> I have been thinking of and trying to create images like these 'bout 2
> years, and you go and create what, three or four in a week?!?!
>
> That's just not fair..
>
> Otherwise, this and all those previous island-images all look great!
>
> -- Arttu "Blizzara" Voutilainen

Well, you have to understand that the reason I have created several of these all
in a row is because after trying for years and failing, I have finally started
producing landscapes that I am proud of!  But thank you.

Honestly, these images are not so very complex.  They all use the same basic
structure and there's just a few key elements:

My terrain is an isosurface using a wrinkles pigment with poly_wave 4.
Poly_wave 4 is essential since it better simulates the effect of erosion
filling in the valleys and actually creating reasonably flat places at times.

There always must be some type of fog, whether you use simple fog or actual
media (I just use a simple ground fog).  The fog needs a bluish tint to be
realistic (or pinkish for sunrise or sunset).

The water is more complicated:

#declare Water =
plane {y,0
  hollow
  texture {
    average
    texture_map {
      #local i = 0;
      #while (i < 10)   //  This loop creates a blurred reflection
      [
        pigment {rgbt 1}
        finish{
          conserve_energy
          diffuse 0.0
          ambient 0
          reflection{0 .7 fresnel on metallic 0}
        }
        normal {bumps .125 turbulence .1 scale 1 rotate (rand(R1)/1)*y }
      ]
      #local i = i + 1;
      #end
    }
  }
  interior {
    ior 1.31                // index of refraction
    fade_power 1001         // values larger than 1000 give realistic
    fade_distance 0.75      // distance where light reaches half intensity
    fade_color <.2, .9, .6> // color for fading
      media{
        absorption rgb 1-WaterColor //declared earlier
        density{rgb 1}
      }
  }
}

I hope that helps.

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