Ilion: Globe and Associated Maps

[Ilanthar]

Thanks! I was thinking of doing some globes myself... I have those big balls in styropor, hence my question.

[Malicious-Monkey]

It seems I am more brave than I thought.



Here's the new finished product. I've taken pictures of the other sides as well but haven't processed them yet.



One thing I do is make a subtle atmosphere effect using the stroke outline effect in PS around a circular selection. I find the gradient tool hard to customize so instead I grow and shrink both the selection and the outer glow until I have enough to make a gradient, then I blur. It's not perfect and I need to add more layers to it to smooth it out, but it'll do for now. This is what the atmo looks like on its own, at 100% transparency (for the image I reduced transparency to 40%).

[Malicious-Monkey]

I've taken some time off to work on other projects. I'm back now to tackle those pesky new coastlines I've built onto the globe. The hardest part is accuracy; I'm mostly just eyeballing it at this point.

[Malicious-Monkey]

Mapping of the new coastlines is complete. Other maps (plates, etc.) will be adjusted later.

[Malicious-Monkey]

I think it's finished! Now onto phase two: local maps, or darkside maps. Whichever I get to first.

[Malicious-Monkey]

I've begun the task of mapping one of the landing sites. This is very much a work in progress and I want to make sure everything makes sense before moving forward.



Is the scale realistic?

The river graphics are placeholders and should be narrowed in the final version, especially the outflow that looks like it's a quarter km wide. Yikes. It's supposed to be a minor river, not the Amazon.

How long would it take to climb one of the two hills north of the river on foot?

Given the scale, would the middle section of river be considered a ravine or gully or something else?

Finally, is there a way to smooth the kinks in the contour lines using PS Elements? Whenever I try to do it by hand, I just end up making more kinks.