This is amazing!
Kinda ehhh on the puke green though. Is that supposed to be the sea? Maybe a porcelain blue would work better?
Map Thread XIX
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Kinda ehhh on the puke green though. Is that supposed to be the sea? Maybe a porcelain blue would work better?
Skallagrim
Banned
It's really good-looking. Very stylish. I agree with @XFE on the green sea-colour, though. There are lots of Japanese woodblock prints where greenish tints are used for the water, but rarely that dark. Usually more blue-green. You're currently using #73854b for the ocean and #839360 for the decorative wave-pattern around the coast. Looking at some examples of Japanese art I have where greenish hues are used for the sea, I'd suggest something more like #3f8563 for the ocean and #68966e for the wave-pattern (I'm literally cribbing those from digital copies of Japanese prints I have on my drive).
Regardless, like i said: the style is great and I'd love to see more of it.
I second this.
Unless this is an alien planet with a very different ocean, making the ocean bluer is better.
The land bit, on the other hand, is fantastic. Definitely keep that.
I almost forgot to post my latest map here.
The Mughal Empire
-A Successful Sepoy Revolt-
In 1857, the greatest revolution in the history of the world took place, the Indian Revolution. It was caused by soldiers, both Hindu and Muslim, mutinying from their overlords in the British East India Company. Eventually, the would be leaders of India's two former great Empires, the Mughals and the Marathans joined in the revolution. They pressed on, despite numerous failures and soon turned the tides of war. The princely states, once fighting with their British overlords soon began to turn away and join their brothers in the rest of the land in their struggles.
Sporadic fighting took well into the 1860’s, but by then the fight was lost for the British. The Mughal Empire, one of the great empires of world history, had returned at last. At the time, it had spanned from Sindh to Bihar, but some of the Eastern regions broke off to create the Republic of Purvanchal. It was not a big problem though, and the country began to enter an era of peace.
The government was meant to be a constitutional monarchy, taking notes from the British in their system of governance. The Provinces of Sindh, Punjab, Paschim and Kashmir would elect representatives to the central government, which would be split into several different branches, with a legislative, executive, judicial and imperial branch existing in the empire. Although the emperor is muslim, the country is strictly secular (as enforced by a treaty at the end of the revolution) and has Hindus and Sikhs at the highest levels of government. Some major kingdoms that were in Mughal lands were granted autonomy, such as Balwalpur, the Sikh State and Suket. These regions have their own government and enforce their own laws, but operate under the Empire.
The country industrialized in the end of the 19th century, and had an output somewhat similar to Russia at the time. It was neutral during world war one, but it sent some divisions to fight the Japanese in the second. It fought on the side of the Americans during the cold war, due to the communists gaining influence in Afghanistan and Nepal. Today, the empire is a strong and prominent nation, with a massive population of 400 million, making it the second most populous in the world and home to the largest Muslim population in the world.
The Mughal Empire is home to many famous cuisines, sites and landmarks. The most well known of course being the Taj Mahal, the white tomb of the long gone emperor Shahjahan, as well as numerous landmarks in Delhi, ancient wonders along the Indus, beautiful mountains in Kashmir, the golden temple in Amritsar and many holy hindu cities along the Ganges. It has close relations with the second major power on the subcontinent, the Maratha Empire as well as ties with Bengal, Hyderabad, Mysore and Rajasthan. It has rough relations with Baluchistan and Nepal, and is practically at war with terrorists in Afghanistan, unleashing them hell with its Soldiers operating in the feared Dal Khalsa Special Forces and its Babur-27 stealth fighters.
Overall, the Mughal Empire is a strong, powerful and fairly well off nation, leading India and the world to a brighter future.
-A Successful Sepoy Revolt-
In 1857, the greatest revolution in the history of the world took place, the Indian Revolution. It was caused by soldiers, both Hindu and Muslim, mutinying from their overlords in the British East India Company. Eventually, the would be leaders of India's two former great Empires, the Mughals and the Marathans joined in the revolution. They pressed on, despite numerous failures and soon turned the tides of war. The princely states, once fighting with their British overlords soon began to turn away and join their brothers in the rest of the land in their struggles.
Sporadic fighting took well into the 1860’s, but by then the fight was lost for the British. The Mughal Empire, one of the great empires of world history, had returned at last. At the time, it had spanned from Sindh to Bihar, but some of the Eastern regions broke off to create the Republic of Purvanchal. It was not a big problem though, and the country began to enter an era of peace.
The government was meant to be a constitutional monarchy, taking notes from the British in their system of governance. The Provinces of Sindh, Punjab, Paschim and Kashmir would elect representatives to the central government, which would be split into several different branches, with a legislative, executive, judicial and imperial branch existing in the empire. Although the emperor is muslim, the country is strictly secular (as enforced by a treaty at the end of the revolution) and has Hindus and Sikhs at the highest levels of government. Some major kingdoms that were in Mughal lands were granted autonomy, such as Balwalpur, the Sikh State and Suket. These regions have their own government and enforce their own laws, but operate under the Empire.
The country industrialized in the end of the 19th century, and had an output somewhat similar to Russia at the time. It was neutral during world war one, but it sent some divisions to fight the Japanese in the second. It fought on the side of the Americans during the cold war, due to the communists gaining influence in Afghanistan and Nepal. Today, the empire is a strong and prominent nation, with a massive population of 400 million, making it the second most populous in the world and home to the largest Muslim population in the world.
The Mughal Empire is home to many famous cuisines, sites and landmarks. The most well known of course being the Taj Mahal, the white tomb of the long gone emperor Shahjahan, as well as numerous landmarks in Delhi, ancient wonders along the Indus, beautiful mountains in Kashmir, the golden temple in Amritsar and many holy hindu cities along the Ganges. It has close relations with the second major power on the subcontinent, the Maratha Empire as well as ties with Bengal, Hyderabad, Mysore and Rajasthan. It has rough relations with Baluchistan and Nepal, and is practically at war with terrorists in Afghanistan, unleashing them hell with its Soldiers operating in the feared Dal Khalsa Special Forces and its Babur-27 stealth fighters.
Overall, the Mughal Empire is a strong, powerful and fairly well off nation, leading India and the world to a brighter future.
Starforce
Banned
Pretty much what I was thinking of, though alternatively this is some sort of authoritarian Canada that invaded the US during WW1 after receiving more immigration and becoming independent earlier on...however that happened.
An understandable reaction. Much too small.
Looks like pea soup to me.
Starforce
Banned
A variant of the map I posted before. This time with a fully balkanized United States. There is no POD in my mind for this as of this moment.
California, South Mexico, Central America, Bahamas, Cuba (all of the Caribbean), and South Florida are all communist. California and South Florida are the worst places though, total state run economies at the verge of falling apart at the scenes. They regularly make threats to the neighbors around them in order to stay relevant. Canada and the rest of the Americas work to control Communist Brazil's influence which is felt all across the Americas. Imagine a cold war between Canada and a Communist Brazil. Canada is hardline anti-communist and many of it's traits in our timeline don't exist, it's semi-authoritarian in it's goal to eradicate communism from the Americas.
There is a DMZ between South and North Florida, same for the both Mexicos.
Ephraim Ben Raphael
Banned
Nice scenario! You now have me intensely curious as to what the "Semioticians" believe and what "laissez-faire gender laws" means in this context.
Experimenting in Inkscape with a style based off of Japanese woodblock prints, more as a proof of concept at this stage.
I'm really not sure about the trees, but it's hard to make a non horribly time consuming way of drawing them. Thoughts?
That is beautiful work. How did you do all those tiny mountains?
Lusitania
Donor
We can help with your anxiety. we recently have started several chapters of PTWFGCA*. I am certain there is one in your area. Just dial “O Canada” to find the closest chapter.
*Pity those who fear greater Canada anonymous.
This is a *tentative* final product for a kind of 'soft' Entente victory in WW1, with the time of the map being 1950. The main POD is slightly different concessions on the part of the Austrian government after the Hungarian revolts, leading to a less convoluted military command structure and management procedure. This enables Austria-Hungary to be much more prepared for the Great War and perform much better against Russia and Serbia, strengthening the unity of the multiethnic empire (though the Yugoslav movement was not completely eliminated, progressive reforms by Karl I led to Czechs, Bosnians, and Croats becoming far more amenable to the relative stability and prosperity of the Austrian government). Russia still manages to be a tough opponent for the Dual Alliance, and Italy ultimately joins the Entente, creating immense pressure on Germany and Austria. Russia fell in 1917 to democratic revolution, and though socialists and communists played a significant role in the revolt, the lack of a leader (Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky, and others had fled Germany to America after the outbreak of the war between Germany and Russia for fear of being interned) meant that there was no civil war between the democratic and socialist coalitions. Germany, Austria, and Russia negotiated the Treaty of Warsaw (relatively similar to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk) to end Russian participation in the war. The Western Front was unmoving through 1917 and 1918, and the United States never joined the war, as Germany never grew truly desperate and engaged in unrestricted submarine warfare because food supplies from the Balkans were never disrupted to the degree that they were OTL. The Ottomans were still incapable of fending off the British invasion and ultimately collapsed in the beginning of 1919, though the war continued until 1920. The Entente, weary of the constant trench warfare in Italy and France that had already caused millions of deaths, approached the United States (who had maintained relatively friendly relations with the Dual Alliance) with the hopes of convincing the Americans to mediate a peace deal between the two sides. It took nearly another 6 months of negotiation simply for the ceasefire to be approved by both sides, after which peace talks began. Both sides had ambitious goals for the peace conference- Italy and Japan were hoping for large territorial concessions, while Austria and Germany were hoping to be able to carve out spheres of influence in Eastern Europe. The final peace deal didn't quite meet the goals of either side, and largely represented the upholding of the status quo. Germany and Austria were forced to enact sweeping democratic reforms, dramatically reducing the power of their monarchs to the point of being hardly more powerful than the British monarchy. Germany was allowed to retain her colonies, as it was perceived that this would help to maintain the balance in Africa as had been established at the Berlin Conference. The main stipulations of the Treaty of Warsaw were upheld as well, however, rather than placing Habsburg and Hohenzollern monarchs on the thrones of the new nations in Eastern Europe, the Entente insisted on the establishment of fully democratic governments. The territory of Elsaß-Lothringen was placed under joint French-German occupation, and it was to hold a referendum in 1922 as to whether they would remain a part of Germany or France.
The Treaty of Brussels (ITTL equivalent of the Treaty of Versailles) had ended the Great War, but had given rise to new tensions and problems. Italy felt completely snubbed by the peace agreement, having joined the Entente on the condition of receiving Tyrol and Trieste, and actually receiving neither (they conveniently ignored the fact that they had only held the line against the Austrian forces with British assistance). Japan was likewise offended by the terms of the treaty, as they were forced to return Germany's pacific colonies to them (they continued to occupy the Marianas until 1925, when the League of Nations issued an ultimatum to Japan that they withdraw), even though they were given influence over much of northeastern China. With the onset of the Great Collapse (OTL Great Depression), ITTL there was the similar consequence to OTL of many nations turning toward socialism or fascism to combat these issues. The Russian democracy rapidly fell to a fascist regime under Rodzaevsky, while Italy's fascist dictator was Emilio De Bono. Mexico underwent a civil war between communists and fascists, with the fascists ultimately winning out with Italian and Russian aid. Japanese nationalists aligned themselves with the European fascists largely out of spite for the League of Nations. The United States of America would transition to a communist state, remaining relatively democratic but gradually becoming less and less tolerant of dissenting opinions (racism in particular was forcefully stamped out, as it was viewed as a significant impediment to a truly egalitarian state). The second Great War would be between the democracies of the world (including America) and the expansionist, fascist powers that threatened the peace that the Treaty of Brussels had established.
So, as mentioned, this map is of the world after the end of the Second Great War. America (USSA) has established spheres of communist influence, while the European powers have promoted the establishment of multiparty, democratic governments elsewhere. The world is about to enter a kind of 'Cold War' stage, but it won't be quite as tense as OTL. The European powers are beginning the decolonization process, having recognized the impracticalities of maintaining a vast empire and also with growing liberal movements protesting imperialism as unethical. The USSA isn't as extreme or closed-off as the USSR was OTL, and so does not appear to pose as significant a threat to the Europeans as the USSR did to the USA OTL. Nonetheless, Europe dislikes communism (religiosity has been on the rise in Europe, and failed communist and socialist uprisings in the 1920s and 1930s ITTL were distasteful, almost horrifying affairs) and would like to keep it an arm's (or ocean's) length away, while the communists perceive the Europeans as imperialist warmongers.
NOTE: sorry if some of the red colors are confusing, I chose the red color for Britain because I like it a lot more than the pink and I felt it went well with the aesthetic of the map, but once I got around to making more of the communist countries I realized that the color difference is difficult to perceive at some points. Notably- Japan and East Russia are communist. The Northern Philippines, Australia, and Canada are not (the former is a British colony, the latter two are Dominions).
Sir that is not a "quick" map, that is a very beautiful one.
Although if you consider that quick, then I wonder what you can come up with when you really put yer mind to it.
Rosenheim
Donor
Yeah, I think you're all right. I was trying to keep to a very limited and muted palette, but it doesn't quite mesh. The blues I was trying out ended up making the image a bit too "warm" looking, especially with the north of that island covered in snow. Tried it with @Skallagrim suggestions.
I might end putting a gradient on the final (much more expansive) map, with it turning a bit more grey/green towards the north.
Also, changed around the characters a little bit. For those wondering, 雪 means snow, 塩 means salt, 松 means pine, and 沢 means swamp.
I made polygons of the rough shape of the mountain using the straight line tool. These were then duplicated. One was colored all white. Then, over it, another was colored brown with a gradient, with the color starting in the center and fading out at the sides. I then manipulated that to make it appear like some mountains had snow. The top layer is simple brushstrokes, using the calligraphy tool in Inkscape.
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Aurantiacis
Gone Fishin'
Zanjibara
Under the harsh but prosperous ruling of the bin Said dynasty, the Omani Empire continued to nurture its overseas possession of Zanzibar (later known as Zanjibara), which became an bustling hub of commercial zones for the growing slave and clover trade as men continued to trek further into the jungle. Similarly, the Moroccoans and the young and ambitious Osmanids to the west and Persians and the Muslim juggernauts in India were experiencing their own little enlightenments, propelling the Islamic world as a realm of sophistication and illumination, with some exceeding that of Europe. However, Said bin Sultan, the fifth ruler of the bin Saids, realized the precarious geographical and political situation Oman was in; the technological advancements of the Islamic world didn't fully stop the pursuit of the European imperial powers (as aspiring empires like that of Britian and France have staked claimed in the African wilderness), and Osmanids and violent Najdi and Wahhabi forces threaten their homeland.
Forced to neogotiate with others to preserve their own consolidated territories as time went on, a treaty between the Maratha Empire [1] and Britian allowed the Omani to continue their maritime presence in the Indian Ocean while slowly reinforcing their own massive but outdated navy. Feisal bin Said, the ninth ruler of the bin Said dynasty, formally shrugged off the slave trade under external pressure and left Oman in an economical recession, causing various Omani/European joint companies to extract for resources further in Zanjibara and forcing the elite to slowly stitch together local alliances painstakingly. Trade began booming again however when petrolum was discovered, boosting Oman once again into heavily industrializing, filling trade vaccums with exports of coal and guns, along with oil.
Today, though Zanjibara has peacefully divorced themselves from Oman in the late 19th century along with other African countries, Zanjibara continues to be one of the more important and less-corrupt countries on the continent. It maintains a well relationship with Oman itself, whose diaspora of influence has become much more worldwide as their infrastructure continues to modernize while retaining their cultural traditions. Both Oman and Zanjibara are seen as legacies of one of the most uniquely Western powers in the world.
www.deviantart.com
Under the harsh but prosperous ruling of the bin Said dynasty, the Omani Empire continued to nurture its overseas possession of Zanzibar (later known as Zanjibara), which became an bustling hub of commercial zones for the growing slave and clover trade as men continued to trek further into the jungle. Similarly, the Moroccoans and the young and ambitious Osmanids to the west and Persians and the Muslim juggernauts in India were experiencing their own little enlightenments, propelling the Islamic world as a realm of sophistication and illumination, with some exceeding that of Europe. However, Said bin Sultan, the fifth ruler of the bin Saids, realized the precarious geographical and political situation Oman was in; the technological advancements of the Islamic world didn't fully stop the pursuit of the European imperial powers (as aspiring empires like that of Britian and France have staked claimed in the African wilderness), and Osmanids and violent Najdi and Wahhabi forces threaten their homeland.
Forced to neogotiate with others to preserve their own consolidated territories as time went on, a treaty between the Maratha Empire [1] and Britian allowed the Omani to continue their maritime presence in the Indian Ocean while slowly reinforcing their own massive but outdated navy. Feisal bin Said, the ninth ruler of the bin Said dynasty, formally shrugged off the slave trade under external pressure and left Oman in an economical recession, causing various Omani/European joint companies to extract for resources further in Zanjibara and forcing the elite to slowly stitch together local alliances painstakingly. Trade began booming again however when petrolum was discovered, boosting Oman once again into heavily industrializing, filling trade vaccums with exports of coal and guns, along with oil.
Today, though Zanjibara has peacefully divorced themselves from Oman in the late 19th century along with other African countries, Zanjibara continues to be one of the more important and less-corrupt countries on the continent. It maintains a well relationship with Oman itself, whose diaspora of influence has become much more worldwide as their infrastructure continues to modernize while retaining their cultural traditions. Both Oman and Zanjibara are seen as legacies of one of the most uniquely Western powers in the world.
Colony of Zanjibara [AH] by MarsandCadmium on DeviantArt
www.deviantart.com
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I love it, it looks really great! Do you have anything on Europe or is your TL America-focused?
the gist of it is in the 1100s a guy claiming to be Jesus, through a series of comical misfortunes, ends up uniting half of europe in an extremely oppressive, unstable empire for a good 50 years and then dies, leaving the Western world completely upended religiously, politically and physically. christianity fractures severely, atheism becomes popular 800 years early, a liberal radically rationalist Islam is dominant in Spain, there's a few hundred years of severe religious wars, around the start of English settlement of America is pretty much the first time a non-Muslim European power has had any power projection since like the 12th century.
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