28-07, 05:41 PM	Agreed. wow, it has been a long time since i posted the bump. thanks for bumping it again.
Cornell_Magunatis 02-28-07, 08:09 PM	All those maps are awsome! I don't have my scanner running right now but I have maps here (freewebs.com/redlockstudy/)check them out if youo will and tell me what you think. That link goes to my website that I created as a resource to DMs, I am currently trying to get more campaign settings on there. While you're there tell me what you think by posting in the forums! And I agree, this thread should not be lost, these maps are inspiring!
Althius 03-01-07, 06:22 PM	It occurs to me that even though I had posted in this thread, I never put up a map of what I eventually came up with. Keep in mind, I have ZERO artistic ability... my goal was to make a map that looked good, but didn't require any skill at drawing. http://www.randrcreative.com/work/misc/decentmaps.jpg (I cheated on the mountains and hills...)
Aliquid 03-01-07, 06:57 PM	It occurs to me that even though I had posted in this thread, I never put up a map of what I eventually came up with. Keep in mind, I have ZERO artistic ability... my goal was to make a map that looked good, but didn't require any skill at drawing. (I cheated on the mountains and hills...)Hey cool, that's stylistically very similar to mine (post 14). How did you cheat? I drew a few mountains and then copy-pasted the heck out of them. Same with the trees etc.
Cryforge 03-01-07, 07:12 PM	This is a map I've just drawn now, for a d20 Past Age of Adventure campaign. It's a fictional group of Carribean islands, 'Las Islas Olvidadas' or the Forgotten Islands. http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/6012/mapadelasislashm9.jpg It's going to be a magical, fantastical place to adventure, very much in the style of Pirates of the Carribean; the island names I got from an English-to-Spanish translator to give me names such as 'Isle of the Wolf', 'Island of Blood', 'Isle of the Damned' and so on. Darn, I was about to translate the island names, but I just noticed that you already did it with the map. Cool naming conventions. They sound cool in Spanish, especially la Isla de Maldecido.
Althius 03-01-07, 07:34 PM	How did you cheat? I drew a few mountains and then copy-pasted the heck out of them. Same with the trees etc. I found a Online Copy of the map from LOTR and traced individual mountains and hills using a paint program, then copied and pasted them over to mine. And yes, I was in part inspired by your map.
Aliquid 03-02-07, 12:41 AM	I found a Online Copy of the map from LOTR and traced individual mountains and hills using a paint program, then copied and pasted them over to mine. And yes, I was in part inspired by your map.Actually I thought it was coincidence (it's nice to see that my map could provide some inspiration). I used a lot of classic styles from old maps. I was mostly inspired from a calendar I bought one year full of antique maps.
Pazas 03-02-07, 03:54 PM	I was bored so I played around in Photoshop and came up with this. At 300 DPI takes a long time to load, so be patient. It is entirely Photoshop generated, and is more deigned for use as an in campaign map than a player map. It could be tweaked to be a bit more readble for that purpose though it would look less realistic. Note: This version could use some touching up, like brushed in fading of a varying degree, and general aging, but I will do that when I have time. http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/117/mapgn6.png
Cpt. Reed 03-02-07, 07:14 PM	Wow there is some good stuff here, makes me regret not clicking here before now. I mean there are some really good maps here... well it also helps when you are listening to really dramatic war music... :D
ZionI 03-02-07, 10:11 PM	Pretty sweet maps. I was literally in shock when I saw the full scale of the first map, because that thing is huge!!!!!:eek: I had tried at one point to do the gigantic map making, and had written a whole assotrment of names before I started so that when I came across something I needed a name for I could use one that was there (the trick to naming things I have is mix and match previously used names....a few letters from one at the end of a separate one and so forth). I had started by making a whole world, roughly, on one sheet of paper.....every continent there might be. Then I had taken other sheets and used them to section the world so that I could work on one continent, kingdom by kingdom, making different nations as I go. I taped all of these to my wall, which was huge, and started going at it. I had a total of 7 continents to work out, and got about 4 done when I had to move and didn't have time to gather my drawings. I had a plan that after I was done I was going to make a massive history for the world, and then run a campaign in it so that I could have a long running campaign in a world that changed constantly no matter where yuo would want to go. Even if you weren't in that part of the world the kingdoms would change, even drastically with war, if I felt that it would make a great story later on. With that all said, I realized very quickly that it was way too bog an undertaking for me alone, so I haven't tried to do it again. I am, however, making a new campaign right now and starting with one city.......from there, I think that I will try to write a book based on the adventures of these players as they go, just by making some notes as to how the fights go down. I hope it will be good, but you never know.
Pazas 03-02-07, 10:48 PM	As an Aspiring Author (I say aspiring because I have not yet published a novel though I have written two that I did not see fit to send out and have published several short stories) I must say that while it is great that you would like to write a book, doing based solely on battles is probably not the way to go. It lends it's self to flat and 2 dimensional characters, who exist for nothing more than the fights, which tends not to be an interesting read. If you developed the storyline significantly on it's own with heavy fight scene influence that would be more likely to work in your favor. I don't know you (or your writing skill) personally, so I can't say for sure, and I don't mean to stereotype but the problem of basing the story off of purely fighting notes, is that most authors find it to hard to deviate from that - Just fighting. It can be done, it's just an extraordinarily difficult task, one which very experienced and talented world class authors often struggle with. (Not necessarily Role Playing Fighting, but the task of deviating from your base influence in general, which is why most authors spend almost as much time developing the base as the novel. (there are exceptions such as certain authors or attack books, but they're rare)) In fact the whole idea of basing it from role playing at all, (which isn't exactly known for its superior quality of writing) is often looked down upon in writing communities. Personally I believe that is rubbish, and that if done correctly it can turn out brilliant, though I do agree that most role playing has average to mediocre writing. (But then so do most books, very few actually make the big time.) (When I say role playing I refer to the dice game, (ie: D&D) (Most of them) or even the role play forum (most of them) and not when role play is used as a character or plot development tool. Just some friendly advice, hope you meet success.
ZionI 03-02-07, 11:17 PM	Basically, when I do finally get some gameplay into the adventure, I intend to have the fight sequences be a bit of flair, not the vast majority of the book. Some fights will be left in (mainly if they further the development of the books story), and some will be left as a memory for the players. Not every battle should be written about in length anyway. Also, to have a good game of D&D, you need to have a good portion of roleplaying, or all you're doing, in essence, is fighting a series of monsters or people with no actual connection to anything (unless you like that style of play). All you really want is to amass gold, power, and a slew of weapons and armor you can use whenever you feel. Thankfully, my players are really into roleplaying, and I let them know that I am going to be keeping a record of the sessions for a book I'm trying to write. They were quite pleased.
Pazas 03-03-07, 10:25 AM	I just realized we hijacked the thread, so I apologize and say we get back to maps. I will post one when it is ready.
tryco 03-26-07, 01:18 PM	just :bump:-ing this thread. hoping for more people to give their great maps.
Archon of Light 03-26-07, 03:30 PM	I've been holding on to this one for years, now. As you can see, there's no details aside from the physical terrain itself. I'll grant permission to anyone who wants to utilize it for their own PERSONAL use. Knock yourselves out. http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p133/Louminator/World02.jpg
Sir Loin of Beef 03-26-07, 06:10 PM	Now you can't always tell from scanned documents but it looks like you hand colored this map with crayon. It looks great! I really like your use of color and everything seems spaced very well. Kudos on the effort!
Aliquid 03-26-07, 06:58 PM	Now you can't always tell from scanned documents but it looks like you hand colored this map with crayon. It looks great! I really like your use of color and everything seems spaced very well. Kudos on the effort!I agree And it works quite well geographically speaking. Coastline, rivers, forests, deserts, etc all make sense. Quite often maps with that level of detail have terrain that are logically impossible (of course magic can always explain such things :) ) I can see one little thing that might break some rules of geography... but I could be wrong depending on what's going on at the ground level. The rivers on the South East island don't work under normal geographical rules
Archon of Light 03-27-07, 01:22 AM	Now you can't always tell from scanned documents but it looks like you hand colored this map with crayon. It looks great! I really like your use of color and everything seems spaced very well. Kudos on the effort! Thanks. It was done with colored pencils, scanned, and then edited a little with Photoshop to make the colors more solid.
Archon of Light 03-27-07, 01:33 AM	I agree And it works quite well geographically speaking. Coastline, rivers, forests, deserts, etc all make sense. Quite often maps with that level of detail have terrain that are logically impossible (of course magic can always explain such things :) ) I can see one little thing that might break some rules of geography... but I could be wrong depending on what's going on at the ground level. The rivers on the South East island don't work under normal geographical rules I think it took me a good two years on and off with practice drawings to get it to this point. The final product was a culmination of ideas, sketches, rough drafts, research, and everything else to come up with the 'perfect' map that I wanted. The rivers you pointed out... I'll assume you're referring to the ones on the lower (souther) part of the island... they flow down from the mountain towards the west after the lake in the forest. It then forks north and joins another river coming out of the forest and into the gulf. It may seem unnatural, but it's only uncommon at best. There's no reason why a river couldn't split and then merge with another river somewhere else (I don't think). And there's always the possibility of man-made ingenuity or necessity changing the course or creating an artificial river for their own needs. Hope that makes a little more sense (and feasibility) for you. Incidentally, in case it needs to be said, the rivers shown are just major ones visible at this scale. There's probably hundreds of minor tributaries and smaller streams and lakes you can add as needed.
Aliquid 03-27-07, 02:04 AM	I think it took me a good two years on and off with practice drawings to get it to this point. The final product was a culmination of ideas, sketches, rough drafts, research, and everything else to come up with the 'perfect' map that I wanted.Well your hard work certainly paid off! The rivers you pointed out... I'll assume you're referring to the ones on the lower (souther) part of the island... they flow down from the mountain towards the west after the lake in the forest. It then forks north and joins another river coming out of the forest and into the gulf. It may seem unnatural, but it's only uncommon at best. There's no reason why a river couldn't split and then merge with another river somewhere else (I don't think).True there is no reason why it can't. Now that I have a better idea of the flow, I can see what is happening. It is quite uncommon for a river to fork out and split unless it is in a very flat area, typically marsh or delta terrain. A fast moving river usually resists forking, and a slow moving river will meander all over the place (slow moving rivers happen on flat terrains due to the lack of gravity acting on the water) And there's always the possibility of man-made ingenuity or necessity changing the course or creating an artificial river for their own needs.Absolutely. Splitting things off for the purpose of irrigation or creating shipping routes is always a possibility. Incidentally, in case it needs to be said, the rivers shown are just major ones visible at this scale. There's probably hundreds of minor tributaries and smaller streams and lakes you can add as needed.yes of course. Really it was a minor quibble I had with the map, and it was something that could be explained naturally or due to human influence.
EffigyOfFaith 03-27-07, 02:35 PM	I saw this thread and had some downtime at work so i thought I'd post this map I've been working on. I've just been working on physical so far, but I think I'm about ready to start the political layer. http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w317/EffigyOfFaith/map1.gif
Elemental_Elf 03-27-07, 07:54 PM	I saw this thread and had some downtime at work so i thought I'd post this map I've been working on. I've just been working on physical so far, but I think I'm about ready to start the political layer. Question, how did you make your map? More specifically how did you make the Mountains appear to be 3D-ish?
EffigyOfFaith 03-27-07, 09:48 PM	I used the airbrush tool in photoshop. I used a separate layer for the terrain. I filled the entire land in gray and shaded light gray on the north-western side of the mountain range and dark gray on the south-eastern side.
Elemental_Elf 03-27-07, 10:06 PM	I used the airbrush tool in photoshop. I used a separate layer for the terrain. I filled the entire land in gray and shaded light gray on the north-western side of the mountain range and dark gray on the south-eastern side. :bow: Wow, thanks! I really like your map, I can't wait to see it with the Political layer added! :D
E_Vernon 03-28-07, 01:37 AM	http://roleplaymarket.com/topicimages/12939.png (http://roleplaymarket.com/gamehome.aspx?gameID=228)
EffigyOfFaith 03-28-07, 01:15 PM	Thanks Elemental_Elf for your kind words. And to reward flattery... http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w317/EffigyOfFaith/Ardanpolitical.gif
Elemental_Elf 04-01-07, 04:52 PM	Ooo! I love it! :D Hey, EffigyOfFaith, do you have a link to your world? I'm interested in reading about it! Thanks.
Araes 04-27-07, 04:27 PM	Here's a map that I made for yellowdingo's interesting icosahedron world concept. Its a triangle because any contributor's map has to fit onto one face of the die. When you look at the city's and trade route layer, one thing you'll note is that there are quite a few metropoli (25k+). A lot of that has to do with the fact that each of the triangles is 4000 miles to a side, and we've agreed we're starting at more of a colonialization era, so some urbanization has come about. The reason that the mountain kingdoms are so congested is that they are arrayed in 3D space within the earth, not just flat, so there's more room to work with. Anyhow, maps. First up, the general terrain of this section of the world. The red line is the plate fault line. http://araesmojo.googlepages.com/WorldMapSection19_Araes.jpg After that, we have the various countries of the section, color coded for ease of reference. http://araesmojo.googlepages.com/WorldMapSection19_Araes_Countries.jpg And finally, we have the cities and trade routes for this section of the world. http://araesmojo.googlepages.com/WorldMapSection19_Araes_Cities.jpg Anyhow, feel free to join us and add a side to the icosahedron, as we've only got 3 so far and could use some more.
SovietCanuck 04-28-07, 04:42 PM	I am at awe at all the amazing work done here in this thread. Keep up the great work guys! Here's my humble contribution to the thread, a recently completed map of the nation of Newumberland http://i19.tinypic.com/29xaiy0.gif
Aliquid 07-31-07, 07:34 PM	This hasn't had a bump in a while, so.... :bump:
77IM 09-13-07, 12:08 PM	Largely inspired by the great work on this thread, I've created a better version of my map (although it is not quite done yet). It's so gigantic I have to provide a link rather than an embedded image: http://www.wjs3.com/tMtH/mapLarge.png -- 77IM