Here's mine (well part of mine). This is just the Upper Realms - home to the Elemental races. I have yet to design all the other locations.
That's pretty, where did you make that one?
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Anybody care to share their map?
- Thread starter Johnny Cosmo
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That's pretty, where did you make that one?
Catherine
Apprentice
SeverinR
Valar Lord
zizban
Lore Master
This seriously abused map is of Essex, the setting of my epic fantasy. I've been writing it off and on for about five years and I'm about 1/3 done.
Elfs, trolls and dragons are native to the world. Humans aren't.
In the distant past a Roman legion and a tribe of Anglo-Saxons were battling and were swept into this world. The Romans subjected the Anglo-Saxons, setting up their own little kingdom on a large island off the map to the west of Essex
Eventually the descendants of the Anglo-Saxons were able to escape and invaded Essex, pushing the native elfs into the forests of the north. The humans initially allied with the trolls, who thought the elfs were a waste of good flesh, but the two sides had a falling out and went to war. The humans won the war. For centuries an uneasy peace has existed.
Into this steps my hero.
Graylorne
Shadow Lord
RainbowGirl
Journeyman
Question for you guys, what tutorials would you recommend as being the ones that influences you the most, or that you find the most useful? I in particular would like Photoshop or Gimp specific tutorials, but any are welcome. I've been looking around and there are so many, I just don't know where to begin, or which one would give me the look I'm after.
SeverinR
Valar Lord
This is the kingdom my MC has unknowingly inherited.
Great map, what did you use to make it?
Anyone know what old photoshop works with windows 7? Is it only the current(expensive) one?
I have found win95 photoshop at goodwill, I'm pretty sure it won't work win7.
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zizban
Lore Master
I draw mine by hand. I haven't found any program that is as easy to use as hand drawing.
RainbowGirl
Journeyman
I have Photoshop 5 I believe, and it works great with windows 7. If you discount my computer's crankiness.
Graylorne
Shadow Lord
Apologies; overlooked this post, SeverinR.
I made this with AutoRealm, free gnu mapmaking software. You can use colours and details, too, things I unhappily lack the patience for.
SeverinR
Valar Lord
I made a map with Autorealm, I thought the icons looked familiar.
It is great for large area general maps, but was terrible for close in maps like towns or cities at least the one time I tried.
So far, Paint is the best program I found for towns/cities.
It is great for large area general maps, but was terrible for close in maps like towns or cities at least the one time I tried.
So far, Paint is the best program I found for towns/cities.
Graylorne
Shadow Lord
I've used Autorealm for some years now, only for area maps. It's nice because it is scaled, so that helps me figure out distances and travel times.
I never even thought of using Paint. I remember an old clumsy version from way back and never looked at it again. I'' give it another try.
I never even thought of using Paint. I remember an old clumsy version from way back and never looked at it again. I'' give it another try.
Jabrosky
Banned
LINK
A map of Earth's biomes 100,000 years from the modern era. It's a post-apocalyptic world which has endured another asteroid-induced mass extinction which wiped out most of the planet's larger animals. Although humans survived due to their ingenuity, their civilizations were obliterated, leaving them to start all over again. A few millennia later, an abnormal fluctuation in the space/time continuum dropped lifeforms from throughout Earth's prehistory into the recovering ecosystem, and they have thrived ever since. As a general rule, the temperate and polar latitudes are dominated by mammals and the tropical regions by sauropsids (birds and reptiles).
The major climatic trend in the last 100,000 years has been increasing global temperatures and precipitation; in other words, Earth has a warmer and wetter climate than before. The world's jungles and savannas have expanded into higher latitudes while the equatorial regions have become overgrown swamps. There are no more permanent ice caps.
These climate changes have also impacted human evolution, especially the distribution of different ethnic groups. As one example, the greening of the Sahara and Middle East has allowed sub-Saharan African people to migrate northward and dominate these areas, with the olive-skinned Middle Eastern and North African types being pushed away into southern Europe.
I haven't decided on what technological level the world's peoples will be yet, but right now I'm leaning towards Neolithic.
Map Source: Map: Global Elevation
A map of Earth's biomes 100,000 years from the modern era. It's a post-apocalyptic world which has endured another asteroid-induced mass extinction which wiped out most of the planet's larger animals. Although humans survived due to their ingenuity, their civilizations were obliterated, leaving them to start all over again. A few millennia later, an abnormal fluctuation in the space/time continuum dropped lifeforms from throughout Earth's prehistory into the recovering ecosystem, and they have thrived ever since. As a general rule, the temperate and polar latitudes are dominated by mammals and the tropical regions by sauropsids (birds and reptiles).
The major climatic trend in the last 100,000 years has been increasing global temperatures and precipitation; in other words, Earth has a warmer and wetter climate than before. The world's jungles and savannas have expanded into higher latitudes while the equatorial regions have become overgrown swamps. There are no more permanent ice caps.
These climate changes have also impacted human evolution, especially the distribution of different ethnic groups. As one example, the greening of the Sahara and Middle East has allowed sub-Saharan African people to migrate northward and dominate these areas, with the olive-skinned Middle Eastern and North African types being pushed away into southern Europe.
I haven't decided on what technological level the world's peoples will be yet, but right now I'm leaning towards Neolithic.
Map Source: Map: Global Elevation
Jabrosky,
I have a question about your world that doesn't relate to the map.
If humans survived due to their ingenuity, why do they have to start all over again?
I have a question about your world that doesn't relate to the map.
If humans survived due to their ingenuity, why do they have to start all over again?
Jabrosky
Banned
Hmm...that didn't occur to me.
Graylorne
Shadow Lord
First, human civilisation gets destroyed by astroïd(s). Humans manage to survive, but they haven't much of an infrastructure left, no resources except for the ruins of their cities, loss of knowledge. They won't go back to the neolithic, for that you'd probably need mental degeneration or universal loss of memory. Back to the Middle Ages would seem likely. That means they have a few thousand years to recover, before the second disaster strikes, when flocks of dinosaurs and sabretooth tigers are dropped all over the place.
Perhaps you could find a disaster that combined both happenings? They still go back to the ME, but it would make it somewhat handier.
Perhaps you could find a disaster that combined both happenings? They still go back to the ME, but it would make it somewhat handier.
I doubt the "drop back age" has a historical equivalent on earth. First, lots of survival skills needed in preindustrial times are mainly lost. That starts with large scale agriculture without machines.
On the other hand nearly everyone today has a basic grasp of newtonian mechanics. It is not hard to build, for example, a steam nozzle. This was a nice child play around here with an empty eggshell and a candle. A lot of people will remember (and teach their children) how to create electricity with rotating magnets. And what to do with it.
This can create a strange mix of different ages this world has seen. Of course the societal changes can be severe. I dare not make a prediction where that would go. Do whatever fits the story is the best I can say about that.
Graylorne
Shadow Lord
I didn't mean castles and ironclad knights, ofc, but a comparable level. Although going back to some sort of feudality wouldn't be remarcable; that is about the strong protecting te weak in exchange for services, after all.
Actually, I was thinking of something like Fallout III, but without radiation. Some basic technology will remain, though I personally wouldn't know a thing about steam nozzles and rotating magnets. (As a former boy scout I have some knowledge of survival techniques.) But I agree about the results, it would be a strange, unpredictable mix.
NB. I realise I was talking from a European viewpoint. A very large part of the world has a far slighter grasp on the 'modern amenities'. Left alone, many communities there would fall back on their previous lifestyles. I'd say this goes for the rural areas of the USA as well. But it's all guesswork.
Actually, I was thinking of something like Fallout III, but without radiation. Some basic technology will remain, though I personally wouldn't know a thing about steam nozzles and rotating magnets. (As a former boy scout I have some knowledge of survival techniques.) But I agree about the results, it would be a strange, unpredictable mix.
NB. I realise I was talking from a European viewpoint. A very large part of the world has a far slighter grasp on the 'modern amenities'. Left alone, many communities there would fall back on their previous lifestyles. I'd say this goes for the rural areas of the USA as well. But it's all guesswork.
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Here is a blog with some maps, as well as tips on making maps:
Fantastic Maps | The fantasy maps of Jonathan Roberts
Fantastic Maps | The fantasy maps of Jonathan Roberts