After a way too long prep and learning phase my GIS project is well under way. I took the decision to migrate my Greyhawk project to use GIS technology as its base over five years ago, and now after lots of reading, watching videos, consulting people who are professionals and have worked on similar projects, I have something to show.
I've been a long time user of GIS maps in my former life both professionally and as a hobby, but I have never produced them. Understanding the basics of how something works in the reals world only takes you so far trying to implement said technology on a fantasy world. The key difference is that you can't go out and measure the world, or use data already collected and processed, you need to create and refine the data from scratch which is the big part of the work. Back in May I posted the first look at my GIS project, georeferencing the planet and its continents. This time it is much more into the weeds, looking at data entry from large to small.
One key part of this project is to convert my existing Flanaess & Hepmonaland map into GIS, and the other is use GIS t make detailed regional and local maps. The test area for this local bit are Critwall and its surroundings. First step is to geo-reference the detailed terrain map of Critwall so it matches my Flanaess terrain and the surrounding terrain.
Next is to set up layers, its databases and the styling and start adding stuff to the map. This is the most fun bit, to world-build and create my version of Critwall. Its main quarters, called wards from its religious roots with a cleric or paladin assigned to be the protector of each. The Oeridian empire builders who settled this area in the 100's where emerging empire builders, and after a century the Old Ward wasn't big enough for their ambitions. A new ward was created on slightly lower plateau sough of the old town dating back to Flan times, and it became the New Ward. It was designed to house at least 10,000 people, and more if you included the new Harbor Ward to the west.
The Southward was added in the 200's when the Great Kingdoms ambitions peaked. The intention was to turn Critwall into the main bastion of the north west and a base for further conquest north. This is when Rauxes started to have problem closer to home and the anticipated influx of settlers and soldiers from the Great Kingdoms core lands never materialised. The southward instead became a walled in area for the well off, military training facilities and a large tournament and fair ground.
Here is a work in progress preview of Critwall:
Again I have to remind you that this is my very first map done in QGIS, but I'm enthusiastic for the possibilities. Things will get better from here and take less time to do as well!
When it comes to the bigger picture I've added all the Metropolises and all the Cities and was about to start on the Towns when I screwed up with my database management and managed to delete all the city data, a couple of days work gone. I store stuff in Dropbox, or so I thought, but QGIS store so called "sidecar files" in C:/User/%USER%/Documents..sigh. Found that out the hard way, and now I have change that setting and turned of the sidecar files and works with integrated data until I export it. You learn every day in this job...lol. It was a lot of anger management for half a day, but now I' coming back to it again, placing labels in Critwall was a great way of liking my job again.
It is a lot of tedious work but will be more than worth it in the long run. The potential of this in endless!!
Housekeeping
Patreon have screwed up a bit on their own this past month. They changed payment processor and the new one was according to rumours in Ireland and lots of US banks declined the card charges, in my case it was about nearly 40%, hopefully they will have that sorted out to next month. They sent out an email apologizing, but without going into much detail which is understandable. Being away for a bit over a month also takes time come back from so it affected me when I deserved it..lol.
I just lost a friend and long time former colleague which is always hard, and not being able to attend the funeral (it is not possible to go back to Europe again so soon) feels really depressing. I'm sorry for the delays in my projects and communication that this have caused. I'm getting over it, just need to be careful so I'm not spreading negative vibes.
I plan to do an overhaul of my Patreon and its tiers this fall. Patreon are changing lots of things and I need to adjust on my end as well. Lots of the changes are for the better I hope, want to make things simpler and a bit more straight forward. More on this soon.
Merch
NobleDwarf now have a lot of stuff with my graphics on it, posters, t-shirt, mugs and more with my maps, heraldry and logo on them!
https://www.nobledwarf.com/collections/anna-meyer
The price is for the cost of the print, I don't get a cut of the sticker price. This is so I'm, hopefully, staying compliant of the WotC Fan Creation Policy. There is a tip option in checkout, where you can ad a few bucks that will go to me. The exceptions are t-shirts and mugs with my logo only, there I will get a bit of the sale since there are now derivative Greyhawk art on them. I hope you find something you like!
I will be back with an in depth look at Critwall soon.
Thank you again for your support, it means so much, especially now!!!
