[drscot]

The idea of this thread came to me when i was making a map of the San Fransisco Bay area for my next GTA V idea. in this forum i will give a demo on how to create your own decent map. feel free to post your own ideas and methods, as i intend this to become like the Artwork Forum, only for maps. Before I continue i want to lay down a few ground rules:

1. Obey all of the main forum rules
2. No copying ideas! make your own!
3. No disrespect to other mapmakers
4. positive comments or constructive critisism only
5. NO EXCUSES! i made it with a laptop isn't acceptable - I make all mine with a laptop touchpad

EDIT: Here is a link to a video for the demo: Mapmaking

Now that is over with, lets get on with the demo.

Note: for this map i used a laptop mouse, which isn't recommended for new mapmakers

Now if you dont have any official mapmaking software, i recommend the windows 7 version of Paint. This is what i used to make the demo.

Now the first thing to make a map, once you have decided on the terrain and location, is a basic shape. use squares and circles to create this.



Once you have this basic sape you need an advanced shape. although not clear on this picture i have created this with the pencil tool, at the first thickness level.



After this you need to use the rubber tool to get rid of the basic shape. this may take a while but, trust me, works well.



now you need to add more details such as bridges and rivers. don't design the cities and put in colour yet.



Now, here's the fun part. time to design the cities and add the colour. When mapmaking, i usually copy the san andreas colours of the internet. you can now also start to add parody names. the main cities I have here are San Fierro - San Fransisco, Berkland - Berkley Oakley - Oakland.



Finally, Finish of the names, the cities, the countryside and the colours to reveal the complete pause map.



Thank you for taking the time to read the entire post, feel free to comment, post your OWN maps and post your OWN methods

EDIT: Don't doubt your ability to mapmake! my first ever map can be found on page 18, post number 3, and i'm sure that you'll agree it sucks! if your first few are bad, dont worry!



DrScott

This post has been edited by drscot on Friday, Apr 22 2011, 10:08

[Claude4Catalina]

may I copy your template? Credit will be given, I dont plan on using it for anything but something to do and show off what I have done.

[Marco_GTA]

Good job making this map, I'm going to try and give it a go but it will probably take a long time the way I do things

So yeah, I'd like to see more map ideas and I'll try too, good thread

[Kwandilibro]

nice map man. i would show mine but its sh*t anyway yuors is so much better

nice thread too

[02fishera]

Nice templates but resize the pics, they're far to big!

[drscot]

Thanks guys, of course you can copy the template

[drscot]

i dont care if your maps are sh*t! post them and we can remake them, and discuss improvements

EDIT: Sorry for the double post

This post has been edited by drscot on Thursday, Dec 23 2010, 12:03

[Kwandilibro]

thats my original and i was attempting to make some changes but then i realized that yours would come out better

i dont have photoshop so i used paint.net cuz all my paint maps look nasty

This post has been edited by Kwandilibro on Sunday, May 2 2010, 20:13

[Interrobangin]

If you use your original outline in red, and then go over with the revised pencil in black, depending on what program you’re using (but even MS Paint has this feature),
you can set your eraser to red only, and erase the entire original outline in one click.

[drscot]

Thanks for the tip, man

that is something else that you can post. advice on mapmaking.

[SammiiDoogles]

Cool topic, pretty good method used in OP; not too different to mine.
I plot out the basic shape and then i cut away at it untill I have the shape I want, then I do colours and roads with different tools and finally little extras like a drop shadow to make it stand out a little more.

Here's some of the Maps I've made:

Vice City map for my topic (in my sig)



District map for my Vice City topic



"Las Riquezas" island off of Vice City for my topic



Carcer City map made for Sethpenguin's GTA:Carcer City topic

[Kwandilibro]

heres an unfinished map im making using drscot's method



not sure whats with that one green spot tho

[YungLive201]

Ellis Island Concept - For you of you who frequented my old Alderney topic, you've seen this before but I've just been touching it up lately and haven't gotten the chance to finish.


Staten Island Concept - As you can see most of the hard work is already done, got my outline and main roads but it is still a long ways from finished. Highways, Bridges, and Terrain still gotta be added.


Also, both of these will be used in my Alderney 2.0 topic, so no jacking please. And once I get the chance to work on them some more, I'll post up some screens of the new Alderney map I'm working on.

[jnzooger]

You know, its really funny that you should name Oakland, "Oakley".


It's only 42.3mi away. In fact, its on your map where the right most bridge that crosses over the East Bay river is. That bridge is the Antioch Bridge/Hwy 160, right on the Antioch/Oakley border.

[Marco_GTA]

Here's my first one I did, I never finished it in the end because I didn't like it that much and I have a new one
coming along so I'll just post it like this and post more soon probably.

[Conal123]

Its not really good but i just need some help in making the roads and stuff.



This post has been edited by Conal123 on Monday, May 3 2010, 20:19

[Kwandilibro]

QUOTE (Conal123 @ May 3 2010, 16:17)

Its not really good but i just need some help in making the roads and stuff.

all you need for roads are lines. you can use a line tool or a pencil tool and draw them in

[Marco_GTA]

Here's my latest one based on San Andreas and Vice City together just for the fun of it.

It's not very good quality because it was done on paint, I don't know what else to use, what did you use drscot?

[phantom2510]

To get better picture quality in Paint just save the image as a .png file instead of .jpeg.
Space reserved for a map I'm making now.

[Kwandilibro]

marco_GTA why did you put VC in SA? theyr about 3000 miles apart. not sure how many km that is, but its a lot. and i made my map in paint to, just enlarge the canvas and zoom in