Update I - Humble beginnings
Hey, well this is a new project from me, but as to what it is, I’m not sure myself. Allow me to explain, earlier on in the year I was really impressed with a city journal by Antimonycat. It was called Endora and is sinking down the archives over at SC4D, regardless it was a really impressive representation of a steampunk environment that I have never seen done before and I don't think had. This really inspired me, although I have had a lot of false starts with cities for public display. Either way I diligently started preparing a region, a story and all that associated gubbins that comes with being part of a city journal. It was at this point I hit a snag.
There just didn’t seem to be the right map out there for me that hadn’t already been snapped up by other journalists. This probably shouldn’t have been an issue but for my ego and pride’s sake it was. I took the decision to create my own. Considering I had done no terraforming whatsoever, this seemed an unnecessarily complicated way of doing things but, what the heck aye? It was at this point I procured some squared paper and started sketching out my map.
A few days later I had not one map but three.Each map consisted of a coastline, mountainous areas scribble shaded, large settlements all marked, along with major motorways and rail links. Also marked were rivers that would have to be done with ploppable water. Again something I have virtually never experimented with. Although I had high hopes for the maps, I doubted my own terraforming ability could match up to these somewhat complex design ideas.
This peninsula had all the craggy, hilly coastlines that I wanted to nestle towns in between, while still allowing for some sizeable settlement on its more planar northern flanks. A large river and small islands provided scope for bridging too. I felt this map gave me all the variety a city builder could ever want.
The second map had a more flowing coastline with a much larger river inlet. That would form some approximation to a mudflat delta with a myriad of islands and sandbars to decorate in game. Along the banks I envisaged a huge sprawling coastal metropolis. Further east in the region there are some uplands and a raised lake. A slighty simpler map to create but not as much fun.
This final map, is mountainous for the most part with mountain lakes and streams aplenty. It also boast two large bays, and a river running up what I’d like to imagine as a glacial valley. This map with its high level of ploppable rivers and mountainous terrain intimidated me a lot but on the other hand was a sizeable project to get my teeth into and really learn the techniques.
I really couldn’t decide which one I liked most, so well I may have made them into one large region. Ok the three image above are actually the modified versions of the three maps, tailored to piece together in a large jigsaw puzzle, but the thematic elements are largely unchanged. This presents itself as a beautiful section of shoreline, known to me as the The Iron Coast. A combination of virtually every type of terrain possible in a swathe of land encompassing a staggering 6720km2, this presents problems in itself.
It was at this stage in April that I got a new job that took up a lot of my time, and as many before this project got pushed to the back burner. Strangely though the region just wouldn’t stop nagging at me, it was something I refused not to finish… so 6 months later I dug out all the files and well started the enormous ball rolling again.And it is the story of me trying to tell this story that presents itself to you. You with me?
EDIT:- It seems that i have to post some form of evidence of results, the cj content guide i the forum says that to merely state ones intention with the first post will alienate potential clients/viewers/knaves so here is a picture from an update somewhere in the future.
Either way i hope this sparks a few interested minds....
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