Zasháve: Physical Features

[woodb3kmaster]

Hello, folks! It is my pleasure to present my first finished map here, the quality of which would not have been possible without your kind feedback, or the tutorials here at CG. To review the process that led to this map, check out its WIP thread here.

Zasháve is the largest continent on my fictional planet of Askath, and is where any novels I write about that planet are most likely to be set. Roughly the size of Asia, this continent has just about every climate you might expect to find on an Earthlike planet, from dense tropical jungles to barren, windswept tundra, and everything in between. This particular map showcases that diverse geography with a combination of geographic labels and a Blue Marble-inspired color palette.

The map started out as a rough pencil sketch several years ago; I traced the coastlines in Photoshop after scanning it. After building a rough elevation map, I processed it extensively in Wilbur to produce detailed, realistic features. Then it was back to Photoshop to color the landscape with a series of eight separate gradient maps, one for each major grouping of biome types. Throw in some shaded relief (also from Wilbur), a couple layers of different sizes of rivers, and some extra details for the deserts, and all that remained was to add a layer of noise-on-top-of-difference-clouds-on-top-of-blurred-noise-on-top-of-yet-more-clouds, overlaid on the gradient maps for some added texture. Well, that and labeling everything, as well as adding a graticule and a legend.

As this is my first finished map, any C&C (or rep) is most welcome. A rendering of this map on a globe is forthcoming.

zashave-phys-marble.jpg

[woodb3kmaster]

And here's the promised orbital render:

orbit.png

Created in Blender following Blender Guru's Realistic Earth video tutorial.

[woodb3kmaster]

After finding another tutorial and searching for a more realistic method for modeling the atmosphere, I am proud to present the latest orbital rendering of the above map:

orbit4.png

I'm now working on mapping the rest of the planet, so Zasháve won't be alone in the ocean for much longer. I may or may not start a new WIP thread for the whole-planet map, since I'll be using the same techniques to match my existing map as closely as possible.

[Wingshaw]

This is a very well created map. I really like the colour palette and orbital renders.

As you invited critique, I would say that the only thing that strikes me as off is the shape of the mountains. They seem too much like threads across the continent. While mountains do form in ranges, I think they are rarely long unbroken ranges like this. More often they will bunch up and bulge in areas (as per the Himalayas).

That aside, congratulations on submitting your first finished map, and I am looking forward to seeing more of your work.

THW