Anybody care to share their map?

[Hëradïn]

I drew a new map
Ubrïm
the numbers on there are where cities/larger towns/castles, most are not yet named.

 

[Ravana]

It was this that confused me, which seems to be talking about the size of the world, but I understand you now. That's good then, and it makes the colours a little less of a problem, actually.

Okay, I can see that. Both are true, actually: the map is much larger "in real life," and it covers a lot more space than is shown.

I went ahead and turned the saturation down on all the colors–and, yeah, I'm happier with them now. Not sure how it'll play out when I go to the finer details; worst case, it'll just be borders and labels, and the colors won't change.

In fact, I'm considering going back to an all-white map anyway… because redoing all the fills created that "mottled" look again. At least, I think that's what did it: could also be saving them as .jpg… I noticed the portion I posted last night was displaying that way. Or maybe both. I've started saving the working files in GIMP's home format, so I suppose I'll find out soon enough.

You mean a way to 'lighten/soften' all of the colours at once? I'm not sure how GIMP handles layers, and if you even used them. But, in photoshop I would do this;

1. Add a new layer
2. Fill it white
3. Set the opacity somewhere between 10 - 30%
4. Move it so that it is above the coloured regions, but below borders and text

Again, that's if you've used layers for different components of the map (which I'm sure GIMP can do). Also, though this is for photoshop, I am sure there will be GIMP equivalents to all of these options.

I don't have a choice about using layers in GIMP, once I add text: that's a separate layer. Worse, each text box is a separate layer, so if I want to adjust them, I need to do it one at a time. (I imagine that's true in other programs as well; just saying.) Or they are until I close the map and reopen it, at which point they're anchored to the background (which I can do while it's still open, though it took me a while to realize this). I'm still trying to figure out if there's a way to re-select them after it's reopened, or if I need to get happy with my color layer before I add anything else. Right now, I'm just erasing whenever one proves inconvenient.

Thanks, that set of steps ought to work: I hadn't been thinking of adding another color layer. (Not sure why, since I was essentially looking for something that did precisely that, just as a direct function.) I won't mind if it fades the borders a touch as well–they're still the fully vivid colors: red, violet, etc.–which is a good thing, since they're all on the same level as the fills (obviously, from what I just said). Maybe making those separate layers would help prevent some of the "bleeding" the colors are doing. Unfortunately, I got stupid and didn't save a map with only the borders, so I'd have to lay those down yet again, but that actually has been far less time-consuming than the rest of the process, so it may well be worth it.

 

[Johnny Cosmo]

On layers: there must be a 'merge layers option' in GIMP? Or at least, a folder system (where you can add all of the text into a 'text' folder). I know you can in Photoshop, and you should be able to in GIMP.

You'll probably get used to this sort of thing thing the more you use it. It might be worth looking up some basic tutorials.

 

[Hans]

On layers: there must be a 'merge layers option' in GIMP? Or at least, a folder system (where you can add all of the text into a 'text' folder). I know you can in Photoshop, and you should be able to in GIMP.

You can merge the layers. But that changes the text to pixels, so it can no longer be edited as text.


Ravana, have you any experience with scripting? Gimp can be scripted which is a big help when doing the same things to lots of layers.
Of course you can reopen the text layer later. If you have not changed it with any non text tool: Just select the text tool and click (maybe double click) on the layer in the layer selection box.

 

[Johnny Cosmo]

Can you not group multiple layers into a folder, and apply universal effects and properties?

 

[Hans]

Can you not group multiple layers into a folder, and apply universal effects and properties?

The newest version of Gimp should be able to do that. It was a long requested feature and IIRC they (the Gimp devellopment team) said it would now be implemented.
I have not tried it yet.

 

[Hans]

For something completely different: I once prepared the map of my main world for the Marble viewing program. There is not much to see yet, it was more of an experiment: http://swyrtr.de/swyrtrMarble.tar.bz2

For viewing the content of that file have to be copied into the Marble map directory. At my computer that is: ~/.marble/data/maps

 

[RainbowGirl]

Do you guys know of any other programs that are good for map making. (excluding the ones already discussed.)

 

[Hans]

Do you guys know of any other programs that are good for map making. (excluding the ones already discussed.)

The most flexibility you have with general graphic programs. You need an idea about how your map should look like and maybe a good tutorial for that style.
In this thread we mainly had pixel graphic tools but many people swear on vector graphics for maps. Like Corel Draw, or if you want a free one Inkscape.

Tools for map making that give some freedom of style, but not longer as much as above painting tools are programs like Campaign Cartographer or AutoREALM.

Also I've seen good maps created with different mapping tools originally created for computer games. Maybe Wesnoth is worth to look at for this purpose. These tools generally dictate the style, the resulting map has to have and thus are recognizeable for someone who knows the game.

 

[Johnny Cosmo]

As Hans mentioned, there are a bunch. I wanted to use InkScape, but it crashes on my Mac. I've tried Hexographer, but working with tiles is restrictive, and is only really useful for planning, not visualising your world. Read a lot about Campaign Cartographer... but I don't think it's worth it.

I honestly think it'd be best to get used to GIMP or InkScape (if it works for you), because you'll be saving money, and it's not like you can't create a great map with those tools.

 

[SeverinR]

Kobalta's map by ~SeverinR on deviantART
My first map just an hour after downloading it.(autorealm)
It wasn't easy to work with but it did make a good map.

 

[Ravana]

As Hans mentioned, there are a bunch. I wanted to use InkScape, but it crashes on my Mac.

Had that problem, too… you need to be running the X11 environment, if you aren't already. (If you are, can't help you: I never got the chance to install this before my Mac suffered a somewhat more permanent "crash." Note that if you're still using 10.4, you have to load X11 from the system disk, whereas with any other version of 10.x, you can download it.) I'm seriously thinking about giving InkScape another try; think it might help address some of the problems I'm experiencing. I need a "draw" program, anyway, more than a "paint" one: anyone have any other recommendations? I could also use a decent CAD program, if anyone knows of any free ones that are worth the bother of learning to use. If not, guess I'll just wait until I can afford AutoCAD or whatever, so that I only have to learn once.

AutoREALM didn't impress me, though I may not have been looking deeply enough. If I'm remembering Campaign Cartographer correctly, I had the same reaction to it, though I may well be thinking of something else with a similar name. I've looked at so many recently.…

 

[Hans]

Also always remember, it is still you who makes the map.
I'm not talking to anyone in special here, just my experience from the German Weltenbastler community, where this topic also repeatedly comes up.
Every tool you might use as powerful or specialized it might be is still a tool. A program where you press two or tree buttons and have the perfect map does not exist. Can not exist, because everyone has different expectations for that "perfect map". There is no way around learning to use the tools and putting a little work into map making.
How much this little work exactly is depends on your expectations for the map.

I've seen some "fully automated city/island/whatsoever" generators. But found all of them lacking. Maybe my expectations are to high. Normally I have an idea about what I want to create, but if the tool is really full automated there is no way of telling the tool that. Else it would be semi automated, and that is much harder to program. I'm speaking from experience, I am a programmer.

Sorry for the rant.

 

[Johnny Cosmo]

Had that problem, too… you need to be running the X11 environment, if you aren't already.

I am, so I'm not sure what the problem is. Would have loved to used vector software.

Every tool you might use as powerful or specialized it might be is still a tool. A program where you press two or tree buttons and have the perfect map does not exist. Can not exist, because everyone has different expectations for that "perfect map". There is no way around learning to use the tools and putting a little work into map making.

I couldn't agree more, and this is why I'm certain any decent graphics editor (free or paid) can get the job done. I work with a lot of DAWs (digital audio workstations); it doesn't matter how specific some of their functions are, and how 'geared' towards a certain style of audio recording they are, they all do the same thing when it boils down to it. So just learn what you can get hold of (great if that's PhotoShop, or one of these mapping tools, but still perfectly fine if that means GIMP or InkSpace), and learn it.

 

[SeverinR]

I agree Autorealm is very hard to learn, I started 8 maps and deleted them before I figured out how to work with it.

It is amazing how much clearer my story is now that I can see the real map rather then just the map in my head.

I will probably try doing a castle lay-out(Letholdus Keep) next.
I am in morning, I cleaned out my work computer files and deleted this story, so I had to go to my back up...which I hadn't updated in over a month.
So I will work on peripheral stuff until I am ready to start again. Actually I was kind of embarassed by how little I had completed in that month. (But it is the work story, that I write at work during free time.)

I would not buy autorealm, but it does the job.

 

[Johnny Cosmo]

I've seen some "fully automated city/island/whatsoever" generators. But found all of them lacking. Maybe my expectations are to high. Normally I have an idea about what I want to create, but if the tool is really full automated there is no way of telling the tool that.

Just to add: I usually like to have full control. It might mean that I don't initially shape my continent very realistically, and I have to develop it for it to look good - but I know it inside and out when I get there.

 

[RainbowGirl]

The most flexibility you have with general graphic programs. You need an idea about how your map should look like and maybe a good tutorial for that style.
In this thread we mainly had pixel graphic tools but many people swear on vector graphics for maps.

I know how I want it to look, generally speaking. How do I figure out what style it is?
And whats the difference between pixel graphic tools and vector graphics?

 

[Johnny Cosmo]

Why don't you post some maps you want to imitate?

Pixels can't be upscaled without losing some quality. Vectors allow you to do this, and it recalculates how the image should look. If you draw a map and realise it's too small, you can later upscale it without loss, and the edges will still be clean. With pixel based image editing... you're pretty much stuck with what you started.

 

[RainbowGirl]

I'm not sure how to put pictures into a thread but this one:

Google Images

Is what I would like it to end up as. Maybe not the same colors as they picked, but that general idea is along the lines of what I want.

 

[Johnny Cosmo]

Well, that's going to take some practice no matter what software you use. I'd probably suggest general graphics software (GIMP, Photoshop, etc), because you won't be as restricted as far as design goes.

Perhaps you ought to find some tutorials to guide you.