Right, it's been a good long while since my latest update, so I guess it's time to post another one. Although this time around I don't have a new area to post per se. I've been working very sporadically on the height map for Central Eocidar, but it's only maybe 20% done.
All in all, I was getting a bit fed up with the rather painstaking method of doing it all by hand and decided that a change of tactics was in order. I've dabbled a bit with sculpting programs (Autodesk Mudbox, more specifically) in the last year or so. With those, the workflow is usually first starting off with a piece (say, a head) at low subdivision (low resolution) and basically first sculpting the shapes and adding the major details in that resolution. Then you move to a higher subdivision, adding more and more detail as you go, all the way to the pores on the skin and what have you.
With that in mind, I was inspired to attempt a new technique. I realised that mapping a piece of 10 000x5000 map is completely unnecessary for creating the general details of the topography (where are mountains, highlands, basins). In fact, since you're tempted to work while zoomed in a lot, I think it's more of a hindrance than a benefit. So, I've decided to adopt a more "subdivision type approach", where I start creating the topography at a very low resolution and then scale upwards, adding details. Also, I will be creating a greyscale height map, since that works a lot better with this sort of process because blurring isn't a big issue with greyscale.
In order to test the method, I decided to start off by re-working Akanrias a bit. There were a few things I was a bit unhappy with regarding the subcontinent's shape:
Akanrias Original.PNG
So, I fixed those up and turned my previous elevation map into greyscale. I use a RGB-scale btw, with 25 metres per point to convert this into metres. The values 0-5 are below sealevel (-150 to 0 m), while the values 6-255 represent the height range (0 to 6250 m).
Akanrias New.PNG
I also made a nice gradient for this, so I can straight up convert this into a layered elevation map like I used previously. To actually work on the piece, I considered if I should use a different projection. However, GProjector only accepts Cylindrical Equal-area as input out of the equal-area projections, and while the area is displayed correctly, the shapes are distorted a lot. So, all in all, I decided for a compromise: I'm going to use Equirectangular Oblique, with the map centered on the piece I'm working on. That should get rid of the worst projection distortion. And the resolution limits of GProjector are less of an issue when working in greyscale.
After creating the initial topography and running through Wilbur once, this is what the low-res map I'm working on looks like. Btw, this is clipped from an Equirectangular Oblique projection centered on 30 W 20 S. Comparing this to the 3D view I think this works pretty well (not too much distortion).
With the layered gradient:
Akanrias Layered.png
Gradual transition gradient:
Akanrias Gradual.png
I'd include the elevation key, but with this resolution it would cover half the map (or be totally unreadable if I downscaled it). So here it is separately, same as used previously:
EleKey.png
I also made a few changes to the elevations from the previous version. I decided to remove one of the LIPs on the southern coast. That is because I'll probably update the tectonics at some point, and I'm planning to change the position of Nomune somewhat (so that LIP doesn't make sense anymore). I also added a large lake and changed the drainage pattern as an experiment. Right now, both of the intra-cratonic basins of Akanrias drain into the "south sea". However, I'll probably change the drainage of the western basin back into its old course (drain into the southwestern sea).
So, that's what I have for this update. So far, I'm pretty satisfied with this new method. I created the above maps in a few days, and it's a refreshing change to work on a greyscale height map. Also, this method allows me to use Wilbur to full effect, "Wilburifying" the map each time I increase the resolution. This is still very much a WIP of course, but I thought I'd post this since there are quite a few world-mappers likewise working on elevations right now, and someone might find this useful.
All in all, I have high hopes that this method offers a good compromise of achieving good production speed without sacrificing quality in the process. But we'll see how the final results turn out. As usual, feedback and comments are welcome!
Edit:
Oh, btw I also incorporated Naima's feedback a bit and changed the costlines so they're not so "over-fractalized" in this version (although that's not really apparent in the low-res map).
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