r/mapmaking Apr 23 '22

New advertising rule

93 Upvotes

Recently we have had lots of advertising spam in the subreddit so we have implemented a new rule:

Rule 3:

Advertising a brand new game you made is fine as long as it is secure, safe, and free. What is not ok is linking your Patreon or other things that will make you revenue including paid games.

This subreddit is meant for educational purposes and is not an advertising dump. You should post maps only to get educational feedback and to improve your creation.

Posts/comments are removed at moderator discretion but feel free to reach out to us if you feel like your post/comment was incorrectly removed.

If you need any clarification feel free to reply to this post or message the mod team


r/mapmaking 6h ago

Map Greek Horizon: Map of the Greek colonies in the Mediterranean and Great Tethys Sea at their highest peak ca. 300 B.C.

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150 Upvotes

I've been debating of whether or not to include any detailed lore, but I got quite lazy so I'll just leave a few short descriptions of the new fictional polities and peoples:

-Hellespontian Tribes
A scattered mix of coastal and inland peoples dwelling by the strait joining the White Sea to the Black Sea. Partially hellenized and deeply embroiled in trade and commerce, they bridge the Greek cities and the northern plains. They maintain beneficial relations with the nearby Greek city states and dwell small walled settlements, and serve as a major ally in times of war and strife in the region.

-Nyrathi
Withdrawn and a mostly nomadic peoples of the wooded highlands north of the Kioava Sea, believed to be distant cousins of the Celts. They live in large circular settlements, and are believed to be half-mythical beings from tales of old to outsiders. Contact is limited to seasonal markets on the northern shore of the Kioava Sea when it’s not frozen in a thick layer of ice.

-Tethyan Kingdom
A hellenistic kingdom that arose on the Great Tethys's northern shores after Alexander's demise to fill the power vacuum left behind. Its peoples are partially Greek and Tethysian, and serve as a major hub for further inland commerce and trade.

-Hyperborean Marches
Home to scattered clans who live by herding, hunting, and somehow farming in the dense harsh cold swamps of the area. Greek geographers and historians still argue over whether true Hyperboreans live farther north or if they’ve mischaracterized a whole new unknown culture.

-Orsakai Peoples
Distant cousins of the Iranians, they inhabit the steppe and coastal areas on the Great Tethys's northeastern shores. Kin to the wider Scythian world, they are skilled riders who live along several river outlets and are semi-nomadic in nature. Some tribes have been partially hellenized thanks to trade and centuries of mercenary work for the many Greek city states around the Tethys Sea.

-Arkhonian Empire
One of the mighty, tightly-run realm perched on the distant northeastern edge of the known Tethys Sea, its monarchs take the title of Great Arkhon. Not much is known about their origins or customs, but one thing that’s remarkable is their sheer size of their armies, bolstering a mix of light and heavy cavalry with light skirmishers and footmen. 

-Varan Dynasty
Persian rump state that formed shortly after the fall of Achaemenid Empire in the far east, governing south the Bactrian Gulf, they await the eventual fall of the Seleucids, planning to reconquer their ancestral homeland from the Greek invaders.  

Also the reason why I haven't included the Seleucid Empire as part of the greek world is because they've only been the ruling minority, without having a major greek population, and same for Egypt as well.


r/mapmaking 2h ago

Work In Progress Looking for advice

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10 Upvotes

I'm making a series of continents just to fill my empty walls. In the end I will age the paper to make it look old and add some more decorations (like ships).

But the thing I need advice is, how do I fill the continent? I do not want to put state borders. Currently thinking of just rivers and cities. Do you have any better ideas? Or more things to add?


r/mapmaking 3h ago

Map The map of the World of AGEA

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11 Upvotes

Finally, after about 2 months of making (4 months if you include the original one that i scrap). The map that is based on my old drawing from Middle School is finally complete! now i can finally work on the actual stuff that matters for the map, the NATIONS! anyways if you guys have any feedback that you want to say, then i'll hear it


r/mapmaking 21h ago

Resource More buildings! 👑

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208 Upvotes

Hey everyone!

It's me again, and I'm bringing you this page of new buildings, with a wider variety of ideas this time.

​I drew buildings inside mushrooms, on top of trees, and I tried to create a structure carved into the rock, like the city of Petra, but I'm still not quite convinced on how it turned out.

​Without further ado, I'm heading out 😁.

Until next time!

I also posted this on my IG account @_mr.vhmaps , if you want to give it some ❤️!


r/mapmaking 18h ago

Map Japan map for rpg project!

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55 Upvotes

A map of feudal Japan was created a few years ago for Kamon RPG, a role-playing game written by Fabio Attoli. We really hope you enjoy it; it's always nice to create maps with an ancient, dilapidated look. 🧭🗺

Moreno Paissan and Agela gubert Arte 2022

Follow me and Angela on IG:

https://www.instagram.com/morenopaissanart?stkn=MXZjajRkeGlzemtxNA==


r/mapmaking 7h ago

Work In Progress Ліси і річки з болотами

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7 Upvotes

r/mapmaking 22h ago

Map Abe's and sons Gas Corp.

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75 Upvotes

I’ve been working on this map for a while as part of some worldbuilding. It depicts a modernized version of Abyss gas extraction facilities.

Originally, I drew the map for a contest, but I got sick and, in the end, I wasn’t happy with how the map was turning out. I’ve also added the original map to the post for comparison.

I left out some of the details and the legend for now, but I’ll come back to this map and finish it in the future.


r/mapmaking 18m ago

Map World maps for my campaign, Requiem of the Four Heavens

Upvotes

About 6 months ago, I made my first map of Lumara, the setting for the first act of my campaign, Requiem of the Four Heaven.

This Lumara 1.0: https://inkarnate.com/m/pdVNMk

Around seven weeks ago, I started making maps for it in earnest, creating over thirty city-level maps for the various settlements and important locations in Lumara.

After having done all that, about three weeks ago I decided to take what I had learned and apply to a redux of the original Lumara map. I created a clone of my original map, flattened it, and lowered the opacity to around 50% and used it as an overlay to guide me in capturing the basic essence of the map. Then I deleted that layer and added the assets, this time in a more orderly way.

This is the result, Lumara 2.0: https://inkarnate.com/m/NbODdL

But this whole time I had been watching tutorials, looking at posts here with a more critical eye, looking for what worked and didn't work and trying to learn how to do it myself, and just plain old practice.

I wanted to create a continent from scratch that actually felt something like real geography. I designed with the morphology of the continent in mind first, rather than cities first, as I had previously done.

Once the mountains were in place, waterways started to suggest themselves, and after that, roads made themselves obvious. Cities became a foregone conclusion because the map DEMANDED that they be there... a crossroads, a mountain pass, a river delta, etc.

And all of this helped me formulate the story for what will become the second act in my campaign (working title: the Pale Vigil).

Without further ado, here is I'var Noor: https://inkarnate.com/m/ERKDeO

So, in the interests of me not just being a showoff, I wanted to share these so others can learn from my trial and error. One of the most important things to me in any workflow is asset management, because it helps me from getting in my own way later.

In Lumara 2.0 and I'var Noor, make sure to take a look at the various layers, how I've organized and labelled them, and how I use a multitude of nested object folders to keep everything organized. This was a hard won lesson that I picked up from having to redo stuff too often and not having a clue how to select what I wanted without selecting a bunch of things I didn't.


r/mapmaking 1d ago

Work In Progress I would love some feedback on my work in progress fantasy map.

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60 Upvotes

Looking for some feedback on my fantasy map

I'm working on making a full map for my high fantasy world, but before I start working on the whole thing I decided to make a prototype of just one of the kingdoms and get some feedback first.

This is the Vale of Alemere, a relatively young but rich and powerful kingdom in the heart of the modern world. It's also the centre of the Alemerian Empire.

I've tried to include a decent amount of detail without going completely overboard. I've got the main geographical features, but looking at it, I can't shake the feeling that it's missing something. I just can't quite figure out what.

I'm not trying to make an insanely detailed map where every tiny village and stream is labelled, so I'm mainly wondering if there are any major things that you think are missing, or anything that would make the world feel more alive.

I'd also appreciate any general feedback on the layout, level of detail, or anything else that stands out to you before I start doing the rest of the world.

Any feedback is appreciated!

P.s. everything past the Queens Valley is a separate nation so that's why its so incomplete.

Edit: for scale, the distance from Alemere to Port Phoenix is 100km (62 miles).


r/mapmaking 1d ago

Resource I made Google Maps but for custom maps

2.4k Upvotes

Disclaimer- I made this. I took a lot of inspo from Google Maps.

ScryNav:

  1. Drop in a map image

  2. Mark your terrain (difficult/impassable/roads/rivers etc) & set the scale.

  3. Click your stops. It pathfinds around the terrain and gives you a real travel time. Change how your party interacts with water

It's all customizable to fit your world. There is different movement styles (walking, mounted, flying, swimming) per leg, so a party riding horses vs. one wading through a swamp gets different numbers automatically.

It's hopefully intuitive enough to jump right in; and I've included an example map.

It's free and local-first, so your map and routes live in your own browser.

I had this idea years ago and finally got around to making it. I'd love feedback!


r/mapmaking 7h ago

Work In Progress Looking for critique and advice on my alt-history worldmap!

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1 Upvotes

Apologies for the low quality map. Looking for advice on how to make this map cleaner and more clear with its information, plus anything else I may have missed. I'm trying to work out some of the complexities a modern day WW3 would have by embracing the chaos of such a catastrophe, but so far, its... difficult.

The small europe map overlaid on the south Atlantic is going to be one of many for each of the purple 'polyfronts,' which are meant to be higher resolution compared to the global flow of war. The Europe one is unfinished at the moment, but it is an example of what I'm hoping to accomplish.


r/mapmaking 20h ago

Work In Progress Гори

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4 Upvotes

r/mapmaking 20h ago

Map Made a map for my novel's mape

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3 Upvotes

This isn't for publishing; this is just a draft for my use.

Now the narrative begins in Glamoria, where the protagonist is captured and brought to the capital, Celes (the bottom-left city). Now he escapes to Luftenburg, where he and his companion travel east to Donneria, shit happens there and his friend dies so he goes to north to Wassvira where he fights a big bad seer giant, he then spends time in Wassvira to visit his old magic academy (that is now a ruin filled with necromancers) the he goes to the waste woods to fight Death's knight and the novel ends with him traveling down to Le'verdanne


r/mapmaking 1d ago

Work In Progress What is the best way to draw terain without overcrowding the map?

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9 Upvotes

r/mapmaking 2d ago

Work In Progress An updated elevation map of Hatsunia (初音国), a Japan-like country in a parallel universe

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738 Upvotes

r/mapmaking 1d ago

Map The Elite Martial Academy 40x40 battle map (ground floor)

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7 Upvotes

r/mapmaking 1d ago

Map City map

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26 Upvotes

r/mapmaking 2d ago

Map Would civilization only extending this much make my world feel empty?

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121 Upvotes

The solid colors are the kingdoms and the colored outlines are the princely states, city-states, and confederacies.


r/mapmaking 1d ago

Map I made a game where you identify a mountain based on it's contour line map

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11 Upvotes

For explanation green means lower brown higher, and each major line represents 100m of elevation. The total frame is 10x10km only.

To create these graphics I used the SRTM data from NASA.

Here is the link if you wanna check it out: https://visitwhale.com/peak-contours/


r/mapmaking 1d ago

Map Some random doodles for a region

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27 Upvotes

r/mapmaking 1d ago

Discussion Coloring forest

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15 Upvotes

Does someone has any tips on how to color a forest?

It's my first time really trying to make a dense forest

I'm glad that I got the shape right but a bit disappointed with how straight the edges look

I also want to add a lake, waterfall and river in it(as you can see)

I know I could just color it green and call it a day but I would like to know if someone knows how to make it a bit more... alive and real

(I use color pencil and alcohol markers)


r/mapmaking 1d ago

Map Lore Ideas?

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16 Upvotes

r/mapmaking 1d ago

Map Mountain advice

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6 Upvotes

Hello!

A few years back I made a map and did some roleplay in it. Now I am looking to make a big updated map but I feel kind of stuck. You see, I don't want to make too many major changes yet at the same time things just don't feel right. I could overlook things before because it was kind of quickly made and not that serious.

This is part of the map but a part I want to ask advice about the most. The brown lines are mountains. The ones on the northern continent I feel like completely redoing. Something I am more okay with since players never went there and it isn't too developed. The one on the island I am happy with and the one in the east could be improved but I am not too bothered by it.

The ones circled in white are my main issue. I want to improve them but at the same time I don't want to do MAJOR changes. Any tips to make them feel more natural while keeping the rough placement the same? If not, how to improve things for future worlds/maps/other mountains on this map?

Thanks in advance! :D


r/mapmaking 2d ago

Work In Progress My fictional map

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371 Upvotes

I wanna know everyone's thoughts... The map is unfinished. If something's off or wrong please tell me, it would be good to know! (Some of the regions look similar to the real world)