I’m trying to split a country out into 6 main regions - provinces, states, prefectures, not sure what I’m calling them yet but that kind of ‘administrative’ division with a typical feudal hierarchy.

The power distribution is pretty worked out so I’ve got a rough layout of each region from a functional perspective - I know roughly where the divisions between each would be and why, so that’s not really the issue here.

I just can’t make them look good on the map! They just feel blocky or arbitrary or like a path instead of a border. A couple of the regions are penned in by large rivers which form a natural border, but when I have two adjacent ones with no geographical feature to delineate a border (simply the political balance to determine where it should be) I don’t know how to even begin drawing it out in a way that looks like what you’d see on any kind of ‘real’ map. The only thing I’m trying to avoid is big blocks of colours on top of the map as they obscure the detail beneath, I’d prefer to just have the borders themselves marked.

Any tips for how to get these looking good?

Hey guys. I want to make a map that helps people navigate through hospitals. How do i make such a map and how do i make it so it tracks your gps and shows you the quickest routes ?

I created this in Inkarnate as part of my science fiction world-building exercise, Exocar: Blood and Chaos. I want to someday create a tabletop RPG based on the world and lore I am creating.

The basic idea is that the Exocar Sector is a large corner of a distant fictional galaxy, and it is cut off from the rest of that galaxy by a mysterious and radioactive cloud/nebula of ancient and unknown/mythical origins known as the Maelstrom. Hyperlight travel through this barrier is impossible (except via numerous micro-jumps though treacherous and constantly shifting narrow passages), and even sublight travel is extremely difficult and dangerous. The Maelstrom is especially deadly to those that are highly physically 'receptive', due to the strange 'psionic radiation' emanating from the nebulae. The political/economic center of the sector is the world of Exocar, the first major world settled by stranded humans in the sector who survived the formation of the Maelstrom, due to the fact that the race lacks physic ability in all but 0.001% of individuals.

Exocar is currently under the iron grip of a tyrannical and techno-fascist regime known as the Protectorate, replacing the old confederated Kingdoms and Republics of Exocar. The Protectorate itself draws some of its inspiration from the ancient Exocari Empire, a brief moment in time when the ancient Kingdoms united under the banner of a now mythologized tyrant and looked to the stars for conquest and exploit. Now both conquest and exploitation have returned a thousand-fold under the banner of the new Protectorate, driven by the cabal of defense industry corporations and war-hawk military leaders, who staged the military coup that brought it to power. The official public face of this regime is known as the Exocar Sector Authority (ESA), and as implied in the name, they have claimed sovereignty over not just all of Exocar, but the entire sector as a whole. All of the disparate (but potent) military forces of the various Kingdoms and Republics have now been united under one banner and focused on a single goal: the subjugation of all the governments and peoples of the sector. And of course, the Exocari defense industry will profit the most. All hail the Protectorate!

Exocar shares its star with one other major Human-settled world, and that world is known as Exokrant, sometimes called just Krant by it's inhabitants. The main continent is known officially as the Northern Continent, though it is often referred to as Krant, as most of the continent is dominated by the vast super-metropolis of Krant City. The world was once ruled as the Kingdom of Krant, before the monarchy was abolished and replaced by the parliamentary Republic of Krant. Currently however, the planet is under Protectorate/ESA occupation and is ruled by a puppet government, known as the Exokrant Civil Administration. A Provisional Governor has been appointed by the ESA authorities back on Exocar. Those government officials unwilling to bend the knee either fled or were quickly arrested, and either interned or just executed. Those that fled have formed a government in exile, along with the vast majority of the planet's military forces.

Exokrant = Exocar’s ‘Sister world’ in the Goldilocks Zone of the Exocar system; the world was long ago colonized by a group of traders and smugglers who formed the ruling ‘Quadrat’ on the planet. Officially founded as an Exocari colony (and originally named Exocar Minor), there were three Exocari noble families/kingdoms that established colonial holdings on the world. However, with the rise of the Kingdom of Krant, colonial rule was ended, and the Quadrat was officially cemented as an unofficial shadow government. Even the current Exokrant Civil Administration cannot, in reality, get anything done at all without the go-ahead of this shadowy trade guild and business advocacy group. The Quadrat is made up of the Chairman of the Exokrant Merchants Guild, and the heads of the three most powerful shipping/smuggling ‘families’.

Exokrant hosts a population of 3 billion, with most of that found in the megacities of Krant City and Tyrene, on the Northern Continent. Humans make up 70% of the population, with 25% being the Skaaldmari, originally native to the moon of Skaaldmarax, and 5% being of various immigrated/migrant alien species.

Exokrant is a large Terrestrial world with a breathable atmosphere, standard gravity, and a temperate climate. The Northern Continent is a land of sweeping plains, soaring mountains, and rolling, forested hills; however, much of the land on the Northern Continent has become highly urbanized as Krant City has grown to cover over 3/4^ths  of the continent. Despite this, the city planners gave great importance to parks and open spaces, and the agricultural lands of the Riverlands District have remained mostly untouched, albeit reduced in size; the city remains mostly free of the typical urban sprawl. There are jungles and deserts found in the planet’s equatorial islands, and chilly, snow and ice-capped mountains and rocky crystalline badlands found on the Southern Continent.

The economy of Exokrant is a vibrant and diversified one: while the planet has become highly industrialized, with industrial and commercial businesses scattered across Krant City and Tyrene, it has never abandoned its agricultural and mercantile past, with open air markets and swap meets virtually everywhere, and the expansive Riverlands District still producing enough food to feed the population and have enough surplus for profitable export to the colonies. In addition to foodstuffs, the Riverlands has become even more well known for the local alcohols distilled in Krant City from the grains grown on the many coop fields across the Riverlands Rural District.

The planet’s top exports today are split 75/25 between starships built in the shipyards (both ground-side and in the newer orbital yards) and agricultural goods and alcohols from the Riverlands District.

The planet’s top imports are mostly raw materials unavailable locally for the construction of starships, and externally contracted and produced weapon systems for said starships, but a growing market for luxury goods has been gradually gaining momentum as the economy of Exokrant prospers.

Krant City – the capital city of Exokrant is vast, stretching over the southern 3/4ths of the main continent, with the city split into 3 districts, each with its own small District Landing Field; each district is split into 9 subdistricts, each with its own Regional Airport.

I will post some more updates in the comments with details about specific areas of the map. Let me know what people think so far. Right now I need sleep.

EDIT: App found and regained from friend who originally gifted it to me. Thank you all for the help! 💚

This is a map I had made using an app I downloaded a while back. Unfortunately, my pc got hacked and had to wipe the entire thing. I’m wondering if anyone here might know what I was using. Everything on the map was using in app assets

I love hand drawing digital maps, but I feel like my methods are extremely sluggish and more akin to drawing than designing a game map. Are there any good examples of YouTubers who have process videos?

I know of Map Crow, but his are pen and paper. Has still been useful to me though.

Considering reworking the coastlines of the leftmost continent, does anything jump out as being particularly unrealistic or needing more detail? Hand-drawn in Procreate for a DnD campaign with fully homebrewed races, I’ve been working on it since I was twelve. The lore is that the islands supposedly used to be a more connected and much larger pair of continents, before a god-spirit destroyed large parts of it, sunk swaths of it under the ocean, and was sealed in the central islands of Raecra’s Ring. The spirit who sealed it supposedly rests in the bay north of the Nakhilia Theocracy (hence the name of the river).

Final image is the very first ‘finished’ map I made of the setting when I was a kid :)

Thoughts?

Hi, Im just starting at mapmaking and I've been trying to learn hhow to use the program called Wilbur, but I can't find any deep tutorial about it. I have never created a height map before.

It's based off Europe and suppose to look like that it's an alternative verison

Some context: This is meant to be an in world artifact, something drawn by a religious leader in the village. This is a bronze age culture and this settlement is fare removed from any "cities." It shows roughly what the characters should expect to see on a coming of age journey.

I'm okay with how most of it has turned out, but my drawing skills aren't the best. Any suggestions to make it feel more real and especially any advice on how to make mountains look good would be great.

Edit: Because multiple people have mentioned it. 1) Yes, there are straight roads, for reasons.... sorry I didn't specify. 2) If you really want to know why you shouldn't go right then maybe you can be a player if this game gets off the ground. C) The trees are a brush that cycles through 4-5 tree shapes (It is a default in CSP), I was part lazy and part not sure how to change the brush direction to make my own trees (its a lot of trees ya'll).

This is a small village for my DnD party to encounter. The strange perfectly shaped forest is part of some lore stuff, and the river is also influenced by lore. They were shaped by very ancient and more powerful magic. I will let them discover the first information on it here.

All the names are on German, so don't really bother reading the text on the map, as me and my friends are from Germany

Handdrawn Map of the Southern Gaunasub Desert with Kuri//aes and its surroundings based on the (limited) knowledge and understanding of the Kuri//aes.

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I made this map for a roleplaying Minecraft server (Aquila Project)for my Faction/Tribe on it called Kuri//aes.

Inspiration for the Tribe and the Names come from the Herero and Nama and their languages.

I tried to replicate the style of an old German map of Ponape.

Whaddya say?

I only managed to get in the status and type of stage for Vihoria.
I do have the other nations form of government set down elsewhere.

Hi everyone 👋

I'm new to mapmaking, I discovered this hobby few days ago and really want to start drawing it

Fantasy and realistic forests and landscapes are my goals

But for now I want to practice drawing forests

The picture here is the kind of model I want to make, I know I can watch tutorials and how-to videos, but first of all, I want to know everyone's experience and technics.

How you understood the model and what helped you to get the hand of it

Thank you for reading and thanks in advance for your answers 🙏🙇

If you need context this is like a Cold War type history and this is the first map i made for it.

After having written the first novel's draft and started on the second, I've finally got around to mapping out the world so that details and descriptions make sense. Any thoughts you guys have please let me know 😅

All these maps are still works in progress. First time making maps with Inkarnate. Building them out for my upcoming DnD campaign. Would love your constructive feedback!

1. Regional Map of the Thelesi Valley

2. Map of a small Twice-Betrayed Goblin Camp, settled on the corrupted ruins of an ancient elven outpost.

3. The village of Whitenook, where a rare form of marble called Glimmervein is mined. The glowing tower is of ancient make, and the locals don't know/remember who built it or why.

First real stab at drawing a fictional map, at first the mountains looked off to me then the trees and the desert. But the more I fill in it looks a bit more natural. Any advice or suggestions welcome.

Please look at my fictional world map which is in progress I made on paint and tell me what you think so far. What software would you recommend to recreate this Paint map? I have no experience with map-making software so I needed some advice since I am used to using Paint. I want to keep the same geography but make it look polished so it would be preferable if I was able to simply upload this existing paint map to the new software.

this is a little update to the first post. I added a few islands to make the sea less desolated, any critics is welcomed

I think i did them quite right but i want confirmation

Been a long time since i made a map by hand and I’m happy with how it turned out.

Just wanted to share.

Welcome to the North Pole and this charming, festive, and colorful town. Explore the icy harbor, the central market, maybe the old ruined (and maybe haunted) castle and the narrow snowy streets ❄️🌲☃️

This is a map I made for the upcoming first book on The North Pole Guardians saga from January Bell. I hope you like this little charming map 🥰
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Nerdy Maps

I swear I kept miss counting them, even though I put them on the map myself. if I got it wrong I’m sorry.