OrionAI now draws elevation the way atlases do

A population map and an elevation map ask different things of colour. Population is a number per area: you compare areas, so the colours follow the statistics. Elevation is a continuous surface: you read the shape of the land, so the colours follow height, and the light shows the slopes.

Until now OrionAI coloured elevation like any other number. Some terrain maps came out grey, because the heights sat at partial opacity over a grey hillshade. Others started their colour scale in sea blue, so the lowest ground on the map looked like water.

Ask for an elevation, terrain or relief map and OrionAI now follows atlas practice.

• Height colours. Lowlands are green, uplands go through pale yellow, tan and brown, and the highest peaks are pale grey and white. The colours follow real heights: the coast around Mombasa stays green, and only Kilimanjaro's summit turns white.
• Blue means water. Only ground at or below sea level is blue.
• Light shows the shape. Shaded relief, lit from the north-west and three more directions, is blended into the colours, so ridges, gorges and drainage lines show and the colours stay strong. Flat land gets extra vertical exaggeration so its shape still shows.
• A key you can read. Heights in round metres, from the lowest to the highest point, with the highest and lowest points marked on the map.

Name areas ("Elevation map of Kenya's counties") and OrionAI draws the terrain inside them, with their outlines on top. If you want one colour per county, ask for the average elevation of each county. If you want bands, ask for them, and they break at round heights such as 1,000 or 2,000 m.

The map's colours and the key come from the same source, so the result card describes exactly what you see.

Read the full orionai 2.15.0 release notes.