Loading screen evaluation:

This is what I have so far. I am absolutely abysmal with photoshop, so any suggestions are welcome. I'm thinking that this could be the screen for a short series of cinematics.

So, what is this XXX that could be inserted to make it OK?

exaggerate the features of the land! Shade everywhere. Put pines on the trees, Hill throughout the plains, they arnt compleatly flat, waves in the water, Make the mountians more realistic than they are, maybe even add snow caps.

Think of your map as a distant screenshot of the whole continent. Do what the above guy said, add more detail and exxagerate things. Put a sea lion in the water, add clouds across the lands, copy/paste minature castles where cities should be, copy/paste minature trees where forests should be.

Points well taken. I originally intended for it to be an old parchment, but some of those ideas are making me change my mind. I guess I'll be going into colour hell, along the way.

also put old text. Here there be dragons. Ye olde foreste. In old english letters. In photoshop there's a font called Parchment. use that.

Use another font and put a compass in the water.