2M of graphics inside! Screenshots of 64K textures
Bumpmap scaling
When contructing a regular bumpmap for GIMP, my understanding is that
the height should correctly be stated in multiples of the average pixel
width. Thus, when making a 1km/pixel bumpmap for the earth, the maximum height (for white=255=maximum height, black=0=minimum height) the height setting for bumpmapping should be 9.5, the altitude of Everest from sea-level in pixel widths (km). For a 64k map, then the pixel width at the equator is 40074 km/64k = 0.611 km, so Everest would be 15.5 pixels tall.
Of course this will vary as you go further from the equator, and I suspect most bumpmaps have somewhat compressed range at the high-altitude extreme (there's too much white/near-white considering how little of the earth's surface has altitudes similar to Everest).
the height should correctly be stated in multiples of the average pixel
width. Thus, when making a 1km/pixel bumpmap for the earth, the maximum height (for white=255=maximum height, black=0=minimum height) the height setting for bumpmapping should be 9.5, the altitude of Everest from sea-level in pixel widths (km). For a 64k map, then the pixel width at the equator is 40074 km/64k = 0.611 km, so Everest would be 15.5 pixels tall.
Of course this will vary as you go further from the equator, and I suspect most bumpmaps have somewhat compressed range at the high-altitude extreme (there's too much white/near-white considering how little of the earth's surface has altitudes similar to Everest).