User blog:EthanConquistador/Tutorial - Map (in a different way not the real mapping that you did)

Hello, I was too bored so I decided to post a tutorial I made during the school, enjoy! Plus comment.

Only for Paint.NET 3.5.11 and probably below versions. (Try using the v4 one and see if it works out, if it does work, tell me in the comments)

STEP I - Land
I will use 2000x1532 in zis tutorial. But you will need Paint.NET in order to do this tutorial.

Effects -> Render -> Clouds, we will use these clouds as the bump (elevation) texture and the land at the same time as I think it'll be realistic. In this one, I'm going to use 746 as the scale and 0.65 roughness. The one you must use is this:

Scale: 730-780 (1000 for people who likes maximium)

Roughness: 0.60-70

Blending: Normal



Once you did so, duplicate the layer and turn off the layer. Then posterise it and set all of it to 2.

Again, render the clouds again but this time, zooming out a little, I'll use 594 and 0.57. Yes, blending is normal.

Preferred:

Scale: 560-610

Roughness: 0.50-70

Duplicate the layer again then posterise yet again but set it to two only again, once you are done, the black and white layer at the top should be multiply. Then merge the layers.



For the elevation layer (two layers above the ones only have white and black), blend the layer at the top with multiply then merge it.

If you turn off the elevation (bump) layers and turn on again you can see that the whites are the land (lighter grey ones, I believe) are ones.

You can use emboss or Heightmap V1.3 (a plugin of Paint.NET), but for now, try use both and blend in as overlay it and see if it is good in which way. But I'll use heightmap 1.3 (the map I've started at school uses emboss)

For Heightmap V1.3, disable shadows (it looks weird). Then put the heightmap-ified layer as multiply, as you will see the elevations of the map.



STEP II - Climate
Create a new layer and paint with some realistic colours of every climate, such as grasslands, plains and such, as a special note you can use some satellite maps for the climates, for fantasy, put some lava, some rocks and all of things, but this time I'll do realism.

This takes around a hour, or be lazy by putting random lines by a plugin. Once you're done, it should be like this that I made:



Then gaussian blur at around 20-40. Dent it but use the method I suggested:

Scale: 30-60

Refraction: 40-60

Roughness: 40-70

Tension: 7-15.5



Blend the layer to overlay, as the map looks so far, it looks like a map with black oceans, but in that step, we'll try and delete that unneeded black into something new with a realistic bluish ocean with coastlines.

Make sure to delete the ones that aren't in the coastline, I'll duplicate the layer for reserving.



STEP III - Oceans
Magic wand, tolerance 0% plus make sure to put it on global, if not then you might only get the mainland oceans deleted or unless use the lake colour for a unique-like colour, then press delete.

Create a layer way below the layers above, then put in with a nice bright blue colour.

It doesn't like real, does it? Then saturation/hue, then put in those settings:

Saturation: 66

Lightness: -42

It should look like this:



Duplicate the background layer and use a lighter blue one. This time blur it about 25.

Duplicate again but lighter than the one you used, and blur it about 20.

Duplicate once again but even lighter than the one, and blur it a little smaller than 12.

Since it looks a bit messed up, I think, try and use the opacity, but I won't use it, try for yourself, then use about 200-150 on the opacity, lower for the bottom one (not the ocean one) then higher on the top one (not the land).

STEP IV - Ice Caps
Create a new layer above the climate one. This will be our ice caps.

Draw the ice caps by paint and it must not be in the equator unless it is fantasy-like or some planetary science.

Blur it about 20. Then dent it, in this method, more smaller than the one I did on the climate, here's the one I want you to do:

Scale: 50-70

Refraction: 15-20

Roughness: 40-70

Tension: 5.5-10

final version: