Map Name: Belgium Mapmaker(s): I have no idea. I can barely write. I am willing to contribute in any way possible though. Number of Territories: 42(I may have miscounted ) Special Features: Not sure What Makes This Map Worthy of Being Made: I'm from Belgium and I am missing it in the already large selection
Map Image: I guess it would be something like this. [bigimg]http://download.tuxx.nl/bouwvakantie_belgie_2010/belgie.jpg[/bigimg]
Welcome to the foundry. It's always great to see new people expressing interest in creating maps (or having maps created ). Certainly the area makes for a nice layout, and with a little practice I think you would be able to complete this yourself. I had no prior graphics experience, and still consider myself only good at 2D images, but was able to pull off Tribal War - Florida. It was the passion I had for my home state, and wanting to see it represented on the site that kept me with it. I think you might have that same desire, and with a little time, and of course help from all of us, I'm confident you can do this yourself.
First off, if you don't already have a graphics software you are going to need one. GIMP is what I use, and others here as well. It's free, and extremely powerful, along the same lines as PhotoShop, but that might be debatable by some of the experts. Then take a look at the Tools & Guides section, in particular natty dread's Gimp Mapmaking Tutorial Pt.1 and then 2. Those will give you the basics for creating a map from your image. It will be up to you to come up with something unique for the map, to set it apart. Throw some ideas out and the community will help.
Anyway, making maps is fun, you should give it a shot. And we're all here to help along the way.
That's quite a number of very flashy colours you've got there(I'd use less flashy), but overall I like it that you're gonna make a map from Belgium Go Belgium!! Btw, what are your plans for gameplay style? classical? Cuz you could always make it so the map shows monuments or maybe place Belgium in a certain era of it's history, for examle second world war...
Great work on continuing to improve your map, keep it up. As you can see below, this was my first draft of Tribal War - Florida, and extremely far from what the site requires, and deserves.
Eighteen months later and the map was finally quenched. Here's a couple of things, and feel free to use whatever works for you.
Borders: There's not much you can do except go back over with the path tool, which will make the outlines nice and smooth. If you don't like that, you can always jag it up in other ways, still using the paths you've created. I'm sure some others have a better way to do that, but my way would be to just add more points along the path, and then use the squared edge setting when stroking them. I use a 2px stroke, so much tighter than what you have currently.
For the main map, the way I would do it is, to basically start with a path for each large area, Then the smaller areas, etc. This will allow you to easily fill each area in with color or texture by using the Path to Selection, then just drop your color in, making sure to use a different layer for each one. Then I go back in and create a path around each individual tert or a line, etc. to create the lines/borders for each tert. This will allow you to easily move them around as needed later on, which will invariably happen. This is not fun, but just put on some Floyd, zone in and I'm sure you can knock it out in a couple of days.
Also, as asked prior, what time period are you looking to set the map in, that will determine the type of theme you go with, etc.. Also, think about all of the explanatory text to set the tone for the map. Personally I'm a quote man, you'll see one on every map I do. "There is no death, only a change of worlds", Chief Seattle. "All these are the twelve tribes of Israel", the Old Testament. "Do the unexpected, attack the unprepared", Zhuge Liang. "Not all those who wander are lost", Tolkien.
Don't forget you'll need room for a legend, or mini-map, as well explanatory information, etc.
Keep up the nice work, but you have a long way to go. You might also want to save up some of the map update posts until you get a little more meat on the bone, if you know what I mean, unless you are looking for feedback on a perticular direction, etc.
Either way let me know if you have any questions, and don't give up!!
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). Certainly the area makes for a nice layout, and with a little practice I think you would be able to complete this yourself. I had no prior graphics experience, and still consider myself only good at 2D images, but was able to pull off Tribal War - Florida. It was the passion I had for my home state, and wanting to see it represented on the site that kept me with it. I think you might have that same desire, and with a little time, and of course help from all of us, I'm confident you can do this yourself.
