[WIP] Daxtera - World Map

[Dumont]

Starting work on a world map for my D&D game, for which I previously posted a city map WIP in another thread.

Software: I'm normally an Adobe guy but I wanted to try the GIMP/Wilbur tutorial that's so popular here. Ran into a few issues with Wilbur getting it to do what I wanted (particularly with river creation) so I ended up taking what I had so far and pulling it into Photosohp and just started messing with layers, blending, colors, etc. - I would actually have a hard time telling you how I got the map to this point in a step by step manner.

I will say though that for the outline creation, I was able to make some improvements on the Hard mix process in Photoshop that's not as destructive and allows for a really easy time getting everything exactly how you want it.

Current nitpicks of my own:
- River placement isn't very realistic (some of this I painted myself into a corner with past storyline decisions, oh well)
- Not happy with the land colors yet
- I want to add forests to the map but the scale is going to make it look bizarre, most likely
- This doesn't feel like enough mountain ranges

Anyways, C&C is appreciated, and I'll be posting more as I finish up the geography and begin labeling. Native res is 2800x2800, I'll post a full size version once I've reached the finished product.

(Update: it's done! I posted the finished map here.)




UPDATE 2: I'm doing more work on this for a new purpose. Latest WIP:

Attachment 109009

[Dumont]

Okay, so here's a small section to show off updates:

- Doubled the resolution because the density of information that I wanted to put on the map was quickly going to be impossible.
- Using yet another tutorial from the forums to add trees
- First attempt at poking around at a labeling style.

[loottheroom]

I've just been wrestling with labelling myself - what a pain! At this stage I really like what you've done. They're nice and clear, and they're not getting lost against the background. It'll be interesting to see how much you have to fiddle with them once you start populating the map a little more, but this looks really good so far.

[Vaxfiend]

Great job on the map, quick question - how do you generate land forms like that? That is, the elevation and bumpiness? Is that a GIMP editor trick or Photoshop? I'm well versed in PS but haven't even downloaded the GIMP program.

[Dumont]

I alluded to it in the initial post, but this ended up being a VERY haphazard process, taking bits and pieces from a number of different tutorials and jumping around trying to get to this point. When I get some time I think I'm going to start from scratch and try and write out a streamlined process. If I remember correctly, this map started in Photoshop to get the outline, went into GIMP, then Wilbur, and then back to Photoshop.

[Dumont]

Another quick WIP update -- the mountains in the center of the map look like a giant plateau and that's no good, so I'm trying to work more mountain range features into them. Also have some updates to the forests in this image as well.

[Dumont]

More updates! Lots more foliage, lots more mountains. One corner of the world covered in mist for Curse of Strahd-related hijinks.

It's not seen here, but I'm starting to do some major work on laying out the different regions/kingdoms and figuring out where the points of tension are, and using that to have a better understanding of accessible routes for transportation.

[Dumont]

So, here's a non-traditional update of sorts:

I'm very torn about the current state of this map. The process I chose to use in creating it has resulted in a lot of aspects about it that I'm really happy with (including many that I didn't think I was skilled enough at first to achieve), and I've learned a *lot* while getting this far with it. However, that same process left a lot to be desired.

If you compare my last WIP image with my original post, you can see that I'm trying to add a lot of additional geography to the continent, especially mountain ranges. The GIMP/Wilbur method for generating geography, however, is incredibly unforgiving when it comes to wanting to go back and make changes to the height map. This is compounded by how my layers are constructed in Photoshop - if I were to want to go to the trouble of doing those edits, I would need to carry those changes through to a lot of aspects of the map, and I would be committing to a giant time sink.

The shortcuts I'm attempting to get around this issue are resulting in a lot of features that just look wrong. There's no way for me to wriggle out of that fact - the mountains I've added after the fact look out of place, unrealistic, and to be frank, pretty silly. It's combination of coloring, texture, and the fact that I'm still learning about what makes for geography that passes the sniff test.

I'm now sitting here giving serious weight to the idea of starting over in a more hand-drawn style of map, but this is something with which I have even less skill and expertise.

Some knowledgeable C&C on this would be really helpful.

[Mouse]

I would say that you have a nice looking map in the making, and that I don't really think a world is generally built in less than a month around here - not even by the experts

Most maps require at least a small amount of reworking, especially if it is the first time the mapper has ever tried using or developing this or that particular style.

Perhaps have a play with a second map and take a short break from this one, but don't abandon it altogether. That would be a terrible shame, and a far greater waste of time than working out the problems and putting them right.

[Dumont]

Okay, took the rest of the day off from the map, worked on other stuff, and then took some time to research other processes mentioned on the forum.

Saw a mention by Daelin of using reference from the Shaded Relief Archive for mountains, and decided to give it a go. I'm already much happier with this approach.

Here's a small section preview: