So here's my long awaited hand-drawn city map of Kasai, capital of the Minkai Empire (Paizo's Japanland) for Part #6 The Empty Throne, Jade Regent Adventure Path. I was commissioned by Paizo to create a preliminary hand-drawn city map that would be used by Paizo's inhouse cartographer to reference so all maps in the AP are consistent - so this map is not the final. However, now that I have the printed adventure in my hands (sent free to me from Paizo), I can tell that nothing has been added, nor taken away, all details in the final map match my original.
Also I created 4 entries in the gazetteer portion of the adventure, corresponding to that map. My name is the last listed contributing author on the credits page for the AP - that's something to be proud of, I think.
Here's a link to the Map - City of Kasai map (http://www.gamer-printshop.com/Paizo/kasai-hand.jpg)
PS: I'd post a link, but since it's lineart and huge (36" x 45", 100 ppi) it would be a blur of pixels, if I posted a thumbnail.
Quite awesome. really.
Ok, wow! That must've taken a while. Very impressive, GP.
Damn! That's insane.
Nice work man, keep it up!
Congratulations. The map is extremely detailed- more detailed than Paizo's city maps usually get!
(Just a looking out for you note: Make sure you have the rights to post up this map :o. I'd like to see you get more work in the future).
Quote from: Phoenix
Ok, wow! That must've taken a while. Very impressive, GP.
12 hours. 8 on one Sunday, then about 2 weeks later, another 4. The fortress quarter looks heavier lined, because I did that at slightly smaller scale (enlarged to fit where it belonged). I was waiting for the adventure author to send me his planned layout of the castle, so I could match it up in the final map. I worked at a furious pace, because I knew I needed to create lots of buildings and that would take up time. I placed the roads first, then placed shops along the road, with homesteads within the irregular 'blocks'.
Quote from: Light Dragon
Congratulations. The map is extremely detailed- more detailed than Paizo's city maps usually get!
(Just a looking out for you note: Make sure you have the rights to post up this map :o. I'd like to see you get more work in the future).
I contacted F. Wesley Schneider, Managing Editor of Paizo Publishing, 3 months ago, whom was my point of contact in the development of this map, when and if it would be appropriate to post my version of the map. Wes said, after it is released (Feb 22), I would be more than welcome to post my map, thus promoting their product as well. So I've gotten permission. (I've even posted on my Facebook page, and Wes gave an enthusiastic response giving details on how the commission went)
Regarding the details of the map. Paizo sent me an author's version of a map of a different city - to show what they expected in design and quality for their needs. And to me, the map they offerred as an example was of pretty low quality. So I just created the map, as I expect the quality to appear - and it more than met Paizo's expectations. I was even given a $100 bonus over what they originally planned to pay me, once I started showing them quarters of the final map, as I completely them.
Thanks for the comments guys, this was a bear of a map - but as a commission for Paizo, I was designing to impress.
QuoteI contacted F. Wesley Schneider, Managing Editor of Paizo Publishing, 3 months ago, whom was my point of contact in the development of this map, when and if it would be appropriate to post my version of the map. Wes said, after it is released (Feb 22), I would be more than welcome to post my map, thus promoting their product as well. So I've gotten permission. (I've even posted on my Facebook page, and Wes gave an enthusiastic response giving details on how the commission went)
Regarding the details of the map. Paizo sent me an author's version of a map of a different city - to show what they expected in design and quality for their needs. And to me, the map they offerred as an example was of pretty low quality. So I just created the map, as I expect the quality to appear - and it more than met Paizo's expectations. I was even given a $100 bonus over what they originally planned to pay me, once I started showing them quarters of the final map, as I completely them.
That is great then!
Quote from: GP12 hours. 8 on one Sunday, then about 2 weeks later, another 4. The fortress quarter looks heavier lined, because I did that at slightly smaller scale (enlarged to fit where it belonged). I was waiting for the adventure author to send me his planned layout of the castle, so I could match it up in the final map. I worked at a furious pace, because I knew I needed to create lots of buildings and that would take up time. I placed the roads first, then placed shops along the road, with homesteads within the irregular 'blocks'.
Now before you can run a game with this, I do expect you to be able to tell me which NPCs live and operate in all those buildings.
Total immersion, GP. Total immersion.
Well, I can actually tell you which areas are which, who has control, what are the occupations/shops in the area, who has money, who doesn't, which part of town has the most money, power and influence. I know NPC wise who is the syndicate boss and where, as well as distinctions in the samurai/fortress district. Specific NPCs, well, it's not my setting, so I don't control that aspect. I just created a feudal Japanese capital that makes sense for that culture.
Wow, this is a really, really impressive map! Kudos.
Holy crap that's an awesome map, man! Geez
Tempted to get that path just to have the maps for use in later Oriental adventures. Good work.
M.
The Jade Regent Map Folio, from Paizo, includes a 24" x 36" full color print of this map.
One of these days, I will need to make a city map of Kaidan's imperial capital of Fukuhara-kyo, and it should be just as detailed, and possibly of greater population - I don't look forward to doing that!
What's the population of this centre?
M.
That's awesome, GP! My group and I are just starting the fourth installment of the Kingmaker AP. After we've finished the AP in its entirety we were going to move onto Jade Regent. I'll have to get my hands on this when we start it up.
Quote from: Caseous Che
What's the population of this centre?
M.
80,000 - 100,000 (based on 8,500 buildings, plus on this map)
That seems rather dense - assuming every building is inhabited, that's 9-10 per building. Good show.
M.
Some building might have multiple floors. And by some I mean lots, abnd by multiple, I'm think pagodic towers.
GP
Do Absalom! Doooo eeeet!
Honestly, big city maps are WORK, I usually don't make big city maps unless I have to. Paizo paid me to create the map at the start of this thread, though I was given freedom on what it would look like, including the number of buildings - Paizo paid me an extra $100 for this map, when they seen the quality and detail.
I do have to make another big city map in the next month or so, I'll need to design the imperial capital of Kaidan, Fukuhara-kyo, which will probably be bigger than Kasai (and because of that, I'm not looking forward to it...)
So unless Paizo pays me to create Absalom, it's unlikely I'll take on the challenge for personal mapping.
Here's my most recent map. It's for my upcoming Way of the Samurai, for Kaidan (PFRPG), called Kawashi, a sample samurai castle town for the last part of that supplement.
(http://www.gamer-printshop.com/cbg/kawashi-map-med.jpg)
Link to larger version of this map Kawashi Map (full scale) (http://kawashimap(fullscale))
GP
Aw, that's a perfectly reasonable, thou disappointing stance. Do you take on the luxury of personal challenges or do you mostly produce for your products and freelance these days? A last thought on Absalon is that since, much reference materials exists, it might be easier to recreate. Or does that make it harder for the artist?
There are a number of fantasy cartographers motivated as fans for various published RPG settings, fictional worlds, etc. Me, I'm generally motivated by the creation process, like a campaign builder, I prefer to build my fantasy worlds from the ground up. I tend not to create maps based on others creations. Part of my reasonings for creating Kaidan, my published setting is to give me an outlet to creating a custom world, per my own specifications.
If a publisher asks me to create a specific map, I'll do so and do as best a job as possible... but I look forward to getting it done and over with. Most of my maps I create in single day, or a couple days at most, because I don't want to spend too much time on any one project. I do take on quite a few map commissions, but most of my time is in the development, design, cartography, illustration, and page layout for Kaidan.
For somebody who might be a real fan of Golarian and a cartographer, creating a map of Absalom might be a welcome opportunity. For me, while I would certainly work for Paizo again if offered another commission, I'd jump at the chance, however, any map I normally create is publishing fodder, but isn't that when doing it for somebody else's intellectual property (without being asked by the publisher), because I'll never see gainful opportunity for doing so. Not that I need money for every map I create, but the potential has to be there for me to do the attempt.
Even the maps I create for the Cartographers' Guild monthly challenge has the potential to be published down the road.
I don't mean to disappoint, but right now I spend huge swathes of time making maps or working on my own projects. The opportunity to do a fun project only, has gotten less and less.