Map Design Process

[Mandrad]

I have to start by stessing that, "my experience with maps is short, and i dont pretend to be cocky!"
I only made 2 designs, planepark and funnelpark (unfinished) and they exist only with the good support of map god "MAIMER"! From this experience i learned a lot, and i think i can add non-technical information on map making that hasnt been wrote before! (sry if im wrong).
My only intention is to help you making the process as short and painless as possible, and having more maps to play!

We create what we think its a wonderfull design then we show it to the world! Taste is something that differs from person to person, and there is no perfect map so, dont waste all your time in this first creation step because the world sees further than you alone and you will soon conclude that many things have to change in your design for it to become good.

Experienced or not, you must study other examples, sketch your map, and after brainstorming it and get to "this is it!", show it to the community. Changes will came for sure, and its after this step that you will start upgrading your art!

Some say you can draw/paint it, and then, at the editor, add polygons over that background. You can but, thats not a good path because changes will be very hard work. If u paint a vase with flowers and after hours of work u get to the conclusion that u have to remove some leafs... well, that will be a pain!!!

If you feel confortable with some image editing programs, make sure u separate all objects in diferent layers! - Make your file very organized, make use of folders, and it will spare you a lot of time when changes occur.

IMO, the best way to go is:
Think > Draw > Show/brainstorm it > Make it vectorial (with coreldraw, ilustrator or freehand export that pngs) and put it in Map Editor > Make people play it/brainstorm it > Finish your art in any image editing program like photoshop, export pngs > Map Editor

*I think its nearly impossible to create a good map without some image editing knowledge - without it, it will be to much time consuming!

Hope this helps anyone