Agreed, it looks very odd. I also think the plateau in the north-east is a bit unrealistic, it might look better if the mountains around it sloped to the plateau's level, not to the lower level.
Of course, if these things are in the original media you have to go with them.
I am a geology nerd.
Forest are coloured. I'm unsure if I should add more detail to the forest or keep them as they are. The more amorphous look they have now seems more natural. But stylewise a few viewable trees might be interesting.
From the reference map you posted, the plateau seemed to be a little lower in height than the peaks of the mountains. That is, it seems to have a certain slope between the mountains and the inner plateau, while in your version it seems at the same level of the mountaintops, which looks indeed quite strange.
I could go for a bit more definition in the forest. But it looks good even if you leave it as is. Oh and great job on those sand dunes... they look just wonderful!
My Finished Maps
Works in Progress(or abandoned tests)
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Explanation of Layer Masks in GIMP
How to create ISO Mountains in GIMP/PS using the Smudge tool
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Unless otherwise stated by me in the post, all work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
I'll second Jfraz's comments about adding detail to the forests, but that aside this is a fine looking map so far Sapiento.
Cheers,
-Arsheesh
Uploading works again!
Details to forests added and a glacier in the northwest. I also slightly changed the plateau.
Lookin nice, Sap. Good stuff.
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
This... IS AWESOME. Keep up the good work, Sap!!!
If you want to do a little more research, instead of just following someone else's speculations, this site is the place to start: http://hyboria.xoth.net/maps/index.htm. Also, looking at the classic map based on REH's own sketches (which, to my knowledge, have never been released), http://hyboria.xoth.net/maps/original.gif, I just realized why the Styx makes that near-right-angle turn. It's the Nile, and without the Mediterranean to flow into, it turns west and flows to the ocean instead. As you can see, much of what is shown on the map you are using as a basis is speculative. And thanks to Wikipedia, here's a version of the based-on-REH map without the modern world superimposed on it: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Maphyboria.jpg.