Another attempt at a world map

[Pixie]

im not sure how ill fix it unless i have currents breaking through the equator to coninue onto the other hemosphere.

which happens for example, in the Atlantic, like you can see in this image.

[AlexSchacher]

Alright, I basically did a version 2 with the pressure zones from scratch, and went on to try to map the wind currents. Purple lines are high pressure, orange lines are low pressure, pink lines are boundary between high and low pressure, the yellow dotted lines are the ITCZ and polar fronts, and wind currents are in black. I will say that the area surrounding the spiral loop area may not seem super realistic/accurate. I pushed that area into being low pressure to suck air in and i know the wind in that area is technically rotating the other way, but that giant maelstrom area has been planned from the beginning. I guess you could say the overwhelming cyclone kind of overpowers dominant winds and the corialis affect to justify it.. Anyway, wondering how the rest of it looks.




I also did some work on the ocean currents, they're all mostly connected now and in a big global cycle, no loops without an exit or entrance now. I tried to use as much realism as I could, but kind of took some artistic license at the end to finish it off. Hopefully it works okay. You might also notice I changed some landmasses which opened up a couple of new currents.


My next step (following Pixies tutorial along with Geoffs) would be to map out rain patterns, but I seem to need a decent heightmap figured out in order to do that accurately. So I suppose that is my next step!

[Akubra]

Hi AlexSchacher, I'm following this thread because I'm working on a similar project. Your maps may not completely "work" (some ocean currents seem to cross), but from a visual point they are great! I especially like the little arrows you use for the ocean currents. OK if I nick that idea for my maps?

Cheers - Akubra

[Pixie]

I really like these two maps and I think you are well underway to get a very realistic preview.. Seems to me I need to work on finishing that tutorial some time soon, so we can work out the temperature ranges as well.

[AlexSchacher]

Hi AlexSchacher, I'm following this thread because I'm working on a similar project. Your maps may not completely "work" (some ocean currents seem to cross), but from a visual point they are great! I especially like the little arrows you use for the ocean currents. OK if I nick that idea for my maps?

Cheers - Akubra

Hey Akubra, I am also following your project (aswell as others like groovey and ascanius) but I haven't had much to say since I decided to skip past the plate tectonics, but I look forward to you all getting into currents and stuff. And of course you can use the arrows idea no problem.

I really like these two maps and I think you are well underway to get a very realistic preview.. Seems to me I need to work on finishing that tutorial some time soon, so we can work out the temperature ranges as well.

Im glad to hear you like them, and dont feel rushed to continue your tutorial. I feel like it will take me quite some time to get the heightmap to where I'm happy with it (even a rough sketch). I'm having troubles figuring out how to do the heightmaps, though. I mean, Ive done heightmaps before for various other projects but its always been hard to get something that looks realistic, as real life heightmaps are very complicated. Personally, I love the heightmap that you just did on your continent, but am a bit lost on how to do something similar to what you have done. Another thing Im trying to pin down is scale, which Ill just have to look at Google Maps to try to wrap my head around I suppose. Anyway, heres a little test of what I did, and again no idea on how realistic the scale is as I havent really researched that yet.

[Pixie]

AlexSachcher, at that level of detail, you will never finish.. Earth's area is 510 million sq.km, your "rectangle" is about 900 sq.km - you'd need about 600 000 of those

[AlexSchacher]

Hah yep youre totally right. Ill have to zoom out. Ill probably also just settle for a simpler general heightmap for now just so i am able to figure out rain and biomes

[AlexSchacher]

Alright, Ive just zoomed out to the resolution I was originally working on the global map. I couldn't tell you what the heights of each level are, and im not sure if what I'm doing even correctly replicates (vaguely) how land and mountains look. From looking at earth heightmaps, all you can really see are the biggest mountain ranges sticking up and thats about it. Anyway let me know what you guys think.

[Ilanthar]

Wow, excellent color palette!

[lomedhel]

Can I ask where this tutorial is?