Arnâron v2

[bartmoss]

So I've been revisiting another of my worlds and I started re-creating the world map. The main reason is that the equirectangular projection is easier to work with in the long run; and I also wanted to make the world slightly more "marslike".

Old:



New, first WIP:



For a better view of this planet, try the Goodle Earth .kml file.

[jwbjerk]

OK, so what are we looking at? I'd guess the black lines are elevation, but on the right half you have black lines without color change.


Also it's cool that you made it work with Google Earth--- i didn't know you could do that.

[bartmoss]

Yup, elevation - brighter colors are higher elevation. North and south are ice caps that I made slightly transparent so I (and you) can see the terrain underneath. The black lines without color changes are part of the WIP and will disappear eventually.

[Aenigma]

I really like the shape of the continents

What program should I use to view a .kml file?

[Steel General]

What program should I use to view a .kml file?

Google Earth...

[Aenigma]

Google Earth...

well, how should I know since I never ever use google earth normally?

But I admit, had I read the other posts (which I don't always do) I would've noticed that jwbjerk mentioned google earth.

[bartmoss]

hehehe no worries

[Hungry Donner]

That is gorgeous!

Looking at the KML, did you create the image and then simply layer it across the planet or did you start by drawing with GE itself and then turn this in to an image? I do a lot of work in GE myself but I've never translated it to a flat (and colored!) image I could then overlay back on the planet. I did recently notice that the tool that lets you embed KML files in a webpage allows you to choose between a global (Google Earth) view or a flat (Google Maps) view and I suspect I can simply switch to the flat projection and screen capture my way to a flat map . . . but that also sounds convoluted and tedious so I'm very curious to know if there's a better way to do this.

As for the work itself, I like the layout in the KML file - do I see some natural Martian terrain used to inspire some of your topographical lines? It looks rather like the Valles Marineris by the mountains on the left side of the image. The newer image looks fantastic, if you're able to warp that in to a GE overlay I'd love to see it in GE as well. Your oceans and rivers seem well made and that desert on the periphery of the image must be a fantastic landscape.

[bartmoss]

Thanks Hungry.

The original Arnaron map - the "old" one - was created in that projection, which I then found difficult to use further. That's why I decided to re-created it (the "new" version) as a flat map. Google Earth is simply the most convenient way for me to view my map as a sphere, i.e. how the planet would "really" look like. For drawing I use Inkscape exclusively.

Yeah there is "real" martian geography in these maps. It's mostly Olympus Mons and Valles Marineris. Arnâron is my "fantasy Mars". I'd use and modify Barsoom, but the ERB, Inc. still claims trademarks and unlike Copyrights, Trademarks don't expire automatically after some time period. So in principle if you use John Carter, Barsoom, Tarzan etc they could sue you for unauthorized use of their trademarks... and that is not somehting I want to hassle with. Especially since I do attempt to take other people's rights serious, no matter if I do not agree with them in individual cases.

As for the rivers and oceans, I actually created the "old" Arnaron with full plate tectonics, climate, and even a rough idea of how civilization spread before the planet dried up. Check out this thread http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...Arn%E2ron-Maps for details.

[Hungry Donner]

Check out this thread http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...Arn%E2ron-Maps for details.

Thank you, that is wonderful! It's a shame there aren't more programs that let you work on a sphere, it would be nice to have something like GE but with the benefits of a real art program.