Realistic Maps

Article created by Mob Freako

To make a realistic map you must first do countless research and find an accurate map of what you want to make on the Empires editor. Once the right map has been found you will then want to start with an outline. If you are making a continent or a country near water, try starting with a blank map that is all water. You will get a better feel for what you are making and will know about any mistakes you have made by looking at the mini map. When you are finished outlining the map you want it may look like this:

After outlining the map you now must add certain details to make it look more realistic, rivers, mountains, trees, and even plains may do the trick. You should not hold anything back when making a realistic map. If you think the map needs something extra to make it more identifiable then do it. When you finish adding stuff to the map it may look like this:

I always find ways to be more creative every time I make a scenario. You may want to change certain things to fit your scenario. To go further with the map, and add towns and such you may need to research more. Try to be exact as possible because it may pay off in the future. After I finish the elevation I move on to trees and terrain. These are a necessity to making a scenario look good. A bad combination of the two may be costly to your map design. I usually add trees first then I do elevation to match the trees, but in this case the scenario had different plans and I went on ahead and did elevation first. The final phase of the map may look like this:

Creating realistic maps are very pleasing when you have finished, you can compare the map to the real map and see how you compare. Always look at the mini map every so often to make sure it is looking ok from the outside view. It is difficult getting the map to look exactly right due to the editor’s limitations, but you can do a very good job anyway.

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