New Website, New Era

Hi everyone, 

I am Miska (he/him), and I welcome you to my completely rebuilt website and a new chapter in the story of Miska's Maps. The year 2025 is the 10th anniversary year of Miska's Maps.  It doesn't feel like 10 years, but looking back at everything that has happened, I must admit that this has been a fantastic journey so far.

Ten Years of Map-Making

In 2015, I started drawing maps, launched my Patreon and founded Miska's Maps. In 2022, I found myself in the fortunate situation that allowed me to quit my day job and become a full-time cartographer. 

Becoming an entrepreneur has been the most significant learning experience in my life after becoming a parent. Great things have happened, but there have also been setbacks. Now that I have 10 years of serious map-making under my belt, I've taken the time to conduct a thorough overview of my work.

For a few years, I had the feeling that something was wrong. First, I tried downshifting and making minor adjustments to my workflow. But that didn't work. It may have bought me some extra time, but eventually, I found myself with a burnout.

This wasn't my first rodeo, so I knew how to deal with the burnout situation. However, I decided that this time, I would do things right. This led me to carefully analyze my entire process, using my 10 years of experience as the foundation to build the next chapter. The most significant realization was that many valuable practices I had adopted from others had become a burden—an obstacle to my growth as an artist and an entrepreneur.

For example, making map variants is poison to my ADHD brain. I would much rather be working on a new map than on variant versions. Additionally, variants result in significant extra work during the release process and Foundry VTT conversions. This was one of the parts of my process that needed to change.

A New Beginning

This new chapter is about refining my process to be truly my own, built on a decade of learning. It's about trading routines that worked for others for a workflow that is natural to me, allowing me to do my best creative work on my own terms. I feel like a smith reforging a blade: taking the valuable steel of the past ten years, melting it down to remove impurities, and shaping it into something new, stronger, and perfectly aligned with my vision.

For my long-time followers and patrons, I want to be very clear: the sci-fi and cyberpunk maps you love are not going anywhere. They remain the heart of Miska's Maps. These changes are about improving my creative process to deliver that core content more consistently and with better features.

I also want to acknowledge something: some of you may feel you've heard a version of this before, and you're not wrong. I've made similar posts on Patreon when trying to fight burnout in the past. The crucial difference this time is that I finally understand the root of the problem. Before, I was treating the symptoms without recognizing that I was trying to optimize processes that weren't truly mine. I am now breaking free from those adopted practices for good.

In practice, this means:

• A more efficient creative cycle. By removing the demotivating and time-consuming parts of the process, I can stay in a state of flow in a sustainable fashion.
• More variety in addition to the core content. Sci-fi and cyberpunk will remain the main genres. This new process simply gives me the freedom to also release fantasy and horror maps, which I enjoy making and have often been requested.
• An expanded artistic toolbox. This isn’t about replacing my established style, but about adding to it with experiments like cross-sections, star system maps, die-drop maps, and wireframe deckplans.
• Better focus on Foundry VTT support, including features like animated doors, lighting, foreground images, roofs, and tiles.
• More written content, such as story hooks, adventures, and location descriptions to accompany the maps.

Most of these are things that I used to do. It feels like I'm returning to my roots, and I'm incredibly excited about this new direction. It's great to be back.

Keep an eye out for updates to this website and the upcoming changes to Patreon. I can't wait to share them with you.

Thanks,

Miska