Ethran: Merelan City

[Mouse]

Merelan started out as a Merlish fishing village that was invaded by the Blucrans about five hundred years ago. The Blucrans discovered what they believed to be the sacred pool in which Rusaar spawned the life of their world near its peak, and they built the temple of Rusaar to protect it from the common hordes. The city grew in size owing to the steady flow of Ruzarian pilgrims, and the defeated Merles were pushed out towards the outskirts and around the harbour, where they continue to fish the surrounding ocean and feed the growing number of hungry mouths. More and more nowadays those mouths are driven to the city by hunger, not faith, since Ethran is in the grip of a deepening drought that seems to have no end.

There is a large fish market on the flats beneath the frowning cliffs on the north side of the island, and everywhere the homes of the people are snuck up against the cliff or borrowed into it for protection from the screamers - toothless pterodactylian predators capable of scooping up the unwary... and swallowing them alive.

This initial sketch shows the extent of the temple grounds on the peak of the island, and the ridges radiating out from that peak. I have also sketched in the names of the regional parts of the city, and marked where the observatory is on the north side of the island's cap.

Since this is the first city I have ever attempted, your advice would be most welcome

These two images are the first and the current versions.

[Mouse]

The sea was putting me off, so I got rid of it. After a hilarious conversation over the pronunciation of "Tomato" on Profantasy Forum between two of my friends there, I changed the name of the southernmost rocks to "Domada". I'm thinking of using the idea to lighten a tense moment by having two of my protagonists argue about the pronunciation of "Domada" in two quick lines right in the middle of it. LOL. Having gotten rid of the sea, I was able to work in the strata that I simply forgot to remember the first time around. This is still very much a scribble. Things could change quite drastically before they settle down. You haven't seen me do anything from scratch like this before

[Mouse]

I think I've got this thing now. A respectable coastline without looking too contrived (I hope) If it feels too top heavy right now I can balance that with heavy detailing of the water at the bottom of the map, and the shapes made by the pattern of the streets will also affect the composition a surprising amount.

This is not to say that the shape won't change after this, but just that its unlikely to go anywhere far from this:

[ladiestorm]

I'm intrigued... I've never seen your process before. Usually you already have a large amount done before you post it.

Right now I'm seeing some interesting g contrasts. Looking forward.to seeing more. :-)

[Mouse]

Thank you Ladiestorm. This stage is what I call the "I dunno" stage. I get to the point where I think its ready to move on and start having some detail added to it, and then I glance at it a few hours later and think - its too square now! (whereas before I was thinking - right, what am I going to do with this particular round blob?)

I'm sure I will have it by the end of the day, though

Never give up. Start again by all means, but never give up.

[Mouse]

This is what I do when I'm not happy with an outline, and I haven't used Fractal Terrains to get myself a decent looking coastline to start with (not that I've made many maps before, but maps are not the only things I've ever made). I'm not sure what really is wrong with the shape, other than its just somehow a bit... "blocky".

Whatever it is that's actually wrong with it, I exported a bitmap of the landmass, then gave it a bit of twist and node warp until it looked about right (or at least a lot better). Since I'm using my own lingo here for things I do in CorelDraw, I've saved 4 versions of the file to show you what I mean, and pasted them in a vertical string so you can scroll down without having to go sideways as well.

You can go too far with this sort of thing, as you will see from the fourth and last image, which looks very obviously like a warped bitmap, rather than a possible land mass.

I have chosen the third variation to take forward. Now there will be a short break of maybe a day, while I import the bitmap back into CC3 and make a more careful and thought out tracing of the land mass.

[Robulous]

Can you change that noxious brown colour? It's rather reminding me of something I saw on the pavement earlier this morning

[Mouse]

Robulous said: "Can you change that noxious brown colour? It's rather reminding me of something I saw on the pavement earlier this morning"

Hey. By coincidence that just happens to be Bogie's Sand texture your negatively reping there! LOL

These are drafts. They could be sky-blue-pink and it wouldn't matter. Its the line around the edge I'm working on right now

[Mouse]

Ok - I've traced the chosen coastline now, and I'm happy to move onto the next sheet up, which will be the ocean to go with that coastline, give or take a few sandy or rocky beaches here and there, and not forgetting the flats - the marshy area that tentatively links the island with the mainland

[Mark Oliva]

Can you change that noxious brown colour? It's rather reminding me of something I saw on the pavement earlier this morning

Man! If that's what's on your pavement, you're in a BAD neighborhood. There are a number of them in London, but elsewhere too. I suppose if I had to look at that stuff in the morning, I might go out of my way to insult people too.