Duck island, suggestions wellcome (RPG map)

[Mikael Lidberg]

I have made a map for my lokal RPG campaign. It is an small island in northern colder waters.

I have based the map on an exising one from an adventure.

The inhabitants of the island resides all in the village named Garmstad (Named by one of the players, Garm Trollslayer - A halfling hunter).

I would like some input about how I can refine the map. Im a newbie at mapping so pleace be gentle

[AaronSchmidt]

It is looking great. The textures really bring the image to life. The values seem pretty well balanced between the white highlights on the dark sea and the lighter greener island.

I would change only one thing. I suggest taking out the curved effect on the words. It makes sense on few of the locations like the trubutary but not on every line of text.

Overall super awesome.

BTW with the dark seas and the white lines are you suggesting that this island's inhabitants have a hard leaving due to the rough dangerous seas?

[Mikael Lidberg]

Thanxs for your kind reply.

I thought that the curved effect would look snazzy, no other reason behind it. I will have to play with the text some more I guess..

It was little my intent to make it look like dangerous reefs and a deep cold sea sorounds the island.

[AaronSchmidt]

Perhaps do a quick test and make the color of the water a bit more green? Might make the water look like it is warmer? the current grey blue feels cold. I like it personally.

[Mikael Lidberg]

I tried to make the water more green and it did give the water a warmer feel, almost tropical.

[GrimFinger]

The curved text, itself, isn't the problem, I think. Perhaps your penchant for resorting to it in excess is. Or, perhaps the curved text could stand to be revisited, in terms of visual contrast of the text compared to the immediate background surrounding the various instances of use of the text. For example, I think that the curved text near the islands at the top and bottom look better than the same fontwork impose over land. The key difference? The white lettering stands out better (enjoys a greater degree of sharper visual - and hence, more easily discernible - contrast) against the dark bluish water, than it does when displayed atop the browns and greens of the large land mass.

This island is in the North, you said. Northern colder waters. Duck Island. Yet, there's nary a duck to be found, visually speaking. No duck in a key. No ducks in the border. No ducks upon the waters (instead of dragons). Duck Island, thus, is duck-less, it seems.

What is your theme for this map? Ducks? Cold? Garm is a halfling hunter, yet no depictions nor indications of game or halflings, either one. Halflings are an exotic flavor to add to a map. Yet, you are unilaterally declaring that Garm is a halfling hunter. You could mount some halfling heads like trophys hanging on a hunting lodge wall somewhere on the map, I suppose, to create a large strain of visual interest to draw the eye to and to entice the imagination with.

Your map is both a canvas and a stage. Here, your map features no stagecraft. You have no map key. You have no boxes featuring highlights or points of interest. Your map, thus, only whispers in a very faint voice to the human imagination. The viewer only knows that it's Duck Island, if they bother to read your text that accompanies your image that you posted. The map, itself, should be the primary vehicle of informing the viewing, not your text in the forum posting.

This map hearkens to a larger world that lies beyond. Yet, your map doesn't speak to any of that. Thus, it is inward looking. Yet, there's very little in the way of inward loking details. A few text labels, here and there, but if you were to remove those, then what does the human eye see? What would it be left with?

The island features no snow-capped mountains, so the island takes on a warmer feel from the tones and colors that you use for the landmass. Yes, the frosty white border effect helps aid your cause for a more northern - and hence, colder - feel but your more subtle use of this tactic yields more visual results, I think, than where you lay it down thicker. It becomes more like fog, in the southwest corner of the map, which imbues it with an air of mystery on those points of the map. The darker the white effect becomes, the more it draws the eye's boat quickly to the rocks of visual disinterest which your penchant and flair for plainness has saddled this map with.

The big island, Duck Island,has very little to offer the eye, in terms of specific objects of visual interest, the multitude of waters near the Ruins of Vinda being a notable exception. For the most part, this island appears to be a dry land. A couple of boring, unnamed rivers, but little else to entice the eye and to awaken the imagination of the viewer with.

[Josiah VE]

Nice map! The added detail to the sea is great, although maybe just a bit to bright?
I agree with Aaron that the curved text isn't all that great, I think normal text would look just fine.
Overall very excellent, the texture is really good. Is this your first map? Great job!

[fullmetalpegasus]

I think this map is really nice. You seem to have a very cool sort of clime going on, something about this island seems foreboding and dead, a place that Doom probably goes to vacation in the Summer.

I think the river delta in the Northwest requires a bit more of a sunken look toward the edges, try varying them up a bit and maybe take a look at the Nyle's end to the sea, it's a very famous floodland. Also, it's difficult to judge the size in this map, I can't tell if this is a continent sized formation or perhaps it's really much smaller with more of a hill in the center. Perhaps if you want that mountain to be large and doom-like, make it larger, eclipse the area around it as it juts from the ocean, or, round it out to show if it's more of a small sized feature.

Although, thinking on it, it could be that the size is difficult to gauge as part of the map itself, where you don't know exactly where you are, even though you have a map.

Cheers,
Brittney