World of Haruun
Design Notes
Dev Comments: Q
2D - Pen and Paper
For Overall Design: Landmasses -> details -> color -> shading -> accessories/embellishments
For Region Design: Region borders + Names -> Towns -> Notable Landmarks -> Resources -> Flora and Fauna -> Distinct Cultural. The idea behind this map is that it will be one that we can quickly shift between or have it all on one layer to view at once.
Stylistic choices will vary depending on who makes the map. The Dwyrr might use tattooed deer skins whereas the Laakadians might use a more advanced map style.
There will be a world map, a continent map, then a blown up map of each zone.
3D - Video Game, Unity, Blender
I like how TLZ: BOTW did their mapping system. Link gets an ancient tablet and it gives him a map that is nearly on the level of a modern map. He can zoom in, add markers, and it gives him topographic data so he can plot out how to climb up something such as a mountain. I want to use this as the basis for the in-game map.
Furthermore, I watched a video on how Assassin's Creed Odyssey created Greece. It looks like we can put the 2D maps into a 3D program such as Blender and build on top of them to create the game world. Now, the advantage of this is that we can massively scale the map. This, of course, means the overall quality of the 2D image drops, but that won't matter as we are literally transforming the map into the 3D thing it is supposed to be. Plus, we can use the 3D software to add cool effects such as clouds or fog blowing into a region.
Now, what I would like to see in-game is the actual playable world/level maps, then there's the mini-map, then there's the big, blow-up map that lets you put down pins and select between topographic, 3D, or artistic maps.
Lastly, this is optional, but I would like to create an online interactive map that lets people explore the lore of the world.
Resources
https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/inside-intricate-world-video-game-cartography https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaoIvk_XNus "Now game studios can import Google Maps data directly into a Google-based gaming software and tweak or add elements as desired." https://www.quora.com/How-are-environments-or-maps-in-video-games-made https://medium.com/@EightyLevel/the-art-of-game-world-maps-b41c18633bf7
https://youtu.be/XWZudinK9us --- Note the guy who burns maps into leather.