Beyond (WiP)

[Anna Robinson]

So I (think) have a great story and a great setting and up until now I have had my world completely in my head.

So I have decided to start to put together a few different kind of maps, to help with plotting and stuff (although most of it is only in one city)

I've started with a satellite style. A problem I have is that most of my map is actually really, really, really empty.

It's set in a fictional place, loosely an amalgam of the Nile and the Okavango, and it has a massive flood every year. When i sort my final map out I am going to have to draw two to show the eventual flooded area.

Looking for great examples of largely desert maps if you know any, also any advice on how i can improve this version, but also tips for making future maps and styles



The white is Salt Pans, and right of that are massive salt marshes

[Anna Robinson]

So this is how the above pic fits into my big world jigsaw. Probably bit off more than i can chew here, but a lot of fun

[jshoer]

Those look like interesting textures to play around with.

If you're going for a satellite style, honestly, my best advice to find things to put in a desert is to fire up Google maps. Pan around the Sahara desert, Saudi Arabia, the Australian Outback, the Gobi, and the southwestern US. You'll find a huge variety of textures to draw from.

[Lingon]

Cool setting, great idea to map the flooded and not flooded areas. The best way to deal with emptiness is often, in my opinion, to crop the map. You can also hide an empty area with a large cartouche or illustration, though one has to be careful so it doesn't distract from the map.

[Anna Robinson]

So this is the current satellite map with a few more textures. I think this will end up being just for my benefit only when its done, and hopefully i can learn how to draw it as a fantasy style representation

[Anna Robinson]

So, I have been tryign to learn illustrator and see what i can do with it. All thoughts welcom eon how i can improve it, and where i can go from here with it. Really not much experience with illustrator

[Charerg]

Just popping in to say that I really like the concept!

If you want to go for satellite style, one option to do the textures would be to take pieces of real satellite images and blend them together (I think there's a tutorial for it somewhere on this site). Also, if there are vast deserts I don't think it's a flaw if they're empty. You'd kind of expect a desert to be largely empty, after all.