HOME | DD
jocarra —
Ye Olde Mappe Tutorial
Published: 2012-03-03 05:24:31 +0000 UTC; Views: 64133; Favourites: 4125; Downloads: 1645
Redirect to original
Description
The promised tutorial on how I make my maps! If you have any questions, just ask
Related content
Comments: 570
I got a question for you: would it be okay if I followed your tutorial to make some maps for a friend of mine who's developing a RPG?
Because the thing is, I've tried creating some tree and mountain brushes of my own but they ended up looking so similar to your own that I feel I need to ask you for some sort of permission...
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank you so much for creating the tutorial! google shows ugly result, bad map XD.
but this looks very good!
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
ops i just finish looking at until bottom. Can i ask if how do you exactly do the 1st and 3rd one base on your thumbnails?
I really like the first.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I have one question, how do I get the two colors I've picked onto the cloud render? It always turns out black and white. (I'm also a GIMP user if that helps)
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I'm not sure, I don't use GIMP. However, in Photoshop, you need to pick the colours first before doing the cloud render. For instance, pick a foreground colour of light yellow, and a background colour of medium brown, THEN run the cloud filter. It should use the colours you've picked for it.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Alright. Thanks. I'll check a guide on gimp and see what's going on here.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
This Tutorial is really helpfull an at this moment I try to make a old map.
And I've got a question: how would you draw a cliff?
I don't mean a little Cliff in the mountains. I mean Cliffs on a coast. really big ones. around hundred kilometers long. Because mountains just look like mountain in the near of the see.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I'd draw cliffs maybe like a series of upside down Ls that follow the curve of the cliffs, showing the ground dropping off. Kind of a simpler, more stylized/less realistic version done here: [link]
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
okay, thank you, I'll try.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
This tutorial is so helpful, thank you so much!! This is helping me greatly while I draw my Veringard map. :3 You rock.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Here is Veringard finished! 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Nicely done, congratulations
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
This is amazing! Thanks for doing it. I'll definitely come to this if I want to make a map. ^^
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Hehe, good luck with it! Really, the amount of effort you put it in is the amount of awesome you get out
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
It's really true! The actual process isn't particularly hard, just time-consuming and nitpicky for the most part, so it ends up being more about the amount of patience you have and how much effort you put into it
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
It's so interesting when you break it down to basics and realise that kind of thing. x3
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I usually don't comment on stuff... But really, I have to thank you for this! I've been trying to draw maps for ages now, and I've never really managed to make them look nice enough. This is extremely helpful, it caught my attention immediately.
Just a shame I don't have photoshop... xD Still, the programs I do have should suffice.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Oh, awesome! I hope your next map turns out great
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Brilliant tutorial, I've only done mine in pencil and it's already looking great.
I've hit a bit of a problem with drawing different types of trees, for most areas you just have pine trees and oak-like trees, but palm trees are a pain. Oh well, thanks for making this.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Well, I just symbolized ALL the trees as round/tear-drop-shaped blobs with sticks coming out the bottom, for sake of ease. I figured trying to draw the trees the way they ACTUALLY look for each section would be informative, but painstaking!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Great looking tutorial. I hope I can get to try something like this sometime.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks! Best of luck to you
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I used this to make this! [link]
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Nicely done! I like the vivid colours
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
o0o!! I'm glad you like it! I never thought that you'd look at it! 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
That sucks :b Still, better than me! My maps always take 30+ hours :b
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Wow! I just made some changes to mine, it looks better/makes sense now. I have parts of the kingdom's history all figured out, so yeah......
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
For maps? Goodness, no, unfortunately. Maps are extremely work-intensive (20-30+ hours) and it's just not something I can afford to do for free!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Ohh okay. Well, Thanks for the tutorial.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Wow, best tutorial I've seen on maps ever! I'll be sure to use this for my maps, they could use some improving. ^-^
Thanks for making this.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Nice, thanks a lot! Good luck
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I-I don't know if I can actually p-pull this off! I'm st-still gonna try, but I must ask: What is the most convenient way to create the tree brush? Its j-just that I've never created a custom brush before even though I kinda know where th-the settings to do so are located.
A-Also, if you don't mind, could I come here and show you my progress every now and then? J-Just to know if I'm doing things right...
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Heh, to be honest, I don't make custom brushes myself ever, so I can't exactly give you a step-by-step answer. I'd recommend looking for a custom brush tutorial here on dA, or try Google if you have no luck here.
And sure thing, I wouldn't mind checking out your WIPs
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I haven't advanced much because of the school, however the format you reccomended in this tutorial also gave me ideas of expand the territory and such, however, I'm not quite sure wich needs to be extended, and wich doesnt, nor do I know if I should add more island, or if the distance between continents is average and stuff, anything.
Anyway, I'd like you to take a look at both my old incredibly crappy map: [link] And my current WIP [link] so that you could help me with these decisions and perhaps suggest me stuff. I've added some things I think it may be important for the creation of this map.
Thank you kindly, Desmond out
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Sorry about the delayed response, been busy.
I wouldn't worry too much about distances between continents - consider how close Europe and Africa and Asia are, compared to the Americas - sometimes they're bunched up, and other times they're spread out. I'd just go with what you think looks good, or if something in particular would make sense for your story/world.
Not really sure what sort of suggestions you were looking for! It already looks like you've made big improvements on your map already. I suppose in my opinion I feel like they're all spread really equally far apart, which is to us perhaps looks unusual, but maybe for this world, it makes sense! Do what you think is right as far as intercontinental distances go :b
Sorry I couldn't be more help!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
That's okay, I think you're helping me enough
[link]
This is the link to the Stash collection of the map ever since I began to modify it, the 3 is the most recent one. I stopped mostly because I don't know how to represent the Desert and Snow or Frozen areas, I also want to know how or where to put each kingdoms emblems, the ones that appear in the Map #2. Of course I don't plan to put anything but the symbol of the kingdom, but still...
If you have any other suggestions for me, I'm all eyes! Thank you for lending me a hand
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Looking really good so far
Yeah, I had problems with desert and snow, too. What I ended up doing was just tinting the desert a, well, sandy colour, and tried adding "dotty patches" kind of in a sand-duney pattern, and for the snow, I tinted it greyish blue and made it brighter (so it looks more snow-white than dirty grey).
It's up to you where you put the emblems! Hovering near their respective locations is probably fine.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
[link]
This is how its looking so far, we're nearing the end folks! I just want your opinion on the snowy plains and desert, along with a suggestion of how placing the names of the cities withouth overlaping. As you can see, the world is quite big and their icons too small and too close to each other, if anything the font will have to be bigger than the icons of towns so that they can be read 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
It's difficult to tell the snow and desert, but works well enough.
Placing names is an art 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
[link]
This is the momentarely end result, I know what you're thinking, I should erease some stuff to make the names more visible, well I need the editable to stay like that since I'll be using the map for other things like interactive biografies, and if I delete stuff, when I remove the name it'll have a weird blank space on certain places, you get me, right?
Also, as the Authors Comment says, I'll be adding more cities and stuff as my story continues.
Other than that, it is done, tell me what you think and thanks for helping me out with this
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Nah, you shouldn't erase anything, it looks great the way it is
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
<= Prev | | Next =>