New map for Exalted

Zaramis

Zaramis

Senior Member
Know what has been bugging me since 2nd Edition came out, no, actually, since way before that? The 1st Edition map that StephenIs and everyone is working after doesn't have the elemental poles in symmetry out from the Elemental Pole of Earth. It's really irritating. The 2nd edition map isn't available online, either.


Im a perfectionist and lazy. For a long time, I waited for someone else to do my job for me, but I finally gave up and started the map project myself. So, starting earlier tonight, I worked up a map with the elemental poles in the right places. Voila:


Updated: New version!


http://www.zaramis.net/Creation3.jpg


I know its not finished, but it's a first test run so people can say what they think, and if you would use it if I kept working on it.
 
It's actually really good.


The style is a bit off...  it's too modern looking (almost like a satellite image) but, it would make a good map for ST use when he needs a bit more precise data than the map in the core provides.
 
I've always been fond of the more photo-realistic style, since it makes it easier for me to picture the whole ahead of me. But yes, it's intended as a ST-map more than a map anyone could find in the actual game. Maybe I shall make a filtered variant of it to look like a parchment map.. :)
 
Wow!! Awesome job!


What program are you using? Maybe in my spare time I could help you and add some details from the other map?
 
Thank you! :)


I use Photoshop, but easier than doing changes on your own is listing some changes you want done here in the thread that I might have missed and Ill put them in. Apart from the rest of the major names ( won't include minor locations with names, only dots )
 
Nice job.  My only complaint may be that it needs to be bigger to see some of the smaller details on the map.  But, that would also depend on how much detials you wanted to put on the map in the first place.  Overall, though, it rocks.
 
Yeah, I never imagined that it would be extremely detailed but I could probably scale it up without losing too much of the good looking stuff. I'll take a look at it when it starts getting crowded, but the initial plan was just to make it a good size to print and have as a nice map on the wall :) hehe. And use like the map in the core book.
 
Zaramis said:
Thank you! :)
I use Photoshop, but easier than doing changes on your own is listing some changes you want done here in the thread that I might have missed and Ill put them in. Apart from the rest of the major names ( won't include minor locations with names, only dots )
Click to expand...
Naw, I really have no need of it at the moment, I was merely curious. Photoshop is one of my weak points, I need to learn more and play around in it. I was mostly curious because I am leaving florida soon to head back to my home state, and unfortunately most of the gamers there in my circles were D20 fanatics, so hopefully I can find an exalted game. If not, I was considering running a D20 modern, and may want to make my own maps, so that was really why I was curious.
 
For the base map, I took the regular Exalted map and actually modified by hand ( in Photoshop ).


First I converted all the land to white and all the sea to black, which was the first step. Then I stretched certain landmasses so they fit more with the elemental poles, for example I had to stretch out the northern ice a little as well as gently nudge small parts of the south, making small almost unnoticable changes until the imperial mountain was basically in the center instead of off to the left. It's still not perfect, but it looks more right than before. For example, the east is still bigger than the west, but there's only empty sea out there, so I might or might not make it completely centered.
 
I'm gonna work on it today, was the thought. Haven't really decided on what level I want the detail tho, what cities should have names etc.
 
Nice work Zaramis.


I'm not sure where I found the 2E map I used for the dragon lines experiment I did a while back, but the I've added the 2E map I had to Thor here.


Also, people interested in maps should take a look at a forum called the Cartographers' Guild. I thought I knew something about making maps until I saw what these guys were doing.
 
I've looked at the cartographer stuff before, It's pretty much what I have been doing the last few years. I rarely have the patience to really put down the effort, tho, which is a shame. I hope I will with this Exalted map, maybe I can get a link or something from the WW page. Heh :)
 
What's funny is that if I had known that your 2nd Edition map was online and available, I wouldn't have started this map ;) But now it provides a good blend between 2nd Ed and 1st Ed styles + modifiable.


Thanks for the link, too!
 
Also, for the record, I've used different sources for the city-locations to try to get the most common one, considering they are all different in the maps provided in the books.


For the Realm cities, I've used the "Blessed Isle" book for their locations. For the eastern ones, I've used Scavenger Lands and for the rest, I've used various others. Most of them are from the core book or StephenIs's maps.
 
Sorry for bumping, but I just realized a horrible mistake. I forgot to copy my layers to do some filtering-work.. and ended up with flattening all my terrain layers into one and using that for quite a few saves.


I hope no one finds any fault with the terrain because it will be a -paaain- to fix! :)


( Also, with the bump I added a new version of the map to the first post. )
 
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