How to make a map of a region?

[Mistguard]

I noticed some regions had maps that displayed the nations that were in said region. I recently made my own region, and now want to display a map... how do i do that?

[Alaska Hawaii and the Aleutes]

There are multiple sites which can be used for the creation of a map.

[North Cromch]

I haven't made a region map before, but I imagine the process goes like this:

Step 1: Go through the region rankings of nations in the region and jot which ever ones sound or look interesting down.
Step 2: Check if any users of the nations you're using have already made a map of their nation. If so, ask if you can use the map in your map.
Step 3: Check any and all factbooks and use whatever information is mentioned. (E.G Is there a mention of the nation being landlocked?) Any large enough rivers or lakes should be noted too.
Step 4: Open Photoshop or whatever you're using and start drawing.
Step 5: Once you're done, put it into a dispatch and upload said dispatch onto NationStates.

I've probably missed out several parts of the process, but that's probably how someone makes a region map.

[Tsaivao]

I prefer using paint.net and physically drawing out a landmass (or in the case of a solar map, plotting stars down and then letting people claim them)

Doing the method North Cromch suggests is too time-consuming, especially if your region is large. It's much easier to physically draw out your continents, sub-divide them into different regions, and let people telegram you to claim the different regions. Just be sure to offer a wide variety of places to choose from (i.e. don't make every region coastal, don't make every region an island, etc etc). Most importantly, though, don't let people just claim whatever they want, otherwise you'll run out of free space very quickly