Kronos (reborn) topographic

[Tiluchi]

This looks great! Always fun to see other worldbuilders who take their geology seriously. That story seems plausible, and we do have something similar with the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. That southeastern archipelago you're working on looks great as well- I do love a good volcanic island chain.

On an unrelated note, you really must post a tutorial of your technique on the forum at some point- this is one of the only examples I've seen of a realistic-looking DEM on a large scale, and it's almost enough to convince me to figure out Wilbur at long last...

[Harrg]

Thanks Tiluchi. To be honest, I don't know what exactly should be in this tutorial, because all this is already there. From current textbooks - the work of Morne. The only difference is that I do the shading in Photoshop, it's easier for me and I have more control.
Wilbur is needed only at a certain stage. My process can be divided into 3 steps.
Step 1. We collect clay. I don't really care about whether the rivers and so on will be reconciled. The main task is simply to mold basic shapes and show basic heights. I pay more attention to form than detail.
Step 2. We have got a very motley map, where the fragments do not fit together. It's Wilbur's time. Run your map through 2-3 erosion cycles. Wilbur will destroy most of the small parts. This is exactly what you need! It will bake all the pieces together into a monolithic relief.
Step 3. Detailing. At this stage, it is already necessary to carefully observe the consistency of all elements. Overlay dem fragments on top of your baked heightmap. Use different layer modes (multiply, soft light, etc.). To do the desired result. It is at this stage that attention should be paid to the geological features.
I know that it looks like that guide with drawing an owl, draw a circle, draw an owl. Done!
But I honestly don't know what to suggest here. I need leading questions.


If I went back in time and gave myself a couple of tips, they would sound like this:
1. Understand the basis of tectonics.
2. How can the plates move? How can they not?
3. Learn to visualize tectonic models. What relief will be in the zone of subduction, rifting, spreading, etc.?
4. The sand model videos helped me a lot.
5. Understand how the movement of one plate affects others.
6. How tectonics affects the coastline. I often see (and do the same myself) when people are making a tectonic model but not editing the coastline. It is obvious (for example) that the coastline will stretch along the subduction zone, and will not abruptly break off. Or it is unlikely that a strange peninsula will appear there, for which there is no place here.
7. Perceive the relief as a system. The mountain cannot just break off somewhere. It will continue along the border of plate. It may be in the form of rifting or spreading or something else, but it is always closed, like a race track. Even the old geological formations, strongly distorted, are closed, their boundaries are simply not so obvious now.
8. Check yourself on the sphere. Gplates are a great tool!
9. A simple rotation of the canvas is sometimes enough to see errors. If the map looks natural from any angle and when mirrored, then you are doing everything right.
10. Mountains are not just a mass of land with beautiful intricate erosion. When I started out, I tried to imitate the Alps (for example) and tried to see each "block" of the watershed as something independent. This is wrong way. Use geology! These are, first of all, ridges, folds, etc.
11. https://www.geokniga.org/bookfiles/g...-tectonics.pdf good book
12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI5r4cs74w8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly78AxI9gaE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9bKXY0OMxc

[Harrg]

Distracted a bit from the relief and tectonics and decided to have some fun with different palettes. This is useful when working with a heightmap, because identifies mistakes and allows a different look at old things.

[Harrg]

First animation form gplates
As you can see, I understand well the history of the southern continent. It's simple. But I still have no idea how the northern one came about. I still don't like the collision model. I feel like I still have a lot of time to spend exploring the northern and western borders.
Some idea or sujections?
P.S. I seem to have a definite animation and bump mismatch. Probably, the southern continent should at some point begin to move stronger to the northeast in order to get the kind of orogeny that is now. It seems I started to see a number of inconsistencies. Why did such massive orogeny arise essentially from oceanic subduction in the east? And not in the west, where is the continental convergence?
Why is the coast of the Middle Sea so far from the mountains in the subduction zone? Sediment? From the side of the subduction zone?
The more I think about it, the more I want to say stop. Best the enemy of the good. But these thoughts scrape my brains.



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[Charerg]

I would say most of those problems have easy solutions, here are some ideas:

1) The Western & Eastern Tanat mountains
- Change the Eastern portion into an island arc that has collided with the southern continent as part of the process (similar to New Guinea). That way you can have the continent-continent convergence (and possibly subduction as well, on the northern boundary).
- The relatively small size of the Western mountains can be explained as well. Perhaps here there has been mostly subduction of oceanic crust, and continent-continent contact has begun only recently? I feel the plate movements themselves support this idea, as clearly the eastern part of the southern continent moves at a higher velocity (hence more crustal shortening must have occurred in the eastern regions to accommodate that movement).

2) The Middle Sea
- Again, the "ocean arc collision" explanation would go a long way to explain the Eastern Tanat mountains, they could be a separate plate, with a transform boundary between the E. Tanat and the northern continent (a situation similar to the Sea of Marmara).
- Though maybe the seaway from the Middle Sea to the ocean could be a little bit more open

[Harrg]

Thanks Charerg! These are very helpful tips indeed.
I tried to sketch this out. Did I understand your idea correctly?
It seems I have caught your general idea, now I need to temporarily distract myself from the existing relief, tk. it is rather confusing. And pay attention to pure tectonics. Phew this is a really tricky region considering how much is going on here.

[Charerg]

Yes, that is pretty much what I had in mind.

[Harrg]

Fast sketch of new conitinent Albara.
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[Harrg]

mini update
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[Hieronymus_Blaze]

This is great. What software are you using to create these maps?