Re: Completed Ytarria Hex map with terrain added
 

Indeed Apoc. I agree.

I posted a few new versions today. Inkscape (or my computer), is starting to give me problems. The program is really chugging, taking much longer to perform even the simplest task. With the number of nodes and objects in the file I think I am reaching the limit of the programs ability to cope. Crashes are becoming more frequent. It took all day to get the little that I did done. Adobe Illustrator would have been my program of choice, but not at the monthly rate they are charging.

Anyway, I have made some modifications to the Djinn Lands and the Great Desert. They are all modular. They can be mixed and matched by hiding and adding various layers. I posted multiple new versions on my blog. They are merely examples of what can be displayed.

Specifically:

Landtear (aka The Forbidden Lands) can now appear in the Great Desert. This fits since that area was the epicenter of the Banestorm.

The Burning Lands (hot desert badlands) can appear along the southern border of the Great Desert or in the center.

A large lake, a major river and appropriate surrounding terrain has been added (I need to do the islands on this lake yet) in the former area of the Landtear. This humid zone could be the home of African tribes, jungle dwellers or a Lost Civilization.

If none of these biomes appeal to you, that area can be per canon: arid grasslands, with some oasis and a few small lakes.

Cactus Forests added near the Great Desert boundaries. Like the Hundred Acre Wood...but prickly.

The city states along the coast can be removed, with the area becoming savannas & grasslands, per canon.

Wadis (dry canyon riverbeds (which flood during the rainy seasons, although some can have flowing water all year) added throughout the region. These would be represented as standard rivers if you wish.

The northern Djinn Lands (near the Kashk River) contains a much smaller version of the radioactive "Glowing Hills", contaminated with mutagenetic dust and unknown energies, with the epicenter located on the ruins of Alliance Base Indigo III.

Anyway, I would appreciate some feedback. Which version (if any), do you prefer? Which is the best fit? The main hick-up for me is that damn area in the north of the Djinn Lands, between the desert and the Fence of God. Landtear, humid region with a large lake, or savanna?

My intention is to make every region of Ytarria interesting, and somewhat unique.

Re: Completed Ytarria Hex map with terrain added
 

How about an African-style toxic alkali lake filled with exotic creatures?

It would explain why there's only a small river flowing into it and why it doesn't drain to the sea. Since it's close to a small mountain chain there could easily be geothermal activity as well, just like around Kenya's Lake Natron.

Re: Completed Ytarria Hex map with terrain added
 

I like that idea. A lake feels more organic.

I have found a fix for my lag issue. It is time consuming but it will alleviate some of my issues. (I hope)

Re: Completed Ytarria Hex map with terrain added
 

From the Banestorm Designer Notes: "The other Big Mystical Mystery which we resolved was that of the expansion of the Blackwoods..."

But did they really "resolve" anything? The text on 99 only says that "something" has appeared in the Blackwoods, and while that thing is a described as a slime-oozing, fungus-infested tree, I sure don't see anything resembling a "resolution."

So, I'm curious, what does this thread think of the Blackwoods -- and how fast are they expanding?

Re: Completed Ytarria Hex map with terrain added
 

My guess would be as much as you want. That was 20 years ago. It all depends on the timeline you want to work in I guess. Personally, I would expand it as much as you wanted. There is little impact map-wise. The situation is very Cthulhu-like, with resonates with me. I always assumed that the magic power of Yrth came from whatever fell in the Ring Islands, and that was likely more than just a meteorite. An entombed alien god, spacecraft with artificial singularity drive, the entombed remains & spirits of a dead race...or maybe just a big space rock. Whatever it was, it is waking up and not in the best of moods.

I both love and hate hex maps. Hexes are useful for gauging distance, but for the most part, travel happened on waterways, roads, paths and game trails. People did not pack up and go exploring in some random direction without local guides. Even then it was done on established routes. No one just walked off into the woods in the hopes of finding something interesting.

What this means is that most of the hexes on the map, the vast majority of it, will remain unused, pointless filler. Eye-candy at most, especially at the game table during a session. The maps I use at a table are Point-Crawl maps.

Re: Completed Ytarria Hex map with terrain added
 

Somebody had to be the first! Might as well be the victims...I mean party.

Re: Completed Ytarria Hex map with terrain added
 

Sure they did. Since antiquity hunters have followed animal herds. Even very primitive hunters and gatherers will make their way along previously unexplored riverbanks or coastlines, "exploring" only the territory that was in their immediate line of sight. Pastoralists would have been constantly scouting for new pastures and water sources for their herds.

Later explorers deliberately traveled in a given direction for a given number of miles/days to see what was there, prove a theory, map the territory or "discover" new civilizations to interact with. Survival skill and Navigation the basic skills; after that choose one or more of Animal Handling, Anthropology, Biology, Geology, Mathematics/TL (Surveying), Merchant, Paleontology, Prospecting, Tactics, Theology or weapon skills depending on the explorer's intentions.

Also, for a map that's 20 miles to the hex, you have to assume that there are multiple game trails, streams, etc. which allow explorers to penetrate the area or paths or roads between settlements.

Most of the map will be unused unless you're playing GURPS Civilization, but a fully populated map gives both the GM and players options and ideas of where to go and what to do. The GM can also easily invent a reason for explorers to visit a random hex, from rumors of a new threat or source of riches to badly failed Teleportation Other spell.

Re: Completed Ytarria Hex map with terrain added
 

Without the aid of modern navigation tools overland travel through trackless forest (to say nothing of mountains) is both exhausting and disorienting. I do a lot of camping in northern Ontario you would do well to even penetrate the foliage a few hundred meters. Anyway, I am glad I do not have to live like those folks (basically just surviving year to year...with no time for GURPS).

24 miles per hex is certainly a huge area. The largest hex scale I would consider using on a map. It is useful for calculating travel times since that is the longest distance a man or beast typically travels in a day in good terrain (it could be more or less, but I use that number to keep things simple for myself).

Yes there would be countless streams, trails and paths for sure. There is no reasonable way to map that; every hex will be full of stuff. I only marked the major trails that get regular use or which made sense.

The map has over 8500 objects on it right now (yes that is a lot). I have tried a few fixes and nothing seems to be making my life easier in regards to adding/editing additional features.

If I was actually playing RPGs I would have used Adobe Illustrator for this particular project. It handles larger files like this one easily. I will carry on for as long as I can though.

Incarnate is good program to consider for creating things out of whole cloth and those maps are done on a net server so anyone can access them or download and change them if they so desire.

Re: Completed Ytarria Hex map with terrain added
 

Cthulhu be praised!

After some detailed investigation I found the object causing problem on my map and deleted it.

Everything is back to normal, with Inkscape working like a charm.

Re: Completed Ytarria Hex map with terrain added
 

Fhtagn! Fhtagn! Fhtagn!