Tiandi:Province Mapping Guide

Uncle Rupudska's Handy Dandy Province Making Guide

 * Apps used: GIMP 2.10.12


 * Step One: Create the universe Open GIMP




 * Step Two: Create the universe
 * Find a map image and use that. Pixel .png maps, with hard pixel edges to everything, work best for reasons that will soon be very obvious.




 * Step Three: Create Two Layers
 * Go over to the "Layers" tab and create two transparent layers, one on top of the other, named "Borders" and "Cloud Layer" respectively.




 * Step Four: Create Cloudmap 1
 * Select one of the blank areas on the map with the Magic Wand tool and the Threshold set to 0.0% - you want an area that's big, but not TOO big.




 * Step Five: Create Cloudmap 2
 * Go over to the "Filters" tab, then "Render", "Noise", and lastly select "Solid Noise."




 * Step Six: Create Cloudmap 3
 * In most cases, you'll want to set X Size, Y Size, and Detail as high as they can go, but if the area you've selected is small enough, you can set it lower. Turbulent should always be on since it creates darker and more frequent dark lines. Tileable is only really needed if the map extends to the edges, but I keep it on usually. You'll want to generate a New Seed every time you do this - click the button labeled "New Seed" to do that, and just keep hitting it until you get a cloud map you like - every once in a while GIMP will create a cloud map that doesn't look all that random.




 * Step Seven: Create Cloudmap 4
 * Set the opacity of your cloud layer to 75 percent, or whatever is best for you. You want it dark, but not so dark you can't see the lines you're drawing.




 * Step Eight: Create Borders 1
 * Select the Pencil tool, with Pixel brush set to its smallest size (1, which is 1 pixel.) Trace your border lines along the dark lines of the map using a dark but not SUPER dark grey color (but not black - black is for shorelines, and super dark grey is for national boundaries) - pick whichever ones you think look the most interesting, or work best with your terrain map if you have one - if you do, add it as an additional layer either above or below the Borders layer with the opacity turned down lower than the Cloud Layer's. Feel free to freehand this, you don't need to be exact and don't need a drawing tablet, but a touchpad is probably a bad idea.




 * Step Nine: Create Borders 2
 * Touch up your borders to make them more natural using both the Pencil and the Eraser tool. Remember, when using the Eraser tool, keep your brush size at or near the same size as the Pencil tool, and keep Hard Edge turned on.




 * Step Ten: New Region
 * Once you're satisfied, delete the contents of Cloud Layer (by selecting it on the Layers tab and pressing Delete) and start over from Step 3 using a different section of the map.