Yeah...I literally ooh and ahh'd at your city for like an hour last night...no joke...read the WIP thread and everything...Its THE MODEL for what I want to do here. I'll probably bug you for more tips as I move through this process. So...super happy for all your helpful comments.
I'm thinking that this will be a city of about 10k. The original Al-Qadim sourcebook says 60k, but I can't justify that kind of population with an infrequent water source (even with the aquifer that I have added for it). So, I'm assuming that the area within the city walls should be roughly 100 sq. acres. (or 2000' x 2000') Not sure if that math checks out or if i'll be able to squeeze enough buildings in and around the city walls (figure about 1000 +/-).
The sand background is a combination of cloud, noise, and colored layers multiplied at varying opacities. The rocks are actually derived from Pyrandon's method here. As per those instructions, I also added an "elevation" layer of progressively darker shadows. It doesn't utilize the layer masks but does work with bevel and texture settings. Since I'm not 100% on my rock formations yet, i'll probably give your suggestion a go over the weekend (looks like i'll snowed in by the blizzard-ocolypse that's headed for the Dirty Jerz).
I'd also like to experiment more with patterns for the ground cover. I started mapping with CC3 about a year ago and have used CGtextures extensively in that program, but have been less successful in converting those images to patterns and stamps in photoshop...i'll have to look into that more also.
And the wall...was a little embarrassed to post a WIP with it in its current state. It was really more of a last minute thing before I made this post to give people a sense of the dimensions I was looking at. Your suggestions look spot on to me and I'll also toil away at it over the weekend I think. My plan at the moment is to have one main gate (the only entrance/exit to the plateau) and several towers throughout (to spot an enemy advance from the lower lying areas or perhaps from the mountains on the north side). I'd also like to have a walled in "old city" which surrounds the palace, prominent temples, etc.
Thanks again - look foward to more comments, criticisms and suggestions from the experts. Hope to have another WIP if I survive the white death this weekend.
oh...and here's my settings for the Wadi...I was getting really frustrated while trying to create it and started just mashing settings together...pretty happy accident though.
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