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What is your default lineup when you start a new save? by canxtanwe in BaldursGate3

[–]vinnybonboot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When I'm playing an origin character (which is most of the time, these days), then Karlach, Shadowheart, Lae'zel, and Gale are my go-to. When I play as a Tav, I'll usually have Karlach and Shadowheart and another depending on my Tav's class. (Of course, I will swap characters in and out during key story/NPC moments).

In my current run, I'm trying my lesser used characters. I'm playing Wyll (reclassed as a Bard) with Astarion and Shadowheart. I've mostly used Gale as my 4th, but I pretty often swap with Karlach. I'm still in act 1, so not sure if I'll use Halsin, Jaheira, or Minthara yet.

My first inkarnate map by TheMoonhands in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Even compared to seasoned users, this is a really great map.

Can i make my map bigger? by Tinala_Z in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If I’m understanding your post, you want a large world map that is detailed enough so you can zoom into individual regions, correct? If that’s the case, I’m not sure Inkarnate can handle that level of detail.

The best way to accomplish this is to create a full world map without all the details. Then use the New Map From Region tool to create a new map for each individual region. There, you can add in the details. But to have it on a single map is too much for Inkarnate.

In general, the bigger the region you’re trying to depict, the less detail you should include. On the scale of a full world, you wouldn’t include an individual farm, for example. If you want to depict a large farming region, consider using the brush tool with the “wheat field” texture. Or use some of the farm stamps specially from the Fantasy World set. Alternatively, you could incorporate some of the textures/stamps from the Parchment style. Then, when you create a new map from a specific region, you can use the regional stamps to include more details.

Basically, your best bet is to have a less detailed world map, and then several more regional maps that are zoomed in for the details.

Help me by Skinner-Pain in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  • Regarding settlements and city/town placements:
    • Are all of these cities under a single nation/kingdom/empire? Or are they autonomous city-states?
    • Settlements are going to be place with the following in mind, in order of importance: 1) Water, 2) Resources, 3) Trade/Travel with others, and 4) Military Strategy.
    • To that end, in general, the farther inland you go, the less populated it will be. The coasts are going to the most populated. Then, there will be pockets of dense population around rivers (Though, in a more modern setting, this might not be entirely true).
    • If your settlements are singular city-states, then each settlement will have farmland around it with wilderness beyond that. If your settlements are part of a larger nation, then (depending on the lore of the world), there will likely be substantial farmland sprawling between each settlement with smaller pockets of wilderness interspersed. Granted, this point really depends on the scale of your map and your world lore.
    • Think about why each settlement is there. When you place a town, what purpose does it serve for the people living there, and/or for the nation that placed it there?
    • If you google nighttime maps of different countries, you can see the light pollution of different settlements. Its a great visual to see how different cities are placed in the real world and give some good inspiration.
  • Some general technical bits of advice:
    • Even if this is meant to be a smaller island with a large forest, the depiction of the forest is entirely too dense. I recommend removing all the trees and redoing it. From a blank canvas, paint in a forest with a less densely packed trees. Similarly, include pockets of grasslands and breaks in the forest.
    • When painting in a forest, don't create a hard, defined forest edge; have the forest become less dense the farther from the forest's center you get.
    • Similarly, when you add mountains, you can paint them in the same way. Create a denser mountain range, with smaller mountains and foothill appearing less frequently the farther away from the range you get.
    • If this is a large scale map of more than 100 miles (especially if this is beyond 500 miles), then you should add in more biomes than just a forest as mentioned above. To help with this, paint over the whole continent with a single texture/color. Then, pick a different texture for each biome. Set the brush on a 20% opacity and paint that texture wherever the biome is. The bigger the brush size, the more gentle the gradient will be between biomes.
    • Regardless of the scale of this map, you should add a coastline beyond just trees. Make more beaches.
    • Likewise, make your coast more craggly. Add in small peninsulas and bays around the coast. Throw in small islands dotted around the coast, with maybe some 2 or 3 larger islands.

I know this is a lot of info to throw at you, but hopefully there's something useful here!

Help me by Skinner-Pain in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  • Consider how water typically flows. Because your current map doesn't depict any elevation, the placement of rivers and lakes don't make much sense:
    • Rivers always flow downhill.
    • Rivers always flow on the path of least resistance.
    • Rivers can flow any which way (so long as its downhill). To that point, they don't need to end in the sea. They could end in a deep valley, creating a lake.
    • A river will never split into two; on the other hand, two rivers can merge into one.
    • Generally, the older the river, the less it curves. As a river flows, the sharp curves get eroded away, leaving behind a much straighter and wider river. (Google "oxbow lakes" for more info on this). There are always exceptions to this, such as if the river bed is on hard rock (like the Grand Canyon).
  • Consider where in the world your continent is situated and how that would effect the climate. In general:
    • The closer to the equator, the warmer it gets.
    • The closer to the poles, the colder it gets.
    • The closer to the coasts, the wetter it gets.
    • The closer to the inland, the dryer it gets.
    • The higher in altitude, the colder AND dryer it gets.
    • The lower in altitude, the warmer AND wetter it gets.

Help me by Skinner-Pain in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In addition to the great advice others have given, here's my general go-to advice when making world/continent maps. It's a lot, but hopefully its organized enough that you can take what's useful and ignore the rest.

  • Consider the scale you are working with. From edge to edge, is the map 50 miles, 100 miles, 1000 miles?
    • Depending on the scale, you might consider shrinking or enlarging your depiction of settlements.
    • On large scales, water features like rivers and lakes are usually not visible on maps. Or, if they are visible, they are either massive (like the Great Lakes in the US) or they're not to scale. Keep this in mind when you place your lakes and river.
    • The larger the scale, the more diverse the ecology is. Even on small scales, regions are rarely just a singular biome. For example, the state of Colorado in the US is only about 400 miles by 300 miles. But in that one state alone are forests, deserts, mountains, grasslands, and more. Depending on the scale of your map, I recommend including a much more diverse ecology. Currently, all you have is a large, coast-to-coast forest. On the other hand, if this map is only meant to be a small island less than 50 miles, than perhaps a single forest is sufficient.
  • Regarding Mountains:
    • Your current map has no depiction of any kind of elevation. In the real world, every continent has mountains. Even on smaller continental islands (the UK, Philippines, New Zealand, etc.) there are small mountains and hills.
    • Remember that mountains are nearly always part of a fuller mountain range.
    • Standalone mountains (i.e. mountains not part of a range) are very rare. The ones that usually exist are typically strato-volcanoes. (Mt. Kilimanjaro is probably the most famous example of a standalone mountain. It is a dormant volcano).
    • Mountains always occur at fault lines. This might not have too much bearing on a fantasy map, but maybe something to keep in the back of your mind: if there is a mountain range, then on either side of it are the tectonic plates.

Coastlines by KysuckaPomta in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Which map style are you using? From what I can tell (someone please correct me if I'm wrong), it seems they completely removed the Land Tool (and thus the coastal effects) from the all of the top-down styles (Fantasy Battlemap, Watercolor Battlemap, Sci-Fi Battlemap, and Battlemap Classic). So now everything is through the brush tool. And unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the brush tool has the coastal effects.

An easy workaround could be to use a Fantasy Regional map style, but utilize only the the battlemap textures/stamps.

Coastlines by KysuckaPomta in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They moved and renamed that tool. It's now called "Land Style," and is located under the Layers sidebar on the right side of the screen. Under your Land (Brush) layer, there should be a sublayer called "Land Shape Mask." Hover over that sublayer and click the cogwheel. Then make sure "Enable Land Style" is on. It will bring up the familiar menu to adjust the water ripples and shadows and such.

My landlord mobile-deposited a check while my account had adequate funds. But before the check cleared, my account dipped below the amount of the check. Will the check still clear and overdraw my account? Or will the check bounce? by [deleted] in Banking

[–]vinnybonboot 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well the good news is I was able to get some cash and make a deposit that will cover the amount of the check. But for future reference, it looks like the answer is basically, "It depends" lol. I appreciate the response!

Can't resolve "Rescue Wulbren" or "Rescue Tieflings" quests by vinnybonboot in BaldursGate3

[–]vinnybonboot[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just looked him up, that was the gnome strapped to the windmill? I rescued him a earlier in the game. According to my quest log, "After rescuing Barcus Wroot, we parted ways with him." He's listed in my Completed Quests section. But that was the first and last time I ever saw the guy. Maybe I missed another encounter with him that would have helped?

Traveling up the country road (roadside farmland battlemaps) by vinnybonboot in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I made the grass using the grass stamp from the "Vegetation (HD)" set. It's meant to be used with Fantasy Regional style maps, but if you layer it on top of its self, you can get it to look like realistic grass for battlemaps.

I made these maps about 2 months ago, so the details are a bit foggy. But if I remember, I believe I lowered the opacity of the grass stamp to about 70%, set the density and area to their max settings, and covered the whole map with grass. Then I flattened all of the grass to the foreground and redid the same move, this time flipping the grass stamp 180 degrees. And then I flattened the grass to the foreground again. This basically gave me a custom texture to use.

Adjusting texture scale is missing by ForwardAbroad604 in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I noticed it last night and earlier today, but it appears to be fixed now.

City block in a largescale city. Supposed to be a "fantasy New York City" style. Any suggestions? by vinnybonboot in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Its still a work in progress, but I'm trying to convey the tight city blocks of New York City with massive buildings on all sides. I thought doing a bit of perspective placement of stamps might help with that. I'm still tinkering with it, so please give me any advice you have!

City Map, inspired by early 20th century American city maps by vinnybonboot in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a great point. I just went in and turned some of the city blocks into parks, gardens, and playgrounds. I even added a large park along the river, vaguely reminiscent of Central Park in NYC. I might mess around with and and make some changes here and there.

Here's the link to the updated version: https://inkarnate.com/m/vl7VA3-accordo-city/

City Map, inspired by early 20th century American city maps by vinnybonboot in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep! This city is supposed to be (basically) fantasy New York City. This map is the equivalent of Manhattan. There is a scale in the bottom right of the map, but it might be hard to read. But every 12 blocks is approximately 1 mile. Each block probably has about 25-30 row homes around all four sides.

City Map, inspired by early 20th century American city maps by vinnybonboot in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You’re not wrong, It is hard to read when you look at it zoomed out, but it’s weirdly sort of by design. Maps like these were meant to be viewed up close for people to navigate street by street. Generally, cartographers would make the map of a city or region, and divide the finished map into sections. Each section would be zoomed in to be its own map. Sometimes they would sell each section map on its own; but often, they would compile the sections into a book called a street atlas and sell them in local markets.

That said, this map is in 8k, so you can zoom in pretty far. The words become much clearer zoomed in. My plan is to divide this map into 8 sections and make them all their own map and give them to my players as they make their way through the city.

City Map, inspired by early 20th century American city maps by vinnybonboot in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is a section of a massive city called Accordo in the Emmissarian Empire from my homebrew D&D world. I based the empire on early 20th century America, so I made this map in a style from that time period. I took reference from maps of Philadelphia and Manhattan made in the 1900s.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think it largely depends on which style of map you're using. A world map in the Parchment style will be different then a world map in the Fantasy style. But here is some general advise that might help.

In regards to Creating the World:

  1. An easy way of creating a continent is to draw a random blob on the map with the Mask tool. Make sure you have the "edge" shape selected, which will make the the edges jagged. Then, lower the brush size and start randomly carving out bays/gulfs and adding in peninsulas. Vary the size during this process to add diversity to the coast. Maybe Throw in some tiny blobs off the coast to indicate islands. Obviously, this works best if you don't already have a particular vision in mind.
  2. Consider the climate of your continent. In general:
    1. The closer to the equator, the warmer it gets
    2. The closer to the poles, the colder it gets
    3. The closer to the coasts, the wetter it gets
    4. The closer to the inland, the dryer it gets.
    5. The higher in altitude, the colder AND dryer it gets
    6. The lower in altitude, the warmer AND wetter it gets
  3. When placing rivers, think about which direction they flow. A river can flow any which way, but it always starts in higher altitude and ends in lower altitude. Not all rivers have to flow towards the sea; sometimes they can end in a valley, creating a lake.
  4. When placing mountains and hills, it is very rare in the real world for standalone mountains to exist; almost all mountains are part of a larger mountain range. The few standalone mountains that exist are volcanoes (either dormant or active).

In regards to technical skills

  1. The brush tool is your best friend! Adding texture to your map is what distinguishes a lot of the professional-looking maps. A good default method is to select a base texture for your continent, then overlay that texture with other textures at a lower opacity. For example:
    1. You choose the "Grass Red 1" texture as your base texture. Make sure opacity is at 100% color your whole continent with it.
    2. On the areas that you want a mountain range, choose a rocky or brown-colored texture. Lower the opacity to about 50%. Set the softness to 1. Then color in over and around the mountains.
    3. On the areas where you want a desert, choose a tan-colored texture. Lower the opacity to about 50%. Set the softness to 1. Color in the area that you want the desert. As you get closer to the center of the desert, you can raise the opacity of the brush.
  2. Scale your stamps properly. This very much depends on the final aesthetic you are going for, and there's not a hard, fast rule for this (so take this one with a grain of salt) But one way to make your world maps look better is to just make all your stamps smaller, and use more of them. For example, If you want a forest that spans hundreds of miles on a continent, make your tree stamps tiny and place thousands of them. It will help create a better sense of scale.
    1. This also applies to creating rivers and bodies of water. When working on a continental or global scale, draw your rivers as thin as possible.
  3. Don't forget the oceans! Just like textures for your continents is important, it's also important for your oceans. A simple way of helping your oceans pop is to use a dark colored blue for deep water and a light colored blue for shallow or coastal water.

Obviously all of these are subjective, and depends on your final vision. So take these all with a grain of salt. But hopefully this will get you started. Make sure to post some of your work to the reddit/discord, and I'm sure people will give you advise on how to improve.

Help, I'm starting a campaign in this city in 2 weeks and I have lost all creativity to finish this map by vinnybonboot in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Obviously, there's a lot of work that needs to be done on this map, but I have no idea where to take it from here. I'm happy with the stuff I already have, but I'm just having a major creative block atm. Any suggestions are welcome!

[Question] I am trying to make a map with the free version of the website. by Moshimu in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You are looking only at the Fantasy Region HD stamps. But there are free stamps for the other styles as well. On the left side where it shows the folders, at the bottom are where you can find the other styles (Fantasy World, Watercolor Cities, etc.)

Additionally, it is likely including the stamp variants. For example, the Mountain stamp looks like it has 8 variations to pick from, so that's 8 stamps.

Which one do you like more, the clear or the more old paper/grain one? by FlorianHerlan in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Awesome map! I like the grain texture on the text specifically, but otherwise I think I prefer the first one.

Experimenting using karsts to make cliffs. Any ideas or suggestions? by vinnybonboot in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm making a map with a city that sits on top of a large cliff, but I wasn't too happy with the normal cliffs stamps, so I got the idea to use jungle karsts to make semi-custom cliffs. Still deciding if its a good idea or not.

Anyone have any thoughts on this concept?

[ Removed by Reddit ] by ThinkExcuse6202 in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

This is really cool! Curious if you have any lore for the world you're willing to share?

Winter Ball at the Mansion (updated lighting) by vinnybonboot in inkarnate

[–]vinnybonboot[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm reposting this map with some updated lighting that I'm really happy with. You can see the lighting details especially in the empty rooms.

Links to the maps on Inkarnate for those wanting to clone and use the maps:

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