I had to review my copy a bit because I couldn't find the right materials for the heighmap. It was definitively too much work for the kind of result I could get
After some researches, I found several sources and tools I could use. I have to admit that the result is far beyond my expectations, probably with a quality above the game requirements. But who can do more, can do less
The following pics have been reduced to fit on the site. The real size of the map is 16384 x 8192 px like the original map of Shogun 2 (I think )
The whole land mass (with the red squazre to show the game area):
Same map but zoomed on a part of the Norwegian coast (to hopefully show the level of details):
The heighmap:
Note that I've put the coast lines in white for a better view. They aren't on the heighmap I'll use
Same Norwegian coast as previously:
With Photoshop, the results are much better. Anyway, I still have to amend the map to make it look like during the 1st half of the 13th century as previously showed.
Last thing, Iceland should actually appear on the upper left corner. However, it would be quite large due to the representation protocol used (I think it is called the OpenGIS or something like that). As this is not relevant for the game, I've choosen to not represent it.
Comments/critics are welcome
Edit: For those who may be interested, here are what I've used:
- For the Land Mass: Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS). You need to register (for free) to use it. It gives you access to a world map, itself divided in square areas, themselves divided again in square. I've just save the pic of each necessary squares and then I've merged them with Photoshop (410 in total)
- For the heightmap: I've followed that tutorial.