# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > Sci-fi/Modern Mapping >  Star Wars Various Maps

## LunaticDesign

So I'm running a Star Wars game for some friends of mine and I've gotten more serious about improving as a map maker, probably because we are running it through Roll20 on a TV so that players can see the maps and I don't want to take my players out of the immersion because of quick crappy sketches that I've used for a while now. Instead of just popping up things where I think they might go I'm going to put stuff here because I am looking for feedback and suggestions for improvement.

Some of the things I'll post here will be rough sketches and some will be my attempts to color them in.

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## DrWho42

i'm digging the addition of colour! seems like things are going along swimmingly

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## LunaticDesign

> i'm digging the addition of colour! seems like things are going along swimmingly


I'm working on it. The other maps on here have really given me some great ideas on how to use colors. Still have to figure out brushes.... and stop coloring the wrong layer for 30 minutes!

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## Tiana

The Hoth base looks quite on brand for a meld of SW with AD&D, well done. The color is an excellent addition.

I always turn my layer off and on again to check before I start due to having messed up layers severely before. It's a habit you'll definitely notice in my screen recordings, every once in a while I'll pause and double check it's the right layer by toggling it on and off.

Brushes depend on what program you're in.

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## LunaticDesign

> The Hoth base looks quite on brand for a meld of SW with AD&D, well done. The color is an excellent addition.
> 
> I always turn my layer off and on again to check before I start due to having messed up layers severely before. It's a habit you'll definitely notice in my screen recordings, every once in a while I'll pause and double check it's the right layer by toggling it on and off.
> 
> Brushes depend on what program you're in.


Thank you very much. I'm still working on getting more and more of a SW feel to the maps that I'm making. I'm considering that a fair amount of that might be from the various details that are included in the map. For the software I'm using photoshop cs6 and I just keep tweaking brushes fairly constantly. I like the last one I did so I'll probably be using a bit more here and there.

I'll have to remember the on and off trick... Wait did you also just fix my router?

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## LunaticDesign

Still having problems with craters!!!!

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## Tiana

Aw, you're pretty close on the craters though, just add some more lines sticking out of them and a few more ziggy bits instead of the gaps and they look great! They're just not quite 'finished' yet but the shape's there and the essence of them is there.

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## LunaticDesign

Thank you!!!

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## LunaticDesign

An attempt at a double sized map. They seemed to match up pretty well I think. Not sure about my color choices though.

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## Tiana

If there's a seam I am not noticing it. The colors are fine to me. You would get more of the 'computer screen glow' if you did it digitally as 'overlay' rather than watercolor, that might be what's throwing you off, the expectation of the luminescence that's not going to be present in the gentler media? This one is really scratching my 'Star Wars' itch though, that bay of x-wings is delightful.

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## LunaticDesign

> If there's a seam I am not noticing it. The colors are fine to me. You would get more of the 'computer screen glow' if you did it digitally as 'overlay' rather than watercolor, that might be what's throwing you off, the expectation of the luminescence that's not going to be present in the gentler media? This one is really scratching my 'Star Wars' itch though, that bay of x-wings is delightful.


It was split right through the middle of the mountain portion. I may be a bit of a masochist but I'm glad that it worked out fairly well. I'll definitely have to try using an overlay as opposed to the water color.

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## Tiana

Don't get me wrong, I love the watercolor look. It's so charming.

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## LunaticDesign

Thank you very much. one of these days I'm going to try on a kind of paper that will let me use actual water colors but I don't think that I am quite there yet.

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## Tiana

Like a thick paper? You can get it for cheap at a dollar store, just a tip for experimenting. You don't have to skip right to the $16 for a sheet of paper specialty stuff.

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## LunaticDesign

> Like a thick paper? You can get it for cheap at a dollar store, just a tip for experimenting. You don't have to skip right to the $16 for a sheet of paper specialty stuff.


Thanks, I wasn't sure that dollar store paper would do. Are you talking about the dollar store art books because I think that I have one of those. The problem is that I'm not sure if I can draw a map well without a grid. Keeping structures straight seems like it would be an awful lot more work.

and because I've finished the latest one I'll include it here.

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## LunaticDesign

Today's latest. A last minute addition to the next game.

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## bkh1914

> The problem is that I'm not sure if I can draw a map well without a grid. Keeping structures straight seems like it would be an awful lot more work.


Drafting triangles and light pencil lines can help a lot with that problem.
Erase the pencil lines afterwards and no one will ever know.  :Smile:

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## Tiana

I dunno, the paper's not great but it works for experimenting on.

As for grids, if you color digitally it's very easy to remove light blue if you drew in black. So no harm in using a grid paper. I use programs and hotkeys to shortcut digitally having a ruler but I don't know how to do some results traditionally without rulers. So yeah, a lot more work. But it can still be eyeballed. Also both maps are delightful, you have lucky players.

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## LunaticDesign

Thank you both of you for the helpful suggestions.

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## LunaticDesign

I'm working with some new brushes. Feedback appreciated!

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## Tiana

It has a nice texture energy to it without overwhelming your art, I think it's a good choice.

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## LunaticDesign

Thank you so much!

I've got a bunch done for the next game... As always looking for feedback and things that I can improve upon.

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## Tiana

In the thumbnail, those craters look incredible, so I think it might be a matter of creating your work bigger than the final product. Zooming out brings it together in the same way that standing away from a painting does. The space station reminds me of Knights of the Old Republic's maps.

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## LunaticDesign

I'll have to see about blowing things up in photoshop and then sizing them back down again. Thanks for the tip!

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## LunaticDesign

So with so much downtime between the last game and the next one coming up I've managed to work on a different campaign. Hopefully the Star Wars game gets back on track for a more regular schedule but in the meantime I'm still making content.

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## LunaticDesign

I changed the way I'm handling my shadow layer and the lag issues with photoshop have stopped!

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## LunaticDesign

Well now I've finally finished the maps I'll be using for the next game. It's a prison break out.

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## LunaticDesign

The next game is set on Nar Shaddaa so I'm working on a more industrial ecumenopolis feel to the maps that I'm drawing. I've got about 8 maps to draw. One is inked and hasn't been colored yet but the others will be along hopefully in short order.

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## Tiana

You should consider packaging these up and selling them as a set for other DMs.

The Nar Shaddaa Catina is great. It looks like a legitimate layout for such a building in Star Wars.

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## Tiana

There's a subreddit for Star Wars maps specifically, you should share your maps there. r/star_wars_maps

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## LunaticDesign

Thank you very much. That is one heck of a compliment! I will check out the subreddit. I don't know anything about selling maps but I will definitely look into it.

Here's an Apartment building in Nar Shaddaa

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## LunaticDesign

The cantina colored in... still thinking about the lighting.

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## LunaticDesign

Not sure how I feel about this one.

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## LunaticDesign

And here's another Narshaddaa Night club. I still have about 5 more to go before I'm done and mapped out for the next game.

Attachment 119783

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## LunaticDesign

Here's a landing platform... it's always nice when I manage to get some map drawing in.

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## LunaticDesign

Here's a sketch for a Battle Map for the "streets"

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## LunaticDesign

Here's the map colored in. I'm still playing with making soooooo many lights. I like this effect better than I did on the previous ones.

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## LunaticDesign

And another one... Still gearing up for the next game and this is my first attempt at a multi-tiered combat map. I've inverted the shading that I use for walls and cliffs to see if it works a little bit better.

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## Tiana

Use arrows to point the direction the terrain goes, for better usability, but I can tell what the depth map is attempting to show. It mostly works. For the lighting, do one more layer, and using the same or a similar color, splash on some Linear Dodge or Screen to get a bit more of that lightsaber glow on the light source, or brighten up the spot the light is specifically hitting a bit more instead of just having that spot be 'the most color'. Right now your gradient is just the amount of color that's present, but if you fiddle around so there's a bit more of a glow to it with different layer sandwiches, you'll result in a more "luminescent" effect, I guess. Right now it reminds me of watercolor paint.

I respect the brave choices of going all out there with your colors and if that's what your heart is calling out for, then do it until you're happy with it. If you're not, that's because you'll benefit from a bit of color theory.

Try picking on your color wheel:
-Two colors that are across from each other.
-Three colors that are in a triangle from each other
-Three colors that are in a Y shape from each other. 
-Four colors that are in a :: shape from each other (so not quite a square, but like, a squished rectangle)
-Four colors that are in a ) shape along one side of the circle.

These can be distributed however you like for lighter or darker colors.

Or try:
-Only warm colors for the lighting, only cool colors for the shadows, or the other thing (warm shadows, cool highlights)

Or try:
-All shadows are a desaturated version of the color, all highlights are a highly saturated version of the color.

Right now, if the setting is 'night club' you do whatever you want.

I actually like the Landing Platform coloring quite a bit. It does not say 'lights' to me, it says 'eerie shadows'. That might be why you don't like it, if you wanted luminescence and ended up with mood. It reminds me very much of Nar Shaddaa. The only part which triggers my brain to think of luminescence is on the bottom middle, where the purple hits the office, and only when it overlaps the wall. The street light itself could have a dot of lighter color right in the center to be emitting that halo, and then it would sell it better. But, your players are also damn lucky to get all this awesome art and don't mind my critiques if you're happy with them.

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## LunaticDesign

Thank you very much for the feedback. I think that really got me on the right track of where I was trying to go. The dial isn't set to night club... it's set to annoying neon. Hopefully this tweak manages to get a bit more luminescent.

Attachment 119825

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Attachment 119829

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## LunaticDesign

Here's a new one still working on Nar Shaddaa

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## Tiana

Aw yeah that one looks great, you got the colors where they needed to be this time.  :Smile:  The ones at the bottom of the previous page aren't showing up though.

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## LunaticDesign

Yeah I have no idea why they weren't working.

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## Tiana

You probably took longer than half an hour to post it after uploading. That will cause the server to think they're non-attached and purge them. It's a quirk of this website.

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## LunaticDesign

Here's the latest a chemical Lab on Nar Shaddaa

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## Tiana

Love the pipes!

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## LunaticDesign

Thank you very much!

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## LunaticDesign

I am particularly happy with this one. I changed how I'm handling lighting and shadows on the map.

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## LunaticDesign

A multi layered map, My first it took a fair bit more planning that I had anticipated.

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## Tiana

That rubble map is quite nice.

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## LunaticDesign

Thank you, I'm continuing to refine how I add in details and how they get colored.

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## Tiana

You've come a long way since you've started. This map is very good, you have excellent efficiency in your use of assets and taken that time instead to give some real nice character to your shading. Consider trying out, for an especially bright lightsource, putting a second glow layer above the lineart so that it has more intensity. Also consider doing on a second glow layer, a scattering of dots (like you do on the floor but smaller) to represent dust/bugs in the air in a dirty area.

It's lovely, your color choices are great, I love those little punches of red, the walls have these meandering little alcoves that create an interesting irregularity to wander along... it's populated... this is a good map.

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## LunaticDesign

Thankl you for the feed back, I will definitely check that out!

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## rdanhenry

Don't think I'd want to meet the rodent that chewed through *that* cable.

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## LunaticDesign

oh you spotted that?  :Smile:

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## LunaticDesign

Something from the game coming up.

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## Tiana

Nice colors!

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## LunaticDesign

Here's a new one

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## LunaticDesign

I'm still looking into how I draw and color cliffs. Looking for something that looks more like I want them to even though I still haven't figured out how I want them to look.

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## Tiana

Try making parts of the cliff overhang instead of being splayed out on a slope. So, what you have, is nice, but then you could add one layer over top of it and give some areas where it hangs out further and gives that illusion of depth. Colors on the cliff look nice. So does the lava effect.

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## LunaticDesign

I'm not sure what you mean by making portions over hang. Can you provide a link to an example?

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## Tiana

Demo with your artwork, very fast mockup... see how now some of the trees on the highest level clip over the rocks to hide some of them from view, instead of all of the rocks splaying out at an even inclination? This implies that that spot is steeper, and the cliff might be crumbling. This kind of overlap can give an extra layer of dimension, though obviously what I did here is not a high quality example and if you drew it you'd probably break up the branches a bit, exposing pieces of the rock underneath. Much easier to do that digitally, making a tree layer and a cliff layer, and drawing in more of the cliff than will actually be seen in the end, so you can have bits of it exposed through the branches. I'm just showing how if you moved it a bit you get a greater illusion of depth. I think the cliff shading itself is very nice.

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## LunaticDesign

Thank you very much. Though it appears that I'm still detailing in such a way as the elevation is appearing to be the opposite of what is intended.

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## Tiana

Yes, to me that doesn't look like a steep cliff (though I can tell that's what you're aiming for), but rather, a hill.  :Smile:  It's not the detailing, but that the design you chose is visible from all the angles, and never overhung by something. If those trees are supposed to actually be "moss at the bottom of a ravine" then you did miss the directional cue but the fallen rocks tell me that no, that is higher. Anyway, it would be cleared up at the table by a player asking "is this up or down" and you'd say "it's up, you can reach it if you jump but it'll take you a turn to climb up to high ground" and then it's canon and their imaginations will fill in the gaps.

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## LunaticDesign

My first attempt at messing around on my tablet drawing. It's on a kindle fire. I think I like these cliffs better than I do others.

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## LunaticDesign

Here it is all colored in and everything. It's a lot more detail than I normally put into my maps.

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## LunaticDesign

He's an office in the current style that I am doing!

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## LunaticDesign

Here's something scifi and Star Wars Related in the style that I'm currently working on.

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## Tiana

I love it!  :Very Happy:

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## Jacob H

This is some great work and even better place to find inspiration haha!

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## LunaticDesign

thank you, I'm changing the way that I do water and other liquids and I'm enjoying it so far.

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## Spaceblink

That's very interessant to see ur evolution between the 1st and the 8th page  :Laughing: 

Very impressive !

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## LunaticDesign

Thank you very much. I've been working on it since I came back to the hobby. I think that the best is still yet to come and I am excited what the next year of map making and gaming has in store for me.

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## Darkwater

Your maps are really awesome Lunatic! I was wondering, is your game SW5E or Fantasy Flight? I'm currently running an Old Republic SW5E game myself and love seeing maps like yours to inspire me to work on my own! I can definitely see the improvement of your style through the various maps you've made.

Here is a sample of my work as a fellow Star Wars cartographer - it's based off the Dantooine Jedi Enclave from KOTOR.

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## LunaticDesign

Neither actually. The game started as an introduction to GURPS and we transitioned it over to Savage Worlds. I still prefer the old WEG d6 system over the FFG or D20 based systems.

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## LunaticDesign

Here's a long over due update!

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## Vayne

lyou do nice work!

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## LunaticDesign

Thank you!

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## twowolves80

Here's the H-Type Nubian Yacht, extrapolated from the Complete Cross-Sections.



Here's another rando warehouse map, hand-drawn.

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## Tiana

Gonna run a Star Wars campaign in 2022 and these are gonna come in handy!

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## LunaticDesign

Awesome to hear! I've also got a bunch of stuff on dtrpg for pwyw.

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## twowolves80

I have others:

Consular-Class Republic Cruiser

Lower Deck:



Main Deck:



Upper Deck:



Flight Deck:



I also have a major cantina and _Saga Edition_ write-ups for the Hutt that owns it, his majordomo, his spymaster/chef, his mechanic, the bartender, the Twi'leks working there, the bartender's wife...most of my Star Wars stuff shoehorns right into canon and is a bit like the tv series _Lost,_ where everything is tied together. lol

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## LunaticDesign

Something new since it has been a while.

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## LunaticDesign

Here's a bit of a crash site.

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## rdanhenry

> Here's a bit of a crash site.


I'm glad the crash missed those lovely flowers. Maybe they have Force powers? My character's going to check them out.

Comparing with the older maps in this thread, I can see that your line work has definitely gotten stronger. And the design of this is pretty impressive, too. Despite it being a still map, it has a dynamic sense to it, where you can read the action of the crash.

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## LunaticDesign

Thanks, I'm glad that I've been improving as much as I have.

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## LunaticDesign

Here is another one.

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## LunaticDesign

This one took a while to get back to.

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## LunaticDesign

Hope you enjoy!

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## Tiana

It looks lovely. You've come so far since the beginning of this thread!

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## LunaticDesign

Thanks, it is really nice to see work paying off like it has.

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## LunaticDesign

Someone's been living in a degree of isolation.

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## Tiana

A perfect place for a Jedi to be hiding!

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## LunaticDesign

Here's another one that I tried something new with colored lighting.

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## twowolves80

lmao My dude, trust me, you could have the world's crappiest map drawn on a napkin with lipstick, and so long as your _story-telling_ is tight, the players would think it's straight out of Disney. Yes, map quality helps, but only to set the stage. Once that is done, your story-telling is what comes to the fore, and the rest fades to the background.

The details to focus on, graphically and only if you really have the time and are a masochist, are greebles. Boxes, clutter in the background, and after all that, shading over the top of it to create "light" spots to give the illusion of shadow and depth. Shading will do more for maps than all of the above, come to think of it, because of that illusion. Also, a good graphics editor suite like CorelDraw for $200 (Black Friday! Woo!) are worth their weight in gold. If you prefer hand drawing, I would go with Prismacolors for pencils, Sakura Micron pens for line work, and chalk and kneading eraser for back drop fills. 

One other thing about the greebles: make them logical. Stuff tends to collect under staircases. Boxes accumulate in closets and dead end hallways. Think about where you'd end up putting things if you lived there for an extended period of time. There is no upper limit on the amount to add, either, so long as it all makes sense to your story and to the NPCs that live there. Elianora became famous as the Clutter Queen for her Skyrim mods for the exact same reason: more detail adds more depth, both visually and story-wise, and that in turn creates the illusion of immersion. That same principle applies to other franchises, too, like Star Wars (the EU) and Star Trek. The greater the self-referential detail within the macrocosm you create, the greater the depth in immersion.

Edit: Your newer ones are pretty good. Shadow is much better. In the last one, just add some dark spots on top, in the corners, around the periphery of the lights, and maybe give the color spots a little more transparency to blend them back a bit. If I had to guess, I'd say it's a random encounter map for a city setting?

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