Kilo11's Cartography Corner

**Kilo11** · August 27, 2019, 03:30 PM

Magnus Mundus

It's been ages since I last posted a map here, and I figured to make up for that long absence I'd put up a mammoth one. This is a "Magnus Mundus" map, that stretches from Iceland in the top-left corner to southern India in the bottom-right. It's huge and takes up an immense amount of space, but it should provide a good base for large maps for AAR's that span the whole continent of Europe (plus some extra stuff). If anyone needs a different version of this file (for example, a photoshop file), just let me know in comments and I can make one and add it to the GoogleDrive.

Magnus Mundus Map

For the full size map, as well as other versions and, most importantly, the master GIMP file I used to make them all, see this link to my GoogleDrive folder.

**paleologos** · August 28, 2019, 07:27 AM

Thanks for uploading stuff like that.

**Kilo11** · August 28, 2019, 07:51 AM

Originally Posted by paleologos

Thanks for uploading stuff like that.

No worries, pal! I hadn't done mapping in so long I almost forgot about it, and how nice/relaxing it can be to do such a menial click-happy thing like stitching together map panels. And I had this one nearly done for ages, so it was high time I polished it off and posted. I hope it proves of some use to someone, and as I said in the post, if you (or anyone else) wants a different file-version of the core files, just let me know.

**Kilo11** · February 02, 2020, 07:26 AM

Arabia Felix

Hey map-lovers! I've just finished a map that's meant to accompany part of my AAR, and I thought I might share it here. It's not the usual template-style thing, but I imagine some of you folks might find it interesting nonetheless. The area covered is what in Antiquity was known as "Arabia Felix", which comprises essentially the Yemeni plateau and immediate surroundings. Anyways, enjoy!

EDIT: Cookiegod provided some thoughts/critiques about the map below, so I whipped up a slightly altered version. If anyone has thoughts on which is preferred, and why, I'd love to hear them! Also, I can mash features of one version with the other, so feel free to pick very specific things you preferred about one or the other

Arabia Felix Map

Arabia Felix (parchment back)

**cedric37** · February 03, 2020, 02:48 AM

The 2nd one looks really good

**Gigantus** · February 03, 2020, 06:11 AM

Just stumbled over this nice tutorial. In this context it might be of interest that I wrote a detailed tutorial using the Demis World Mapper plus provided some sample maps in a basic mod set up.

The parchment Felix Arabia map should make for a great radar map image, also a good opportunity to play with all desert textures. You may need large texture files (2056*2056) to avoid repetitive appearance on the strat map.

**Cookiegod** · February 03, 2020, 06:39 AM

Gig you're actually like the great grandfather of this cartography corner! I stumbled over your tutorial and used your DEMIS world mapper a lot, though in my own custom way, as I wasn't doing map mods, and then I recommended it and gave my own tips to Kilo.
I just checked and noticed you're even accredited and your tutorial linked in the second paragraph of post #3 in this thread

**Gigantus** · February 03, 2020, 06:45 AM

Damn, old age is taking it's toll, posted about Demis after seeing it mentioned in the first post. Thanks for pointing out the mentioning, nice warm and fuzzy feeling....

**Cookiegod** · February 03, 2020, 07:32 AM

upon thine gigantic shoulders 99% of all creations in the TWC rest senpai!

EDIT: As an aside, I do frequently contemplate to do quick map minimods based on your guide. I never follow through, mostly due to time constraints. But I still have your DEMIS guide in my heart (and on my external HD)

**Araval** · February 03, 2020, 10:13 AM

I like the second one better too but I think it has one drawback - the big red letters have become harder to read.

**paleologos** · February 03, 2020, 02:29 PM

I feel I must agree with Araval, I would choose blue for the fonts and I would make them sharper.

**Cookiegod** · February 03, 2020, 03:46 PM

I think it just needs the fix to have the mountains behind the letters deleted or dimmed (just the big ones that are right behind them). If that fix is too time consuming, you can simply add a white "shadow" with soft edges around the letters. Also, the coastlines are a bit at odds with the rest of the map, and I'd recommend using the parchment as the background and play with the colouring of landmass (doesn't have to stay white, though maybe it is best the way it is, you can check that out by playing around) and the sea, and the various objects on land separately.
So for example if you have the parchment as the background and make the mountains a bit transparent as well, that might already solve the readability issue without doing the other change I proposed in the beginning.

Btw. I don't think blue would make it more readable. However I'm not sure the cities and countries should have that same colour. I'm not sure though.

Anyway obviously a great map. Obviously I already told Kilo most of that per PM, but I think/hope this advice here is somewhat different that neither of the two are redundant.

**Kilo11** · February 06, 2020, 02:16 AM

Thanks for the thoughts, guys. And Gig, you most definitely are remembered in this thread! I've also read through your whole tutorial, and it is top notch!

Regarding the second version, what do you guys think of the following variant? I have not made any significant changes. I've just changed the opacity of the mountain layer (now it's 50%), and the wadi layer (75%). I feel like that makes things more readable, and also adds a bit more uniformity of feel between the different elements. Any thoughts are most welcome!

Arabia Felix (lighter mountains)

**Cookiegod** · February 06, 2020, 12:28 PM

It's very much improved!

I don't see much need for further improvement.

The tip I gave earlier, with putting the parchment as the bottom layer and have the others with various levels of transparency above, is something you can try out with your future attempts. It does have the advantage that you have greater freedom in changing the opacity of stuff.

**Kilo11** · February 06, 2020, 02:08 PM

Yeah, right now the parchment layer is almost all the way down. The only things it's above are the ocean and white layers, and that's cause I think the colors look better that way. But the suggestion to reorganize layers and play with opacity is in general a really good tip. So anyone else who might be using GIMP, do try Cookiegod's suggestion!