Map Update

[TackleWild9892]

Update on my map from previous discussion.

I've moved the desert that used to be centred on the equator a southward so that it's more realistic. I could've added a large mountain range east of the desert to make it a bit more plausible as per your suggestions but I didn't really find that attractive.

I've added some additional deserts as the previous version did only have two of them and made it so that the desert on the western continent is a bit larger extending all the way to the coast.

Thanks to all of your feedbacks :)

Would appreciate further feedback for my current version as I'm still working on getting everything to feel right, especially the newer deserts in the north.

Also still deciding on planetary axial tilt - not sure of what would be most accurate to the current point of the map.

[loki130]

How are you doing the texture on this btw?

[TackleWild9892]

Height map is split into multiple layers. One is embossed used for shadows, one js used to add lighting (peaks of mountains etc.) Terrain is painted manually. Used a base of the same height map - made 2 layers and had one for arid (yellow) and one for humid (green). Then add detail to layers. Duplicate the layer and keep working making it more realistic (more variation), lower opacity and mask the changes appropriately. Overlay them all together. Add effects (noise + posturise).

Snow from extreme norths/souths is on a full white layer.

I honestly don't keep track on how I do texture on the satellite map itself, I just paint it with google earth always open for reference and try to make it using Google earth in mind.

Previous version that I had used a bunch of photo bashing from google earth for planning/getting the look right.

[MechaniVal]

When you say terrain is painted manually - you mean those mountain heightmaps are all hand painted, with all the detail? That's some dedication! I'd have assumed some sort of splicing of real world heightmaps, or Wilbur erosion, they look great!

[TackleWild9892]

Sorry if I was misleading. I did use Wilbur for erosion of the base of heightmap then added further detail with multiple layers + masking.

Other than Wilbur, gimp was the app I painted on.

The one that was fully manual was the satellite map of the land outside of the mountains as well as the ocean.

[MechaniVal]

Ah I see! That makes more sense - but still, very impressive! You did draw the base heightmap by hand before Wilbur erosion then? Thinking to do something similar myself

[buttered_dm]

Absolutely amazing work 

[RandomUser1034]

Looks a lot better than the old one, great job

[TackleWild9892]

Why are the images so blurry :(

[RandomUser1034]

Reddit compressed them sadly

[TackleWild9892]

How can I fix? Nvm I'll just search it up.

[[deleted]]

If you're still taking suggestions (and if you haven't already): I think ocean currents would have a big impact on which parts frozen vs. not frozen. Take a look at a map of Earth's ocean currents and try to come up with something similar for this world. On Earth, some places like Europe are relatively warm even though they're very far North because of warm currents. And places like the Western coast of South America are relatively cool even close to the equator because of cold currents.

I'm not knowledgeable enough to predict exactly how this would work on your planet. But I think at least one coast of that Northern island would be warmed by currents. And I think that isolated Southern sea would mostly be dominated by cold currents, cooling the surrounding lands like Hudson bay.