# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > Town/City Mapping >  The City of Melekhir

## Texas Jake

I am starting a map of another city and revising my mapping process. I am using CC3+ and the houses from Bitmap style B. I made a background in SketchBook combining several different parchment/old paper images and drew the cliffs for the hill the palace sits on on the south side of the city. I would like to sketch out some additional hills on the background. One in the north center area of the map, one on the northwest side on the map, one on the southwest side of the map, and another possibly in the southeast corner. We will see how that progresses. I am pleased with how the cliffs came out. They are far from perfect, but a big step forward for me. All the beautiful maps on this site have challenged me to keep improving.

Melekhir is the capital of Elandia and is a city with almost 1000 years of history. I have started laying out the street network. The large paved area is the market square. Just north of that on the island with grass (it is an artificial island created by the canal and mill pond) is a water mill which grinds grain into flour. The road running north-south on the west side of the map is the Old Highway which is even older than the city.

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## Texas Jake

Loaded image generated from CC3 showing location of rivers into SketchBook with previous layers. Using image from CC3 as a guide. Drew contour lines to guide the hill making process.



Sketched in ridge lines and valleys (dashed lines) to help define hills

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## Texas Jake

Now that I have the contours drawn it tells me a lot about where the roads should run. I will be rerouting them. I am debating how I am going to do the hills. With the contour lines, I can definitely see where they are, though. Learning more and more about the process every day and really enjoying the journey. This map making is addictive.

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## Texas Jake

Working on the background in Autodesk SketchBook. When I finish I will probably fine tune it it PS then import into CC3+ to layout the city. When that is done, back to SketchBook and PS to fine-tune and label. I tried several abandoned attempts to use PS to create a 3D look through beveling, but never was satisfied with the results. Finally settled on some contour lines and shading. The hills are turning out more mountainous then I intended, but I am going with the look to see how it pans out. It is a challenge to find ways to capture the vision I have in my head for the map. It doesn't help that that vision is evolving as I progress. I am learning and pushing my limited artistic ability as I go. I am addicted to this map making thing it seems.

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## Texas Jake

Finished hills and now will probably redo island where the palace is located and change from cliff to hill. More of a hill is what I originally intended, but the cliff was less intimidating.

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## Texas Jake

Loaded image into CC3+ and starting to layout city. Have basic road network in and put a few houses on the hill terrace to see how they look up there. The terraces will be the upper-class districts.

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## Texas Jake

Added more housing and widened some roads. Raised some walls to protect against raids. Moved the port facility to the east side. This is the original port that dates back to the time the palace (located on the island) was built. The terraces on the south face of the central hill are the result of what was a rock quarry dating back prior to the construction of the palace and the founding of the city. This quarry supplied the stone used to construct the palace and the city walls. After it was abandoned, it became the site of the estates of nobles and wealthy merchants. The port on the northern island serves the mill and the other buildings on the island are granaries and warehouses to store flour. Another, larger port will be located on the west bank of the western river on the bend just above where the two major rivers meet. The area in the vicinity of this port (the west bank in the area of the SW Hill will be an industrial district.

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## Texas Jake

The City Zoning Committee met and said there wasn't enough land area in the city for the alleged population. Well I cut the scale in half, quadrupled the land mass, and silenced their complaints. As a result, I had to tear down all construction (what a mess that created) and begin the new Lilliputian Construction Project (LCP). The city land area is now roughly one square mile in the area south of the north central hill and between the rivers. More than enough room for the capital city which has a population of 10-12K (down from 20K before a plague swept the land 10 years prior). The housing on the hill is military families that are affiliated with the garrison in the fortress on top of the hill. The palace (on the opposite side of the canal) has its own garrison. The housing around the port is the city's slums. The east of the large bridge is the market district. The port, slums, fortress and palace are part of the original city. Form there, the city expanded. The city is located on the Old Highway which connects East and West. This location is strategic from a military, political and economic standpoint.

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## Falconius

Hey this is a cool thread.  Really like seeing how you've developed it so far and looking forward to more.  I especially appreciate the wall actually encompassing the entire city.  

For my eye it looks like it is going to be super densely packed, and assuming a consistency at that density I think it will have far more room that would suit 10-12 k population (or the previous 20k).  Meaning a lot of derelict buildings and a lot of wasted unused land/resources.  For instance, just around that grey building in the slum area NW of the port I see around 80ish houses in that little surrounding square, assuming a rather low 4 persons per house that is 320 people, extrapolating from that (very roughly) just in that southern tip you've filled in alone there would be almost 2500-3000 people.  For the bigger houses in the west section you've drawn keep in mind that it is not only the rich people but also their servants who live there so whilst their buildings are bigger so are the numbers of people living in them (so not as dense as the slums but not as empty as one might imagine either).  I would suggest that at this time period, people would tend to concentrate their housing tighter (multiple stories) in order to allow them more land in close proximity to use for industry or growing food.  I think the rich places would almost certainly have parcels of private land attached to them and the poor slums would have fields if not next to them, very close by.

That's just my thoughts regarding the city, and I could easily be wrong.  In any case, as I said, I really like how this has been developing it seems very natural and I look forwards to seeing where you go with it.

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## Texas Jake

Thank you for the comments, Falconius. The areas mapped so far are some of the most densely populated. The occupants of the slums are laborers who work in the port and other areas of the city. They grow very little of their own food. The market district is larger structures, but still fairly tightly clustered. As you move out further away from these area, the spacing between structure will become more generous and include land for farming and livestock. The land area is sufficient to support more than 20K. London grew to over 80K in a similar area (1 square mile). The city draws inspiration from Rothenburg ob der Tauber, London, and Jerusalem, combining the flavor of all three to some extent. Rothenburg probably being the strongest influence and the wall around the city is modeled after its wall.

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## Texas Jake

Added the port to the SW of the palace and the fishing village on the peninsula. The dirt area to the west of the fishing village is where the fish market is located. On the west side of the city, on the other side of the large bridge, is a walled area. In the south part is the barracks for the city watch. In the north part of the walled area is the tax officials who collect tariffs from traffic on the Old Highway. On the northern island a port for grain has been constructed that collects grain for the water mill on the SE corner of the island. I made the water wheel in SketchBook and need to make some water chute extensions for it. I added a gate in the wall, at the north side of the island where it crosses the channel, that allows barges to get to the grain port. I also added some major roads leading from the palace.

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## Texas Jake

A closeup of the area around the western bridge and island with the watermill.

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## Texas Jake

Completed water wheel and water chute.

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## Texas Jake

Added Park area with lake and first estate on hill terraces.

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## Larb

I'm glad you gave it a proper millpond. =)

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## Texas Jake

Definitely wanted a mill pond for the mill. The mill and island are inspired by one I photographed years ago in Schwaebisch Hall, Germany.

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## Texas Jake

Added temple and the large (possibly too large) building next to it of undetermined purpose. This central area is the original market area before the city expanded west. To the east are three ponds. The housing in this area has room for livestock and vegetable gardens. This area was added in the third expansion of the city when the eastern boundary was extended to the smaller river running north-south between the hills. I have added more trees (the ground seems to be very fertile and they have a tendency to just pop up everywhere).

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## Texas Jake

Resized large building by temple. Added buildings on south side of the main street headed towards palace. Added pool in palace courtyard. Added review field in palace bailey. Trees are still spreading slowly across the map.

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## Texas Jake

Created an overlay to show the history of the expansion of the city. Adds some background to the city and will help guide me as I continue to flesh out the map. You can see the area I added houses to in the lower red sector.

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## Texas Jake

Added more houses and two ponds. One purpose for the ponds is to supply easily accessible water in varies sectors of the city in case of fire.

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## Texas Jake

Houses are all in south of main street. Now its time to work on the north side of main street.

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## Rochnan

I love reading your thought processes as you grow this city -it's really inspiring  :Smile: 
I also like that you're not afraid to change things as necessary.

One thing I don't understand is why you put in the roads first, and then built the city around those. Is that a creative decision? If so, why?

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## Texas Jake

Thank you for the comments, Rochnan.  The first thing I did was layout the basic geography. I knew the city was located at the convergence of two major rivers which bordered the town east and west. The next thing I did was determine the location of the palace. Then I determined the location of the market place. I wanted several ring-roads semi-circling the market place. I knew the Old Highway was running north-south to the west of the city. After that I determined the logical route of the major roads. By major roads I mean the ones that link settlements and the ones connecting key locations inside the city. I determined there should be a wide main road between the market place and the palace, and another running east-west through the city. In the network around the market place I inserted some cross streets to establish blocks of approximately  200 to 300 feet on ends. This was based on the block measurement of several cities, primarily Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Germany. After I began placing buildings, the locations of additional streets became apparent, either because of local routing or for aesthetic reasons. I want the road network to have an organic appearance as is typical in most medieval European cities.

After I did the expansion overlay, I added some road where old city walls would have been and roads would have run beside them. 

For me, the roads help define the space and give me a clearer vision of what the city should look like. Part of the process is trying to think about what was there before the city was there and what came to be as the city became established and grew.

One thing I have learned, what looks right when you are zoomed in on an area working on it, sometimes is out-of-scale when you look at the city as a whole. I am learning to zoom back out an check my work periodically and try to catch it early on.

Another note on the roads. After taking measurement of several cities with surviving medieval sections I observed that the main roads tend to be 15-18 meters (49-59 feet) wide between opposing buildings. Side streets were between 6-9 meters (19.7-29.5 feet) wide. Alleys were around 4 meters (13 feet) wide. Based on this I am making the main roads 50 foot wide, the major side streets 20 feet wide, other side streets 16 feet wide, and the dirt roads 10 feet wide (for the most part). Google Earth is a great research tool.

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## Texas Jake

A page from the history of Melekhir.

King Melek assumed the throne when he was twelve years old. In the second year of his reign, a fire burned down a large section of the city and took the lives of many of its citizens. In response to this, the king decreed that a large reservoir be constructed at the foot of the central hill to the north of the city and an underground channel be constructed to route water from the reservoir to the center of the city. He also decreed that a fire brigade be formed and a building constructed at the heart of the city to house them with watch towers to allow them to keep watch on the city. In addition to this, he commanded his stewards to oversee the digging of numerous ponds throughout the city to serve as emergency water sources in case of fire.



I added some houses to the SW of the large lake and some more warehouses at the main port (south of the city). I also added a fire station at the intersection of the two main roads that spans both of them. It has a watchtower that looks on toward the market area and a taller watchtower that watches over the entire city. Water from the reservoir is routed to this station through clay pipes buried underground. Insided the firehouse are several carts and wagon with water tanks and living quarters for the Fire Watch.

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## Texas Jake

Added housing in vicinity of main port; added road to main port with housing along it; added more housing west of large lake; added hilltop shrine where sacrifices are thrown into the fiery pit. Added building SW of lakeside housing with large building in center. This is the location of some of the seedier (still to be determined) establishments. Still have a lot of construction to complete. It is a great time to be a contractor in Melekhir!

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## Rochnan

Thank you for writing out that bit of (thought)process, this could help me, and others, out when planning cities. 

I also wonder if King Melek will have a Vetinari*-like effect on the development of the city workings. (*the Discworld one.)

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## Texas Jake

I'm glad to share my thought process. Hopefully it is helpful.

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## Texas Jake

Finished adding buildings to market district. Redid the "seedy" area.

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## Wingshaw

Hi Texas Jake, I've been watching this thread for some time now and let me just say -

First, this is an incredibly impressive and detailed map. But even more impressive is the breadth of your world-building that goes with it.

Second, something has been bothering me about the scale of the map for a while, and I've been having difficulty putting my finger on it. You wrote earlier about the research you did into London, Jerusalem and Rothenburg, so clearly you're going for a medieval city. Medieval cities are characterised by their extremely high intra-mural density (intra-mural = area inside the walls): the land inside the walls is valuable, and so people will build on every part of it that they can. They're not going to worry about building codes or planning regulations.

If you have a poor district, it'll be built up into a messy warren of poor-quality apartment blocks where people on the upper floors are overlooking the people on the floors below. The buildings in a poor neighbourhood aren't necessarily smaller than those in another part of the city, just more crowded together and haphazardly built. Also, many craftsmen require an area of open space to work - carpenters, masons, dyers, brewers etc. In medieval cities - especially cities like London - this space would take the form of a yard behind the craftsman's house. Over time, as land became more valuable and craftwork less valuable, those craftsmen would sacrifice a portion of their yard to create a new apartment that they could rent (the rental money offsetting the loss of usable yard-space). The result, once again, is a densely built-up area, where there really isn't a lot of space remaining.

The point I'm getting at is: A. the scale of some of your buildings seems quite disproportionate (you have buildings that have a vast footprint and others that have very tiny ones) and B. the density of your city is extremely low. There shouldn't really be much space between your buildings (although courtyards and lightwells are a good thing to include).

This map of Rome - a city that has kept much if its medieval character - shows what I mean: dense blocks with very little space left behind, and that space almost exclusively reserved for streets and piazzas. This map is also of Rome, and is useful because it shows the individual plot boundaries, and the ratio of space that the buildings occupy on each plot.

I hope you don't take any of this the wrong way: I'm only hoping to provide pointers that may help you make this very impressive map even better.

Wingshaw

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## Texas Jake

I appreciate your comments, Wingshaw. On the maps I have studied from the medieval period the buildings are closely packed in the city center and then become less dense as you move away from it. On many of the maps you encounter houses with fields as you get close to the outer walls. This observation was not what I expected. Jerusalem is a city that has been historically much more densely packed than most cities from the medieval time, packing higher population counts in less land area. If I was modeling the city strictly after Jerusalem it would be much more densely packed and have more of an eastern character. The European cities became more dense heading into the Renaissance and more so during the industrial revolution, I believe. The invention of the light bulb also aided the ability to build denser cities as natural lighting was not as important. London became very densely populated heading into the later part of the middle ages achieving population levels which were rare for European cities in the era.

I have made the buildings in the city center of larger scale. They mainly house businesses with would also include living spaces for the owner and family. The smaller houses are for laborers close to areas where the work, such as the docks. As the occupants become more affluent the houses become larger. The less affluent houses are single story shacks. The building in the central part of the city that are closely packed have shared courtyards in the center which is a common feature in most the medieval European cities I have studied.

After the fire that destroyed much of the city, during the expansion by King Melek (the Builder) the walls were greatly expanded. This opened up much more land area and has prevented the necessity to build as densely as a city like Jerusalem.

Well, there are my thoughts and reasoning, right or wrong. I do appreciate you comments. When I started the map I was leaning more towards the density that you suggested, but as I started looking at old maps, revised my perspective and ended up greatly increasing the land area of the city. In retrospect, I would have increased it somewhat less, but doubling the scale was the easiest conversion with what I already had and led to a fourfold increase in land area.

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## Texas Jake

Wingshaw,

Rereading your comments and I agree my slums may be a bit too ordered in layout. I also wanted to say that you did provide a lot of usual information in your critique which I will be considering. I didn't want to leave the impression with my initial response that I was dismissing the information that you presented. I was merely explaining how I arrived at the decisions I have made in the construction of the map and explaining what I have discovered in my research to led me to my conclusions.

Edit: After rereading I got much more information from your comments. First time I read it was right after I got up and hadn't had my coffee. I went back and forth between the crowded apartments and one story shacks and decided on the shacks. Your suggestion of the crowded apartments is certainly valid and probably the better solution. Still digesting your comments and looking at my map and considering what changes I may make or valid reason things are as they are now. Good food for thought. Thanks again for the critique. I do want to make a map that is plausible.

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## Wingshaw

Well, I must say, your response is quite comprehensive. 

I'm glad that you have given so much thought to how your city has come to look the way that it has. I have seen time and time again that map-makers - especially those from America and Australia, like myself - are prone to making cities that resemble the places they are from (low-density suburb- and car-oriented modern metropolises), while aiming to create something that matches the medieval-fantasy idyll of historic Europe. At the end of the day - in my opinion at least - it isn't important whether the city is 'realistic' or not, as long as there's a good reason for the decisions that have been made  :Smile: 

As it happens, I have studied the history of cities for many years, worked as an urban planner, and wrote my university dissertation on the uses of space and built form in early-modern London. I fancy I have quite a wide breadth of knowledge on urban history, and I am happy to share my knowledge with city cartographers here on the Guild. If there's anything you want to know, just ask; I'll answer if I'm able  :Wink: 

Wingshaw

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## Texas Jake

Wingshaw,

Your comments and critique are most welcome.

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## Texas Jake

Wingshaw,

Something I have been wondering about after doing research of medieval cities and I would be interested in hearing your comments. What we know of European medieval cities is based on maps that have survived from the era, references from writings, archaeological digs and structures/city districts that have survived intact. I have begun to wonder how complete a picture this data gives us of what these cities were like and how much of their true character remains hidden. My reasons for this I will list below.

1) We do not know the accuracy of the maps and how much some of them may lean towards caricature instead of accuracy. Some, of course, are more trustworthy than others. 
2) The areas of cities that survive would be the more substantial structures. Certainly the more ramshackle ones would have been demolished as the city matured. This being true, we have limited knowledge of what these lesser quality structures were like and what percent of the city consisted of this structures.
3) The references in writings from the time were limited.  the authors were generally writing to an audience who knew the places, so the authors put little effort into detailed descriptions.
4) Archaeological digs are limited to areas you have access to, therefore I would think in most urban areas you would not have a great deal of opportunity to gather data because of lack of access.

I am curious to hear what someone much more knowledgeable than myself on the subject thinks about my assumptions. I am always eager to learn.

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## Wingshaw

Texas Jake, you make some good points, but I think we know more about historic cities than you'd expect.

_NOTE: I began writing an essay to answer your question, but I ran out of time so I'm going to make this quick..._

The best way to understand a historic city (or, at least, a European one) isn't through historic maps, writings or archaeological work. It's through simple observation of the city as it exists today. The street pattern of medieval towns doesn't tend to change very much, and the general plot boundaries also tend to follow the same patterns as they always did. You're right that some elements may be obscured by the passage of time (slums have a tendency to be cleared away, but then 'slums' weren't really a thing before the Industrial Revolution anyway), but in many towns you can still see the same buildings - ranging from palaces and cathedrals to ordinary housing - as you would have seen 300+ years ago. This isn't quite as true of the UK, it should be noted. British cities have suffered much more from post-Industrial redevelopment than Continental European cities. Even cities that were blown to bits during WWI and WWII have returned to something similar to their pre-war patterns.

Regarding historic maps: maps of cities became popular in the 16th and 17th centuries (eg Braun & Hogenberg's _Civitates Orbis Terrarum_), and you're right that they range from layout oriented (eg. London) to more illustration-esque (eg. Copenhagen). However, they can still be used to identify features that were present at the time (eg church spires), to see patterns of expansion/growth, and to get a sense of the urban fabric that existed in that period. What matters most with the maps is the extent to which they can reinforce the information being gathered from the current street/plot/building fabric.

Regarding writings of the time: well, on this matter I'm less knowledgeable. I focused my dissertation on the analysis of historic maps, rather than documents. I could mention, however, that historic writings by residents of a city about the city are not the only type of document that can be used. There are also the writings of travellers (eg British travellers in the 18th century wrote about their experiences in Italy and Greece for the enjoyment of the British public, back home), and administrative documents (eg. wills, taxes, diaries).

Regarding archaeology: yes, this is insanely difficult and expensive. But, unless the city has had periods without any occupation, urban archaeology isn't especially important for understanding the city's layout - especially considering that urban archaeology tends to look at one site, rather than an entire urban area. Urban archaeology, when conducted, is great at giving insights into how people lived, but it isn't the best way to understand how the city came to be shaped.

Hope that helps to answer some of your questions.

Wingshaw

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## Texas Jake

Thank you for the reply, Wingshaw.

I have been re-looking at old maps and at present day Rothenburg as I consider how I want to revise and proceed with my map. My courtyards tend to be larger than what I am seeing in Rothenburg, though some of the old maps have larger courtyard spaces comparable to my map. My layout tends toward order more than the loosely-ordered, chaotic nature I am seeing in most cities. Form my study of maps, I see a pattern of the inclusion of farming land inside the walls along the perimeter of many walled cities. This seems to becomes less common as we approach the 1700s.

Where I am in my thought process:
-Even though the city is relatively old, it is far from at the end stages of urbanization. The massive expansion during the reign of King Melek and wars and plagues that have kept population growth in check have prevented the city from reaching the crowding levels of cities like Jerusalem or London in the later stages of the middle ages.
-I plan on tweaking what I have done to add a little more chaotic nature to the construction and replace some of the single family/lower class housing with multifamily structures. The slum areas will be a mix of single and multi-family units with the majority being the larger buildings. I also want to insert a major dose of chaos into the layout of these areas, retaining more of a sense of order in the more upscale districts.
-I am still considering how and to what degree the influence of King Melek had on the development of the city. The fire that destroyed much of the city had a great impact on him. He was fourteen years old at the time and very impressionable combined with the uninhibited nature of youth which caused him to consider and do things that an older, King would not. Much of the city was rebuilt and he closely monitored this rebuilding. He was determined to do all he could to prevent another such calamity. This certainly would influence how the city developed during his long (close to 100 year) reign in the early-middle period of the city.

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## Wingshaw

Sounds like you've got a lot of promising ideas in there, Jake. If I may, I'd urge a small amount of caution in some regards:

- I like that you are including intra-mural farmland. As you have correctly noticed, many cities include this on their outer edges. This is because most houses in a medieval European town would have had a backyard that was used for small-scale farming, workshop, or both. As the land became more valuable, those would be converted into rental houses/shops with increasing frequency (I think I wrote this down in my earlier comment, too). Naturally, the central parts of town are the more valuable real estate, so they would convert their yards first.
- you want to add more chaos to the poorer districts: I'd recommend you steer clear of 'spaghetti' streets. It's a common mistake in city mapping, and it is neither historically realistic or (in my opinion, at least) visually appealing. Instead, I'd advise you to add chaos in the form of narrower streets, courtyards and backyards with more buildings in them etc. Going for right-angled dogleg streets is also a better solution than 'spaghetti'.
- regarding Melek's reconstruction, I'll just point out that many rulers in real-world history sought to redesign cities, and pretty much all of them stuck to the same formula: wide, straight avenues that link prominent landmarks and monuments, formal arrangements and layouts, etc. (eg Baron Haussman's design of Paris, Pope Sixtus' designs of Rome, Wren's designs for London - not all of these were ultimately realised).
- lastly, some of the grand plans of some of the above rulers were for practical reasons, too: Haussman's redesigns of Paris were post-Revolution, and he was building a city that would allow the government to fire cannons down the boulevards (or that's the version I've heard, at least). You could consider that when thinking about fire prevention measures.

Wingshaw

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## Texas Jake

The chaos it was planning to injecting was in the form of more haphazard building, concentration on the structures and not so much the streets. More odd angle ubutments and things like that.

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## Rochnan

> - lastly, some of the grand plans of some of the above rulers were for practical reasons, too: Haussman's redesigns of Paris were post-Revolution, and he was building a city that would allow the government to fire cannons down the boulevards (or that's the version I've heard, at least). You could consider that when thinking about fire prevention measures.


Basically, it boils down to needs that are attempted to be met, doesn't it? That's the thing I'm taking away from your (excellent and well-informed) advice.

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## Falconius

Not assuming that all of the big buildings are rich folks I have to assume that some of them are, and what I don't get is why they seem to be building cramped, but those with less means have a fair amount of green space?  For instance why wouldn't one of those guys with a mansion just buy up a bunch of the smaller properties and build a big place with a bunch of land around it?  The neighborhoods seem too stark in the differences from just across the road to another, there's no blending one would expect to see.

I do like how its coming along.

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## Texas Jake

Falconius,

The building that are cramped are in the market district which is at the center of the original areas of the city and prime real estate. This is where the people come to the market place and shop. Anyone selling goods wants to be close to where the action is. In the dock area, the houses aren't butted up against each other, but there is very little land per house. The area between the docks and market district is an area where the occupants are a little more affluent (say lower middle class for a better term) and have larger houses and a little more land area where they could have small herb and vegetable gardens. That was my thought process behind the way things were laid out.

The dock area is about to get transformed. Still considering what I will did with the area between market district and docks.

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## Texas Jake

After several frustrating and aborted attempts to start remodeling the dock area that I did not like, I decided to duplicate on some interesting structures I located in Rothenburg with Google Earth. Both are adjacent to St, Jakobskirche if you want to compare the actual structures to what I modeled. I am interested in hearing what you think. Planning to duplicate some actual structures from different places as I fill this area.

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## Texas Jake

I have been doing some more viewing cities in Google Earth and looking at old maps. It helps to take second (third, fourth, fifth, sixth, etc, etc) look at these things to clarify your vision. Lots of details, little (but important) details, can be missed or glanced over the first time (or several times) you view things. And, as Wingshaw touched on up thread, it is easy to make what you see fit into your preconceived perspectives. I have noticed it is hard not to let my 20th/21st century, American concept of urban design sneak into what I am mapping, or in subtle reinterpretations of what I have learned from my research.

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## Wingshaw

> I have been doing some more viewing cities in Google Earth and looking at old maps. It helps to take second (third, fourth, fifth, sixth, etc, etc) look at these things to clarify your vision.


I also get a lot of inspiration by looking at the maps of my fellow cartographers here on CG: J.Edward's city maps always inspire me by their very naturalistic appearance and rooftops  :Wink: 

Wingshaw

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## Texas Jake

Latest shot of the area formerly known as the dock slums. The city is in the process of demolishing the sub-standard shacks and building more appropriate housing for the laborers in this district. City leaders are pleased with the progress. Tenants of the district are undecided if this is true progress. Many of them have organized protests which have been promptly dispersed by members of the town watch. Leaders of these protest have been provided with new accommodations in an indoor gated community (the kind that is dark, damp, generally unpleasurable, and with strictly controlled access).

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## Texas Jake

Added a couple more buildings and a statue of the Great Warrior-King Norlandir, although the memory of who the statue is of has long been lost. The statue has stood watch over the city since the reign of King Eldrid who founded the city in the years that followed the death of his father (Norlandir) in the Great Rebellion.

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## Texas Jake

The renewal effort in the slums causing civic unrest in the Old Docks District.

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## Texas Jake

The urban renewal project in the Old Docks District making good progress. Construction ceases temporarily while citizens watch the Mighty Texans face the Invading Giants in the arena.

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## Texas Jake

Added more buildings to the Old Port District housing and totally renovated the Old Port facility.

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## Wingshaw

Massive improvement!!!

Wingshaw

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## Texas Jake

Thank you, Wingshaw.  Still have a lot of redraw to go. I have modeled quite a few building clusters from Rothenburg. If it had not been for you comments, the massive urban renewal would never had begun. Thank you.

Here is the latest update.



I will probably leave the strip of shacks along the east side of the road at the base of the hill against the stone wall. The housing on the hill (to the east of what is shown) will remain as is. The hill is somewhat restrictive to building and the houses are build on the flat areas along the hillside. They are housing for soldiers with families and were orderly laid out and constructed. The hill is the approach to the gate to the palace, which also contributes to the restricted housing. You can see part of the stone wall at the base of the hill that is a remnant of the early boundaries when the city was young and the only walled sections were part of the palace complex. The wall still stands as a barrier between the palace/military complex and the city.

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## Rochnan

I like how you incorporate the real structures into your map, as it makes them look natural. 

I do feel like a bigger road from either the yellow or the grey building (at the ends of the colourful row of buildings just above the walled-off docks) to either the yellow building (top-right of the image) or next to the C-shaped building with the water would've been created as the city developed. People like to take shortcuts, and those feel like places where they'd organically form.

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## Texas Jake

Thank you for your input, Rochnan. The C-Shaped building is in a walled-off area (which includes the temple) with access only from the east side. The building is the Royal Academy, a place of higher learning and research. The academy was built by King Melek and one of the tasks he gave the scholars was to find ways to improve farming. The king set aside land inside the walls on the east side of the city near the walls for the academy to use for their farming research.

If the building you mentioned was not inside a walled-off area, the road you mentioned certainly would make sense.

Here is a look a little more zoomed out that shows more of the surroundings.


I have done a little more to the map. The colorful building complex you referred to has been expanded. It is the Old Bazaar that has existed since the early days of the city. Goods that come through the harbor are sold in the bazaar. You can find good deals there if you are good at haggling and know your merchandise. It is just as easy to be taken advantage of by some of the somewhat unscrupulous merchants who trade there.

The large gray building to the NE of the bazaar (south of the C-shaped building) is the home of the Old Port District Ward.

The statue of Norlandir has been relocated to the Old Market Square (NE corner of the view). I thought this was a more appropriate spot for it. The statue of Norlandir in the Old Port District will be removed and replaced by another. Many of the inhabitants of the Old Port District are petitioning to have a statue of the Renowned Scholar Wingshaw (who they believe to be responsible for the recent improvements made in their district). I am carefully considering their request.

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## Texas Jake

Rochnan,

City fathers have informed me they will give consideration to your road construction project. It has been placed on the agenda for the next council meeting. I will keep you informed of their decision.

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## Texas Jake

The last update for the night.  The road construction project was approved by the City Council and a new statue has been erected in the Old Port District.

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## Texas Jake

Added buildings to the west side of the Old Port. Upgraded road to paved in center of east side buildings running from the bazaar to the yellow building. Added road along west side of stone wall enclosing temple/academy.

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## Texas Jake

The last of the Old Port District is in. Still have to add the dirt roads and sprinkle in some vegetation.

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## Wingshaw

One thing which strikes me about this map is that the colours are very saturated. I don't know if that's the look you're going for, but it might be worth trying to give it a more muted palette.

You could try, for example, less green in the courtyards (they aren't all going to be gardens, after all; there'll also be yards for heavy work and goods storage, if not just lots of people walking back and forth), adding some subtle variations in the colour of your rooftops, adding some (darker) texture to the river to indicate depth as well, and maybe just playing with a saturation/hue layer a little bit, too?

If you want to give some of those narrow streets a dark and dangerous feel to them, you could also intensify the shadows being cast by the surrounding buildings.

Just some food for thought...

Wingshaw

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## Texas Jake

Wingshaw,

Thanks for the suggestions. I plan to mute the colors in the final processing phase. After I finish with the CC3+ part of the map, I will start working on it with Sketchbook and PS. I plan to add some more details and variation at that point. One example of the things I will be doing in that phase is blending the upstream end of the water chute on the water mill into the water so it looks like the water is flowing into it instead of it sitting on top of the water. I have thought about tweaking the shadows in CC3+ and I like your idea concerning the shadowy streets.

I have learned a lot in the process of making this map. It has turned into a much bigger project than I initially anticipated. I think I will try to avoid a one square mile city in the future. The next city I will be mapping is Mahse which is a port city on the western Elandian coast. It is also the garrison for one of the three standing armies in Elandia. The largest army is at the Fortress of Akran, the second largest is at Melekhir and the smallest at Mahse.  The map of Mahse will be probably about a third of the size this one (hopefully). I plan on doing the houses differently on Mahse and staying with more of the reddish orange roofs. I have already been working on bitmaps for the roofs.

I have learned a great deal about the city of Melekhir as I have been doing this map and adding much more flesh to its history. King Melek didn't even exist until this map and now is playing a central role in the history of this city. It all will add to the depth of what I write when I get back to revising book two.

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## Texas Jake

Started on area between Old Dock District and Market District. I plan on using the existing roads in this area as a guide in laying out the clusters. The courtyards will be larger in this area. In the Old Dock District I used mainly orange roofs. I think I will use mainly reddish roofs in this area.

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## Texas Jake

Adjusted shadows.

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## Texas Jake

Added another cluster with large common field area in the south corner. Construction is ongoing for a waterway originating just south of the market bridge heading south towards Old Docks District.

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## Rochnan

I just realised I'm missing a shipyard in the docks. Where will the ships be maintained and new ships be made?  :Question:  Maybe the building/area on the right-hand side of the walled-off docks could be repurposed for this.

I visited the Batavia Shipyard not too long ago, so this was on my mind. Here's some inspiration.
Protip: since it's a construction yard, you can leave out anything you don't want to draw (it's under construction!  :Razz:  ). Don't forget to draw some scaffolding though!

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## Texas Jake

Rochnan,

The city is located far inland. The traffic coming into the docks is primarily river boats and barges with a few ocean-going ships that sail up the river. Most of the shipbuilding is done in the Port of Suda which is downstream from Melekhir on the southern Elandian coast. Any maintenance work would be done at larger port facility across the river from the Old Docks. I will have to include maintenance facilities there.

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## Texas Jake

-A Chapter in the History of Melekhir
After the Great Fire that destroyed much of Melekhir, young King Melek ordered a canal to be dug to supply water to the inner areas of the city.



The canal through the city has grown. It will branch at the 90 degree turn with one leg emptying back into the river after splitting the large field area at the extreme south of what is shown. The canal reminds me a little of the River Walk in San Antonio, Texas. I got the idea for the canal after viewing this map of Bologna.

I have removed about half the housing in the area between the Market District and the Old Docks. Eviction notices have been issued to the remaining houses and they will be demolished as soon as they can be evacuated.

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## Texas Jake

The canal has continued to grow. The statue in the Market District Pond (which was serving as a place holder) has been replaced with one of King Melek. I also adjusted the sheet effects on the trees.

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## Texas Jake

Latest update. Added houses to much of the area between the Market District and the Old Docks. Added several buildings with flat roof. They are some of the few surviving structures from before the Great Fire. The original city had more of a Middle Eastern flavor.

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## Texas Jake

Added contour to water. Not sure what I think out it.

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## Wingshaw

I think the water contour is a big improvement. Personally, I'd be in favour of a more textured way of doing water, but I think adding the contour definitely improves the appearance of this map now.

Looking good. This map is really shaping up nicely  :Smile: 

Wingshaw

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## Texas Jake

Thank you, Wingshaw. Once I get the map into SketchBook and PS I plan to try some different contouring of the water. I am anxious to see how the well the color mute down, also.

Edit: I have learned a lot along the way while doing this map. Hopefully this thread has made some of those lessons-learned accessible to others.

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## Texas Jake

Latest Update.



I have completed the area between the Market District and the Old Docks. Not sure what I want to call this district. I am open to suggestions.

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## KCRileyGyer

Wow, amazing. I loved seeing the changes and reading the construction stories with them.

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## XCali

This has map has come along nicely.  :Smile: 

I will say the blurred grass texture is definitely distracting. But, well done on the layout and putting together all the buildings.  :Wink:  I know city maps are a lot of work.

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## Texas Jake

Thank you, KC and XCali.

I have come along way in the art of laying-out buildings during the course of this map. This has been much more work than I anticipated. Changing the scale and jumping up to one square mile was a much more significant change than I realized at the time. Not sure if I would do it again if I had the choice (not sure I wouldn't, though). I thought the auto-layout tool for houses in CC3+ would save a lot of time and labor, but I have abandoned using the tool. It really doesn't work well for this kind of map.

If the map is good, a lot of credit must go to the people who have provided encouragement and constructive input. Looking back at what it was and what it is becoming, I am pleased with the changes I have made in response to the advice I have received.

I have noticed the texture blurs when zoomed in tight. A byproduct of doubling the scale which leads to tighter zoom-ins. It may have been a problem before the scale change, but I didn't notice it then. I will have to go with a higher resolution background next time. Another lesson learned and I am sure there are many more on the horizon.

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## Texas Jake

I redid the block that is one block over from the riverbank (the area with the large, flat-roofed building in the NW corner). North of that area you can see the old gate and a section of old wall that remains in place. I plan to have structures built against the north side of the old wall. I may put in a short section of canal in the area north of the old wall section.

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## Texas Jake

Haven't done a shot zoomed out in quite a while, so here we go. Added large flat-roofed building on north side of old wall (far north side of Market District across the channel from the water mill). May be too large. I'll let it go for now while I consider the matter.

I am slowly clearing out the housing on the west side of the lake and replacing it. I am considering what I want to put on the island with the watermill and granaries. Man, I still have a lot of area to fill.

Edit: A good portion of the walls around the palace have vanished. I am not sure what happened because I didn't remove them (at least not intentionally nor aware of doing it). Must have been some ninja, sapper, gremlin dudes that infiltrated my computer while I slept. I am pushing CC3+ and my computer with size of this city, not sure what the limits ares and if I am close to them. If the city catches on fire suddenly and goes up in flames, I guess I will know I am there.

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## Rochnan

Wow, all this time spent zoomed in made me forget how absolutely massive this will be  :Surprised: 

I hope you make lots of backups! (Although rebuilding something usually makes it better because of gained experience.)

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## Texas Jake

I don't even want to think about rebuilding everything.  :Surprised:

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## Texas Jake

When I zoomed out I was shocked by how much I have left to do on this thing. It is a little intimidating. There is a lot of terrain between the city proper and the main port on the SW bank of the river. Not sure how dense I want it between the two. I am leaning towards sparser. We will have to see how much I have left in the tank by the time I get to that part.

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## Wingshaw

I think this is looking really good, Jake. I like that large flat-roofed building near the watermill. I think it is a good shape and size. Although I suppose that will also depend on what you plan on using it for...

Speaking from experience, the best city maps are the ones that are finished some time *after* passing the "I want this to be finished" point.

Wingshaw

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## Texas Jake

Thanks for the comments, Wingshaw. The flat roofed bldg is owned by a rich and powerful individual. His wealth and power are probably of less than legitimate origin.

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## Texas Jake

Completed a couple of blocks on the NE side of the main road headed toward the palace. This is High Street. The main street heading ENE off the map is Broad Street.

Added canal that is fed of the large lake through a gate. The water level of the lake is significantly higher than that of the canal.

Added a flat roofed building with a pool on on the second level. There's nothing like watching the chariot races on your flat screen while soaking in the pool.

The large blue complex is an inn. It is located at the intersection of the two main roads and attracts a lot business. Most of the blue buildings on the map are inns or taverns.

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## Texas Jake

Added some buildings on the north side of the Old Market Square. To the north of them is an old gate and section of wall the dates prior to the city's expansion during the reign of King Melek.

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## Texas Jake

Labeled Districts and some roads. This is temp lettering for my reference. I will do the final lettering in PS, not in CC3+.  PS offers more flexibility and CC3+ has issues with spacing letters consistently when doing text-along-a-curve. I like the way of laying out text along a curve (path) in CC3+ better than PS, but the spacing issues nullify its advantages.

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## Texas Jake

Extended canal so it reaches the Old Market Square. Completed West Lake District to where the old city wall was (the road marks the old boundary). Added old gate on Broad Street and section of old wall that still stands as the western boundary for the Lake Park.

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## Texas Jake

Added some buildings in the area north of the Old Market Square and the old gate and section of old city wall. Progress on this map has slowed a bit as I concentrate more of my effort on the Mountain Village (for now). I ping-pong back and forth between maps. The process for each is so much different. I get enough of one and jump to the other for a different experience.

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## Rochnan

Hey Texas Jake!
The canals and many (semi-)hidden courtyards remind me a lot of Utrecht, where I was born. Take a look at the satellite 3D map. It might inspire you. (I live nearby and visit often, so if you want me to take some reference pictures next time I can  :Smile:  )

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## Texas Jake

Thanks for the link, Rochan. I think I will try to duplicate a few of the building clusters.

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## Texas Jake

Added some buildings along north side of canal north of the Old Market Square that were inspired by Utrecht. I am having issues with the map. I am not sure if I am reaching system limits or software limits, but CC3+ is locking up on me for lengthening periods of time while it sputters—sometimes fatally. I may have to break this map up into sections (which I would rather not if I can help it). I am well overdue for a system upgrade. I am running a MB and i7 950 with 8GB of RAM from 2012 that was handed down to me from my son after my laptop died about a year ago. An upgrade is on the horizon.

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## Falconius

I doubt it's the CPU causing the problem for you.  It might be the memory and it uses DDR3 which shouldn't be too expensive comparatively, though then the question is if you want to sink money into a system which won't be too useful for a future build or just save for the future build.  It could also just be the program.  Mouse used CC3+ extensively and I think she managed it just by keeping most of the layers off except the ones she was working on (though this could also be my faulty memory).

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## Texas Jake

I am leaning towards CC3+ limit. CC3+ is a 32bit program so it has an upper memory limit of under 4 gig.

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## Falconius

Yeah, my impression from things I read here is that the program is seriously outdated in terms of utilization of modern hardware.  Mouse was using an old laptop with 2gb memory and upgraded to 4 and she was able to handle rather large maps, all be it with big waits (measured in minutes) when performing operations.

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## Mark Oliva

> I am leaning towards CC3+ limit. CC3+ is a 32bit program so it has an upper memory limit of under 4 gig.


The _"other"_ Cartographic Program, _Campaign Cartographer_, is in testing of Version 9, which is 64-Bit code.  It is the only important cartographic program of which I'm aware that's in 64-Bit development.  See:

http://www.nbos.com.  The information is in the forum option.

ProFantasy http://www.profantasy.com has said it is looking at a 64-bit version sometime in the future, but it's not in development at this time.

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## Texas Jake

Mark,

How does Fractal Mapper compare with CC3+? I looked at their site and the map examples don't look as nice as those done with CC3 in my opinion. I know you can use CC symbol sets with FM, how much does this close the gap?

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## Mark Oliva

> Mark,
> 
> How does Fractal Mapper compare with CC3+? I looked at their site and the map examples don't look as nice as those done with CC3 in my opinion. I know you can use CC symbol sets with FM, how much does this close the gap?


I have CC3+, FM8, Dundjinni and MapForge, but I find it difficult to compare them.  They simply all are quite different programs.

If you look at the Jörðgarð maps that I post from our group every week, you'll get an idea what kind of raster maps FM8 can produce.  I mention that, because the information on the NBOS website stills focuses on old FM7 style maps with ancient vector symbols that don't meet today's mapping standards.

One can use the CC3+ symbols with FM8, but we don't do that.  We also seldom use he raster symbols that are delivered with FM8.  For our purposes, we find that the Dundjinni Archives, CSUAC, Bogies Mapping Objects and Vintyri Cartographic Collection symbols are of better graphical quality than those from CC3+ or FM8.  (these collections also are available for CC3+.)  However, that's subjective opinion rather than a fact of any kind.

If you think you want to consider Fractal Mapper, I would suggest looking more at FM9, when it's released, rather than spending a lot of time with FM8.  From the test versions, we know that FM9 will be available in a 64-bit version, which lets you use your full computer resources.  CC3+, Dundjinni and MapForge all have the disadvantage of being 32-bit versions, which is becoming ever more an obsolete technology.  My main computer has 32 GB memory, and all of the main programs I use with it except FM8 (also 32-bit) are 64-bit applications.  I look forward to having a cartographic that lets me use my memory too.  CC3+ and MapForge have no 64-bit plans on the near horizon.  Dundjinni is a dead program.

FM9 also will offer a lot of new abilities that aren't in FM8, and NBOS has said that it will be delivered with an entirely new library of mapping symbols.

We've had Campaign Cartographer since the original DOS version.  Today, we use CC3+ only to make NPC portraits with Character Artist 3.  We make no maps with CC3+.  We switched to FM8 when CC3 (without the +) arrived for several reasons:

1)  FM8 is very fast.  CC3+ is very slow.

2)  FM8 is clean; it doesn't crash.  CC3+ crashes quite happily and often.  See the CC3+ forum if you doubt me.

3)  First and foremost, FM8 native format maps are portable.  The cartographer can embed symbols and fills in FM8 maps.  The native FCW maps produced by CC3+ are portable only if the recipient has _all of the symbol and fill sets_ installed in exactly the same location in his or her computer as on the original cartographer's computer.  However, for most users, this isn't an important issue.  Our products all are released on an open source basis, and our users can download the maps in our products in the original FMP format of FM8 and customize the maps for their campaigns.  For all intents and purposes, that doesn't work in CC3+, because CC3+ is unable to embed objects.

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## Texas Jake

Thanks for the information, Mark. I was already in the wait for FM9 mode. If I make a switch, it will be for a 64 bit program. There are many things I like about CC3+ and I have become comfortable with its interface (which I know many people have problems warming up to) but I am pushing it to its limits and I have discovered many of its shortcomings. It do like using a mapping program for speed since I have a great many maps to produce.

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## Mark Oliva

> There are many things I like about CC3+ and I have become comfortable with its interface (which I know many people have problems warming up to) but I am pushing it to its limits and I have discovered many of its shortcomings.


I have to agree with you on all points.  CC3+ is an excellent program, but in all the years that I've used Campaign Cartographer starting with the DOS days, I have yet to find a version that's cleanly programmed.  There always have been too many things that causes crashes and - if one doesn't do multiple version backups - lead to hours of lost work.




> It do like using a mapping program for speed since I have a great many maps to produce.


The same is true for us.  Sometimes I need to do four or five maps in a single day.  That works with FM8.  Producing identical maps with CC3+ would take a few days.

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## Texas Jake

Did some more mapping in the area where I am using Utrecht as a source of inspiration.



This is the area of Utrecht I am using as my source of inspiration.

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## Texas Jake

Added a little more to the area. I have decided to work on different areas of the map in different version, then combine them. I have deleted most of what is outside the central part of the city (it is preserved in another saved version and has not been discarded) and hopefully that will give me enough headroom to finish the central part of the city in one map version ( I am not overly hopeful, though). The little details like trees and roof gables add a lot of overhead, but I don't want to cut back on the little details.

Edit: checked the map and it has 234,856 entities and that's after I removed the ones outside the central city.

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## Rochnan

You're making a lot of progress every time I check in! And I'm happy Utrecht inspires you  :Smile: 




> checked the map and it has 234,856 entities and that's after I removed the ones outside the central city.


 :Surprised:

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## Weery

So much to see here, really impressive work Jake  :Smile:

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## Texas Jake

Rochnan,

It adds a little different flavor to that area of the city. Thank you for pointing me in that direction.

Weery,

Thank you for the comment. It has become a much bigger project than I had anticipated and I have learned quite a bit along the way.

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## Texas Jake

Thought I'd give you a wide view of the map. You can see how I've stripped away most of what lies outside the central area of the city. Still haven't zeroed-in on the boundaries for this view. The rivers are a natural break point for the map and would make blending the pieces together easier, but I am not sure CC3+ has enough muscle left to map out all within the rivers. I will continue mapping as I hold my breath. (If you hear a loud thud, don't be alarmed, that just me hitting the floor as I blackout from lack of oxygen.)

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## Texas Jake

Added a bit more. I am working along Broad Street and intend to continued construction along the road until I arrive at the East Gate.

The brownish "V" shaped building by the Old Gate on Broad Street to the west of where the canal comes off the lake is a stables. The blue building is a tavern and inn.

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## Rochnan

Hi Texas Jake,
I like how Broad Street looks out over a lake (if the trees don't obscure it). It looks like a great spot to have food stalls and the like on a sunny summer day. It could have musicians performing, and people strolling past. Yeah...that sounds lovely  :Smile: 




> (If you hear a loud thud, don't be alarmed, that just me hitting the floor as I blackout from lack of oxygen.)


And not long after reading that, I hear a dull thud. Luckily, it was one of my cats jumping off of something.

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## Texas Jake

Rochnan,
Maybe your cat was reading my post and was empathizing with me.

Maybe I will grab my guitar and sit under one of those trees by the lake and play a tune or two. Would you care to join me?

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## Texas Jake

Added more buildings as I work the south side of Broad Street heading east. Redid some buildings to the NE of the large pinkish building with the walled courtyard to narrow the street.

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## Texas Jake

My latest installment. Looking at it now, not sure if the courtyard are with the two garden area will remain as it is now. I am in an area where spacing will be opening up as I near the wall as can be seen on many historic maps. I will have to wait to see how it looks as the area gets built out.

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## Texas Jake

Saturday. Sleep late, several cups of coffee and some map making. Added the Broad Street Market Square. Merchants gather here an offer more exotic and upscale wares. The blue building that borders the market square is one of the cities finest inns. Haven't decided on a name for it, yet.

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## Texas Jake

Slowly, I am closing in on the east gate.

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## Rochnan

> Maybe I will grab my guitar and sit under one of those trees by the lake and play a tune or two. Would you care to join me?


Sounds great!  :Smile: 

The blue roofed inn looks like it has some history, as all nearby buildings appear to be built around it (as in built with the urban architectural equivalent of reverence for the inn.)

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## Texas Jake

Good observation, Rochnan. I suppose its position does suggest it has some history. I will have to take note of that. When I was mapping the space it just seemed like a building should be positioned thusly.

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## Texas Jake

Construction in Melekhir slowed down for a while, but the building boom is back on.

Finally made it to the east gate

Some more construction near the Old Market Square

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## Texas Jake

Here is a wide view of the map. Still quite a bit to go.

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## Texas Jake

Working in the area along the east wall. The blue building in the SE corner is a tavern. It is frequented by the soldiers of the garrison. The buildings in the vicinity of the inn are merchants that make their living selling their wares primarily to the soldiers. There is a small barracks for the town watch in the orange structures butted against the city wall. The flat-roofed three tiered structure to the south of the westernmost field with the pond is an annex of the Royal Academy. The building on the edge of the pond is a pumping station. It can pump water out of the pound and also water (from a shallow well) into the pond.

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## Falconius

Looking good.  Also adding a lot of story detail as you go along too I see.  Nice development so far.

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## Texas Jake

Thank you, Falconius.

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## Texas Jake

The latest update.

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## Texas Jake

A wide shot of the city.

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## Texas Jake

The area along the east wall is complete.

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## Jean-Abdel

Wow! Great job, will the city continue to expand to the north and on the island ? Also, could you add some tags to explain what are the buildings for, or simply group all the small coments you made about buildings' purpose?

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## Texas Jake

Thank you, Jean-Abdel. The city will continue to expand north and more buildings will be added to the island. The next phase will probably be the housing on the two terraced ledges south of the center hill. These will be the estates of members of the aristocracy. After the map is finished, I will take it into PS and add additional details and text.

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## Texas Jake

Latest update - I am mapping out the terraces that look down on the city. 



The large orange complex adjacent to the intersection on the first terrace level is a city watch complex. I have not decided on a name for this city watch unit and I am open to suggestions. They control access to this area which is the home of the city's aristocracy. The round complex surrounds an access point to an underground cistern which collects runoff from the hillside above through a series of collection points and underground channels.

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## KCRileyGyer

Amazing work. I'm enjoying watching your progress in this.

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## Texas Jake

Thank you, KC.

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## Jean-Abdel

Hey, haven't heard of you for quite a while, is everything ok? I really love this map, hope you'll keep going on.

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## Texas Jake

I needed to take a break from the map heading into the holidays and have been busy since with other things. I plan on resuming work on the map soon. Thank you for the interest.

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