Reply With QuoteCan you post an image illustrating this? Frankly, when I read about how something looks, I can never properly visualize it in my head.
Vertical exaggeration in cave maps.
Hello all.
I'm in the process of working on some maps of a world spanning cave network and I've come across an issue with scaling. Any lateral (cut away) map showing the caves on a planetary scale cannot show depth in any meaningful way. Is it considered okay in such maps to use 'vertical exaggeration'? In other words, can I use a different scale for up/down compared to east/west? I'm thinking of something along the lines of 1px = 10km (east/west) and 1px = 10m (up/down) for large scale maps and only going to a 1:1 ratio for small scale maps.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Last edited by Thurlor; 04-14-2011 at 01:50 AM. Reason: Corrections
Can you post an image illustrating this? Frankly, when I read about how something looks, I can never properly visualize it in my head.
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I think shading things is another good way to show depth, the higher levels are lighter and the lower levels are darker.
This is a very rough concept sketch, and even with vertical exaggeration there is scaling issues, but it gets the idea across I think. It represents 40,000km from east to west (circumference of the world) and 20km depth.
Desert Sink Hole.jpg
I feel I should point out that this is all aimed at creating a map for the current challenge.
That works for me! Even is things like Google earth they provide a vertical scale parameter so you can exaggerate verticality and better appreciate elevation changes.Originally Posted by Thurlor
-Rob A>
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I think that the 2:1 ratio works well, just be sure to keep the elevations of mountains, etc. to the same scale as those caverns down below.
BOB
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That's 2,000:1
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Actually, it's 1000:1
Chuckles so math is not a strong point. As long as it is consistent.
BOB
We do not stop playing because we grow old.
We grow old because we stop playing.
www.dragonslayers-society.org
Doh! I was using the image dimension, not the map scale!
-Rob A>
My GIMP Scripts: Rotating Brush ~ Gradient from Image ~ Mosaic Tile Helper ~ Random Density Map ~ Subterranean Map Prettier ~ Tapered Stroke Path ~ Random Rotate Floating Layer ~ Batch Image to Pattern ~ Better Seamless Tiles ~ Tile Shuffle ~ Scale Pattern ~ Grid of Guides ~ Fractalize path ~ Label Points
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