<![CDATA[Cartographers' Guild]]> http://www.cartographersguild.com/ A website and forum for enthusiasts of fantasy maps mapmaking and cartography of all types. We are a thriving community of fantasy map makers that provide tutorials, references, and resources for fellow mapmakers. en Thu, 17 May 2012 07:45:29 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.cartographersguild.com/images/cartographer/misc/rss.png <![CDATA[Cartographers' Guild]]> http://www.cartographersguild.com/ May 2011 Entry: Isle of Annwn http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18731-May-2011-Entry-Isle-of-Annwn&goto=newpost Thu, 17 May 2012 06:50:08 GMT The Isle of Annwn; the realm of the sidhe. Some say it lies beyond the mists at the western edge of the westernmost ocean. Others say it is a land... The Isle of Annwn; the realm of the sidhe. Some say it lies beyond the mists at the western edge of the westernmost ocean. Others say it is a land beneath the waves themselves. Still others say it rests beneath the very hills. The wise will tell you that Annwn is a place both near and far; as distant as the memory of lives long past, and yet as close as breathing. At the edge of twilight, you can almost touch it. Have you ever thought you saw something move in the corner of your eye, and when you looked it was gone? Those are the fae, the creatures of Annwn.

If you can find your way here, you will have to beware of the feuding courts of the Sidhe. The Seelie Court at Caer Fedwyd, full of pomp and elegance, much too aloof to concern themselves with mortals; and The Unseelie at Nennius, full of the rabble, fae interbred with anything and everything; twisted and hungry for mortal prey.

Yet the Sidhe are not the only ones who walk here: The Gray Host of the dead troops from their landing at the bay Cuan Mairbhe to the top of Tech Duinn, to Donn's Cauldron of Resurrection, where they will be given new life, and sent back into the world of the living. Gods too sometimes walk these lands, descending from the Wheel of Stars in Gwynvyd down into the castle of Caer Sidi.

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]]> Current Mapping Challenge Seraphine_Harmonium http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18731-May-2011-Entry-Isle-of-Annwn May 2012 Entry: Gaelynta http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18730-May-2012-Entry-Gaelynta&goto=newpost Thu, 17 May 2012 00:12:20 GMT Well, I don't have much yet, just a border and a compass rose, but it's getting to be late enough in the challenge that if I don't commit with a thread I'll wimp out ;)

So here's my entry so far. I'll scan it in once there's some actual map to show, but in the meantime I have a nice little shot of the drawing/painting table, and a close-up of the compass rose.

So far this is all dip pen and calligraphy ink, on watercolor paper; I'll be coloring in watercolors once I get the majority of the ink done.
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]]> Current Mapping Challenge Gidde http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18730-May-2012-Entry-Gaelynta On Overworld Map (first Map) http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18729-On-Overworld-Map-(first-Map)&goto=newpost Wed, 16 May 2012 21:28:28 GMT This is my first map, and it is an overworld one. I created it using GIMP and following a number of the tutorials on this site This is my first map, and it is an overworld one.

I created it using GIMP and following a number of the tutorials on this site
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]]> General and Miscellaneous Mapping gogal http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18729-On-Overworld-Map-(first-Map) <![CDATA[[Unpaid] Fantasy Campaign World map(s)]]> http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18728-Fantasy-Campaign-World-map(s)&goto=newpost Wed, 16 May 2012 20:35:35 GMT Subject
I'm in the process of designing my own campaign world, and I have hit a big stumbling block. I have the basics in my head, but no idea on how to put these things down on maps; whether it be an overland 'world' map or the map of a city/country.

So I'm putting out a call for a mapper who would like to work with me to make this world come to life. Non-profit, I'm a broke GM as it is. Hopefully someone is up to the challenge.

The first map I'm looking at would be one of the main Empire's capital city. Built on top of and around a dormant volcano, with natural rivers offering clean water, the city is self-sufficient and large, mostly prosperous with poorer areas on the outskirts.

Ideally, this will be the first of several maps altogether, as mentioned, I'm trying to eventually have a full campaign world. That being said, I'm fully expecting to converse with any cartographer who takes up this challenge, it will be a joint work of ideas and creation.

Style

Decent semi-professional style; something that might be found in published product (such as Paizo's Pathfinder line, for example).

Quality & Size

Semi-professional at the least
Decent size for printing and use at a gaming table/web

Time Constraints

This is an ambitious project, I don't have any set time constraints; although the sooner the first couple of maps are completed, the better.

Copyright

I would like to share reproduction rights, and that's all. Whereas I don't expect I'll ever send my finished world to a publisher (or get it published, for that matter), if it -does- happen it'd be nice; and I'd just ask that if the artist(s) re-use the maps, a mention of where it first came from would be nice.


Contact Details

If interested, please email me at lord_tygerx81 at yahoo dot com (remove the numbers first) ]]> Mapmaking Requests DTorakhan http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18728-Fantasy-Campaign-World-map(s) <![CDATA[[Unpaid] Browser Game Map]]> http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18727-Browser-Game-Map&goto=newpost Wed, 16 May 2012 20:18:21 GMT It is more of an offer than a request. I am a player (not a creator or anything) of an old strategy game called Visual-Utopia. What I would like to... It is more of an offer than a request. I am a player (not a creator or anything) of an old strategy game called Visual-Utopia. What I would like to offer you is a map competition for that game. You could draw a map and if administration and community agrees it would be used for playing. It has been a long time since the map was updated, but recently game creator decided that every era (match) map would change. This is a great opportunity to implement a few new maps and maybe change game development course (it is an old game, but has been changed a lot). Your mapping skills might serve a nice purpose here and might be an opportunity to realize yourselves. :)

Check the game out to be more sure what I am talking about.
[referral link] (if you do not bother helping me to get some extra stuff)
[direct link] (if you do bother)

Some mapping guidelines:
  • Only mountains, rivers (with bridges), lakes, forests and fields.
  • Should be recurrent so it could be repeated in x and y axis.
  • No islands. All land should be reachable.
  • Some passages should be small so it could be blocked with a blocker town (see example, screenshots)
  • 2500x2500 pixels exactly


Examples:
Current Map


Old Map, sometimes still in use


[Very old map] ]]> Mapmaking Requests heroix http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18727-Browser-Game-Map New Guy Here. http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18726-New-Guy-Here&goto=newpost Wed, 16 May 2012 20:07:08 GMT Would say 'new troll here', of course, but I don't want people to miss the reference and think I'm -that- kind of troll. :p

GM/player of any given tabletop pnp game I can find, which leads me to maps, natch. No real cartography skillz myself, I'm afraid. ]]> Member Introductions DTorakhan http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18726-New-Guy-Here Monsterland, the worlds largest monster zoo. http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18725-Monsterland-the-worlds-largest-monster-zoo&goto=newpost Wed, 16 May 2012 19:18:30 GMT A fantasy zoo, where lots of specimens of monsters are kept on display for the locals to come view. Please don't feed the Demons!

The full map is 8 MB so I had to split it into 2 maps to upload.

If anyone is interested I also have the same map available without the creatures.

monster_zoo1_by_bogie.jpgmonster_zoo2_by_bogie.jpg
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]]> Finished Maps Bogie http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18725-Monsterland-the-worlds-largest-monster-zoo First Map, peninsula http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18724-First-Map-peninsula&goto=newpost Wed, 16 May 2012 15:41:27 GMT Hello everyone !

I joined the community a few days ago, and I followed some tutorials in order to draw a map I needed for my D&D campaign, I am working on Photoshop.

I think I should have made the coastlines with some randomness because it's way too straight, and then I have to find a better way to indicate reliefs and marshes, and add the scale, any suggestions are warmly welcome.

Here is this peninsula, sorry but all the names are in french ^^
PuitMer.jpg
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]]> Regional/World Mapping Metazeta http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18724-First-Map-peninsula Illustrator CS6 got some love for cartographers. http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18723-Illustrator-CS6-got-some-love-for-cartographers&goto=newpost Wed, 16 May 2012 13:52:04 GMT Just wanted to pass on something I noticed this morning. I tried using Adobe Illustrator CS 5 to begin an extremely detailed vector based map last... Just wanted to pass on something I noticed this morning.

I tried using Adobe Illustrator CS 5 to begin an extremely detailed vector based map last year. I quickly learned that Illustrator was pretty terrible for very large projects. I had out of memory errors and program crashes all the time.

It was so bad, I eventually ported the file over to Photoshop because Photoshop could handle the large vector layers better than Illustrator. Weird since Illustrator is designed for vector work. It was a funny day. I cursed Illustrator's ridiculousness for being 32 bit and only using 3GB of ram in a world where even the cheapest computers at Best Buy come with 8 GB.

Gladly, the CS6 release is 64-bit and can take advantage of much more memory. It also has some specific optimization for large file handling. I noticed in the Illustrator "what's new" page today, it actually says:

Handle larger files
Concurrent handling of large files is less likely to cause errors, like out-of-memory exceptions. Complex tasks, such as creating package designs, large-format graphics, or cartography, are better handled.

So... I may try this again.

I like to use the vectors to keep my borders detailed at any resolution. ]]> Software Discussion Kindari http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18723-Illustrator-CS6-got-some-love-for-cartographers <![CDATA[[Paid] Realistic post-apocalyptic Nova Scotia]]> http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18722-Realistic-post-apocalyptic-Nova-Scotia&goto=newpost Wed, 16 May 2012 13:17:52 GMT Introduction
Hiya! My name's Marit, and I'm hoping to pay someone to create a beautiful addition to our on-board concept-/RP art collection over at soulsrpg.com

We are an advanced play-by-post post-apocalyptic werecanine RPG set in Nova Scotia, and I thought that it'd be very cool to have a more artistic map for our game, in addition to the one we use to show various population groups on the board. It'd essentially be a bauble for us, something neat to add to our art collection. This site has already taught me a lot but I am impatient and some of these maps just look amazing, so I ended up here in requests :)

What I'm looking for
I'm looking for someone to make us a detailed, realistic scenery map of post-apocalyptic Nova Scotia. It would depict landscape (mountains & rivers, as well as forests and ruin cities) (approximately) as they would appear after 30 years with no human life. I have some more details for anyone interested. The apocalypse itself was an epidemic, meaning that there would be natural decay, but not damage from any war. This is our current map, and shows the area in question - the highlighted stuff, but including the islands in the dark would also be great. The bit north of Halycon Mountain is (in our universe) somewhat charred, as it suffered an extensive forest fire just three years ago. The linked map is for our members to see all the different subterritories in our RP universe, but the map I have in mind from here is more like a gift from me to my community and a neat bauble for us to show off. The main starting point for the map would be current modern maps of Nova Scotia, or 1980s maps of Nova Scotia.

Style
I love both "old"/traditional looking maps, like "flat" fantasy book maps such as this one and maps that are in full color and have more dimension and realism like this one. Really though, I'm not very picky (I think).

Quality & Size
I would love a map that looks as professional as possible, depending on the price range.
We'll be using it on the web only.
Dimensions: Higher resolution = better. No lower resolution than our current map, which is 1294x950 pixels.
We don't mind a raster or vector image, but I suppose a vector is easier to resize so could be v. handy. But either works.

Time Constraints
None :D This is a gift and I have all the time in the world.

Copyright
(Not sure I understand this point right, but:) We'd keep it on our site, and we'd like for it to be exclusively for us. We have a large artist community and thus highly value web artists' rights to their work, and wouldn't at all mind allowing the artist to keep their copyright on the art, either visibly in a signature, with a reference link (or other way of crediting) -- or both. We would never use it commercially, and would not want anyone else doing so either -- including the artist (portfolios are fine, though). We might want to be able to use it for our site as a graphic (f.ex. in a banner, as a cool texture, or otherwise in graphic pieces for the site), depending on how much that would cost. I guess that's a minor editing right of some sort.

Payment
I have no idea how much something like this should cost, and I'm a bit hesitant to suggest something in case I offend someone. But please poke me and we can figure something out? I have a paypal account I could use, and I could also pay by credit card via other services if you can provide a safe invoice.

Contact Details
Marit (this is my first post here, so PM won't work)
maritsouls ---- at ---- gmail.com

Thanks for reading! :) ]]> Mapmaking Requests Marit http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18722-Realistic-post-apocalyptic-Nova-Scotia *** April/May Lite Challenge VOTING - A Matter of Scale *** http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18721-***-April-May-Lite-Challenge-VOTING-A-Matter-of-Scale-***&goto=newpost Wed, 16 May 2012 03:50:47 GMT Time to vote for this month's lite challenge!

The challenge was to map a tiny civilization using an extreme closeup. We have some great, innovative entries!

Please vote for ONE entry. You can view the entries' thumbnails here:

April/May 2012 Thumbnails

The poll will close in 5 days. The winner will get a shiny silver compass award :)

Good luck everyone! ]]> Current Lite Mapping Challenge Gidde http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18721-***-April-May-Lite-Challenge-VOTING-A-Matter-of-Scale-*** Anator http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18720-Anator&goto=newpost Wed, 16 May 2012 03:49:29 GMT Country map of a region from my last map. It can be found on the other map as the western tip of the peninsula enclosing the Gulf of Man (Though I think I'll be changing it's name to the Great Gulf). This is the country my players (D&D) are currently exploring so I'm want to get the area pretty well mapped out.
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]]> Regional/World Mapping flocko http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18720-Anator <![CDATA[[Unpaid] Easthold - Fortress between the Seas]]> http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18719-Easthold-Fortress-between-the-Seas&goto=newpost Wed, 16 May 2012 03:26:58 GMT Hello everyone
I'm new to the Guild, I'm pretty poor at drawing and terrible with GIMP and the like, so I came here asking for help!
I would truly appreciate anyone's input on my map, or a professional remake!

Subject, Style, Quality And Size:
Basically this is just a small city with few labels. The outer wall is a gray stone, the inner is a darker almost black. Between the walls are the farm lands and there are docks on either side. The city itself is split into a few quadrants that are labelled on the attached map. The keep is on a mesa that has a switch-back path leading to it from the main road through the city.
The map size can be the same as the attached map
The Quality - the best you can!

Time Constraints:
There is no time limit. Take all the time you want, I'll really appreciate anything you can do!

Copyright:
You can retain all rights to the map, I just want to use it for my game.

Contact Details:
You can just pm me, or reply to this thread

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated! Thank you for taking the time to read through my post :)
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]]> Mapmaking Requests Bryan Alcorn http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18719-Easthold-Fortress-between-the-Seas May 2012 Entry: The Carolinas, USA http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18718-May-2012-Entry-The-Carolinas-USA&goto=newpost Wed, 16 May 2012 02:37:16 GMT Haven't done a challenge in a while so thought I would give this a go. This will be new for me, traditional mapping on paper! I'm doing something I'm familiar with, North/South Carolina on the east coast, United States. I have the outlines done, but will continue adding fun stuff to the map. I will also color it, not sure how, but it will have color and black ink.

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]]> Current Mapping Challenge RjBeals http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18718-May-2012-Entry-The-Carolinas-USA How do I make city dots http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18717-How-do-I-make-city-dots&goto=newpost Wed, 16 May 2012 02:13:46 GMT Hi everyone, I am currently making an alternate history map for a modern country, and was wondering how I make a city-dot label, for the dots that go... Hi everyone, I am currently making an alternate history map for a modern country, and was wondering how I make a city-dot label, for the dots that go next to the city names on a map. I want to make a nice looking one and was wondering if anyone can help. I don't want a plain old black dot however. ]]> How Do I ??? Noravea http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?18717-How-do-I-make-city-dots