Legend

[Henkmet]

For a game set in Legend (an alt-medieval world), I made a map. This is the corner where the game starts. I made it following bits from tutorials here and there, all in GIMP (village/town icons from ravensbrushes, ruin pilfered from some clipart). I know it has lots of room for improvement so showing it here for feedback. There are no names yet, they will be determined during play.

[waldronate]

It's a good starting point. There seems to be a lot going on for such a relatively small area, but that may well be the intent.
A key that shows what the intent of each symbol is might help with understanding the map. I'm not familiar with that symbol set and don't have a good idea what each one might represent.
The overall map might pop a little more if there was a dark stroke along the coastline to better match the feel of the buildings and roads. Adding a bit of crinkly detail to that stroke would smooth out the smooth and blobby feel of the coastline.
I'm guessing the bright green parts are forest elements; the brightness on them could probably be toned down a bit to make them look somewhat less radioactive.
If you can, a white stroke around the map scale bar and its labels would make them more legible. They are currently black on dark blue, which my old eyes have trouble distinguishing well.

[Henkmet]

Thank you for your comment. I was also a bit startled when I plugged in the scale bar, so I guess the easiest way is to adjust the scale. The blobbiness of the coastline is due to looking at part of the map. I'd love to change it but not quite sure how I would do that at this point. I'll just have to make sure in future that a coastline should look good at any zoom level.

I tried to add the dark outline of the coast and a white halo on the scale. I did fiddle with the brightness of the forest layer, but the radioactivity seems still to be there. I think it's a real improvement though, so thanks again.