WIP - (ambitious) World Map of fictious earth-like planet

[Pixie]

Thanks for the comment. Your views make me reconsider a couple of areas, namely the hot steppe close to the equator. As for huge plateau, I am divided. It isn't quite so much a Tibet, but more like Turkey/Iran - heights vary around 2500 m. Still, there's quite a bit still undetermined in my map.

I already know the reference you suggested, and a couple more. But thanks for pointing it, nervertheless.

And lastly... I'm curious about that simplification of yours (and I also like the colors in the map you posted!)

[Azélor]

In that case, your right. It's hotter than Tibet since the average altitude is around 4000m. Lhasa is 3500m high and it's low compared to the rest of the region.

---

About the simplification:

Ice and tundra are pretty obvious

The cold is for all the Dd and Dc climates. We already established that the difference between w,f and s was marginal because it's too cold to ever become dry. Dc is packed together with Dc simply because Dd is very marginal by itself. On the northern edge, it's the tree line but the southern portion is made of a dense conifer forest (almost exclusively). Agriculture is almost impossible except for the southern edge (having snow in the end of may is nothing uncommon in these area, although it usually melt after a few hours).

Temperate is actually not the only temperate climate, that is a temporary and subjective name (like most of them). For example: a subtropical make sense when it's close to the tropic, not when it's in the mid latitudes (45). Anyway... this includes all the Da and Db climates except Dsa and Dsb that are Mediterranean (or west coast) climates. The difference between Da and Db is that Da is hotter, of course. Cfb have milder winters and usually summer are a bit cooler than of Dfb. The difference is not always that large and the vegetation is not too different. Maybe Dfa should be with the subtropical instead ?

Subtropical is for Cfa, Cwa, Cwb, Cwc. Freezing temperature are almost nonexistent although they do have a colder season. these areas are often affected by the monsoon and can have long dry periods. Some places like Japan receive a large portion of their precipitation with tropical storm/cyclone.

West coast is for Csa, Csb, Csc (yep I have them on the map now) Dsa, Dsb (only in Turkey,Iran, Central Asia). Not sure but it look different enough to have it's own category.

desert and steppes...

Dry forest is for forests with a dry season. Unlike the subtropical climate, the dry season has a large impact on the fauna and the flora and there is no cold season.

Equatorial is for forests with little to no dry season. Very little variation over the year : always hot and humid. Very high diversity and complexity. Low adaptability to climate changes.

As for the colours, I started with this map: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Vegetation.png
but I thought the colours clashed too much (especially in the CWBP2 map), so I changed them and fused some of the categories (too many for the arid climates).

[Pixie]

So, while not a biomes scheme exactly, it is very close to a biomes scheme ... kinda half-way.

Again, the map you suggested is also on my "reference maps" folder. It looks like we use the same internet

Once I have this a little more developed (a larger area of the map properly done), I will post a map with you coloring scheme, for your pleasure. Cheers!

[Pixie]

Well, an update is due...

First, about the weather map colored with Azelor's "palette". I already posted this in a sister thread, this one. However, since some of us (Azelor mostly, BY FAR!) are still working on better guidelines for figuring climates on fictional worlds, the work done so far is only "midly valid"

Second, the topographic map is coming along, at a very variable pace. Some more areas are throughly finished, but I have also been making adjustments in "previously finished" areas and roughing in other areas. Thus, in absolute terms, there isn't much more that is complete, but there are many more hours put into this.


Current state:


(The method I used for shrinking the full world image made it crisper than it really is...)

[groovey]

Oh! It's getting closer to be done! Once it is, and with the legend text and all, it's going to look so neat and professional. It'll be perhaps the best fictional height-map I've seen done from scratch (not using programs or automated processes that generate them).

How about the land area on the Krasia tectonic plate? Do you have to add more altitude on will it stay generaly low like now?

So keep going, it's coming along beautifuly.

[Pixie]

Thanks for the heads up, groovey. For some weird reason I still take pleasure in shaping this map, even if the task started over an year ago!

Krasian tectonic plate is a mess right now, I had a sort of plateau there, then I carved some wide river valleys and it obviously isn't finished at this point. Yet, the plan is to keep it low and "old". That much is settled.
Most of the time, nowadays, I start new regions in one of two ways: either from very small bits of pixels, at the max altitude of a ridge, and then draw the layers belor it (when I'm making mountains) or from a sort of random shape at the max altitude of a plateau and then start carving river valleys (often in several passes).

The double subduction area on the west side of Krasia, however, is due for "revision".. and I've been struggling hard with some other areas that don't fit tectonics so well.

[Pixie]

This is probably the last update of the year, as it gets busy from now on... In fact, it has already been busy! Which means not much to show concerning advancements in the heightmap. Because there's little that is actually new, I'm showing that stuff at actual size.

Here are the latest areas I worked on.

[Obbehobbe]

Really nice, it reminds me of a real satellite shot over Scandinavia, lighten by the moon during night.

[Pixie]

While that is a fantastic shot, it isn't an actual satellite shot.. It is made to resemble one, with features exagerated. A similar picture of the Iberian Peninsula has been "travelling" FB walls here in portugal recently so I went and did some research (very very little).... Which resulted in finding this portfolio... and I find it awesome!

[ascanius]

it's looking good pixie. All I can really say is keep up the good work.

Hey pixie what elevation interval are you using. I'm using 500m and in comparison most of your continent seems to have a higher mean elevation than mine. It looks really good, I'm just wondering if maybe the difference is due to that.