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Thread: Making maps

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    Titan in the Playground
     
    Inevitability's Avatar

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    Default Making maps

    I will be posting my own homebrew campaign setting here eventually, but I am running into one problem. Maps. My own drawing skills are moderate, and I can't find a good map creator on the internet.

    Does anyone have any advice how to get an acceptable map of my campaign world?
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    Barbarian in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Making maps

    Quote Originally Posted by Dire_Stirge View Post
    I will be posting my own homebrew campaign setting here eventually, but I am running into one problem. Maps. My own drawing skills are moderate, and I can't find a good map creator on the internet.

    Does anyone have any advice how to get an acceptable map of my campaign world?
    Drawing maps isn't as exceptionally difficult as it might seem. Just creating coastlines and actual landmasses can be pretty easy,

    One thing I did when I didn't feel creative was to simply splice together other maps from games I like or carefully edit maps that already exist.

    Spoiler: My map, WARNING ITS BIG!
    Show


    The above map is the culmination of a lot of my knowledge and following tutorials rather creatively in GIMP. But its also a spliced amalgamation of favorite maps from D&D settings and video games. In its entirety its just an inverse of the map of Hyrule from the second Zelda game. With an east coast that is rough translation of Labrynna and Holodrum from Zelda: Oracles of Ages and Seasons. The south east is actually darkshore from WoW, the far south east and south is the Johto and Kanto region. You may also spot an impact crater from Kerbal Space Programs Kerban. The Anglaron region from Forgotten realms, and Hoenn from Pokemon as well..... among many others.

    I find its really easy with the splicing method, you take what you know and love already and just throw it together. XD

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    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    PirateCaptain

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    Default Re: Making maps

    Maps? I make maps. For free too.
    Spoiler: Maps (WARNING HUGE!!!
    Show






    I use Photoshop myself. I would recommend the Ascension Tutorial from the Cartographer's Guild if you want to make your own. Is there anything specific you're looking for in a map?
    Last edited by Ninjadeadbeard; 2014-12-24 at 08:21 PM.
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    Ninjadeadbeard just ninja'd my post. How apt.
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    Default Re: Making maps

    Quote Originally Posted by Ninjadeadbeard View Post
    Maps? I make maps. For free too.
    Spoiler: Maps (WARNING HUGE!!!
    Show






    I use Photoshop myself. I would recommend the Ascension Tutorial from the Cartographer's Guild if you want to make your own. Is there anything specific you're looking for in a map?
    Nice maps!

    And I do have a hand-drawn picture of how I'd like the world to look like.
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    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    PirateCaptain

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    Default Re: Making maps

    Quote Originally Posted by Dire_Stirge View Post
    Nice maps!

    And I do have a hand-drawn picture of how I'd like the world to look like.
    Thank you.

    Can you get your picture scanned into a computer? That will make your life 9,978 times easier.
    Quote Originally Posted by Zap Dynamic View Post
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    Default Re: Making maps

    Here it is! Sorry to keep you waiting!

    Spoiler: Here be maps!
    Show
    Okay, actually it's only one...



    *Eagerly anticipates nine-thousand-nine-hundred-seventy-eightfold facilitation of life*
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    Orc in the Playground
     
    Zombie

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    Default Re: Making maps

    The ease of use comes in being able to digitally manipulate the image in a program like GIMP, Photoshop, or even one of MSPaint versions floating around.

    Use your drawing as the first layer in GIMP create a second layer over it then trace the outline of each continent you have.

    You can then import freely obtainable resources such as textures or even images by just googling for them.
    Last edited by aspekt; 2014-12-27 at 08:03 AM.

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    Default Re: Making maps

    Quote Originally Posted by aspekt View Post
    The ease of use comes in being able to digitally manipulate the image in a program like GIMP, Photoshop, or even one of MSPaint versions floating around.

    Use your drawing as the first layer in GIMP create a second layer over it then trace the outline of each continent you have.

    You can then import freely obtainable resources such as textures or even images by just googling for them.
    Thanks for the tip!
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    Default Re: Making maps

    I would suggest drawing a second version of the map without the terrain and such, just the basic land masses. Then you can process that map in something as simple as MS paint. First, an example of what I've made like this.

    Spoiler: My Map of Paramęth
    Show


    So, you scan in your hand drawn land mass map. Then, you convert it to 16 color bitmap. Yes, you lose color quality. This is a good thing. While in bitmap form, you can clean it up by color selecting from the little splotches in open spaces of your map and coloring all of you open spaces to that color. Repeat that until clean. Then, you can color the map as you like (personally I prefer a political style map for my setting.) As previous people said, the internet is a good place to find stuff like mountains for your map.
    Salasay was my first character. He's a Scout. This is his block:

    The Paramęth setting is my baby, and most of my large (wiki-bound for now) homebrew collection is in the setting.

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    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    PirateCaptain

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    Default Re: Making maps

    Anyone know of a program for making 8-bit style maps? I had a cool idea of a Zelda LttP map for a short campaign I'd like to try.
    Quote Originally Posted by Zap Dynamic View Post
    Ninjadeadbeard just ninja'd my post. How apt.
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    Orc in the Playground
     
    RedWizardGuy

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    Default Re: Making maps

    Might be as good a place as any to post the following map.

    Spoiler: Large Map
    Show


    It's part of a fantasy world I'm working on. As you can see, it's an alt of our own world.

    Technical part:
    I used Inkscape which I downloaded (for free!) only a week ago. However, I do have some prior mapdrawing experience.
    Procedure used:
    - take Vicky II blank province map.
    - blow up x4
    - conclude that Inkscape cannot digest your map
    - go back and blow up x3
    - put province map in a "base map" layer
    - create "background" layer below "base map"
    - draw a rectangle the size of the base in the color you want for the sea.
    - create layer for drawing the land
    - rather than drawing entire large islands or continents in one go, draw province per province
    - since you blew up the map borders and coastlines are rather "thick", use maps from wiki and elsewhere on the web for reference for placement of islets, inlets, estuaries, borders, etc.
    - don't worry if you don't get it exactly right, it's an alt world
    - use the option to lock on nodes for drawing overlapping borders.
    - draw a half a dozen to a dozen provinces each day

    Save map.

    Fancy part:
    - hide layer "base map"
    - to make a homogenous coloured country (so without province borders showing up) color all provinces (filling AND border) of said country (or part of country) in the same color.
    - add layer "names"
    - in this layer add fancy names and fancy title in fancy font.

    Select coordinates for exporting a png image so just the part you finished will be exported.

    Smile upon your work

    Then weep as you realise you still have the rest of the world to do...


    If anyone would have any questions (technical or about content) feel free to ask.
    Last edited by Corneel; 2015-02-04 at 07:11 PM.

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