River Beds using Donjon and Wilbur

Aioskoru, Western Ekouinmanus Kapos Map Series
Aioskoru Solo Game: Map of area Western Ekouinmanus Kapos
 Lakes and rivers using GIMP and Donjon fractal maps
Automated rivers: first automated river attempts
River Beds using Donjon and Wilbur

I think I'm headed this way more for my intermediate and advanced technique of using the Donjon maps using Wilbur in addition to GIMP. They seem more lifelike and do a great job of creating rivers automatically. No drawing required.

It does however interpret rivers, mountains, and hills sometimes different than my other techniques, such as the topography map.

Here are three map areas that I have worked on in the past. I place the original clip that the map was based on after the new image.

[Click map to enlarge]

[Click map to enlarge]

The map above is the lower part of this next grid map, focusing around the four white mountain icons.

[Click map to enlarge]

As you can see, the rivers in the above image don't match up with the rivers from the original image.

Automated rivers: first automated river attempts

Aioskoru, Western Ekouinmanus Kapos Map Series
Aioskoru Solo Game: Map of area Western Ekouinmanus Kapos
 Lakes and rivers using GIMP and Donjon fractal maps
Automated rivers: first automated river attempts


Today, I spent most of the morning trying to get rivers automated for the map chunk. Here are two of my main attempts.

Attempt 1) Easy, but wrong.
The rivers avoid the coastline, thinking that they are mountains.

Attempt 2) Correct rivers, but it doesn't know there is an ocean. I haven't figure out integrating the ocean and the rivers yet, which would make easier and more detailed maps.

Quick free world maps using GIMP filters and Donjon fractal maps - Part 6: Quick outline maps

Quick free world maps using GIMP filters and Donjon fractal maps series:

Part 1: Getting a fractal map,

Part 2: Getting different types of maps,

Part 3: More accurate 3D maps with mountains,

Part 4: Zooming and resolution,

Part 5 Expanding the Zoom Limits.

Part 6: Quick outline maps

Available from Google Play Books.
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Ken_N_Wickham_Quick_free_world_maps_using_GIMP_fil?id=tvZmDAAAQBAJ

Also available on Kindle and RPGNow
https://www.amazon.com/Quick-world-filters-Donjon-fractal-ebook/dp/B01H131XPY/

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/187006/Quick-free-world-maps-using-GIMP-filters-and-Donjon-fractal-maps

Quick Outline Maps

Outline maps are good to have for several reasons.

GMs can use these maps to label the different areas and regions of the world. Since they lack features on the land, it gives you plenty of room to add boundaries for kingdoms and such.

This is also a great method to show changes in populations and kingdoms over time.

You can give these mostly featureless maps to players to help them keep track of where they are, yet not reveal too many details

Two main quick outline methods

Two main quick outline methods exist in the toolset to make outline maps of the entire world. They are the Landmask and the Antique map methods. The Landmask blackens out the large lakes and ocean waters. The antique changes the background and makes the waters look slightly shaded for a dimensional depth effect.

Landmask method

1. Go to http://donjon.bin.sh/world/.
2. Enter your recorded Seed Number from part 1 into the Random Seed Field to bring up your map. Also change the Iteration to 25000. Verify that this is the correct map. You may have to adjust the Ice and Water.
3. Make sure your Ice and Water percentages are the same as your original map. Also check the rotation, if you prefer a different perspective of the world.
4. Adjust the Image Height to the height size in pixels that you want. The default is 400. You can increase it up to 2000 pixels high.
5. To make a Landmask, change the Map Palette to from Atlas to Landmask.
6. Optionally, you can make any of the types of maps that you did in part 2 by changing the Map Projection, including polar regions and the other types of maps as well.

Save the image to your folder. It will save as a GIF file. Open it with a programs such as Paint and save as a JPG file type if you want to edit and use the file to create labels and boundaries using GIMP.

Antique Map Method

Do the same steps as Landmark Method except:

5. To make a Antique Map, change the Map Palette from Atlas (or Landmark if you did the step above) to Antique Map.

Use either method with the other map types

You can use the two Outline type maps for any of those Part 2 maps.

Here is the poles using Antique Method.

I am saving a third method for a future book, along with a few other advanced techniques. This the results of that method which has no water unlike the prior two methods.

Quick free world maps using GIMP filters and Donjon fractal maps - Part 3: More Accurate 3D mountain maps

Quick free world maps using GIMP filters and Donjon fractal maps series:

Part 1: Getting a fractal map,

Part 2: Getting different types of maps,

Part 3: More accurate 3D maps with mountains,

Part 4: Zooming and resolution,

Part 5 Expanding the Zoom Limits.

Part 6: Quick outline maps



Available from Google Play Books.
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Ken_N_Wickham_Quick_free_world_maps_using_GIMP_fil?id=tvZmDAAAQBAJ

Also available on Kindle and RPGNow
https://www.amazon.com/Quick-world-filters-Donjon-fractal-ebook/dp/B01H131XPY/

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/187006/Quick-free-world-maps-using-GIMP-filters-and-Donjon-fractal-maps

Part 3: A More Accurate 3D world map with mountains

In the first tutorial in part 1 (here), I showed you how to find a map, record the seed #, change the water and ice levels, make layer, and make 3D top perspective maps using GIMP.

In part two (here), I showed you how to use that seed and find different types and views of maps.

I said in the first part that I would post later a better way to make 3D maps that overcomes the brown mountain inverse problem. I was going to show you that method now, but since that post I found a more accurate and better way to do so. So instead, I will show you the new method of making a more accurate 3D world map that has correct mountains.

1. Go to Donjon fractal world generator. http://donjon.bin.sh/world/ 
2. Enter the seed # from part 1 and part 2.
3. Make sure the ice and water percentage are the same. The water and ice won't matter in the map you will be making, but you are just trying to make sure that you have the same map.
4. Change the Iteration to 25000 instead of 5000 default as you did in part 2.
5. You should see the same world now in the preview view if you click on an empty spot outside the Iteration box so it can update the world.
6. In the Map Palette box, select Greyscale instead of Atlas.
7. You can pick the height of the map that you want, the default being 400 pixels. The largest being 2000 pixels. Pick the same Image Height size as the Plain atlas map, since you will be combining both maps. Make sure they have the same Rotation as well. 
8. Save the greyscale map. I like calling it grayscale or greyscale, depending on one's preference for the word gray/grey. As long as you know what it means.

In order to use this map, you will need to save the GIF as a JPEG as well to use in the next step. Open the GIF of greyscale in a basic image program such as Paint, and save it as a .jpg or jpeg type image file.

With this map, we can turn the greyscale map into a 3D map much like we did in part 1

1. Open the JPEG version of the map using GIMP. 

2. Go to Filters > Map > Bump Map

3. Make sure first that the Bump Map is the same map as your current map. When working with several maps, it may show another map as the bump map source. In those cases, the bump texture won't match the the actual picture.

 Elevation: I like at 0.5 or 1.5.

 Depth: I like at 1 or 2

Azimuth changes which direction the sun is coming from and the opposite side will cast shadows. You can see

Don't offset the bump map.

4. Save this map. I normally call it the name_of_the_world_3D map.

If you notice the map now, there is definitely elevation texture. It is missing however color and water. For that, we can layer the Plain map over this texture map.

1. Open the Greyscale 3D map saved, using GIMP, if you don't have it open still.
2. Open the Plain Color  atlas map pallette map of the same size, which should be the same type as the first map you saved in part one. Make sure that you convert the Plain atlas color image to a JPEG as well using the same process.
3. Edit > Copy the Plain Color map. 
4. Switch to the Greyscale 3D map.
5. Edit > Past As > New Layer to add the Plain color map and water/ice to the Greyscale version in different layers.
6. Make sure you have the layer window. Windows > Dockable Dialongs > Layers  or CTRL + L.
7. You should see both pictures as two different layers. Rename the layers by double-clicking on the name of the layer, so that you know what that layer is. I like Plain and 3D Greyscale/Grayscale (whichever you preference for the word grey/gray.
8. 
9. Single-click on plain, which should be on top. Notice the Opacity is now at 100%.
10. Decrease the opacity until the lower greyscale 3D image emerges. Mine is at 50%.
11. The greyscale made the map dull. Open the Color - Brightness/Contrast. For the 2nd picture below, I just brought the contrast up by 40, which brings back the colors.

Now to check the map, I zoomed into the mountains in the central region of this map.

This is coming out very nicely, Notice the water of the ocean and the large river water on up to the highest snowcapped peaks.

I sharpen the map for my own eyes since this closeup looks kind of blurred to me.

From that plain color picture and the greyscale map, we have made a map that shows individual mountains, hills, valleys, together with shadows. The sun is coming from the northwest corner as set in the azimoth setting for this picture.

Here is the North Pole view using the same method.

The originals that were saved were GIF format. 

I found that the some maps need to be JPG. Some of the maps are GIF and need to be converted to JPG first. Otherwise the GIMP Bump function doesn't work.

And South Pole

A close up of the North Pole

A close up of the South Pole