Time to re-start my Twitch Map Live Streams, and the first will be Tuesday March 26th @6pm PST.
https://www.twitch.tv/anna_b_meyer
Topics will be Lendore Mapping in World Machine, New Icons and a first look at Gaea and the latest World Machine Dev Update.
Welcome to some live mapping and Q&A!
Here comes a Flanaess map for Photoshop, It has 41 layers with text and symbols on different layers, as well as terrain both with and without hexes. This file is way too large to use the standard PSD format, instead it is using the PSB format, which is the special format for very large files. Few applications besides Adobe Photoshop are able to open it.
This will be the base file for a number of variants of the 2019 Edition, area maps, DM - Player versions, handout maps, spread maps and more. These variants will use more common file formats like PSD, JPG and PNG.
Work on these different maps will be an ongoing effort the coming months.
You can download the 7.42 GB large file here: http://bit.ly/GH-FlanaessFull598CY-PSB-2019
We are 195 Patreon members as I write this, thank you all for supporting me, it means more than you can image to gain such a trust!
My posts have been scarce lately, for which I apologize. It is due to two reasons, a Kobold Press Project that takes up the majority of my time at the moment and will so for another month or so. Then Greyhawk mapping is back into the forefront again. The other reason is that a lot of groundwork is being done for things to come. Now that March is soon here and so is the start of Con Season, it is time to start to reveal what I have planned for this year.
Lendore Isles and Hepmonaland are already under way, and significant progress are being made on the Lendore project. Hepmonaland is a different beast that share a lot of workflow and technique with what I'm doing for Kobold Press, so it will get a boost from what I'm doing there this summer. A major installment is scheduled for you guys in August. Exactly how much it will be depends a bit, but it will be a large part of the continent for sure.
Lendore Isles is a project on the cutting edge of both my abilities and what current technology can provide, so it will take a bit longer to get fully polished. A first look at the terrain and how its made is planned for Cartography Patrons in June. These are contested islands with various versions presented in the past, so this project will have to honor that too with at least three different versions coming this fall.
The 2019 Edition of my Flanaess map was just launched, and I'm very proud of how it turned out and I've received an unusually large amount of positive feedback. This doesn't mean that this year's Edition is done, there are a whole bunch of versions still to be made. I'm currently exporting it layer by layer in full resolution PNG's with transparency so I can make things like: Player - DM maps, area maps, and special versions for Realm Works among other things.
One of the benefits of this is I get a good chance to go back to a pet project again - handout maps. The first batch of handout maps got a lots of love, but also constructive criticism. This was good valid points (most of them), which I take to heart. It was also my first try at doing something similar and learned a lot from it. So the take away is - Do it again and Do it better this time - Flanaess Handout Maps Set 2 is coming! This time they will be full resolution, include layered versions, better labeling and a documentation on how you go about creating similar maps for all the Cartography Patrons.
As soon as something is done, my routine is to sit down and try and figure out what to do better next time, so work on 2020 Edition is already under way. My Campaign version of the map has always been serving as the test bed for new features, which is a tradition I intend to keep, so this spring and summer an updated version is coming. Will update the borders to the new territorial control paradigm instead of the old claimed territory.
Thanks to some well worded questions and criticism I came up with the idea to test out if Adobe Illustrator CS could be used to add mile markers at certain intervals along roads and trails. Initial trails where very promising, and you can see the first results in the image above. So now I will add a small marker every 10 miles and a larger marker every 50 miles. Thought this was a feature that needed GIS tools, but it looks like old Illustrator still has some tricks up it sleeve. An special post on how I did this, and styles for download, will come later for Cartography Patrons when I have the final settings done.
Preparering for my next campaign set in the former Shield Lands in the winter of 598-599 CY, and as you probably all guess maps are a big part of my campaign planning. So the Empire of Iuz and its surroundings will get a major work over for the new Campaign Map 2019 Edition, with a special add-on in the form of my take on Iuz Demiplane. It will be my first foray into planar mapping, so don't expect too much , but one has too start somewhere right!
So what can be left to talk about? 😉
Well, something that have been asked for since I posted my first map on the web, a "classic" map of the Flanaess. I'm hearing you, and now its the time to do a Flanaess 576 CY Map!
Struggled for a long time on how to approach this, and even did a smaller version a few years ago with just the same information that was on Darlene's original map. I have now decided to do it like the features that are on the 598 CY map existed back in 576 CY, and change borders, names and heraldry etc to match the situation of 572 CY. There will be exceptions of course, some places where not built until later, but they are the exception. And yes it will come with a 30 mile hex option, and no, my 30 mile hex layer will not match the one on Darlene's map. Despite this I think it is a map that many will find useful.
Gary Con preparations are under way and I just go back from the printer with a bunch of handouts presenting my Greyhawk mapping and my Patreon. You can download a PDF version here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8nm9gyszyq7zmg3/Anna%20Meyer%2017.5x12%20inch%20Handout-preview.pdf?dl=0
The back side, seen above, is a sample area around Greyhawk. The print turned out really well, much better than previous prints I've done at Staples and other print shops. This print is done at a printing company where I help out from time in their art departement, with Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign work, and they have modern large capacity digital printing equipment. The equipment they have and the fact that I could oversee the whole process made me really pleased with the result.
The good results with the Gary Con handout made me think, what about printing the whole map in pieces. They largest format they can print borderless without resorting to expensive inkjet, is effectively 12x18 inches so we are talking a number of pieces here. One of the benefits of digital printing is that it can be done in small numbers. It will be expensive but less than the of $500 - $1K that an inkjet print would be. It is also a lot of work managing the print and then packaging and sending out the prints, but my Patreon members who are interested could be a manageable number to do.
I've thought about doing this as a special offer when we reach 250 members, it will give me more steady funds so I can devote more time to do something like this. If it works out well it can be done as a yearly thing perhaps. If we reach 500 then the budget both in time and money increase and bigger print projects can be tackled.
Regular Twitch Mapping Sessions and special Patreon only sessions will start when I get back from Gary Con. The Patreon only sessions will use Zoom, a tool that makes two-way communication and high resolution screen share work well. Been using it now for the Legends & Lore Show and very pleased with how it works.
There are a number of new cool tools to look at as well as maps to work on!
Thank you again for making this possible, together we can make more Greyhawk maps!
To have the honor of finalizing the latest edition of my Flanaess map is the heraldry of Prince Myrhal of Rax, a (former?) prince of the Great Kingdom, Death Knight and prized owner of a price of the Regalia of Might.
He resides in his keep in the Adri and his shield will be the final feature to be added to this update of the map. I'm also changing the label to "Flanaess Full Map 598 CY - 2019 Edition" to better tell the time of its release and what year it depicts.
I've been in stealth mode the past week and worked really hard to set up my new website, and now it it up!
It is far from finished, but the base functions are there. You can reach it using both http://ghmaps.net and https://annabmeyer.com but the site is hosted under the new URL. Don't worry, http://ghmaps.net will always work as well, and I'm still using it for my email and a number of other things. A single site to maintain for all my web presence made a lot of sense for a number of reasons, so I decided to have it on my new domain. I now have 200GB of server space, and generally much more capacity, which I'm sure will be needed later on.
There are a number of things still missing, like a dedicated Download section for you guys, my Patreon Members. It will be up soon. A proper search function, and separate sections for each realm of the Flanaess so you can find the right content quickly.
Please test it out and report issues, I'm sure there are bugs to iron out.
Thank you agao so much for your patience with the lack of maps and other proper content while I'm getting this done.
I'm sorry to be blunt, but this month will be mostly housekeeping. A new website need to be up and running soon so it will require a lot of work. The other big item this month is to finalize the Flanaess 2018 Edition, it needs to be made into a number of different formats, which will involve a lot of splitting, converting and such.
In my line of work these mundane and rather boring and tedious tasks take up a significant part of my work, a fair warning to anyone doing this. Now to the more creative parts...
Gaea is nearing an initial release and it is time to take a first peak at this new tool. It still lack a few key features I need for it to be useful for my work, but they will hopefully be around fairly soon so it is time to take it for a first spin.
There will be no Hepmonaland content done during January, but I will be working on it so there will be some in depths look at the technique and files so the Cartographers Tier Members can keep up to date with my progress.
More Campaign Sketches are under restoration and will be presented for the Adventurer Tier members along with Campaign Map updates and some other tidbits.
Twitch schedule is not nailed down yet but regular shows will be starting in January along with Screen Share Sessions for the Cartographer Members.
Thank you again for making this possible!
Time to kick off the new year with a Needfest Special Map!
Made a winter version several years ago and updated it to the use the new terrain in parallel with the new terrain to have it ready without too much extra work, and here it is. It comes in a hexed version as well.
JPG version:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/b0otx0dpn1upu27/Flanaess%20Full%20Map%202018%20Edition%20Winter%20RC3.jpg?dl=0
Easyzoom:
https://easyzoom.com/image/132554
Easyzoom hexed:
https://easyzoom.com/image/132555
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