First Map - Island for upcoming D&D Campaign

[ajrittler]

Greetings all! I've been lurking a bit over the past few months...some great stuff! I've been reading some tutorials and have taken my first stab at a map! This is very much a work in progress...I can't say I'm overly happy with it but it is a first go!

I have a few different versions - I'll post them (hopefully in order). I'm not sure that I'm a big fan of the textured terrain

I'm using Photoshop along with the following very useful tutorials to muddle my way through!

Making Maps with Photoshop by Jezelf
Creating Mountains and Other Terrains in Photoshop v1.5 tutorial by Pasis

Any feedback/advice/pointers will be greatly appreciated! This is something I'll continue to make revisions on just to learn! Thanks again for the tutorials and thanks for looking!

ChickPea has given me some already! (thanks)
https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ad.php?t=34754

[ajrittler]

Took a step back tonight. Added a few more islands and atoll to the base background. Tried to clean up the rivers, needs another pass or two. Have to erase more of the coastlines at the mouths of the rivers.

I'm not sure I like the Outter Glow waves in the one version. The second version uses the Bas Relief method for contour/waves but that lightened the blue sea up a bit too much for my liking.

[Devilin]

I think you might have overnamed things a bit. Every single nook and cranny just about looks like it got a name. At least on the north side of the island which is wierd as thats the side without any settlements. And I think you should throw in a lot of ponds and small lakes especially around the swamp area. Some better color contrast would help as well I think as the glades and the forest aren't all that distinct. The saw tooth river looks upside down. The river should be branching as it flows outwards instead of how you have it. I think the hammerhead river should poke through the forest a bit so we can track it a bit. The river of the damned also looks backwards. And a hilly area between the mountain west of the eye and the Dread Mountains would make a lot of sense.

[ajrittler]

I think you might have overnamed things a bit. Every single nook and cranny just about looks like it got a name. At least on the north side of the island which is wierd as thats the side without any settlements. And I think you should throw in a lot of ponds and small lakes especially around the swamp area. Some better color contrast would help as well I think as the glades and the forest aren't all that distinct. The saw tooth river looks upside down. The river should be branching as it flows outwards instead of how you have it. I think the hammerhead river should poke through the forest a bit so we can track it a bit. The river of the damned also looks backwards. And a hilly area between the mountain west of the eye and the Dread Mountains would make a lot of sense.

thanks for the feedback Devilin. Yeah it is a bit over labeled, somewhat intentional but it does make it cluttered. Funny you should mention the ponds and lakes. I'm planning on doing just that when I sit down to clean up the rivers some more. I don't have the rivers branching in the wrong direction - they run down the mountains and out to the sea/bays.

As far as the terrain I don't mind the mountains - the jungle/forest doesn't break well with the swamplands. Just kind of a dark mess! Was hoping to have time today fork on it, but time got away from me! 😀

[ajrittler]

Well, had just enough time today to clean up the rivers a bit, added a few new ones and added a couple of small lakes and ponds. I'm posting two pics - one with a dark brown coastline on the inner lakes/ponds/rivers and one without. I'm not sure which I prefer.

Would appreciate any feedback on the thread since I'm a total noob here!

Thanks for looking!

[Neyjour]

Welcome to the Guild ajrittler.

I actually like all the labels. Yes, it does seem a bit cluttered, but all the locations makes it very interesting as well. I actually spent quite a bit of time reading them all. What you might want to try is using different fonts and a greater difference in font size for the various types of locations. That would look even better (IMO) and also might help to lessen the cluttered feel.

I'm not really sure about the coastlines/lakes/rivers in your comparison posts. The dark line looks a bit too... harsh, but having no lines at all for the rivers/lakes also doesn't look right either. But what really doesn't look right (to my eye) is that it's not consistent (lines on just the coast, or just the coast and lakes). That break between a dark line and then nothing is kind of jarring. Maybe try using a lighter colour (or lower the opacity) and have the lines run all the way up the rivers and into the lakes? But also, I think the darkness/colour of the lines will also depend on how you're going to texture/colour it all. For example, if it's going to be textured/coloured like you have in your initial post (the 3rd one), then the dark lines look fine (but slightly jagged/pixelated - you could try applying a very tiny blur to them to soften the effect).

[ajrittler]

Thanks for the feedback Neyjour! I finally had a chance to put some more time into this. I'm not sure if I'm happy with it or just hate it less. For some reason the realistic/texture look just doesn't do it for me. I've re-drawn/cleaned up the rivers again. I opted for a less harsh coastline color and dropped the opacity. I think it works? I have decided that the font sizes need to drop as suggested and/or remove some all together. Less is best, right? The mountains need some more work, but look ok I guess. One thing I'm still not sure what to do about the water. It's got the shallower/blurred area around the coasts, but it needs more and I don't know if I like the "outer glow" technique I previously used.

Any ideas? Anyone want to chime in with more thoughts/pointers/feedback? Again all would be greatly appreciated!

[ajrittler]

A bit more work on it. Still not happy, but I do think it's probably the best version yet. I brightened up the jungle so it's too dark - I may lighten it up a bit again.

Still coming up empty on how to handle the sea. Just haven't come with anything I like yet. Still looking for feedback and pointers from any willing to take the time to offer it!

[ajrittler]

Made some more changes. Added a compass rose. Lightened the terrain. Clouds to give the sea some depth. I've added the outer glow back to the coastline. I may remove it again becasue it's showing up in the rivers. Still not happy so I'll keep at it!

[Josiah VE]

Very nice! Has a great dark feeling, though maybe the terrain is a little too dark compared to the sea. Is it a pirate island or something like that? That's the vibe I'm getting from the names and the islands.
I think you should try and work on the sea a bit more, in my opinion a map like this could use a nice sea to really make it pop. Not sure exactly what, maybe some weathering? I think it would be cool to see the whole thing on an old weathered paper sort of texture.

Anyway, nice job so far.