WIP - Ortellum

[Natai]

Using the climate cookbook method, it's easy to over-emphasize one element or another. In the case of this desert, the amount of precipitation you would get off the ocean against the prevailing wind. I don't know which way your prevailing wind is, but i doubt it is from both the east and west coast near your desert. If you look at a Koppen map, you'll notice that large deserts (BW*) tend to run all the way to the ocean unless there are intervening mountains.

Looking at my notes and maps, the prevailing wind should be from the east. The break between the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone and the Subtropical High Pressure Zone would cross over the land bridge just south of the mountain range. However, due to the high- and low-pressure areas, there would also be a significant wind coming off the western gulf on to the southern part of the landmass. It might be worth examining how these two air flows would interact.
One problem I have is that there is no real-world analog to this part of the continent. It's shape, size and position are difficult to compare, and it's also very far away from any other landmasses on the planet. I think my mindset with the desert was that by the time air from the coast reached the interior it would have lost most of it's moisture. However, you make an excellent point regarding deserts extending to the coast. I'll work on reducing the desert's size when I get home and post what I come up with.

That depends if this is supposed to be an information-conveying map, or a photographic-looking map. I wouldn't be ashamed of highlighting the differences between different types of forests, even at the expense of some realism-- unless, of course, pure realism is your goal. The fact, for instance that you can even see the rivers at this scale is not very realistic, but does make it a more informative map.

I'm trying to strike a balance between the two, as I imagine everyone does. The original idea was to have a realistic "world" map large enough to allow for zooming in for a reasonable approximation of a regional map. In terms of game fiction, Humans would be trying to combine fragmented orbital/aerial imagery with land-based observations as well as information gathered from other sentient races. I imagine such a fusion of information would result in an unsual style of map.

[Natai]

I've altered the size and adjusted the position of the large southern desert. I extended the foothills and elevation of the southern mountain range. I figure the small rainshadow effect this will create, combined with the distance from the ocean, should allow for the existence of the desert. I've also expanded the size of the two southern tropical rainforests and a tropical region and forest to the eastern island.
I'm still planning on adding sparse trees to the savannas and probably some more forest to the eastern island.

[Natai]

Okay, another update. This one might seem minor at first glance, but I made a lot of changes.
First, I've altered the coastlines using a variation on RobA's coastal detail tutorial. That required updates to all coastal biomes. Thanks for the suggestion to change the coastlines. I was leery of the work required, but I'm pleased with how it turned out. My main issue now is I think I need to delete more of the islands, but every time I started going through them I start thinking of cool storylines for the island.

Second, I've retextured all the forests. They are more uniform now in appearance, but there are still differences depending on the biome.

Third, I've redone the rivers to make them slightly more scale-appropriate as well as more 'curvy'. I still have to work on the river-to-ocean transition.

I've also realized that a 4mb JPG just doesn't do the detail justice, so I'm posting a larger version on my new deviantArt page. It's still less than half the resolution of the original but it's an improvement. Check it out here.

[Natai]

It's not finished yet, but it's getting close.
Finished up the major biomes; added compass rose, scale, title, labels, lat/lon lines.

I've still got to add the major cities among other things. I've uploaded at higher resolution version on deviantArt.

I look forward to your comments and feedback.

[jwbjerk]

The scatter pattern you have on the edge of forests looks really good. Very nice texture overall.

* The white outer glow you have on the coastline is rather distracting especially compared to your rather realistic, muted colors. I might make it cyan and increase the transparency.

* A lot of your text is very hard to read. The high transparency combined with a scripty typeface leads to low legibility whenever the background isn't nearly solid.

* A more subjective statement: Vivid blues are some of the most beautiful colors, but these blues don't exactly mesh with the muted realism of your terrestrial colors.

[Rhotherian]

Wow. Great map!

Can't wait to see how this looks finished.

[Rythal]

agreed with jbwjerk, the coastline needs a bit more of a blue tinge.

Also, imo, the deserts are a bit small, but thats no big deal.

looks really good, keep it up.

[alizarine]

Other than that bright coastline, this is looking really good. I particularly like the attention you paid to the ocean - it's not just blank water. I do agree that the low opacity on the text makes it harder to read, the font itself isn't to "artistic" - it would be fine if it wasn't so transparent. In particular, the "merciless sands" lettering kinda disappears - took me a minute to figure out what it said ^.^ All in all, though, this looks good. I'll have to check your dev art account, too ^_^

- Alizarine

[Natai]

Latest version.
Thanks to Tilt for the compass design.

Ortellum v048.jpg

[tilt]

looking really good Natai - great job ... I'll rep you right away