WIP (Looking for advice)

[CredePendrel]

Hey Guild!

Looking for some advice for a new project I am working on...I recently finished this world map (Combination of Gaea, Fractal Terrains 3 & Wilbur to create and erose the landmasses, CC3+ and Photoshop for map making and the final layout)




Next I am looking at detailing the continents individually keeping in the topographic map style (like Nate Mangion's Atlas of Elyden and "Artifexian's Atlas Mapping" https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...evCsaDiFKg9I47).

I have selected the continent of Nosiroth (circled in Red) as the first to be detailed...Right away I am unsure if I should draw the continent as a whole or select an inset area and focus there first?


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I spent some time this morning trying to draw political boundaries but got super discouraged as they looked like random lines and not visually appealing. I am looking for advice on how to split the larger Nosiroth region into smaller political entities so I can figure out how many detailed maps I need. Given the current map where would you draw the borders?

-- edit: I dont know how the attached thumbnail got there....Sorry about that.

[w.gofry]

I did this a while ago, but I chose a base color for most nations, and overlaid a transparent pattern to help differentiate. I made the boarder lines more opaque.

I also tried to show an HRE inspired collection of cities with a similar color scheme.

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[w.gofry]

I realized I jumped the gun and answered a question you didn't ask.

In terms of where to put boundaries, I tend to notice that power projects from the similar climates/environments and are limited by how well one nation can hold power over multiple water sources. Flat lands with the technology to traverse it and limited competition can have very expansive boarders, while rugged terrain with fewer means to traverse it tends to limit the ability to maintain the boundaries.

All of this is also ignoring how financial management can also play a role in the success of nation management.

The easy answer would be to draw the lines along mountains and rivers until you get something aesthetically pleasing, then justify the technologies/resources that allow management of that land.

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[CredePendrel]

Thanks the the response w.gofry!

I did some designing last night and tried to layout some content on the map. You will notice that I ignored creating any actual boundaries for the time being lol.




I also started a detailed map of the Empire of Eneriar to see how this would look. Its definitely not, the final aesthetic I was after, and not anywhere close to Nates or Artifexian's presentation which now I am unsure If I can obtain or not. These close up contours dont look that detailed...I can try going back to FT to generate more contour lines..

[w.gofry]

Looks great and appears logical for the boundaries so far. I personally like the greater sense of realism you have with the Inset map as it is. Due to the fact that borders were dynamic and allegiances could be given to two seperate rulers when one town lived on the edge, such as the disputed lands in the north of France during the medieval period.

That's my personal take, though I still look forward to seeing the rest of your progress in the style that works for you.

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[CredePendrel]

Thanks! Didn't make a lot of progress today. But I did have a lot of meeting so had some time to plan where I was going to next add content to the world map....

https://drive.google.com/file/d/14Dg...ew?usp=sharing