# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > Regional/World Mapping >  World of Thersis

## Naima

Hello , Here I wanted to start a new thread on an older project of mine I decided to renew a bit.

I wanted so to refine a bit the shape of parts of the continents to give a a more interesting look and shapes.
All the continents have been made according to tectonic plates and continental shelves as can be seen in the older WIP thread here.

So here is a new Physical map of Thersis.


For naming I am following a sort of mix of names taken from ancient cultures and languages with a bit of changes ... 

For example Thersis comes from the Indoeuropean word for Earth wich is Tersa.

Then here a list of some of the names I am using or deriving from to kind of remind an ethymology.

_Ersetia(ersetu Sumerian)
Pacua ( Pacha inca terra) 
Sachea
Hawaki ( terra origine hawai)
Thule (  Ancient mythical land )
Vardia( Vardar greek wind)
Citeria 
Ulteria
Akakor
Aztlan (  Ancient mythical Aztec land )
Ophir ( Ancient mythical region from Bible ) 
Meropis( Greek atlantis parody)
Anostos ( non return greek)
Hyperia ( beyond greek) 
Vaniria (Vanir ) 
Erdea (Erde german for Earth) 
Kumbaba 
Wana(terra sanskrit )
Paititi ( lost land Inca)
Auraea ( Emilio Salgari )
Chereseto ( Emilio Salgari )
Venatoria( hunting latin)
Mania ( of the man)
Thersis ( Tersa Indoeuropean)
udadhea(udadhí sea Sanskrit)
Borealia( Borea north wind)
Suchandra (Tibetan king of Shambala)
Devendra (Tibetan king of Shambala)
Al kebu lan(Ancient name of africa)
Afaria ( Afar dust Phoenician)
Arborea( land of trees latin )
Cemanahuac( Aztec name of land surrounded by water)
Zipacna ( Mayan for crocotile earth crust )
Dunia ( Swhaili for Earth )
Shamba  (land for swhaili )
Indra ( Hindu deity )
Geb ( Ancient Egypt for world ) 
Zep Tepi ( Ancient Egypt of First time ) 
Aker ( Ancient Egypt for Horizon) 
Vatha ( Sanskrit for Wind )
EKwos ( Indoeuropean for Horse )
Erwā ( Indoeuropean for  land )
Seres ( latin name for Chinese )
_

So I plan to use ancient languages to label place names and give both times an exotic sound and an more realistic meaning to the places by making compositions like for example Hima in Sanskrit means snow , laya , home  , Hima laya means so snow home or dwelling .... I plan to make similar compositions.


I would be happy to receive comments, opinions, sugestions about the map , the naming system , the labeling way and everything else that might help make me the map more realistic and interesting ... 
I also latinized a bit the toponimy to make a sort of latin world view of the world with latinization of the names.

Es Aztlan is the mythical land of the ancient Aztecs is Latinized as Aztlantia.

Thankyou all for attention.

Here the WIP map .

The map was 21k x 10 k so I had to reduce to 16kx8k and the one showed in this page is reduced even more .... to see it larger follow the upper link.




Large Map.

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## LordCartoart

Very cool. I notice the shape is somewhat inspired by Earth.

It isn't that obvious though. Especially when you put the Americas the right rather than the left.

I always like to look for origins, so mind me picking your map apart  :Razz:  (of course assuming I'm right about my speculation). It is a very cool map. Look forward to seeing more!

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## Naima

> Very cool. I notice the shape is somewhat inspired by Earth.
> 
> It isn't that obvious though. Especially when you put the Americas the right rather than the left.
> 
> I always like to look for origins, so mind me picking your map apart  (of course assuming I'm right about my speculation). It is a very cool map. Look forward to seeing more!


Thankyou Yes please pick it apart. My intention was to make a similar to earth Planet and piace some cultures to imagine how physical barriers could evolve them.

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## The_Sleeping_Dragon

It is stunning but I do have some suggestions

I am not sure how far back you want to go: the first evidence of mankind developing a creation story is in Hawaii c1800BC but a belief in God and magic dates from around 12000BC.  Imagery as words dates from c38000 years ago (the oldest cave drawings in Turkey) but the written word is probably c 3100BC in Mesopotamia (Iran) with a 200 year gap due to the flood c2400BC whilst the first written word in America is c300BC.  The first cosmology was recorded c1400BC 

Neanderthal man and one other species of hominid lived alongside homo sapiens right up to c8000BC with interbreeding seeing all three species merge - again not sure of you wish to go back so far

All of this suggests you need to include Turkish, Armenian, Persian/Iranian, Kurdish, Gallic French, Moroccan and Egyptian names into your world, reduce the size of the Himalayas as they were originally smaller than the Caucasus and Atlas Mountains, create a much larger eastern continent with key features of the Middle Sea, Black Sea, Caucasus, Atlas and Massif, the two rivers and the Nile with the Sinai desert representing the barrier that would see the exodus from Africa to Europe delayed until 50000BC with many believed not to have made it across the desert during that exodus

However you say you wish to update the continents and refer to tectonic movement.  The main impact on our continental shape was not tectonic movement.  A comet struck the Earth in 12000BC causing everything under 200feet to be under water for c200 years, wiping out most species and requiring mankind to domesticate animals to avoid their extinction changing the culture from one of hunting (cave drawings) to one of husbandry, beginning the first societies, representing the beginning of mores, law, religion, language.  A second flood c8000BC would create Sweden, Norway, Denmark, North coast of Russia as far as Finland, France and Britain as we know them but was caused by an ice shelf collapse and the resulting wave went mainly west to create the east coast of America. It would have had a dramatic effect on life and saw ancient camps built on hill tops eg the founding of Rome.  The next major event was caused by 'Global warming': the Gulf stream shifted reducing the ice pack and causing the River Po to rise wiping out all of the cities in Sumer requiring the people of UR to move to the Zagros and briefly seeing no written word.  We cant be certain of the theory of Global warming but the reduction in the ice pack seems to be similar to that we have seen over the last 38 years (11inches down to 4) with climate change in the north of Europe and especially Scandinavia where many ffyords remained open during winter.  Climate change, both ice ages where the last one is thought to have been c 12000BC as the after effect of the comet strike (which would have thrown up a cloud of dust similar to thee effect of nuclear winter) and then the warming effect of the move north of the Gulf stream suddenly creating a mild climate in north Europe but also leading to the rise of rivers in southern Europe and the Mediterranean seeing the end of all cities ie civilisation for 200 years.

However have you considered testing our evolution in a very different environment?  You could shape your world by its tectonic movement and create a world orientated differently with a different cosmology and land masses affected by both tactic activity out of control and an impending terminal event then test mankind's cultural reaction to this.  You have the option of creating a fantasy response which I touch on later

Depending on how great the tectonic activity is you could go completely original and have tectonic activity gradually destroying your world perhaps with c1000 years to go before all land and sea is destroyed.  This sets a helpful time limit on any fantasy/RPG, and as land gradually reduces it explains why the chaos of a fantasy game might emerge as people fight for land.  You can explain magic as the evolution of the human species in response to the need to survive (mainly psionics), also evolving into sub species of dwarves, elves, Orcs etc

You could start by re-orientating to have a west and east pole which immediately removes any semblance to Earth

Your land masses that survive would be mountainous at their western edge whilst the rise of sea levels due to the melting of your western pole would see small peninsula like land masses in response to tectonic activity. The gravity of an approaching asteroid which will destroy your planet in c1000 years time will see your land masses stretched to become like fingers. The left hand of your world becomes a mass of volcanoes and mountains with shallow seas of hot bubbling water 

You might then want to create a different cosmology and consider several Moons rather than the two the Earth has, even have moons within your atmosphere with great pathways between them and capable of being approached by long stairways provided someone can use their psionic ability to morph an atmosphere, the spell of breathe under water or are an Elf, Orc or dwarf as the air would be much thinner

Sorry this is all a bit random but key is that either you reflect the development of culture from the largest land mass which is Africa or perhaps test cultural evolution under different circumstances of a world with tectonic activity out of control and facing an impending terminal event

Best wishes

Sleeping Dragon

First map shows true land masses
Second is one of the earliest known maps

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## The_Sleeping_Dragon

Dear Naima

For some reason I was not allowed to edit my post

I wanted to add the cultural development of Earth

Starting with the Americas we see the first colonisation from Asia by hominids interbred with homo sapiens who crossed the land masses of Asia, Australia and through a land bridge into S America c12000Bc probably a migration caused by the impact of the comet strike.  A second movement would see Mongoloids again part hominid migrate from Siberia across a land bridge into Alaska then down to Canada and N America.  MesoAmerican culture was the first recorded in Central America c7000BC and seems to have seen interbreeding between Monghul and Asian tribes - we see the same move from hunter to husbandry as in Europe and follows the 8000BC flood.  Olmecs were the first society to develop c1500BC after a formative period of tribal development over c4500-5500 years which saw language, art, sport, religion, science, architecture and technology develop. Mayan development was from 2000BC approx. to 500BC during which they moved from tribal to the establishment of their first cities c750BC.

Meanwhile Chinese culture arose with the Xia and Shang c 2500BC whilst the IndoAryans arrive in northern India and settle before migrating to Europe c 1700BC.  The Phoenicians spread culture across the Mediterranean basin from c1400-1200BC, then there are various movements as different peoples move east to west across Europe eg Greeks, Romans, Persians, Israelites, Islam, Monghuls and three major invasions/conquests going east: Heroditus, Alexander and Islamic empire

If you want to cover later periods then we have post Columbus America or post Cook Australia linked to the development of the British Empire, as well as African kingdoms and empires

The history of Africa begins with the emergence of Homo sapiens in East Africa c70000BC see Toba catastrophe theory
The first recorded Kingdom of Kush was as late as after the 25th dynasty of Egypt 

Egypt was the first culture to develop a way of capturing and recording their laws and history. Egypt's prehistory was c6000BC and the Pharaonic period began c3150BC 

Ciao

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## The_Sleeping_Dragon

Ooops, mossed the Aztecs and S America and native Indians in N America
Aztecs came into the region of Central America from S America c13th C AD
N American had a paleolithic settlement in Yukon and Alaska (from Mongolia)which migrated either post the ice shelf flood or the brief ice age that is thought to have caused the shift of the Gulf stream c3500BC.  Societies began to develop mound building similar to those built by Neolitholic cultures in Europe but much earlier ie Europe's first mounds date to c2500BC.  The mound building however developed faster in Europe with its spreading across Britain and France and coinciding with the same culture as the builders of stone circles c2500-1500BC.  In N America we see the Mississipi basic develop mounds from 3500BC with evidence of social expansion from 1500-250BC and writing c300C,  The first culture was the Pueblo c1200BC, the Freemont c1AD and  Hohokam c1AD in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Nevada.

You also have the woodland period- those cultures that were neither hunters nor into  husbandry and was from c1000BC to c1500AD: it saw mound building and trade of exotic goods as well as complex burial practises.  Pottery was observed from 1000BC to 700AD and suggest these cultures traded to obtain food and clothing materials etc rather than farm or hunt themselves
They also captured shellfish off beaches on the eastern coastline and may have fished the Ohio river being settled mainly in the east especially in Ohio and Illinois.

Attachment 96402

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## The_Sleeping_Dragon

Finally S America and my apologies for multiple posts but I get timed out due to my disability which limits me to typing with the middle finger on left hand having been right handed for most of my life

Inca Empire in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia 
Cambeda in Brazil
Muisca Confederation also in Columbia
Cueva in Panama
Diquis in Costa Rica
from c1500 BC (1476BC) to 1534AD
Preceramic sees 6 Periods from c12000BC to 1500BC
Post Late Horizon ie the Inca period, sees 5 other Periods with the earliest being called the Early Period:
Ecuador: Cotocollao; Machalilla; Peru: Early Chiripa, Kotosh, Chavín Toríl (The Cumbe Mayo aqueduct was built c. 1000 BC), Argentina: Tehuelches (c1820BC)

Hope that helps

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## ThomasR

That thread instantly became a goldmine ! Especially for people like me interested in earth (geography for my part) in ancient times.

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## Mouse

Tony - if you tick the 'remember me' box next time you log in you won't get timed out  :Wink:

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## The_Sleeping_Dragon

Dear ThomasR
if you have any threads going on developments and would welcome more info on Earth's cultural development, languages, archaeology, ecology and the evolution of mankind plus the geography of Earth please point me to those threads you have started. I am new to this forum so am still trying to navigate around
Naima is an absolute star and (I think from the Venetian mask which was from the Carnivale in 2011) her idea is fascinating and her posts have always been inspiring from the few I have had the pleasure of reading
Best wishes

The Sleeping Dragon

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## The_Sleeping_Dragon

> Tony - if you tick the 'remember me' box next time you log in you won't get timed out


Brilliant and thank you

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## Naima

Thankyou The_Sleeping_Dragon I will go throught your posts that are very interesting and informative, One thing I was not sure if to adopt only a latin style naming for the whole world so latinizing names as said for example for aztlantia or use both a LAtin for the west and a more local one for the others ... Or perhaps add both like a latinization and an original name under. OR finally go for the classic fantasy style with english labeling like city of , desert of etc...

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## Charerg

> However you say you wish to update the continents and refer to tectonic movement.  The main impact on our continental shape was not tectonic movement.  A comet struck the Earth in 12000BC causing everything under 200feet to be under water for c200 years, wiping out most species and requiring mankind to domesticate animals to avoid their extinction changing the culture from one of hunting (cave drawings) to one of husbandry, beginning the first societies, representing the beginning of mores, law, religion, language.  A second flood c8000BC would create Sweden, Norway, Denmark, North coast of Russia as far as Finland, France and Britain as we know them but was caused by an ice shelf collapse and the resulting wave went mainly west to create the east coast of America.


Sorry to play the devil's advocate here, but I'd like to point out that the 12 900 BP impact hypothesis is speculative, and has been widely criticized. Even if one accepts the theory, I don't believe anyone has suggested a massive flood, let alone one lasting for hundreds of years. Personally, I think the idea remains a bit far fetched. Similarly, the other "catastrophe theories" that link floods and other catastrophic events into specific human cultures or advances in lifestyle (such as animal husbandry), are very speculative, and tend to be lacking in substantial evidence.

One might point out, as an example, that animal domestication has occurred as far back as the domestication of dogs (at least 13 000 BC), and "re-invented" numerous times on numerous continents and locales (such as the domestication of turkey in Mesoamerica ca. 200 BC, or the domestication of the reindeer ca. 3000 BC in northern Eurasia). It is unlikely that a connection exists between animal domestication and any catastrophe event, given that this appears a more-or-less universal practice (btw, these numbers are from wikipedia).

Similarly, the advent of language cannot be connected to adoption of animal husbandry (or similar changes in lifestyle). The reason being that there were (and still are, in some cases) plenty of human populations that have never had any other lifestyle than hunter-gathering (the Inuit, numerous American Indian groups, the San people, to name a few), yet they obviously still possess a language of their own. Similarly, all known human groups have some kind of belief regarding their origin, the origin of the world, and so forth, as well as some system of social laws. Therefore, I would consider all these an essentially base component of any human society, and such structures probably have existed in some form for a very long time indeed.

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## Naima

Ok Somehow its seeming a little unrealistic to place latin names for the whole world , what you think?

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## Naima

Updated with Version II

The Map features a combination of Latin Toponymy, I also realized an English and a fictional language to create new toponimies in the future, but for now I liked Latin.
I also created a Hypsographic , Biome , Batymetric map.



Original 



Here is the fictional language I was working on they have a resemblance in origin with Earth cultures, but are not the same and when possible I am referring to ancient forms of the languages as Inspiration.


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

I worked on the following :

Aerdian : Equivalent to an Indoeuropean
Aequilan : Equivalent to an - Italic - Latin
Virmanian : Equivalent to a - German
Kaltian : Equivalent to a - Gaulish

Other :

Xorian : Mongol/Turkich
Hyrkan : Scyto/ Sarmatian
Kethan : Egyptian/Copt
Ophirian : Semitic/Arab/Jew/ Aramaic
Bamu : Ancient Bantu
Indran : Sanskrit/Hindu
Yanian : Ancient Chinese
Kangan: Ancient Burmese/Tibetan
Intica: Incan
Ixtec : Aztec
Pacuan : Polinesian


I will base some or many location names on a possible word composition based on those.

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## Naima

Some Projections.

http://orig09.deviantart.net/2d46/f/..._a-dbd93fq.png

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## Ilanthar

I love what you have done here, Naima. The land shapes are excellent and the colours are spot on.

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## - JO -

A very nice map! I am impressed by your mastery of this real, almost photographic rendering! Very impressive !

edit : I just wish I could zoom in your map... I'd love to see the details

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## Naima

> I love what you have done here, Naima. The land shapes are excellent and the colours are spot on.


Thankyou very much  :Smile: .
I have yet to add many names and the legend with the not so easy to read biomes, but I wanted to make them very blended. some are easy to recognize other harder .




> A very nice map! I am impressed by your mastery of this real, almost photographic rendering! Very impressive !
> 
> edit : I just wish I could zoom in your map... I'd love to see the details


Thankyou , you can zoom by going to the link , because the image upload did allow me to attach only a small image. 
Even Deviant art doesn't allow me to upload the full res map that is 21 k.

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## Deoridhe

A comment on languages - if you think of maps as being a function of culture, then it makes sense to have them in a single language; on earth we certainly do that! it would be interesting to do a map where the features inside of territory lands were of the language(s) of the people living there, but places where multiple languages overlap might be trickier to space out. 

I personally love the idea of taking a natural features map and modifying it to fit the mindsets of different cultures to see what is kept and lost - like how in the US we mark addresses by number and street and the numbers are in order, whereas in Japan they mark addresses by number and block and the numbers are according to which building came first. I think it can be a lens through which you lay out the unspoken perspective of differing cultures.

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## Naima

Thanks I am right now remapping parts of the western Aerdia because I noticed its kind ot too low on the hemisphere when stretched to spherical coordinates, so I am also extending part of the Dunia and remapping parts of Axia.

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## Robulous

Very nice! So you originally used Fractal Terrains right, what are you using now? I have a main data map in FT but mainly use Photoshop. Funny story: I originally mapped my world of Helevos by hand, but needed to expand the world to create extra continents... and by pure coincidence, the first time I clicked a randomly generated world, it was almost *exactly* what I wanted, including a continent very similar to what I'd already drawn!

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## Naima

> Very nice! So you originally used Fractal Terrains right, what are you using now? I have a main data map in FT but mainly use Photoshop. Funny story: I originally mapped my world of Helevos by hand, but needed to expand the world to create extra continents... and by pure coincidence, the first time I clicked a randomly generated world, it was almost *exactly* what I wanted, including a continent very similar to what I'd already drawn!


Hi I used FT as base ,a lot of Wilbur then Photoshop then refining with world machine and then back in photoshop , right now I am altering some coast shapes as I am not satisfied by the look of some that looks unnatural , for example northern continents near the poles shoudl have a lot of fragmentated coastlines due to ice cracks , fjords, ice ages etc ...

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## Pixie

Hi there Naima. Your map is so cool and years ahead of anything I ever done. You mix FT, Wilbur and Photoshop which is something I tried a couple of times with exactly zero results worth showing. So, I am very honored that you mention me as a source. I am the one inspired by your work - well done! Bravo! 

As for the conlanguage side of things. I wrote a couple of words for a conlanguage when I was pre-teenage. From then on, it never really caught my attention, so I can't be of use for you. 

However, and I'm sure I'm not the first noting this: you have two kinds of maps in conworld - those inworld, which are written by "one character" for "a public", and thus, written in one language and with one  point of view (maybe limited) - and those offworld, which are basically your notes as allmighty creator.

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## Naima

> Hi there Naima. Your map is so cool and years ahead of anything I ever done. You mix FT, Wilbur and Photoshop which is something I tried a couple of times with exactly zero results worth showing. So, I am very honored that you mention me as a source. I am the one inspired by your work - well done! Bravo! 
> 
> As for the conlanguage side of things. I wrote a couple of words for a conlanguage when I was pre-teenage. From then on, it never really caught my attention, so I can't be of use for you. 
> 
> However, and I'm sure I'm not the first noting this: you have two kinds of maps in conworld - those inworld, which are written by "one character" for "a public", and thus, written in one language and with one  point of view (maybe limited) - and those offworld, which are basically your notes as allmighty creator.


Lol Pixie , thanks a lot  :Very Happy: , but I know its not true  :Very Happy: ... Your map as well as the Chareg one are way more Correct and precise than mine and also involved quite a lot of more detailed and precise custom work than mine. 
I took the "easy" route where I did the preliminary tectonics , from there I moved on to reach the wanted "look" because of idea of "cool" areas to have like a sort of mediterranean - eurasia - africa style positioning.
And much of the land elevation is based on a combination of Fractal terrain , Wilbur, Photoshop , Earth digital elevations and worldmachine erosions. 
Now I am refining the coastline to give a more realistic look on some zones as well as a much more interesting shape for coasts.

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## Naima

Hello again .... I have remade much of the western coast as I wanted to break the too "europe feel" and also add more realistic coastlines due to a recent Ice age, I also reworked other areas of the Central continent and the middle eastern portions as well the east ... I also tried to give a more interesting presentation and so I created a sort of Mockup scene here .

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## Naima

Here I wanted to collect and thank also the Several tutorials I have used and read to make the maps so far :

I wanted to list and collect here in the hope they could be of use to other people as well as they had been for me.

Some I followed are :

*Climates*: https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ad.php?t=27118 Author Pixie
*Climates*: http://www.world-builders.org/lesson...c_climate.html  Author Elizabeth Anne Viau
*Tectonics* : https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ad.php?t=27652 Author Pixie
*Tectonics* :  https://www.cartographersguild.com/a...6&d=1402345334 Author Pixie
*Generic wilbur and Fractal Terrain*: http://www.worldofgotha.com/PF_TUTOR...rah_index.html Author a2area
*Generic wilbur and Fractal Terrain*: https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ead.php?t=8142 Author a2area
*Generic wilbur and Fractal Terrain*: https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ad.php?t=14915 Author a2area
*Wilbur* : http://www.fracterra.com/FunWithWilburVol1/index.html Author Joe Slayton
*Wilbur* : http://www.fracterra.com/FunWithWilburVol2/index.html Author Joe Slayton
*Wilbur* : http://www.fracterra.com/ThereandBackAgain/index.html Author Joe Slayton
*Wilbur* : https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ad.php?t=18280 Author arsheesh
*Shaded Relief techniques*:http://www.shadedrelief.com/ Author Tom Patterson
*Photoshop*: https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ead.php?t=2557 Author jezelf
*Fractal Terrain and Illustrator*: https://www.cartographersguild.com/s...ead.php?t=1577 Author HandsomeRob

Then there are lots of other Tutorials here : https://www.cartographersguild.com/f...splay.php?f=48

And a lot of inspiring maps and worlds here : https://www.cartographersguild.com/f...splay.php?f=36

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## Naima

Here I did some slight changes to the Shape of the westernmost continent of Aerdea , I wanted to break a little the too much familiar europe/Italy look and break it a bit , I hope this makes the land itself less "similar" and less obvious, what do you think ? Should I change other parts eventually? or orther?


I was eventually thinking of removing and or changing that pseudo Britain in top left .

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## Vigilus

I agree with changing the psuedo Britain.  Arthurian "Lyonesse" is a good justification, as it sunk in 6500 BC.  They have done deep ocean scans and have discovered ancient cities.
Overall I think the shape is exactly what you are going for, having seen it for the first time the map really hits you with some "wow" factor.  Great stuff!

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## Eilathen

I think what you have here looks very good. To be honest i find the light similarity (and it is not more than that, your shapes are different enough, imo) with our own world a big plus for this map. I would not change it too much.
If you feel you need to do something decidedly NOT-EARTH, i'd propose you start a whole new map (but then, that might just be me) *.



* it's not totally selfless, that proposal...i want to see you doing another map  :Wink:

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## Naima

Thankyou ... my idea was to go into regional mapping after , I nderstand that there is way more detail in the western world part than the eastern , but to addd lot of detail to east, south and west would require too much time now .

for the mediterranean type of sea I was thinking of the following modifications :



Changes : 

1 the british style island changed and converted in a more broken area that follows perhaps better the geology of the region?
2 the southern west ocean opening has a secondary entrance channel added eventually for a different choke point?
3 the shape of the Mesia western region the small pelasgian isles the sort of east side of the inner sea is changed into perhaps a ore interesting area?
4 the upper northern sea is enlarged and so creates more choke point areas and eventually larger distance between shores ?

what you think of those changes? 
I added more for strategical and aestethic reasons , but aestethics should win over the second in case.

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## Eilathen

My 2 cents: I like the original better than the modified. But as said, i like that some things seem....recognizable.

Oh...and regional maps for this world-map would be awesome. I like that. I hope you start with your "Mediterranean" aka the "Europe" part. After that your "Middle East", then "China and Japan". As you can see, i have this all figured out already  :Very Happy:   :Wink:  (i'm an enthusiastic world-builder and pen&paper roleplayer...just to give you all the information ^^ )

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## Naima

> My 2 cents: I like the original better than the modified. But as said, i like that some things seem....recognizable.
> 
> Oh...and regional maps for this world-map would be awesome. I like that. I hope you start with your "Mediterranean" aka the "Europe" part. After that your "Middle East", then "China and Japan". As you can see, i have this all figured out already   (i'm an enthusiastic world-builder and pen&paper roleplayer...just to give you all the information ^^ )


Why ? what u like more and what less?

Here is a new repainted version.

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## Eilathen

I liked the bigger, more compact "British Island". I also like the "only one way into the Mediterranean sea" better than the more broken up second version. What i do like better in the new version is the Greece/Turkey look...the big island on the far right and the more broken up "Greece"/Land-fingers.

So in a "best world" scenario (no pun intended  :Wink:  ) you would merge those two maps with those first two elements staying from the old map and the last element from the newer version. But again, that's me.

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## Diamond

Hmm.  I like almost everything about the second version more, except the 'British' islands.  Loved the first version of that.

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## Naima

Thanks I am nit satisfued either by the british island look ... I dont want to look too much like britain . But also I found unnatural the shape and unrelated to the general look of the west coast as is more rugged and  carved... I generally like the other changes but not yet sure of the second channel to west ocean ... at the moment I turned into a salty sandy multyislandic carved path wich should be kind of a sandy dune set of islands and water inlets with a peculiar look similar to the brazilian Lençóis Maranhenses area... but the problem is still that left island or peninsula ... brainstorming a new shape ...

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## Naima

Here I tried yet a new change shape for that problematic area to the west coast .
What u think of that new island shape?

I also added a slight change to the second west ocean opening .

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## Naima

Ok I finally redid all the little parts I wanted to correct in the main map and I think I am pretty satisfied now, unfortunately the rest of the world has not the same attention as Aerdea continent, but that would require another year of work I guess... 

http://n-a-i-m-a.deviantart.com/art/...-Map-685247109

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## Naima

Lol I broke it again ... this time7 I got rid of the Turkey looking region and turned into an island thus so linking with the Parvum sea.

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## Naima

Here the changes...

http://orig10.deviantart.net/468c/f/..._a-dbhv9ls.png

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## Naima

Hello , for some reasons I started to work on an enlarged portion of the Media , I wanted to make a more political map this time and I was working on making some map icons ... Somehow though they do not look that "great" on map , despite I like them a lot singularly... Perhaps couse I am yet undecided between the use of a classical neutral color map as background for political and a more colorfull geographic one ...

Here are the Icons I was working on :

In order from left right top bottom...

Keep
Fortress
Barbarian village
CIty
Capital
Village
Temple Complex
Shrine
Obelisk
Primitive Shrine
Nomad Camp
Ship
Caravan
Horses
Incense
Raiders
Oasis
Wine
Purpure
Oil
Iron
Salt
Cloths
Wood
Marble
Smokable
Art
Wheat
Center of Knowledge
Cattle
Herders
Goats

The icons are reduced and so have lesser definition in the image.






My main problem is on how can I do to make the Icons for :

Gold
Silver
Brass/Copper
Slaves
Weapons
Chariots
Mercenaries

And what else could be sugested as resources?

Here is the Sample of what I was trying ... Left plain map on wich I would overlay borders and color eventually the inside .. center the physical version instead, right a first attempt of borders and roads ...

On that I have to decide what kind of icons to overlay , if the round ones, if just the shapes without the round background ( but this makes them a little harder to see but blend better ) or something else?

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## Courage

Hi Naima,

I just wanted to start by saying how impressive this work is. Not just the art, but the overall effort.

I am a brand new member of the forum; I have been visiting for years, but I joined today in order to ask you if you could go into a bit more detail about your process in making this.

You mention having used Fractal Terrain, Wilbur, Gprojector, worldmachine, and lot of Photoshop.

As someone who has experience making digital maps but would like to learn more, perhaps you could take us through the steps it took to achieve which effects - and which software you used at which stages of composition? I have been running a campaign for almost 2 decades, and I think a new world map is in order!

Thanks so much for your hard work and for taking the time to answer my query.

Cheers,

Courage

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## Naima

Hello , thankyou for the kind words and honored that you registered on purpouse for that  :Smile:  ...
I was thinking to make a tutorial , but I woudl feel a bit like stealing other people's work , but I guess I can limit to what I did of different from the tutorials I listed above and that I have used mostly  :Smile:  ... Now is holiday time but when I will be back I hope to keep continuing on this  :Smile:  .

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## deaddmwalking

I'm also a new member and would like to second a request for your version of a tutorial.   I'm sure nobody would feel you were stealing - especially if you mention who inspired you.  Even if you use techniques you learned from others it would be really amazing to see where you diverged - this is a really striking map.

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## QED42

> Here are the Icons I was working on :
> 
> In order from left right top bottom...
> 
> Keep
> Fortress
> Barbarian village
> CIty
> Capital
> ...


Slaves often have chains for an icon, something like a ball and chain might work. I'd probably go with a spoked wheel or something similar for for chariots.

 Having multiple precious metals is going to be tough to make them all different, especially if you want them all to be black and white. You could consider different objects that are commonly made from them so for example a gold ring, silver necklace and so on.

 To increase your problems you might also want to add pearls, gems and incense as resources. You could also consider adding icons for specific activities like mining, plantations and fishing. Or you could just add icons for different food stuffs like bananas, fish, citrus and so on.

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## Naima

Why I always feel like i want to change this map ? 

Now I wanted to Deearthize the map a little more ...

As sugestion what would you change to make it less evident its a pseudo earth style map ? I like the pseudoeuropean map , I am less satisfied of the pseudo Africa and Pseudo middle east/india part ... I was thinking for example to completely sink the "media Island" and or add a peninsula attached to the middle eastern portion in its place, eventually sink the dusar desert and carve in a deep cut or even carve an Island on the north west part of the Pseudoafrica ... As for India and middle east I am not sure ....

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## Eilathen

At the risk of sounding like a broken record : I think it is one of the strengths of this map, that it evokes the "earthlike" vibe. Sure, you can always fiddle with shapes a bit...i know i myself am also never really satisfied with my landshapes, but i really think you have a very good looking map here. I don't think it needs de-earthyfying.

That being said, if you do work on it, i will certainly be interested in how it turns out.

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## Naima

Here is what I did change.



New/Old

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## Naima

Hello , once again a little change in the overal geography of the world , I like to refine and change some stuff over the time , hoping to improve and implement more interesting things...

This time the major change regards the adding of new bodies of water and mostly break the central median large island in the centerof the image, that place was supposed to bea sort of Greek like zone but also It somehow seemed too big in a way so I was thinking to break it apart , I also added an internal megalake in the Dunia Desert region and on the east some further breaks...
What you think of those possible changes?

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## Ryan Pourchot

It definitely does improve the region. I love it man. 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

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## Vigilus

This looks amazing!  Are you doing a whole globe?

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## Naima

> It definitely does improve the region. I love it man. 
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


Thankyou  :Smile: .




> This looks amazing!  Are you doing a whole globe?


Thankyou , I just keep improving when I focus on a particular region.

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## Eilathen

> It definitely does improve the region.


I have to disagree. I like the original version better than this new modification.

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## Naima

Mmm now I am puzzled  :Smile:  .

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## kacey

I wouldn’t worry about it Naima, in all honesty the change is hardly noticeable. If you haden’t Mentioned It I never would have noticed and I’ve spent a fair amount of time looking at this beautiful map since you first posted it. For me it’s equally magnificent either way...Still one of my all time favourites.

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## Naima

Lol so a stalemate ...

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## NadirtheFox

To be frankly honest, Naima, breaking up the big island and adding those lakes made the region look a bit cooler, but at the same time the latter seems to be out of place. Especially ones on desert. I mean how many big, natural lakes are there on Sahara? Even in Atlas Mountains? I just don't think that this region have enough precipitation to support this sort of body of water.
(Sorry for my horrible english)

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## Naima

> To be frankly honest, Naima, breaking up the big island and adding those lakes made the region look a bit cooler, but at the same time the latter seems to be out of place. Especially ones on desert. I mean how many big, natural lakes are there on Sahara? Even in Atlas Mountains? I just don't think that this region have enough precipitation to support this sort of body of water.
> (Sorry for my horrible english)


Oh on that topic I explain why I got this idea... I just saw this documentary on Sahar and its formation ... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeHT8ziM_zc

And I got inspired ...  :Smile:

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## Courage

Hi Naima,

I am beginning to understand how Wilbur and Fractal Terrain Pro both work together.

However, I'd really like to know how you achieved this specific effect (the image is from your WIP thread):



If you could provide a brief description of how you achieved the effect and in which program (or link to a pre-existing turorial), it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

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## Naima

What do you mean by effect?

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## Courage

I mean the effect of the raised and lowered sea areas. 

Which program (and which feature in that program) did you use? Do you have a tutorial you can link to for achieving this effect?

Any help is much appreciated.

C

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## antillies

Naima, I continue to be so impressed by your work on this map.  Thersis is simply awe-inspiring in its wonderful details; there's just so much to unpack - I can't decide what I like best.  I hold it as a model for my own work.

As I am always looking to improve my ability to create terrain and mountains, (as an echo to Courage's request) I was hoping you might feel comfortable sharing how you achieved your specific terrain and mountains for this map.  I know you used a combination of Fractal Terrains, Wilbur, WorldMachine, and Photoshop, and that you posted a list of excellent tutorials in the finished map thread, but I am extremely curious what your exact workflow was.  I would be immensely obliged to you if you would be willing.  :Smile:

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## Naima

> I mean the effect of the raised and lowered sea areas. 
> 
> Which program (and which feature in that program) did you use? Do you have a tutorial you can link to for achieving this effect?
> 
> Any help is much appreciated.
> 
> C


Well that is simply a fractal generation and then lowered sea level ( or better rised ) , if you refer instead on the sea level on the final map then its a manual work inside fractal terrain creating mountains and fractures and then refining and making them realistic in photoshop pass .






> Naima, I continue to be so impressed by your work on this map.  Thersis is simply awe-inspiring in its wonderful details; there's just so much to unpack - I can't decide what I like best.  I hold it as a model for my own work.
> 
> As I am always looking to improve my ability to create terrain and mountains, (as an echo to Courage's request) I was hoping you might feel comfortable sharing how you achieved your specific terrain and mountains for this map.  I know you used a combination of Fractal Terrains, Wilbur, WorldMachine, and Photoshop, and that you posted a list of excellent tutorials in the finished map thread, but I am extremely curious what your exact workflow was.  I would be immensely obliged to you if you would be willing.


I didn't make a tutorial because it is very much the same as the tutorials I followed, the only different thing is the edition of the maps manually to achieve the effects I wanted, even modifying entire blocks of heightmap to give the specific shape I want, then check the results in wilbur and if I didn't like edit some more both in wilbur and photoshop, in some cases wilbur doesn't provide me with the desired results so I have to go manually in making edits , especially on coasts.So the largest part of the workflow is Wilbur and manual editing , back and forth , modify , check , change . While all the generation process is the same or similar to the world of Israh tutorial , with the similar workflow, I just change erosion and process described to what I like and not follow the path at the same steps.
Sorry I couln't be more helpfull than that .

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## Naima

I just wanted to test the tectonic tool and I got this results, not bad, a bit low res and hard to use practically but interesting to see the the possible evolition of your own words.

https://orig00.deviantart.net/c738/f..._a-dd2pwgz.gif

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## Tiluchi

Can't believe I'm only just now discovering this, but it's fantastic! Beautiful map so far, and some very cool tools used. Very inspirational as I work on my own project.

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## Naima

Thankyou very much  :Smile: .

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