The hexs came with HexMapper but I used Quickview to do the coastlines and the borders.

BTW, do you have your hexs available for download? If they are in .bmp format, they could probably be used with HexMapper too.

--Ray.

Wow... that's a lot of trees...




I am confused Seems to me the forested hexes have "plains" colour as their background? And heavy forest hexes are a darker shade?

:-) Jesper

PS - I'm starting to think that forested hexes would look better with just the normal "plains" colour for their background. Do you think it's enough to just have the heavy forests shaded? I'm still open to opinions and suggestions.

As for Nithia...

...with forested hills throughout! To be honest, faithful as this is to the Gazetteer's text, I think it's going a bit too far.

I have been admirring your beautiful maps for a few days now, and I did find one tiny thing that I would change if I were you.

The hex grid is on top of everything else. That is fine because most things such as trees or mountains do not cross into another hex. But roads and trails do. And I must say that looking at the maps from 40 cm away I think it looks like lots of little "holes" or gaps in the roads and trails.

If I had my way, roads and trails should go on top of the grey hex grid. not the other way around.

Other than that: like I said - beautiful!

:-) Jesper

Yep, they're in the first post of this thread, in PNG format. You can easily change it to BMP format using any image editing program.

I have to go to work in about two minutes, so I'll reply to the rest later. For now, here's a map or two to tide you over!



This is my revised Glantri map, using evergreen hexes for the appropriate forests, as described in the Gazetteer.

For the traditionalists among you, I also have a map using all deciduous forest hexes:



PS - Spellweaver, look at the forested dominions to see what I mean about the shading. I could change the colour underneath the settlements to match the forested hexes, but I'd rather just normalise the forested hills again. Also, forested hills and heavy forests are indeed the same shade right now. I did say it was very subtle!

PPS - (Gonna be late for work!! ARGH!!) Also I agree with you Jesper about the roads and trails. I had noticed it too while making the maps, but I never got round to fixing it. It's actually not just a trivial fix - it might require me to add in another layer, or at least do a layer reshuffle. Anyway I'll start working on it, and post new versions of all the maps when I get it done.

I think what you're doing thorf is a great idea, and it is a long time overdue.
If the Mystara setting were ever redone I would like to see the maps redone as well.

I hope you are going to redo ALL the Gazetter maps, as the land of Mystara is not just The Grand Duchy of Karameikos, but all the surrounding lands as well.

I hope you keep up the good work that you are doing, it is VERY much appreciated, and many of us will be looking forward to it.

Totally Awesome! - I had to say it.

Thanks also for the new version of Karameikos, that fits a lot better with my understanding from the text, and I think it also makes better sense geographically - there would need to be a reason for the trees to stop so far form the mountains and there doesn't seem to be one - this way the forest goes all the way to the natural boundary

__________________
"If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck it might just be a crow."

Yep, and that's why I'm redoing them. With this techonology at our fingertips, and the time to devote to the project, we can actually make maps that surpass the quality of the originals - and the accuracy of the originals too.

The only disadvantage really with these maps is that it's not so easy to print them out. But in my case, I can probably get a pretty nice big printout next time I visit my parents. If I can get the colour settings right, it really will mean that my maps are equal or better than the official ones in all ways.



Yes I agree wholeheartedly there. In fact, I already have almost all the Gazetteer maps done. But I'm only posting one a day, because I'm going to run out of things to post pretty soon. Anyway it's nice to hear feedback on each map as it appears, and hopefully correct any mistakes that are found.


Thanks very much!

On a different note: Katana One has been helping me with some handy Illustrator advice and tips, and hopefully I'll be able to make the jump from 8.0 up to Illustrator CS pretty soon - hopefully by next week. Doing so opens up a whole lot of new possibilities, including one feature that was on my wish list from the start - a transparent hex grid.

I'll keep you informed, and when I do upgrade, I'll do a pass of all the currently released maps using the new features, and upload them here. It will likely take some time, though.

One last thing before I go to bed: I've had some life changing decisions to make this week, and it's going to come to a head at the weekend, so don't be too surprised if my updates stop for a few days. I probably won't be able to resist coming and posting a map anyway, but apologies in advance if I don't manage.

This thread is SO much fun! Thank you.
And good luck with all the life-changing decisions!

...and I'm just now heading for bed. Oops!

But I have a lot to show for it. With the help of Katana One, I have finally been able to update my files to the latest version of Illustrator. If you don't think that sounds exciting, go and check out the Karameikos map in page one of this thread - the one nearest the top of the page. Alternatively you can click here. I just spent over an hour converting the map just so I could post an example of what the maps will be like from now on, thanks to Katana One's help.

Glad I could help!

I just wish I had time to help out even more!

__________________
Obligatory non sequitur goes here.

After my late night, my morning job of teaching 3 year olds at a local kindergarten was somewhat uncomfortable, but fun in the end. Hehe.

Anyway, now I'm off to teach 18 year olds at a local high school. You might say I'm an odd job man here. But before I go, here's today's map!



Of course I didn't have time to update it (or any others) yet, so it's still in the old format. I'll give you all a heads up whenever I upload an updated map so you can keep with the most current versions. This map and others with lots of sea probably benefit the most from being upgraded, because the solid hex grid looks really ugly on the ocean.

I was hoping to have time to remake these before posting, because they're pretty small. But other things came up, so I'm giving them to you as-is. I'll hopefully get them all converted over to the new style by the end of next week.

Today I'm giving you Alfheim...



...and its "evil twin", Aengmor.



For now, the Aengmor map is really nothing but an Aflheim map with forest hexes switched for dead forest hexes. In the future I hope to make a few more additions to it, so if you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear from you.

At the time, I had some ideas regarding an "evil" wood-imp kingdom around the former Dreamlands. This is non-canon, of course - so I don't know if you'd wish to use it at this point. Anyways, the link is:

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=198356 (Archived at Vaults of Pandius)

EDIT: Oh, and you'd might wish to take a look at PC1 regarding the Alfheim map. It has some unique features for the area - such as Hsiao complexes etc.

And thanks for the tip on PC1. The problem with the map in that book is that the scale is extremely small - 1 mile per hex. It would of course be possible to mark the Hsiao complexes on an 8 mile per hex map, but it would turn that whole region of Alfheim into nothing but Hsiao complexes. Also, since there are only three known Hsiao complexes it might suggest that that's the only place they are, which is obviously not true.

What I'll probably do is just remake the map from PC1 eventually.

In any case, continuing with the maps, today is Rockhome.



I'm not sure what to do about Rockhome's trees. According to the Gazetteer, most of them should be evergreen hexes, but the trees on Darokin border are a little bit questionable. Eventually I think I'll probably end up making those trees in Darokin evergreens as well.

Edit: I just changed the forests to evergreen. You can see this updated version below:

One more thing regarding Aengmor: Did all the lakes and rivers of Alfheim survive the change?

Nice work so far

One thing on the Rockhome map - you have preserved the split river (labelled Klintest River) leading both into Lake Klintest and into the Northern Reaches. Whilst I am happy with this, the branch of the river flowing East to the border should not be the Klintest River (I can't remember the real name) - it is not flowing into the lake but into the sea. The little arm pointing South is not a tributary - it is the source of both rivers, so the river to the border has to be a different waterway.

As for your tree problem - in temperate lands there is usually an altitude line below which the forests are deciduous and above which conifer. This would enable all the Rockhome woods to be evergreen and the Darokin woods deciduous - Rockhome merely claim the mountains down to the treeline change...

That's a good question. I don't know the answer - it depends on whether you think that the elven magic which created Alfheim's nightly rains is still in effect or not. I do seem to remember GAZ5 mentioning something about the elves performing some kind of "upkeep" to keep the magic working...

On the other hand, Aengmor would look pretty boring without them.

By the way, I have now updated and posted the following maps: Karameikos, Ylaruam, Alfheim, Aengmor, Rockhome. The rest should follow before too long. Unfortunately all this updating has brought my progress on making new maps to a halt. This week looks like it'll be pretty busy, but then from next week I'm going to have a lot more free time for a month or two, so hopefully I can get back on track.

Unless, of course, the dried-up rivers and lakes created ravines, wadis, craters etc.
Just a thought.

You've hit on a very thorny problem here, I'm afraid. The rivers in both Rockhome and the adjacent Northern Reaches are somewhat problematic.

To break things down:

• Page 6 of GAZ6 implies that the Klintest River runs into Lake Klintest.
• Page 46 explicitly states that the river "forms in Lake Klintest and flows east into a gorge in the Makkres Mountains."
• Page 46 also states that the Kur River forms in Lake Klintest and flows east to the Sea of Dawn. The small source on the Kur River must therefore be a tributary.
• The Kur River becomes/is known as the Vestfjord River in Vestland.
• Page 8 of GAZ7 describes the Vestfjord River and another river, the Landersfjord, as "cutting through the Makkres Range to the west, reaching far into the Great Lakes region of Rockhome."
• The Landersfjord River is described as being easily navigable to the town of Landersfjord. However, on all the maps the Landersfjord River is southeast of Landersfjord, and unconnected.
• The river that does flow past Landersfjord is attached to the River Klintest, and has its estuary in Marsfjord. And indeed it is labelled as the "Klintest River" on GAZ7's map and TM2.

It looks to me as if there was a lot of confusion around this area. All the rivers can't flow into Lake Klintest, as page 6 of GAZ6 suggests - there has to be a runoff to somewhere. And it makes sense to me for the Klintest River to be the major runoff. Unfortunately, both the rivers described as flowing out of Lake Klintest (page 46 of GAZ6) have sources which make it look very much as if they flow into the river. The other river is the Kur, by the way, which is not actually labelled on the official maps.

The whole issue of Rockhome's rivers is a complete mess. For now, I have basically just gone with the official maps, aided a little by the Gazetteer texts.



The problem is that the connected Darokin forested hills are also in the mountains - in the Orclands. Hence I am considering marking them as evergreen too.

If that's the case, I'd have an excuse to make a new "dry river bed" mapping symbol. Still, I don't think all of them will have dried up.

Well, if you do decide to have some of the rivers end up being dry, you can find the symbols for dry rivers on the Sind map - but you probably already knew that, since you've obviously been extremely thorough in your work! I've said it before, but I have to say it again - this is absolutely brilliant, Thorf!!

Incidentally, could you add me to the list of people who would like the tile set you used? I think it's time to update the maps I've done to the new standard... :-D

Geoff

Heh, I was waiting for someone to say this.



I'm really glad you like the maps enough to want to use them yourself. By the way, I'm working on a page that will explain the files and how to use them. When it's done, I'm going to post it on my site, and I'll be happy to send the URL to anyone who's interested. Hopefully it'll help clear up some confusion between the versions and how to use the files.

Edit: I just completed the short explanation page. Anyone who's interested, please feel free to ask and I'll point you in the right direction! The page includes both the 8.0 and the CS versions of the files.

Today's map is somewhat special. The Northern Reaches maps presented up until now have always been somewhat empty, but the fact is that the data to expand them fully was always there in GAZ7. I have taken that data and the small maps in GAZ7 and applied it to the colour poster map, thus creating the first "complete" map of the Northern Reaches.



As always, you can get an all deciduous version of this map on request.

Where was this map a few months ago; my players are presently leaving the Northern Reaches.

That aside, this map looks fantastic! I think it's my favorite so far! Maybe that's partly because my copy of Gaz 7 doesn't have the map with it. I had to use the (incomplete) ones from the Rules Cyclopedia and the small black and white ones from the gaz's book.

Btw, I prefer the evergreens. Afterall, it just represents the more dominate type of trees, not that there are no deciduous trees present.

I like the evergreens too. They look especially nice on this map, I think.

FYI: I just updated the maps for Glantri and Ierendi, so now all the maps posted so far except for the Northern Reaches are in the new format.

Love the evergreens on the Northern Reaches map - it looks much more natural than on the other maps, dunno why. Perhaps it is because I am from Denmark, so this fits the map in my mind of how a Scandinavian realm should look

One thing though:
I would love to see the Sodervirk wall south of Whiteheart depicted on the map. Not sure if there is a map symbol for such a wall, but if not - then that's one more challenge for you!

Keep these great maps coming!

:-) Jesper

Just had a look at the Glantri map. What's up with the different colours of the Bramyra and Camp Bramyra hexes?

Just thought I'd mention it...

:-) Jesper

Those hexes are grasslands, just like the majority of the Khanates. This would be a situation were Glantri has moved the border beyond the "natural border" of the mountains and into "Ethengar territory". Glantri holds this area only because of the continued presence of Bramyra and Camp Bramyra. I'd think hostilities here could be very frequent once in while when a group of Ethengars decide they want that land back. Good place for a Ethengar mini-campaign.


I'll second that motion. All in favour, say "I"!

Wow- Count me as one who prefers the Evergreen Northern Reaches map to the Deciduous.

Nice to see you include the domain names and boundaries- I've got a NR map mostly finished that does the same, and includes some other features (the Stones of Sky and Ruthin Monastery from X13- as well as, eventually, the now-vacant dominions that are depicted in that module- Estin, etc.)

One thing about the domains and their sizes, though, that I noticed recently (while trying to do some Economics Spreadsheet workups with them). The boundaries on the map don't always match up with the square mileage given in the Gaz. Some of the domains should have more area, some less. More work for us, I guess.