Themystra a late WIP

[ThomasR]

Gorgeous map Tom!
I really like the right side, that forest is awesome.
The "canopy" you added enhance the forests.
And off course, still a big fan of your colors!

Merci beaucoup fol2dol I agree with you, that bulky ominous forests keeps telling me "hey, let's come in, I'll show you my collection of roman legionnaries impaled on the branches of my biggest trees". threatening as hell ! The canopy did really anchor the forests, I hesitated but that was needed.

What about doing an oh-so-subtle inside stroke on the rivers? I mean like one pixel, and turn the opacity down to like 10 or 20%. That way you could keep the color you like (which does look nice), but still make the rivers pop a little.

Hey D, that's pretty interesting. Could you precise a few ideas, please ?
1- The stroke you're talking about, what color ? Black ? White ? Another color ?
2- Do you mean on a separate layer with a special blending mode ?
3- Perhaps use the same color I used for the first shadow (long process but worth a shot) ?

I'll try and figure out for myself but knowing what you had in mind would really be great

[Ilanthar]

Hey, yes, Diamond had a very good idea, I think!
I would use a black 1px line on the shadow side, maybe a white 1px on the light side of the river. By playing with opacity/effect (luminance ou multiply), that could work. I've done this on my old Janantara Elubor v1 map (if I recall well).

[Diamond]

I'll try to do a test and/or explain in better detail what I mean tonight when I get home from work (assuming I remember... getting old... brain not what it used to be... )

[ThomasR]

Thanks to both of you, I'll run some tests too

[ThomasR]

Ok, the client has sent the labels list : 16 mountains, 5 seas, 5 lakes, 27 forests, a handful of cities and a couple rivers ... I've decided to let go with the rivers subtle shading

All the labels did not make it to the finish line.



That's very, very packed but I feel I managed to make it look acceptable. I tried to keep a consistent placing for the cities of each race but had to move many to fit the others labels. I used a set of icons for each race as well as a dedicated font. I'd really love to hear any thoughts about color, glow, legibility and such here.

Next steps will be the title (that's gonna be smaller...), the scale and the tarnishing of the map. About that last part, any advice on the style of the title so that it looks natural with the tarnishing ?

PS: the zoomed map will appear at print size (the original fil is meant to be printed at A3 format)

[jbgibson]

I like that (among all the other awesomeness) your forests extend up into the mountain range valleys. So many styles result in mountain OR forest, not a mix. This is beautiful work!

[Bogie]

Great map
..

[RazielKilsenhoek]

This looks incredible. I think I commented on a previous map you did that I love the way you can see how the rivers flow through the forests, just by looking at the top of the trees. I also agree with jbgibson. The way some of the smaller mountains seem to be drowning in trees just adds to how dense and thick those forests look and feel. Looks amazing.

Now, you asked for feedback on the labels. I'm hesitant to give it because I couldn't possibly make something that looks like this, but still. I think all the fonts look great. The forest labels are very legible, as are the labels in the bodies of water. There are only two things that catch my eye that I think are worth mentioning.

The mountain labels are difficult to read for me. Same goes for the names of the coastal cities (the black-ish ones that sit on top of the water). Now I'm no expert, but the more I look at it, the more I think it might be because there's quite a bit of detail directly behind the text, and then there's a 1 or 2 pixel outline to ease my eyes into the actual letters. What I usually do for that (again, no expert), is to use a stroke and an outer glow of the same color. I'd keep the stroke the same as what you have now, but add an outer glow to ease the transition between detailed map and solid lettering. Hope that's useful for you.

[Sobacodaw]

Amazing job

[ThomasR]

I like that (among all the other awesomeness) your forests extend up into the mountain range valleys. So many styles result in mountain OR forest, not a mix. This is beautiful work!

Thanks The mountains seemed unnatural without the added forest patches, I had to anchor them.

Great map
..

Thanks Bogie

This looks incredible. I think I commented on a previous map you did that I love the way you can see how the rivers flow through the forests, just by looking at the top of the trees. I also agree with jbgibson. The way some of the smaller mountains seem to be drowning in trees just adds to how dense and thick those forests look and feel. Looks amazing.

Now, you asked for feedback on the labels. I'm hesitant to give it because I couldn't possibly make something that looks like this, but still. I think all the fonts look great. The forest labels are very legible, as are the labels in the bodies of water. There are only two things that catch my eye that I think are worth mentioning.

The mountain labels are difficult to read for me. Same goes for the names of the coastal cities (the black-ish ones that sit on top of the water). Now I'm no expert, but the more I look at it, the more I think it might be because there's quite a bit of detail directly behind the text, and then there's a 1 or 2 pixel outline to ease my eyes into the actual letters. What I usually do for that (again, no expert), is to use a stroke and an outer glow of the same color. I'd keep the stroke the same as what you have now, but add an outer glow to ease the transition between detailed map and solid lettering. Hope that's useful for you.

Wow ! Thanks for the extended review, that's much appreciated

First, I wanted that overwhelming feeling for the forests (what's teh point of fantasy if your forests aren't threatening).

About the labels. I do have a problem with the mountains but the more I look at them, the more I think it's a color problem. Preently, I use an outer glow but I might change it's profil for something more gaussian. I tried adding an outer stroke but it doesn't work well on such tiny labels (unless you make a light color label with a darker outline and that'll clash with the final look I want). I'll explore it a bit more and thanks for the idea. for hte coastal towns, I'll certainly add some outer glow to make them pop a bit more. Your comment has been super useful, thanks

Amazing job

Thanks Sobacodaw