# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > Town/City Mapping >  Nostapyrax

## fifty

So this is going to be my first attempt at a city map with the new skills I have learnt from this community!  :Smile: 

Here's the original sketch that I was working up a couple of years ago.


I'm going to use it as a broad guide but I'm not going to force myself to stick to it rigorously. 

At the moment I want to do a detailed map and intend to hand draw the buildings individually rather than the blocks I had here, generally to push myself as hard as possible for an amazing map and hope to get somewhere close to it!!  :Smile: . 

I'm not sure whether I'll be going colour or some sort of sepia aged look but as I reckon there's a lot of work to do before I need to decide that but in the meantime if anyone has any tips or advice then all is gratefully received.

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## xpian

I like it very much as a city plan. It feels quite real and "evolved" in the way that such cities should be.

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## Wingshaw

I think this city has promise. I'd like to see what you plan to do with it before offering specific comments. What else can you say about it at the moment?

THW

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## fifty

Well it's a big city on the coast slap bang in the centre of my RPG world (see Uma map). Its a sort of Byzantium type place, majestic and tall domed buildings vying with simple structures and narrow streets, with peoples drawn from all corners of the world and even some small population of creatures from beyond.

Originally the city was built on the banks of a natural harbour but over the centuries that area has sunken somewhat leaving a Venetian style canal area around the docks (the large central circular 'Haak' district). The city beyond that has grown out over time, new walls and fortifications surrounding them as they have been needed. 

The most recent and grandest district being the empty area top right ...the blank areas within the walls will be filled with buildings - I just never got round to it originally!  :Smile: 

As it's a developed city within the setting I have some constraints in that certain areas have been described, but overall I have plenty of wiggle room so I'm not too concerned  :Smile:

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## fifty

1st WIP:



Just a copy of the landscape ridges and coastline really. This does bring me to my first decision though..

How to draw the actual ridge / fall of land itself - before I just used the little 'comb-teeth' edging that I've always done on sketches, but now I feel I should put more effort in to making them look great. so I'm thinking a bit of shading and something else to make it better defined? 

Any ideas or hints on how to achieve this?

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## Wingshaw

For the high areas, I'd say keep using the comb-teeth style, but put much more of them, and closer together. A bit of shading wouldn't hurt, either. The style in this map of Rome would look good for your map, I think.

I think it is good that you have shown the landscape pre-city. It helps work out how a city might develop.

Now, before I continue, I am just gonna point out, as I always do, that I can advise you about how real cities form, and thus how to depict them in a way that looks realistic. I always think it is necessary, though, to point out that this is your city, and you don't have to follow my advice if it doesn't match your intentions. It's obvious really, but I just think it is a good idea to mention it.

With that little caveat out of the way, I would suggest the next things you do with this city are:
--decide why it was founded, and thus where (eg. if a fortified settlement, on high ground; if a trade settlement, near water or highway; if an agricultural settlement, anywhere except the fertile valley floors etc).
--draw in the major roads: at this stage, I think you should limit yourself to the town's main street, which probably also serves as market, and the roads that lead off the map. You could add a few more major roads, if you want.
--remember, if the town is small and unimportant in its early days, it won't have walls. At most, it might have a watchtower or two, and maybe a wooden palisade if really necessary.
--if this town was connected with other towns and cities from its earliest days, I don't think it does any harm to think about the nature of those connections (did they trade? what goods did they exchange? how far is the next town? etc). These details may not show up on your map, but they help make it more complete for you, and you may want to know them later for other reasons (eg, if Nostapyrax imports all its metal from a town in the north, you know many blacksmiths and foundries will be on the road north). However, some people probably think this step is excessive.

Think about those suggestions, and then show us all how it looks.

THW

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## fifty

Good advice THW, I'm going for a bit more arty effort than the Rome map  but I like the idea of the tight-comb as a ridge definer. 
As for the  background history of the city I've got a ton of stuff because this is a  major city in the RPG setting I've published, but its a lot to bore you  with here! 
But yes I will certainty try to bear in mind the city growth points you've highlighted.  :Smile:

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## fifty

so .. I tried wiggly contour lines, and comb-teeth, and then a combo of the two..

Attachment 67445

I think this looks like a way forward - although I'll probably have to do at larger more robust scale if I want it to look like something other than just a black line when not viewed quite zoomed in like this.

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## Wingshaw

Your attachment doesn't work.

THW

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## fifty

This work?

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## Wingshaw

Yep. And your technique looks good, although I think there's a chance the detail will get lost when other features start getting added.

THW

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## fifty

yeah I know.. One thing I definitely struggle with as an amateur is knowing what sort of scale to create my maps.

On the one hand I want to do really big maps that are like a zillion pixels wide and that you can zoom into to see more and more detail (assuming I had the patience for such a task), 
But on the other hand having recently used the world map I created in an RPG publication, I realise that "what is visible at A3" is a equally important measure?

and I won't bore you with the "why does my map look really dark when printed" discussion and realisation that i had after doing this the first time!!  :Very Happy:

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## fifty

Made the comb-contour a bit more robust on the next ridge and added a shadow. 

Looks a lot better now I think.



I'll re-do the first one when I've finished all the others (just in case I change my mind again!)

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## Ilanthar

It works for me, I would just remove the cracks that pass the bottom line. Excellent and subtle work on the shadows.

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## fifty

Done the comb-contour lines around the large hill and a bit of detail at the river edge on the far right of the map just to see how it went.

I've also coloured in the water, I don't actually know if I'm going to go colour or not at this point, I was just playing about to see what it might look like.
What do you guys think?

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## fifty

Done a bit of shadow from the large hill, some more comb-contouring and the 1st pass on the cliff edge and beaches.. not sure how these will develop though.

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## Wingshaw

This is looking good, fifty. I like the river edge detail a lot. I also think the shadows on the large hill are well-done, and the colour of the water is better now.

One thing to point out, perhaps, is that the style of contours you're using implies hills with steep, cliff-like edges, rather than gently curved hills. That might be what you are going for, of course. Just food for thought.

THW

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## fifty

Hmm yep I take your point THW, I was going for hard ridges with a  man-flattened landscaped hill.. mostly because this is sort of what I  drew originally.

That said .. I might try a smoothly rising hill, or maybe some combination of the two. 

Not sure my skill is up to a convincing rendition of this though!!  :Very Happy:

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## fifty

Well I've tried a few things on the sloping hill thing, several looked horrible and a couple more or less seemed to work.

I finally went with this: 



I think it kinda works? - also decided me on going colour whilst I was trying different things!  :Smile:

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## fifty

Just been mucking about trying out a few quick ideas on the main city castle.



This is probably the style I'll go for in terms of buildings - with the finished version being a lot more, err.. finished!!!  :Very Happy:

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## fifty

Bit more "groundwork" layers before I start buildings

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## Wingshaw

This is looking really good, Fifty. I think this will be a spectacular map when it is finished.

One suggestion for your latest update, though: there doesn't seem to be much order to the street layout. You might want to consider adding some main roads that clearly go from point A to point B (even if point B is in another country and/or off the map). A road that links the castle to the port is another example. The main roads should be like a skeleton, forming the initial structure of the town, from which further growth becomes more and more chaotic.

I might be jumping the gun a bit, here, as I am aware this is still in progress. Like I said, looking good.

THW

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## fifty

Actually the roads here are meant to be canal type waterways, where buildings will butt up against the part-submerged-then-built-on-top-of earlier city. The streets will sometimes run alongside these on the 'dry land' or built on wharf like extensions.
My thought for the jumbled layout of these is that they are effectively following the random sunken paths of the older city so haven't been designed like more normal streets would be?

There are some broad streets that run through the main city joining area's as you suggest but I guess this isn't very clear on my original map lol!  :Very Happy: 

...anyway - I'm starting to put down the city-wall supporting towers which I'll join like a huge dot-to-dot with walls and gatehouses etc soon  :Smile:

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## Gidde

I love how this is going. Can't wait to see more.

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## fifty

Thanks Gidde - I'm enjoying the challenge  :Smile: 

I've done a few more gate towers and one or two of the larger supporting fortifications that sit at important locations as the city has grown..

I've also scaled up the buildings by about 20%, not really because of anything I've drawn so far, but just because it occurred to me that at the scale I had then actual small buildings like houses would be too small to detail when I got round to them. I reckon the 20% should give me enough to do some justice to even the little buildings... or I hope so anyway  :Very Happy:

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## Domino44

This is looking really nice! I'm looking forward to watching this map develop!

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## fifty

Thanks Domino44  :Smile: 

So I've not had chance to do a lot over the last couple of days, but i have been toying around with one of the outer supporting fortifications.

My intention is to have many different 'styles' of fortification, both to show a city with increasing engineering prowess / stonemasonary skill and to represent in some way the many different cultural influences this particular city has.

To that intent I've tried to show a fortification with two "bronze domes" over its central section. 

...This is harder than I thought!!  :Very Happy: 

Anyway - here's what I've ended up with.



What do you guys think? ..Does it work?

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## jbgibson

As bronze or brass, that looks good.  As domes... they look more conical to me.

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## Ilanthar

I agree with jbgibson, matter of shadows I guess.

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## fifty

Wow - time flies when the horrors of RL catch up!  :Very Happy:  - I've been off doing work stuff for a few weeks so I've only just got back to this map, but I've made a bit of progress.

 

Filled in the linking City walls and done all the dispersed supporting fortifications, 

(eg)  

now I'm on to the actual city buildings.



This is clearly going to take quite a bit of time!!  :Very Happy:

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## Wingshaw

This is going to look incredible when you finish it fifty. The progress you've already made is pretty astounding.

I've just got a couple of comments for you, before you go too far with the buildings:
--first, one of the biggest problems with city maps (in my experience) is remaining consistent with the scale. So far, I think you've kept the scale quite good, although perhaps some of your buildings are a bit too small.
--second, up close I think the texture on your docks looks a bit wrong. The way the lines all go the same direction, despite the shape of the dock is a problem, I think. Perhaps it would be better if you simply hand-draw the planks on a low opacity.
--I really like that the streets/public spaces seem to be defined by the buildings, rather than the other way around. That is something few city mappers do, and I wish more people would do, because it makes a closer match to historic city patterns (it also gives you those fantastic little alleys and squares that you're developing here). My only suggestion, at this point, is to not neglect the more obviously linear kinds of streets (i.e. the main roads that link different parts of the city, or the city to different parts of the world).
--I think there is a slight problem with some of your building roofs. It is especially the case with the buildings which have roofs that rise to a single point. From a construction/real-world point of view, that is not an efficient roof design, as it requires additional materials, less strength, and less drainage ability. (If you agree with my comment) I would suggest looking at satellite images of cities you are inspired by, and photos on Google Images, to get a sense of the many different shapes a roof can be.

All that said, I love the colours, love the textures, love the layout, really really looking forward to seeing this finished.

THW

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## xpian

Here's a shot of Venice rooftops by satellite:

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## Ilanthar

> *By Fifty*
> This is clearly going to take quite a bit of time!!


From my experience, it seems to be always time-consuming to do a big city. But you've got an ambitious one, and I agree with THW, it's gonna be a beautiful one.

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## fifty

Thanks for the encouragement guys!

@ TWH
1 - yeah I think I see what your saying about scale, in my head the smallest buildings are like lean-to extensions or some such but I may very well need to review as I go.
2 - As for the dock texture - I totally agree, tbh I just chucked a texture fill layer on to give me some feel of what it might look like - I'll trust you guys to keep me honest and replace this with something better before I call the map done!  :Very Happy: 
3 - Again I totally see where your coming from, I think I've sort of got this in hand - here's my base work on the next block to show you where I'm heading:



4 - And yet gain your probably right on the pointy building roofs - but they are a lot quicker to draw!!! lol - I'll bear it in mind as I progress and great idea to check out some RW satellite pics...

@ Xpian - Which neatly leads on to big thanks to you for the snap shot - perfect for giving me some ideas on where to go!!  :Smile: 

Thanks again guys  :Smile:

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## Ascension

Lookin pretty good, man.

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## fifty

Quick question - does anyone know how to set up a (dual?) brush in PS  that pivots to always line up in the direction you move it? 

I want to draw two parallel lines that will remain the same distance but follow a path.

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## Ascension

On the Brushes presets go down to Angle Jitter and set it to Direction.  However, you'll have to create the brush tip because dual brush doesn't actually put 2 brushes together.  If you were going to make wagon tracks just make 2 dots, one above the other, save as brush, select the brush from the menu, set the angle jitter, resave the brush.  I make railroads this way (with a slat of course).

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## fifty

Perfect! - Thanks ascension  :Smile:

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## fifty

Seasons greetings to all at CG!  :Smile: 

Managed to find an hour or so between visiting family and indulging to do some more on this map  :Very Happy:  ...

 
The little islands and alleyways are looking pretty ok and the city seems to be taking a bit of shape (at least in this section)


 

...I've also tried to stay clear of 'pointy roofs' as much as possible now!  :Smile: 

Going forwards my intention is to stick a few more interesting structures in as I go and then fill in with more ordinary for the rest:


...hopefully this will allow me to get a nice balance between detail and driving myself mad!! lol!  :Very Happy:

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## xpian

I like the look you're achieving. It reminds me a bit of Alyssa Faden's work. https://www.facebook.com/AlyssaFadenCartography

Do you despair at the sight of all those roofs left to color in? ;-)

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## fifty

lol! ..yes I do despair a little bit sometimes Xpian!  :Very Happy: 

But if it reminds you even a little bit of Alyssa's outstanding work then it'll be worth it!!

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## Wingshaw

Lookin' good. I'll be a heretic and say I prefer your work to Alyssa's.

THW

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## Soixante

May I ask how you're doing the buildings? Are you using a vector program?

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## fifty

Hi Soixante, 

I wouldn't know a vector program if you hit me with  it! lol  :Smile:  ... so I'm just drawing the lines by hand then filling in  with a base grey.

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## fifty

Slow Going but making some progress  :Smile: 



I tend to keep myself engaged by switching between doing the outlines, fills and shading and detailed buildings. 

Probably not the most efficient way of working but taking a break from the more monotonous paint, shade and highlight to do a quirky little building every now and again helps keep me sane! lol  :Very Happy: 

I'll aim to finish the remaining 'grey' buildings then go back over and add in some more ground structures like bridges and details like chimneys and the like.

When all the buildings are done (some time in 2020 at this rate  :Smile:  ) I'll aim to come back and add dirt and tracks on the 'roads' and a few dots of weeds and such...

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## arsheesh

Wow, quite the undertaking!  Looking great so far 50.  I'll be following this thread to watch this develop.  

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

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## fifty

progress continues... 



Still surprising me at how long it actually takes to do the draw, then colour, then shade, then highlight - I reckon I probably do about a pizza 8th of the area you see in a week.

I suppose speed isn't helped by the fact I can easily spend all night mucking about with one or two buildings..




But every now and again I look back over a larger area and think - yep - looks ok to me..



so I use this to try to offset the woe of 'grey to do' (not to mention the city larger still to even touch!!)  :Very Happy:

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## arsheesh

Wow, this is quite the undertaking!  This is really coming along nicely.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

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## fifty

Thanks Arsheesh - I'm still learning as I go so appreciate every bit of encouragement here!  :Cool:

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## Wingshaw

> But every now and again I look back over a larger area and think - yep - looks ok to me.


I'll say! Only two words come to mind when I look at this: utterly stunning!!

I like the large square with purple buildings in the south. In fact, overall, the balance of 'special buildings/landmarks' to regular buildings is done very well.

THW

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## fifty

Thanks THW! - have you noticed my reduced 'X' building roof lines now  :Wink: 

..one thing I know i will have trouble with though is the normal dirt steet areas (still to do) blending into the flagged areas of the squares etc.. 

I've played around a bit but so far nothing seems to quite work.

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## ChickPea

Wow, the detail is fantastic! I'm in awe.

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## fifty

Thanks ChickPea  :Very Happy:  In many ways I'm probably way off in doing too much detail that'll never show at 'cityscale' 

..but personally I've always loved maps that you can sort of 'fall' into, so when I follow the streets around in my mind and look at the buildings I get loads of little stories popping into my head as to who lives there and what's going on. Like street view for the imagination!! lol!! 

..and now I know its late and I need to go to bed!!

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## ChickPea

> Thanks ChickPea  In many ways I'm probably way off in doing too much detail that'll never show at 'cityscale'


I love that you're putting in so much effort to the detail. It gives the viewer the sense that there's always something new to discover round the next corner, and before you know it, an hour of doing nothing but staring at rooftops has gone by!  :Very Happy: 

Looking forward to seeing future updates.

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## Ilanthar

> *By Fifty*
> ..but personally I've always loved maps that you can sort of 'fall' into, so when I follow the streets around in my mind and look at the buildings I get loads of little stories popping into my head as to who lives there and what's going on. Like street view for the imagination!! lol!!


I fully agree with this view, especially for cities, as I tend to build a fantasy place while I'm mapping it.
Keep up the incredible work on this!

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## Wingshaw

> Thanks THW! - have you noticed my reduced 'X' building roof lines now 
> 
> ..one thing I know i will have trouble with though is the normal dirt steet areas (still to do) blending into the flagged areas of the squares etc.. 
> 
> I've played around a bit but so far nothing seems to quite work.


Yeah, big improvement.

As for dirt tracks, I encountered the same issue with my map of Pyrus. What I did was simply create a layer on top of the pavement layer with the dirt-layer settings (I think just a colour overlay and pattern overlay, from memory), paint using a grunge brush, and drop the opacity to ~20% when getting to the areas where the dirt and pavement meet. I'm hoping to upload my latest version of Pyrus today, so you'll be able to see how it works.

THW

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## ascanius

> progress continues... 
> 
> Still surprising me at how long it actually takes to do the draw, then colour, then shade, then highlight - I reckon I probably do about a pizza 8th of the area you see in a week.
> 
> I suppose speed isn't helped by the fact I can easily spend all night mucking about with one or two buildings..
> 
> 
> But every now and again I look back over a larger area and think - yep - looks ok to me..


First this is inspiring!  I've tried my had at city maps and can't really get past the street layout phase.  I've found myself doing more or less the same with the continent i'm mapping right now, working on a mountain switch to coasts and ocean so forth.

I did notice that you have towers and walls extending beyond the circular portion of the city that is mostly mapped out.  Are you going to extend the city to fill those portions too.  

Anyway I look forward to seeing this finished keep up the good work and don't loose your mind with the monotony.

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## fifty

Thanks ascanius  :Smile: 

Yep - it is my intention to fill out the other areas of the city too, I know what these areas are like in terms of type of buildings and such but I have no set design for them yet. 
I'll be putting some very rough guides in for main streets as I go and hopefully this will add to an 'organic' growth of the city street structure rather than leaving me floundering on design!!  :Very Happy:

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## J.Edward

This is excellent work Fifty. All of it is good but I am most taken with your use of light and shadow. 
You took on a monster job and are doing it like a boss. Keep at it. This is one to watch.  :Smile:

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## fabio p

It's great to see a work slowly taking shape and becoming more and more interesting and detailed. This wip is a great example of what can be achieved with such calm, patience and attention to detail.
In another thread an "yearly challenge topic" is being discussed; and this is a great example of how a lengthy yet careful work could inspire lots of people.     
So don't worry if you spend entiere nights on just one building and keep up the good work.

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## Domino44

This is looking so cool! It's been really fun watching it grow!

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## GreatWhiteNorth

I'm about to embark on my own city-mapping odyssey and I was wondering if you could comment on the size of your city? What's the scale like? About how many miles across is it and do you know anything about the population size?

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## fifty

Hi GreatWhiteNorth - 

Some of this may be open to change  :Smile:  but for now....

Nostapyrax is a mercantile hub and a premier city in the setting, we're a late medieval early renaissance sort of place (with a good deal of Byzantium flavour chucked in) and as such it has a fluctuating population (within the walls) varying between 120 thousand to 170 thousand souls. 
The city is a bit over 2.5 miles long and about 2 miles wide (not including buildings close to, but outside the main walls).

Given that many of the buildings are three stories tall or more with residential accommodation above street level shops and businesses I think It will be big enough to fairly represent that sort of scale when I've finished!  :Very Happy:

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## fifty

Thanks J.Edward, Domino44 & Fabio p   I'm really chuffed that you guys like what I'm doing!  :Smile: 

One thing I do to keep me going is to set myself little mini goals - so finish that block by the end of today, colour that section before you do another little special building, or make a different looking roof texture... etc.. 

That keeps me progressing and lets me feel like I've achieved a little bit each time I have a session  :Very Happy:

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## fifty

I've had to briefly slow down because I'm working on the quickplay rules the our system and setting this city is in, but i've made a little progress

Completed a bit more shading and highlighting


.. and moved on to the next section of rooflines


so city dock area looks a little fuller now  :Smile:

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## Ilanthar

Keep going, that's looking very good  :Wink: !

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## ascanius

Hey Fifty the map is coming along very nicely, very very nicely.  I have a question, how did you go about determing the shapes of the important buildgs?  Was it just random or did you have something in mind before hand.  Oh and I like the theater, I think it's a theater at least.

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## Larb

The shading on the buildings - it gives them a lot of depth I think. I'm looking forward to seeing it when it's finished.

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## GreatWhiteNorth

I'm interested in the answer to ascanius' question as well. 

And a follow up: What's the scale of the map? You said the city was about 2x2.5 miles. How big is your document, and do you have a geographic scale in mind, like 1:10,000, 1:15,000 etc?

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## Wingshaw

I don't want to seem too negative (or, for that matter, obsessive about realism), but there are a few issues developing in the roofs of your latest updates. For example, is there a reason the second last image has those triangular houses on the right-hand side? I think there are some other houses that are being distorted in some very odd ways (a pink house in the lower right of that same image, that is a pointy diamond shape, for example).

Something else that I am starting to notice is the significant absence of gardens (private or public). Is that a deliberate decision?

I still think the overall layout is fantastic, and the little alleyways and courtyards are brilliant.

THW

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## Larb

I think fifty is going for a dense city like the Venice picture posted earlier in the thread. I've done similar on some maps of mine. Instead of gardens you tend to just get tiny little courtyards that act more as light-wells than anything else.

I do agree some of the really acutely angled buildings look odd and I usually try to avoid those.

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## fifty

Hi guys, thanks for the nice comments & let me see if I can answer a few of those questions!  :Smile: 




> ascanius -...how did you go about determing the shapes of the  important buildgs?  Was it just random or did you have something in mind  before hand.  Oh and I like the theater, I think it's a theater at  least.


Yes, it is a theatre - called the 'Riot theatre' for reasons I won't go into here  :Very Happy:  because myself and my RPG book co-author have run games in this city for quite some time we have a lot of detail about some buildings and their general location so in these instances I'm sort of creating what we've already described.

Others like the Pharos (a great lighthouse like structure) simply lend themselves to a particular look.


but for the rest, like Fortunes hall.

Gambling house and fest hall, I'm just making it up as I go!  :Very Happy: 




> THW - ...is there a reason the second last image has  those triangular houses on the right-hand side? I think there are some  other houses that are being distorted in some very odd ways (a pink  house in the lower right of that same image, that is a pointy diamond  shape, for example).
> 
> Something else that I am starting to notice is the significant absence  of gardens (private or public). Is that a deliberate decision?


the little triangular houses are within a self contained area called an Iddimu - a place where Daemons and otherworldly citizens of the city can live in relative privacy - I was casting around for some was to make the buildings within seem different to the rest of the city and thought they would work as a little nest of trangular shelters..  as for the pink diamond house - yes I agree - it didn't look so bad until it was coloured - will come out and be replaced at some point!!  :Very Happy: 

The lack of gardens is deliberate though, this area is the dense dock district, as I move away from this area I've tried to make the building a little bigger and grander, certainly when I move into other more wealthy districts I'll be putting in some gardens and parks etc..




> GreatWhiteNorth - What's the scale of the map? You said the city was  about 2x2.5 miles. How big is your document, and do you have a  geographic scale in mind, like 1:10,000, 1:15,000 etc?


the document I'm working on is 5500 pixels tall by 7800 wide, I haven't thought about the specific 1:10,000 at all yet sorry!

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## fifty

> Larb -I think fifty is going for a dense city like the Venice picture  posted earlier in the thread. I've done similar on some maps of mine.  Instead of gardens you tend to just get tiny little courtyards that act  more as light-wells than anything else.
> I do agree some of the really acutely angled buildings look odd and I usually try to avoid those.


Yep - certaily in this sectio I'm thinking dense Venetian streets - or even a crowded elizabethian London dock front, certainly not an area rife with gardens and recreational spaces. I have put on a few market stall areas and a couple of city squares for now though. 

..and feel free to tell me about buildings that look wrong or 'wonky' in some way - tbh after a while I think I stop noticing them and they just get scanned over!  :Razz:

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## fifty

...still alive!  :Very Happy:  

..and  I have even been working on this on and off with a slight break of  about three weeks whilst I finished the quick start rules we've been  promising on Facebook.

I finished the last section of the "Haak"  inner docks ward roofs, ridges and shading etc.. ('cept the posh bit  still to do on the far right) and then put in lots of canal wooden  'docks' smaller bridges and really narrow 'plank span' bridges.

Then  I decided I'd try a few ideas for changing the bright green 'turf' of  the base land into something a bit more drab and inner city street.

Like  most things I attempt this took a lot longer than I thought and 99% of  my trials looked rubbish or would end up taking an inordinate amount of  time ..even by this maps standards! lol

But after many hours I  finally settled with colour & vibrance adjustment layers and then a  layer with a multiply and drop shadow effect and a drybrush for the  'worn paths'.

This is the result so far.



I think they look OK? I can see that a bit of work might still be needed on the wider roads where the 'worn path' could do with being broader but I'm going to move on to the rest of the city for a bit and revisit this later.

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## Ilanthar

Impressive! I really like the way you added some dirt in the middle of the streets.

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## fifty

Thanks Ilanthar 😊

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## wthrasherb

Dude! This looks amazing! I haven't tried a city map since I've been doing digital maps, but I think I have found a "style" to emulate  :Wink:  Unlike some of these hardcore "realists" on here (no offense meant), I could care less about things like a roof not being perfect in real life and such, as long as my finished product looks cool over all (and maybe has rpg application), and you sir (or ma'am? I can never tell with these androgynous screen names and no pic) have achieved a cool looking map. Excited to see the end result.

If I may ask, are you doing this mostly in PS or something similar, or are you using Illustrator (or equivalent) to do the building shapes and such initially?

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## Falconius

God almighty this is some inspired and inspiring stuff.  I think I'll go knuckle down on my city project now...

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## a.coldyham

As soon as those pictures loaded in, this thread was followed. Great job fifty

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## fifty

> If I may ask, are you doing this mostly in PS or something similar, or are you using Illustrator (or equivalent) to do the building shapes and such initially?


Thanks wthrasherb!  :Smile:  - The map is all done in PS - the building shapes are just free hand pen tool utilising the shift key from start point to end point to get straight lines - then grey fill, then ridge lines, then colour, then shade, then highlight, etc..  :Smile: 

I suspect there are quicker ways utilising other software - but I'm a rookie really so I just plod along with my simple ways!  :Very Happy: 

Thanks too Falconius & a.coldyham, slow going so I don't update very often sorry - but if you have the patience to follow - I'll keep popping bits on as i do  :Smile:

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## fifty

I've worked my way round the back of the 'posh' bit of the docks district and included my first public park area.



I've tried to give the impression of trees and shrubs on a grassed area - Originally they were drawn with a hard black edge, but although thin it just made them look like weird blobby buildings so I went for the 'raw' brush without edge - I think it looks OK ?



Now I'm onto the inner walled harbour - a naval district which includes a military shipyard and several large naval warehouses. 

I'm really looking forward to finishing that then I can finally move out into the rest of the city!  :Smile:

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## fifty

Just got back from a week holiday in sunny Majorca so only managed to do the ridges and shading on the inner naval harbour, but this does mean the whole of the docks district is now (finally) finished!!  :Cool: 
 

I'll be revisiting areas of the waterfront right at the end, when I'll possibly try to put in some ships and other feature things like my attempt at a little crane in the shipyard area.



One question for you chaps though.. I've tried to do two curved-slope rather than flat-slope roof warehouses but after staring at them for a while I'm not convinced they work... 



thoughts?  :Smile:

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## Meshon

Maybe try removing the line across the center which suggests a sharp peak?

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## J.Edward

Meshon might be right about the center line.
I hope you can find time and willpower to get back to this fifty.  :Smile: 
I know it can be daunting and taxing doing such a big city.
Hope you're doing well. Cheers.

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## Topdecker

I just wanted to thank you for sharing your progress - it is helpful to see all the design planning and in-progress decisions you've made.  Your work is quite lovely - it will be nice to watch it progress.

Top

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