Preview of Large North America map

[Drewcifer]

I have started a large map of North America using the template technique. The map will include all of North America, the Caribbean and chunks of northern Colombia and Venezuela. I am using a conical projection of North America and another conical projection of the Caribbean and northern South America and blending them together. I started the map June 8th, hopefully it will be done in a week or two. After two days I have completed Alaska, the Yukon, northern BC, northern Alberta and much of the North West Territory. When it is finished I will post it. Here is a preview.

 

[mrtn]

Is it for vanilla or PTW? If it's for ptw you can use Victory points instead of mountains as your matrix. This way you can keep them on the map until the last instance, and don't need to confuse real mountains with the matrix.

 

[Yoda Power]

nice, it looks like a good map, and I like the size too

 

[mrtn]

Will you include Kamtjatka?

 

[Ville]

I like it, I hope you finish it soon

 

[Drewcifer]

Originally posted by mrtn
Is it for vanilla or PTW? If it's for ptw you can use Victory points instead of mountains as your matrix. This way you can keep them on the map until the last instance, and don't need to confuse real mountains with the matrix.

I am making it with the vanilla editor but will post versions for both. I probably wouldn't use victory points anyway, I made templates like this for each map size a long time ago and now just use them "off the shelf".

Kamchatka will not be included. Because the conical projection is somewhat distorted at the far northern end, making it look right would require a custom projection of a complexity that would make my head explode. Making my South Seas map required three months and the blending of several different projections of differnent scales; it turned into a nightmare, one I am looking to avoid this time around. For the same reason Greenland will not be included either.

 

[Drewcifer]

Progress has been slower than anticipated because life has intervened. That notwithstanding I am confident that I will be ready to post at least a beta version of this map some time in July. I have just completed the Canadian Maritime Provinces, tricky but only a prelude to the Great Lakes I fear. A current snapshot...

 

[Dom Pedro II]

How exactly are you making this map?

 

[Drewcifer]

Originally posted by Dom Pedro II
How exactly are you making this map?

I created a grid on the map editor, then I traced a map of North America onto grid paper. I am drawing it in freehand in the editor using the terrestial ecosystems maps and resources maps at the National Geographic Mapmachine website.

For more details on my technique (the template technique)click here.

There is also a program called BMP to BIC which converts satallite images to civ 3 maps. However it is generally only good for coastlines. Also many of the satallite images are distorted because of the curvature of the Earth. This is especially true for large areas and areas near the poles. For large area maps the template technique applied to conical projections works better though it is much slower and more labor intensive.

 

[Dom Pedro II]

Interesting.

When I used to do Civ2 maps for my scenarios, I'd take a piece of clear overhead sheet, trace the outline of the major features onto the overhead sheet and then tape the sheet to the computer screen. It worked fairly well for me.

 

[Yoda Power]

it looks very good, though maybe you should put some more hills in Alaska. I like the way you placed plains/mountains/hills/grassland, there are no big spots with only one terrain which in my oppinion looks bad.

keep up the good work

 

[Dom Pedro II]

craaazy avatar, yoda!

 

[Yoda Power]

Originally posted by Dom Pedro II
craaazy avatar, yoda!

why?

 

[frekk]

Has anyone done an Earth map using this technique? I like alot of the Earth maps available but find that they aren't quite correct, geographically speaking. The US and Europe tend to be alot bigger than they are in the real world, with the exception of Alaska, which is usually too small.

 

[Drewcifer]

I can't say for sure but I think Kal-el's world map is based on a similar technique, as is el Mencey's. I know that Kal-el's maps are a composite of projections of each continent which is much better than using a global projection, I believe he used the same projection for North America that I am using for this map.

 

[Yoda Power]

Its true Kal-el used the same projection on North America as you, but he did not use templates(as far as I know), he used the original(and bad) civ world maps as a start-off.

 

[Drewcifer]

I don't know but I suspect that he may have used a variety of possible coordinate techniques which is not much different than the template technique. I could be wrong, he might have drawn it freehand.

Kal-el's 140x140 world map is the best to play on in my very humble opinion.

From the animation that goes with el-Mencey's ultra-huge world map I would guess that he uses a personal version of the template system for some maps; others were obviously created with BMPtoBIC though he seems to have abandoned this technique.

One of the difficulties of creating a map from different projections is in blending different maps of different scales. This may be the cause of different continents being slightly the wrong size compared to each other.

Any road that leads to a good map is worth the trip.

Making good maps is not very hard; just time consuming, making perfect maps is almost impossible in my experience. To make a map that is fun to play on requires a bit of artistic license; a good civ map is more like making a painting than like making a chart.

 

[Drewcifer]

Should be done soon. In addition to the Caribbean I need to do the resources and playtest the starting locations; nevertheless it is close.

 

[Yoda Power]

nice, isn´t there room for Hawaii?

edit-isn´t Mexico too green?

 

[Drewcifer]

Originally posted by Yoda Power
nice, isn´t there room for Hawaii?

I haven't decided yet. If it was the proper distance from the Pacific coast it would be near the West Indies. I will probably try to put it at the seam of the map at the same latitude as central Mexico. If it looks good I will keep it, if not I won't. I hope it works, I want it in the map.