# Gallery > Finished Maps >  Baldur's Gate - Sword Coast map [commission]

## J.Edward

Last year I had the pleasure and privilege to work with James Ohlen and Arcanum Worlds on this piece.
It began as the 20 year anniversary of the original Baldur's Gate video game, which I played many, many times.
And, aside from the classic crashes =P , I enjoyed immensely. Except the Flaming Fist.  :Mad:  
Ok, ok... so I was trying to steal people's stuff and pickpocket... nobody's perfect. ;P

So this was beyond cool to work with the man who helped bring that to life way back then.
I wanted this version to be something people could be inspired by, and hopefully transported into the environment.
I hope this version will stand the test of time and be around for another 20 years.

It ended up becoming a campaign setting book over on the DMsGuild - 
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/269...aldurs-Gate-5e
Definitely go pick up a copy. Works like that help more maps get made. 

It was origianlly to be part of an anniversary book for Beamdog.
Beamdog is the company that revamped BG and is made up of people who originally made BG.
Not sure what changed and why, but I'll let you know when I know.

I'll be dropping a few more maps over the next few weeks, plus some closeups over on
twitter - https://twitter.com/jstevensonart
and tumblr - https://jstevensonart.tumblr.com/
maybe even instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jstevensonart/
though IG is a bit more of a pain to work with. Like today.
shakes head. IG is just idiotic at times. 

I hope you enjoy this look at the Sword Coast.
They needed it to resemble the layout of the original game, which you can find easily online.

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## Eilathen

*clap clap clap*

Astounding! As i said in the last thread, the words to praise your work start coming up short for me. This is so evocative and it transports me into that place for sure...so i'd say you absolutely succeeded in that!

Thanks for sharing your works with us, J. I know i love to get lost in your maps every time.

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## Adfor

Sooooo good! You don't normally get to see this far south in Faerûn, so this is a pleasure to see, great work, John!

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## Galendae

Holy....Be still my beating heart.  That is epic, the client must be ecstatic!  John, this is your best work yet and that is saying alot. Quick, somebody give this one an award!  This is the leading candidate for map of the year, I know it is a bit early, but come on....

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## Galendae

I beg you, a tutorial on how to do forest like that.  :Smile:

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## arsheesh

I'm not a computer gamer but I've heard that Baldur's Gate is ranked among the top 10 computer games of all time.  What a cool honor to work on such a prestigious project.  And your clients were privileged to have such a talented cartographer breath new life into their world.  Excellent work.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

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## Greason Wolfe

Dang it!! You are making it really difficult to keep up with all this fine work, and I am gonna have to get another hard drive just for my inspirational folder if you don't slow down.  :Very Happy: 

Oh, and this is excellent BTW!!

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## Gidde

That is gorgeous!! Snagging for the inspiration folder for sure.

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## Azélor

That's great ! If only the original game would look more like this I might play it.

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## Redrobes

Nice ! Gorion would be proud of your actions !

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## J.Edward

> *clap clap clap*
> 
> Astounding! As i said in the last thread, the words to praise your work start coming up short for me. This is so evocative and it transports me into that place for sure...so i'd say you absolutely succeeded in that!
> 
> Thanks for sharing your works with us, J. I know i love to get lost in your maps every time.


Thanks Eilathen  :Very Happy: 



> Sooooo good! You don't normally get to see this far south in Faerûn, so this is a pleasure to see, great work, John!


Thanks Adfor  :Smile:  
There are a lot of areas in Faerun that would be fun to work on.



> Holy....Be still my beating heart.  That is epic, the client must be ecstatic!  John, this is your best work yet and that is saying alot. Quick, somebody give this one an award!  This is the leading candidate for map of the year, I know it is a bit early, but come on....


Thanks Galendae  :Smile:  
I am really glad people are enjoying this one.
It's a very special map to me.



> I beg you, a tutorial on how to do forest like that.


I am so bad at doing tutorials  :Surprised: 
I should find time to do a wip thread sometime.



> I'm not a computer gamer but I've heard that Baldur's Gate is ranked among the top 10 computer games of all time.  What a cool honor to work on such a prestigious project.  And your clients were privileged to have such a talented cartographer breath new life into their world.  Excellent work.
> 
> Cheers,
> -Arsheesh


Thank you Arsheesh  :Very Happy: 
It really was a privilege to work on this project.
I really loved BG back in the day.

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## J.Edward

> Dang it!! You are making it really difficult to keep up with all this fine work, and I am gonna have to get another hard drive just for my inspirational folder if you don't slow down. 
> 
> Oh, and this is excellent BTW!!


Hehe  :Very Happy:  Thanks Greason 
There's more good stuff coming  :Wink: 



> That is gorgeous!! Snagging for the inspiration folder for sure.


Thank you Gidde  :Smile: 



> That's great ! If only the original game would look more like this I might play it.


Thanks Azelor  :Very Happy: 
I'd love to see that game too.
I'd love to work on it.



> Nice ! Gorion would be proud of your actions !


Thanks Red  :Smile: 
I was almost going to be doing Candlekeep too.
Along with Beregost, but the plan changed.

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## - JO -

It's just huge!!!!!!! A magnificent map ! To study for hours (as many hours as the game takes)! I can't imagine the work it must have taken! But the result is certainly worth all these efforts! Well done and thank you!

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## MistyBeee

This is so insanely good. Nothing boring, nothing repetitive, each and every square inch being unique, with its own feeling and secret. Another playground for dreams, and I'll never be tired about this.

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## QED42

For some dastardly reason I can't rep you but this is a great map! I loved the Baldur's Gate games and have spent so much of my life playing them. It's great to see a new version of so many familiar locations.

If anyone has not player the Baldur's Gate games I highly recommend checking out the enhanced editions that have been released over the last few years. The game is cleaned up and you can even play it on your tablet device these days.

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## Arimel

This map is simply beautiful! I love the way that you depict the elevation changes, especially the hills both in the forest and the plains. I will definitely loop back to rep this when I have the chance!

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## J.Edward

> It's just huge!!!!!!! A magnificent map ! To study for hours (as many hours as the game takes)! I can't imagine the work it must have taken! But the result is certainly worth all these efforts! Well done and thank you!


Thanks Joel  :Very Happy: 
It definitely took a loong time to make.



> This is so insanely good. Nothing boring, nothing repetitive, each and every square inch being unique, with its own feeling and secret. Another playground for dreams, and I'll never be tired about this.


Thank you Beee  :Very Happy: 
I really do hope it stands the test of time.



> For some dastardly reason I can't rep you but this is a great map! I loved the Baldur's Gate games and have spent so much of my life playing them. It's great to see a new version of so many familiar locations.
> 
> If anyone has not player the Baldur's Gate games I highly recommend checking out the enhanced editions that have been released over the last few years. The game is cleaned up and you can even play it on your tablet device these days.


Thanks QED  :Very Happy: 
Yes, it was/is an awesome game.
Beamdog revamped it.
Beamdog is some of the original crew that made it way back when.
And was part of who this was originally made for, though I'm not sure how that is working out now.



> This map is simply beautiful! I love the way that you depict the elevation changes, especially the hills both in the forest and the plains. I will definitely loop back to rep this when I have the chance!


Thanks Arimel  :Very Happy: 
I am on a life-long journey of rendering trees.  :Razz:

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## MapMappingMapped

Wow! That style! I don't think it can be anymore beautiful! Wow again!
EDIT - Need to spread rep

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## J.Edward

> Wow! That style! I don't think it can be anymore beautiful! Wow again!
> EDIT - Need to spread rep


Thanks MMM  :Very Happy:

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## tainotim

This really is a exceptional map. You have created something here that I think will inspire people for years to come.  Very very impressive work!

Cheers,
Karl

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## J.Edward

> This really is a exceptional map. You have created something here that I think will inspire people for years to come.  Very very impressive work!
> 
> Cheers,
> Karl


Thanks Karl  :Very Happy: 
I hope so.

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## J.Edward

Here are some close-ups. I'm dropping crumbs over the next week or so.
I have them over on Twitter and on Tumblr.
Might do Instagram too, idk. It's more trouble on IG.

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## Gidde

Wow. What an amazing amount of detail for such a huge map. It's beautiful.

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## ladiestorm

you know... I still have those games on cd.  I have played them many times, but I never actually finished them!

J Edward, these maps look fantastic, as always!

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## J.Edward

> Wow. What an amazing amount of detail for such a huge map. It's beautiful.


Thanks Gidde  :Smile: 
Sometimes doing a big map is daunting, but I'm glad they wanted a big map for this.
It allowed me to do more stuff inthere.  :Very Happy: 



> you know... I still have those games on cd.  I have played them many times, but I never actually finished them!
> 
> J Edward, these maps look fantastic, as always!


Thanks Storm  :Smile: 
Ya know, I'm not sure that I finished all of them either.
I know I used to deal with game crashes all the time.

A few more close-ups....

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## Galendae

There is much that I like in this map but the real exceptional stuff is; Baldur's Gate the Town and Iron Throne Mines.  I really like Cloakwood and the High Hedge too.  This map has me excited to dive into a new mapping project.  Great stuff!  

This map reminds me of "Embers in the Ashes" Map; http://www.fantasticmaps.com/2015/05...-in-the-ashes/

Not quite the same scale but similar styles.  Did that map influence you at all? 
Your detail reminds me of that map.

Again, Epic stuff!

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## Ilanthar

Breathtaking. As far I as I remember, the best map I've seen from this region.
And thanks for sharing those close-ups, it's both interesting and another proof of your talent  :Wink: .

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## J.Edward

> There is much that I like in this map but the real exceptional stuff is; Baldur's Gate the Town and Iron Throne Mines.  I really like Cloakwood and the High Hedge too.  This map has me excited to dive into a new mapping project.  Great stuff!  
> 
> This map reminds me of "Embers in the Ashes" Map; http://www.fantasticmaps.com/2015/05...-in-the-ashes/
> 
> Not quite the same scale but similar styles.  Did that map influence you at all? 
> Your detail reminds me of that map.
> 
> Again, Epic stuff!


Awesome, Thanks Galendae  :Very Happy: 
No, i do like Torstan's maps, but it wasn't an inspiration for this.
I think it may have been the map for BG 2 that I tried to get a feel from.
They had some nice rolling hills there.
But, it's also just an extension of my style that is somewhat inspired by Raisz.



> Breathtaking. As far I as I remember, the best map I've seen from this region.
> And thanks for sharing those close-ups, it's both interesting and another proof of your talent .


Thanks Ilanthar  :Very Happy:  
I hope it stands well over time. 

And a few more close-ups.
Tomorrow is another big update.  :Wink: 

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## Wired

I wish I could rep you for this!  :Frown:  This is truly a piece of art, and I love it! How long did you work on this?

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## J.Edward

> I wish I could rep you for this!  This is truly a piece of art, and I love it! How long did you work on this?


Thanks Wired  :Smile: 
I think it was over 150 hours maybe. I can't recall.
I jumped into it right after doing the BG city map, which was huge and took way too long.
So I sort of lost track.

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## tainotim

That is just amazing J. I love those close-ups. How do you even charge for such a huge project if the hourly count is that high?

Cheers,
Karl

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## ThomasR

You be damned !

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## J.Edward

> That is just amazing J. I love those close-ups. How do you even charge for such a huge project if the hourly count is that high?
> 
> Cheers,
> Karl


Thanks Karl  :Smile: 
It can be difficult. And I'm often underpaid for the time spent.
But I love what I do, so it's just something I have to live with.



> You be damned !


woops  :Razz: 
I hope they give me a free copy.  :Surprised:

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## ThomasR

Never hurts to ask, you know, as a reminder. When they do not mention it, I do ask  :Smile:

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## J.Edward

I try to make sure it's included, but it can be different when it's print on demand.
Meaning they don't have copies on hand to send.
Some clients will still send a POD version.

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## delgondahntelius

What a beautiful map!! Truly outstanding, so much detail for a big map. How big is it exactly? I know, I ask that a lot. Masterfully done, you truly make maps into an artform and if I could rep you again I would!

Del

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## J.Edward

> What a beautiful map!! Truly outstanding, so much detail for a big map. How big is it exactly? I know, I ask that a lot. Masterfully done, you truly make maps into an artform and if I could rep you again I would!
> 
> Del


Thanks Del  :Very Happy: 
This was a 4 page map, 17 x 22

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## J.Edward

I had a request for an unlabeled version, so just dropping that here.

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## Voolf

One of your best  :Wink:

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## Marc Moureau

Probably one of my favourite. 

The kind of map that makes you want to gather your party before venturing forth...

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## J.Edward

> One of your best


Thanks Voolf  :Very Happy: 



> Probably one of my favourite. 
> 
> The kind of map that makes you want to gather your party before venturing forth...


Thanks Marc  :Very Happy: 
If I wasn't so busy with work, I'd really like to play some pc rpg games right now.

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## jaceface

This is beautiful!

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## J.Edward

> This is beautiful!


Thanks Jace  :Very Happy:

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## Atrak

Oh my this is magnificent, congrats on the win and thankyou for sharing!

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## J.Edward

> Oh my this is magnificent, congrats on the win and thankyou for sharing!


Thanks Atrak  :Smile:

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## Landstrider

What a great map of Faerun! Being a fan of the setting since it first came out decades ago, I love when I see a great representation of the Realms!

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## J.Edward

> What a great map of Faerun! Being a fan of the setting since it first came out decades ago, I love when I see a great representation of the Realms!


Thanks Landstrider  :Smile: 
I was really happy to be able to do a somewhat official version.

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