The YouTuber who said to use a single source of light on all maps gave me bad advice for 8 months

I followed this one map making channel's tip to always use a single light source from the top left corner on every fantasy map. After doing that for 8 months straight, I brought a city map to a local D&D group and someone pointed out that my shadows were all over the place logically. For a coastal town with a lighthouse, the light should be coming from different angles depending on the time of day or the building's position. Now I have to go back and redo about 15 maps because I was too rigid with that rule. Has anyone else found that universal rules for map lighting just don't hold up once you add real geography?

2 comments

2 Comments

gavinperez1mo ago

15 maps though... that's rough but also kind of funny. I mean how much are people really analyzing the shadows on a fantasy map at a D&D table anyway. Seems like one guy just wanted to poke holes in something.

tylerr291mo ago

Man I read somewhere that even professional map artists break those "rules" all the time because lighting is SUPPOSED to be messy in real landscapes. That single light source advice is honestly just for like quick tutorial thumbnails.