Eos - The Realm Again Arisen

[CimmerianHydra]

This is a WIP - extremely WIP - of my first ever regional map.
Basically, it is _{supposed to be} a map of a floating continent. Its name is Eos. As of now, there is nothing very special about it, and I'm going to need your critiques and support to bring my skills on an adequate level for this challenge.
First off: I've been following Ascension's tutorial, applying it to the concept of "floating islands". This is the result, not yet finished of course:
Eos Full.jpg

It is made up by 3 layers, that I'm going to post right below:
Eos Level 1.jpgEos Level 2.jpgEos Level 3.jpg
Clouds are used to hide one level from the other, of course. The ideas I had in mind while imagining and making this map were:

• This is a formation of rocks arisen from the original Earth. "The Realm Again Arisen". The earth below it is the former continent, Gaia.
• The center is the hottest part of the original continent, and its heat warms the lowest islands enough to actually turn them into deserts. The island on the right upper angle was formed by molten rocks and mesa, creating a volcanic island. The other zones are much more temperate; they sport all kinds of green, lakes, rivers and such.
• On the second level, heat still turns the center islands into partial desert, while temperature decreases overall; high hill climate rules this level.
• The highest altitude brings temperatures down enough to create snowy climates; heat from the volcanic island is reaching the right upper island allowing it to host continental flora and fauna.
• There is one "black hole", between two islands on the first level; it is actually a mountain of Leimonium as high as the first level of islands. Being Leimonium too much of an heavy metal, and being it refractory to magic, it formed a single pin-like mountain - more on magic later. It is the only link from Gaia to Eos.
• There are no artificial bridges between the islands, as they usually float around; it is too risky to build any kind of bridge. In order to travel, the inhabitants have to sail aboard airships.
• Technology advancement is present, up to complex firearms or steampunk stuff. Still, magic is a dominant feat throughout the continent.
• The continent has formed thanks to a magical repulsion: the original world - Gaia the name - was corrupted by the darkness in people's hearts. The magical force of this world, commonly referred to as Force, or Vis (though its name may vary) was tainted by hatred, hatred caused by a global war. So, the Force was corrupted into an evil form of it, the Dark Force, gathering strenght in places of Gaia where evil acts were performed; this caused a repulsion in other places filled with Light Force - a repulsion able to shatter the earth and send it flying. Still, the individual islands float thanks to the repulsion between the Dark Force, ruler of Gaia, and the Force, ruler of Eos.
• Terra has heated up; having almost no water left on it, it causes water cycle to work at a way upper altitude. This allows Eos to have its own water cycle, even though every river ends up spilling the fluid down to Gaia - it then boils, dries, and goes up again as aqueous vapor.
• People still live on Gaia, having taken countermeasures; they live in the coldest parts of the continent, precisely the farthest from the equator, and built systems to benefit from the water falling from Eos' rivers or rain.
• Playable Races are those of classic RPGs, with some new or tweaked elements:
  • Humans - Norrænir (people who live in the coldest areas of Eos); Phers (who live in desert or jungle areas);
  • Elves - Light Elf (known as High Elf in classic RPGs, they're connected to the Force); Dark Elf (Drow, connected to the Dark Force); Snow Elf (Living in extremely cold climates, were almost extinct by Gaia's temperature increase); Urban Elf (Elves adapted to living in a city, they often have mixed bloodlines); Half-Elf (Hybrids).
  • Dwarf - Gold Dwarf (they live in fortresses carved in mountains, often under or next to cities); Silver Dwarf (they usually live in fortresses above ground or in cities with other races); Bronze Dwarf (they live in the hottest areas of Eos and some still live in Gaia).

There are many things to finish in the map itself before I can think more about its story or inhabitants.
Topography-Related:

1. Need to add rivers.
2. Need to fill lakes with water, now they're just holes in the land.
3. Need to determine main cities.

Design-Related:

1. Need to reduce the pixelated look of the whole map. - URGENT
2. Need to add something to make the islands really look like they've been ripped out of the earth. Maybe a Stroke with a pattern that looks like rocks? - URGENT
3. Need to add shadows that make sense. - URGENT
4. Need advices on adding biomes.
5. Need to find a way to paint volcanoes and lava streams.
6. Need to find a way to add higher mountains (duplication?) and spray some snow on them.

[Alturax]

For the pixelated look, I assume you mean the coastlines...
If you use Photoshop, you should smooth the selection using the Select menu on top and then selecting Modify, and then Smooth. Select a factor (3 or 5 is usually enough) and it'l give you a selection that is much smoother and less pixelated:

No clue on the other ones except the shadows!
For shadows, you should duplicate the island's layer, put a layer style of Color Overlay, full black on that layer. Now put that duplicated layer below the actual island layer. Now you have a shadow, so you can move that layer around like the shadow of the island on top! Now reduce the opacity of that layer to make it seem like an actual shadow and voila!

Hope this helps

[Caenwyr]

Blurring the shadow (more blur for more distance) also helps give depth to your image.

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

[CimmerianHydra]

Thanks a lot guys! You already helped me quite a lot. Going to apply those advices soon.

[CimmerianHydra]

Map updated: I've added shadows. Smart Objects in photoshop, made up by one layer for each level's shadow: the shadow on the second highest level is made by the highest one's shadow; the shadow on third highest (which actually is the lowest) level is made by the first level's + second level's shadows. This allows me to tweak them safely.
And I've added some bodies of water, finally.
I've also tweaked some biomes as the previous ones didn't make much sense (oases on lowest level and full desert on middle level? Really man?)
7ee4081e24f1d7e07f1474f781894bba.jpg
I've also fixed a problem for the highest level: if you look carefully at the highest level map, in the first post, you can see there is some kind of black gradient on the bottom and left side of the map. This was caused by Drop Shadow, as there was a portion of my map left from an Inverse Select + Clear. It was unreachable with selection tools, so I had to change Canvas Size and delete the hidden part. Fortunately, I managed.
I'm starting to work on the first island, and will post the paper&pencil version of it soon.
To keep you interested, just a teaser: its name is going to be Pleiades, and it will be largely based on the homonymous Greek mythological figures.