Another Map of Greater Argovan

So I decided I wasn’t satisfied with the maps I made for The Heron Kings with the free version of Inkarnate. After some research, I decided to buy Wonderdraft ($30), another map tool. Here’s my first attempt at drawing Argovan and Bergovny, and the greater world around it. I think it looks much better, but I’m sure I’ll tinker with it more before I’m happy with it. I know there’s a lot of water there, but I really wanted to show the Marimines Isles and where they’re located. Love that ocean effect!

I tried placing cutesy things like forest trees and cartoon town icons, but it just gets too busy for a map of this size, and it doesn’t look right. I did like the ability to shade different areas– you can easily see why semiarid Bhasa would look greedily on verdant Argovan. I wish there was a general blend tool for shading so I could smooth over different areas so the transitions weren’t so abrupt. Another annoying thing was the placing and moving of labels– it’s too easy to add label boxes when I just want to move or modify one. I’d also like more font choices (and an accent mark for Ólo) and more choices to mark cities and towns.

One thing I was impressed with is the ability to mix and match different aspects of the preset Wonderdraft themes. You can choose from several different map styles, but you can then apply, say, water effects from one theme but land shading from another, and coastal effects from yet another, etc. It’s very customizable. But I really like the most popular preset theme called “Pastel,” which you can see here.

Another nice feature is the ability to zoom in on a specific part of a map to get a higher resolution version without having to redraw anything. Though higher resolution doesn’t always mean better looking, so you have to look at each version on its own.

It works on Windows 7 for now, even though it’s technically not supported. You do need a decent processor; it’s basically unusable on my laptop but runs beautifully on my 5 year old i7 desktop.

Update: Here’s a black and white version to be included in the novel:

Another update: I did a new version updated for the second book. I used a more washed out color scheme here, though it would still ultimately be black and white. I just hope I get a chance to publish it…