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Thread: WIP A Coastal Region

  1. #1
    Guild Apprentice pickaboo's Avatar
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    Post WIP A Coastal Region

    I think the inspiration for this came from Ascension's Jasmine coast. I wanted to start doing a place where I could have sea-based adventures, which are a rarity otherwise, as well as some more traditional stuff. I combined techniques from pasis' and ascension's tutorials for mountains and the forests. Tell me what you think
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    Community Leader Facebook Connected Ascension's Avatar
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    The first that hit me was actually the forest, not the shelf. The forest edge needs to be broken up so here's a few steps to fix that:

    1. Make a selection of the forest layer (ctrl-click on that layer in the layer stack).
    2. Create a new layer and fill this selection with white.
    3. Deselect.
    4. Create a new layer and fill it with total black.
    5. Move this black layer below the white forest shape layer.
    6. Merge these two layers.
    7. Filter-artistic-spatter. Mess around with the sliders until you get something with a good broken edge.
    8. Select-color range=black.
    9. Delete the blacks.
    10. Deselect.
    11. Hide this layer by poking out the eye in the layer stack.
    12. Ctrl-click on this hidden layer then click on the forest layer.
    13. Select-inverse.
    14. Delete then deselect and you should have a nice broken edge on your forest.

    For the shelf, expand the size of the bevel (default is 5 so try around 30-50) and then lower the height of the bevel (default is 100% so try 25%) to reduce the effect of the white highlight and black shadow. You might also want to mess around with the contour of the bevel (this is basically a profile view of what it actually looks like). The gaussian curve is usually nice but for this I usually use a cove shape (like cove molding, it curves inward or down instead of outward or up). What this does is to make a smooth transition from sea floor to gently rounding up.
    If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
    -J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)


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  3. #3
    Guild Apprentice pickaboo's Avatar
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    Thanks for the advice, though Spatter is in the Brush strokes in CS4 but anyway. Useful tool which I combined it with 20% flow eraser and removed forest layer with my mountains selected.
    Also moved the continental shelf and put in rivers. Does anyone have a vision as if I'm correct in assuming that arctic areas have less rivers?
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    Lookin good, I'd make the forests darker but yer ready for labels.
    If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
    -J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)


    My Maps ~ My Brushes ~ My Tutorials ~ My Challenge Maps

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    Guild Apprentice pickaboo's Avatar
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    Yay Though PS corrupted the file while saving after extensive river placement, I'll just add the labels and do the good rivers some other time .

  6. #6
    Guild Apprentice pickaboo's Avatar
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    Well, here's an update with some labels. Most are gods from numerous mythologies and some are even in proper context.
    Think of this map as a default starting view of a magical map that could be zoomed in or made to display all kinds of information available through use of magic.

    The eastern part of this map beyond the mountains is practically a glacier and it contains undead and cold-type monsters who keep humans as slaves or for food.
    The islands of Dagon and Hydra and the Isles of Haddad are lifeless rocky places as if caused by some great cataclysm. People who go to those islands tend not to come back.
    The Three Islands of Zorya have been given names since sightings of dragons have been made there by sailors.


    Of special places:
    The Fountain of Gods is a special location that holds a divine water pumping station. There actually would be remains of aqueducts and other very old technology.
    Ruins of Brakor are the remains of ancient city in a valley between mountains. It is rumoured that they are as old as the aqueducts of Fountain of Gods.

    Of cities, marked with black square and white glow:
    Midir, Andvar, Tuoni and Halls of Misthra are underground cities populated by dwarves.
    Coatlicue and Polevik are elven cities.
    All other are human city-states.
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    If this is your full size then I'd make the text a lil bit bigger so that it's easier to read. If this is a reduced size image then ignore. I like what you have going on with those mtns and hills in the snowy region. Oh also, one more step to go that I forgot to mention...the deeper ocean (the part not in the shelf) needs to be darker.
    If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
    -J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)


    My Maps ~ My Brushes ~ My Tutorials ~ My Challenge Maps

  8. #8
    Guild Apprentice pickaboo's Avatar
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    Ok, texts enlarged and that's the best I could do with the deep ocean as the original psd corrupted. I thought about having roads but then it would clutter the map too much for my taste and purpose.
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    Community Leader Facebook Connected Steel General's Avatar
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    This has come along way since your first post, the only thing that seem a bit 'off' to me still is the transition from land to water, still seems a bit abrupt to me.

    But that's just my opinion and doesn't mean that anything is wrong or looks bad.
    Last edited by Steel General; 07-13-2009 at 06:54 AM.
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  10. #10
    Guild Apprentice pickaboo's Avatar
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    Thanks The next thing I'll develop will be cool shorelines then. And perhaps new textures based on satellite photos...

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