Hi. It does make it less obvious.

Is using tiles a requirement? that is, do you plan on having gameplay on that map screen, with characters walking around etc.?

Because you would most likely feel more freedom if you treated it like a freehand, digital painting.

The following are freehand drawn game maps:

http://i40.tinypic.com/2iglkir.png

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130209111915/ragnarok8812/images/7/7a/RO_world_map.jpg

http://mmohuts.com/wp-content/gallery/angels-online-overview/angels-online-world-map.jpg?ec9f9b

http://everquest.allakhazam.com/gallery/ingamemaps/antonica4.jpg

http://wiki.project1999.org/images/Printmap.jpg

Yeah it needs tiles. I have realtime movement with pathfinding on it. And resources etc on the map.

Good links.

I started trying to make it like a "actual map" map but it was too hard. Havent seen that done (when tile-based).

Shorelines look ok i think, its harder with roads (and those messy road-connections). So far like this:

No comments? Any typical way to deal with roads so they look nicer?

The only way to make it look better with tiles is just by using more tiles, different ones.

If I were doing such a map like that, I would go the Bastion way like my first post up above.

You see, even if you're using a grid to do your pathfinding, it's completely independent from whatever graphical representation you want to give to the map.

In other words, you are using a grid for pathfinding, as well as a grid for the graphics.

I suggest a grid for pathfinding, and a full piece map that you can divide in sectors and only display the sectors seen by the camera.

This way you can freehand paint your map and have it looking just like real maps, while still conforming to the pathfinding grid.

Any typical way to deal with roads so they look nicer?

Tile masking helps sometimes - here's some common formulas I use in my own game.

Basically, you add transparency to the sides of the path to make it blend in better to closer you get to the edges.

This applies more if you are layering your paths over images underneath it, but doesn't help much if you're talking about visual styles in an art program.

I'd also add lighter water towards the edges of the shore (or darker, to make the ground look more elevated), and maybe slightly darker background underneath the forest.

Also, the trees themselves stand out too much being just outlines - I'd color them in, though how exactly, I'm not sure.

Here's my attempt:

I think your color choice for the water and the background was a good one. Not really 'realistic', but I'm liking it alot.

thanks guys, good stuff!

The tile grid doesn't necessarily need to be an integral part of it, as Servant indicated; you can superimpose a movement grid upon the generated map, marking tiles as passable or impassable based upon the average terrain they encompass.

That was Kryzon actually. It's a very important realization used by more modern games. Freely placing, blending, rotating, scaling images, and then have collision rects and pathfinding nodes over those. I've considered it for my own games, but decided to mix both together: Tile based, but then also allowing freely-placed sprites over the tiles.