Rheia: one final try at ground-up worldbuilding

[MrBragg]

These are fantastic and I love all of the detail in every one of your maps! This is a fitting capstone for all the effort you've put into these
Also, here's a second vote for linking to a higher resolution image.

[raanrola]

After seeing all the thread and the work you put into creating your world, I'm really motivated to keep drawing my maps.
Tremendous inspiring work!

[Tiluchi]

Thanks Peter, Turambar, MrBragg, and raanrola! Really appreciate all the feedback and guidance throughout the process. I'm very much not an artist or a proper mapmaker so there's been a lot of trial and error throughout this.

Hey there Tiluchi!

As always, I'm highly impressed with your work. Just curious: How many hours did this entire project take so far?

I've also noticed that activity on this forum has dwindled in the last little while. I find that quite a shame because I absolutely love discussing the scientific aspect of worldbuilding with the experts here on CG. I know Naima gave me some tips regarding eddies in a turbulent atmosphere and I'm grateful for that.

Specifically, I'm wondering how you were able to get such realistic topography. Is there a process such as Miguel's that might end up with mountains as nice as yours?

At any rate, you've really set the bar for what I'm quite accurately describing as "breathtaking realism." Looks like all that frustration has definitely paid off.

Congrats!

Peter

I shudder to think about the hours put into the process, although it's got to be hundreds if not thousands, especially if you count previous scrapped attempts where I tried this process and ended up unsatisfied with the results midway through.

Honestly the topography is the result of months of work doodling away in Illustrator drawing contour lines by hand, using real-world elevation maps (this one was the most useful) as a reference. Mostly I looked for areas of Earth that were geologically similar to what I was working on, such as coastal British Columbia and the Cascades for Tull (the northwesternmost continent), and basing the topography and elevation off of that. I'm happy with the results but I don't know if I'd recommend it to someone who isn't incredibly picky about having total control of world topography. If I did it again I'd probably try to use Wilbur at least a little bit, or maybe try using the Smudge tool and random noise filters to make a more detailed DEM map. In terms of sketching out general topography though I think the best way to go about it is having a pretty good handle on the geologic history of at least the last 250 million years or so, and finding equivalents on Earth to use as a reference.

Anyway, made a few last tweaks to the map and put up a final version in the Finished Maps forum! That thread is here, along with a link to a full-sized version of the map that's hopefully a bit more readable.

[Peter Toth]

Thanks for the topography tips, Tiluchi!

I'm diabolically picky about the look of my topography.

I must have tried hundreds of times to render realistic topo, for I believe it's the foundation for any aesthetically pleasing map. Never once could I find an easy, no-hassle technique, and even after 6 years of drawing maps, I'm no closer to that neon rainbow. I always tried avoiding satellite DEMs, as I believed that using them was tantamount to plagiarism, towards mother nature. So naturally, hand-drawing a map, using mother nature as merely a guide, seems to be my preferred option, although I also enjoy using Wilbur.

Wow, thousands of hours! It definitely shows! I've accumulated just under 500 hours since the beginning of this year, when I started my most recent project. (Of course, I can only afford to work about 16 hours a week on my maps.) Most of this time was spent, like in your case, on going back to the drawing board due to dissatisfaction with my results. I can only hope that my topo turned out okay. (Still dissatisfied with regards to that, lol).

At any rate, congrats on a project completed! I especially enjoy reading your descriptions of the geology, meteorology, and geography of your world; it shows a keen mind and an obvious expertise in those fields. This is the kind of map I'd like to have on my bedroom wall, to perhaps lull me into a lucid dream, where I can visit the exotic locales you've written about.

Peter