World Map.

[Metahuman1]

Ok. I SUCK at making maps. Like, REALLY suck.




Sooooooo,


Does anyone have a good "Made easy" tool for building nation scale maps? Or multi nation scale maps?

[Yahzi]

Does anyone have a good "Made easy" tool for building nation scale maps? Or multi nation scale maps?
I've got one that's really easy. As in, one push of a button. :smallsmile: It even makes the nations for you.

I'm going to put it up on DriveThruRPG soon, but if you'd be interested in testing it out first, send me a PM.

[chimaeraUndying]

There's always Inkarnate, but it's got a bit of a distinct look to it.

[Vaern]

I'd just open up Paint and wing it. It doesn't need to be overly fancy and detailed, as long as you know where everything is.

Start by dumping a paint can of blue on the background for ocean.
Switch to a large light green paint brush and create a blob. Boom. There's your island/nation/continent.
Switch to dark green spray can and add a patch or two, and you've got your forests.
A wide streak of brown along one of the borders, and you've got a mountain range.
Add thin streaks and bubbles of blue if desired for rivers and lakes.

If you'd like a pre-made map, there's actually a Twitter bot (https://twitter.com/unchartedatlas) that uses a program to generate a new fantasy map every hour and posts the image.

[Blymurkla]

Useful maps aren't necessarily pretty maps. Sometimes, a pretty map is a useless map.

What do you need your maps for?

When in the map making process does your suckery cause problems?

[Gildedragon]

Try doing a conceptual map like an OT map.
Sketch out rivers as straightish lines or clear arcs. Put some culturally significant place at the center of the map.

Put some mountains around the place. Put cities along the rivers and near mountain passes.

Look at medieval TO maps or the Babylonian map of the word.
It gives you a start for relative positions. And later if you want to pretty that up, then up the resolution

[Bullet06320]

https://secure.profantasy.com/products/cc3.asp

[ExLibrisMortis]

I use the Civ V map editor when I need a basic map. It has its limits (no print function, so you need a laptop/tablet to use it in-game, or some fussy print-screening), but nothing that should matter for sketches at multinational levels.


Hmmm, that makes me wonder whether you could make a Civ V mod with DM tools.

[NoAnonimo]

https://secure.profantasy.com/products/cc3.asp

Yes, Campaign Cartographer is a GREAT tool for doing exactly that. Needs a average PC to do it, so you should be good. Great results!

[Metahuman1]

Useful maps aren't necessarily pretty maps. Sometimes, a pretty map is a useless map.

What do you need your maps for?

When in the map making process does your suckery cause problems?

I need them to establish a broad feel for the macro scale of the world as it's a nation building game, and be something that can be used to plan tactics/stratagy around at various scales.


Start to finish. I suck at pretty much anything related to visual art.

NoAnonimo: Is the program Mac Compatible?

[Blymurkla]

I need them to establish a broad feel for the macro scale of the world as it's a nation building game, and be something that can be used to plan tactics/stratagy around at various scales.

Start to finish. I suck at pretty much anything related to visual art.

In my mind, maps aren't art until the last few steps of making them. Maps are tools. Drawing useful maps should not require much more in terms of art skills than what you need to draw stick figures. What you do need are ideas, inspiration and a modicum of geography and political knowledge.

My go to guy to learn how to draw maps Jon Roberts. This link (which I can't linkify cause I haven't posted enough posts on the forum yet):
fantasticmaps.com/2013/05/worldbuilding-by-map/
goes to his tutorial on how to draw the sort of maps you need. I highly recommend it. It talks more about map-related world design than art, which is where I believe your focus should lie.

I've tried to teach myself to draw maps - including pretty maps - by following Jon's tips. I think it has gone very well. If I where to add my own tips it's this:

Start with small papers. It's hard to draw a first sketch on an A4 or even larger paper. Start with a small notebook page or something, just to make your ideas a bit more concrete.

It's really, really hard to sketch with a computer mouse. It's possible to draw fairly pretty maps (maybe I'll show you) with a mouse, but I've found it damn near impossible to sketch out the basics digitally without a Wacom or similar. So draw by hand. If you want to go digital, scan your handdrawn map. I often draw by hand, scan, then print (sometimes after highlighting digitally) my map out. Then I place a new piece of paper under my printed map and trace the feature's I'm pleased with with a ballpoint pen. This leaves an imprint on the paper below, which I can then use as base for a slightly better map. Which I scan, edit, and print again.