There’s been plenty of progress on the ‘Above Seal Level’ portion of the new map, but it’s bringing up some issues that I need to address sooner rather than later. This is the first time I’ve worked on something from scratch using only photoshop. Even the outline of the landmasses was just done by hand, again. The workflow is as much a work in development as the map is.

Even so, have a look. It’s a bit ghostly and I’ve been focusing mainly on the eastern areas, but it’s coming along.

It’s rough, but wait until the mountains are finished, the rivers are laid down, and the colors flood in.

One of the biggest issues I have to figure out are the mountains and the rivers. This was the big obstacle with the second map, and it wasn’t something I managed to fix that time. I know where they’re supposed to be, and I can get the level of detail I need for the rest, but mountains in real life have an incredibly distinct and fractal appearance that’s insanely difficult to replicate. Rivers are similar, only inverted and shallower. I have to get that look right but I need some new methods. My old workflow is just not going to cut it on this one.

Version 2 of the original map for reference.

The original map had a rocky texture placed over everything–I have no idea where that file went–and then I erased or sharpened it in places to give an impression of elevation and roughness. There was nothing realistic about it, but up close, it was passable. I could have been sold on that method if the colors had been better (and if I hadn’t seen just how incredible the Earth’s geography is from overhead).

Check out this coastal around Sula.

That was one of my favorite areas along with Calig and the right half of the southern continent. Everything in nature follows the Golden Ratio, so major geographic shapes tend to follow specific patterns. I’m trying to mimic that as best I can, but it’s going to take some passes. The map’s mountains and the layout of rivers are going to look very different this time around. For now I’m using this peaks and valleys problem to learn and we’ll see where things go from there.

Note: Those three bright spots on the new map that are lined up with each other are artificial structures called Megaliths. They really are big enough to be seen from low orbit in broad daylight.

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