This asset has been updated to include lines of latitude and longitude. Yugoslavia is divided into separate states (some of the earliest preview images above still show it as one state but it is now six individual Balkan countries).

A primary advantage of this model is that it is constructed so that the nations could be smoothed without the type of tearing and messy edges that happen with other approaches such as using a grid mesh. The mesh is also more efficient with polys concentrated along the perimeters of the meshes, so that even with a high level of detail and smoothing, the number of polys is much lower than it would be if constructed using a dense grid mesh.

As a result, the nations have a very pleasing smooth edge that gives the map its distinctive appearance. In addition, because the edges are beveled, even with the same material applied to all nations, the borders remain distinct. In the Max version the meshsmooth can be turned off, which will revert the model to the less appealing unsmoothed look.

Other advantages:
Models which are constructed from a flat map wrapped onto a planet and then extruded typically have problems at the poles and where the mesh meets (usually around the international date line). This 3D globe does NOT have any of these problems (take a look at the preview images of the artic, Antarctic and where Alaska and Russia meet.) You will notice that many other globes for sale avoid showing preview images of these common problem areas. You may also notice other obvious omissions in other models (e.g Yugoslavia as one country, or Spain and Portugal as one nation, etc.)

The underside of each nation is modeled and conforms to the curvature of the earth- great for a see-through earth effect. The ocean can be removed or any material applied, including opaque or translucent.

The lines of latitude and longitude are geometry and separate from the ocean sphere. This allows you to independently texture or hide the lines & the ocean. In the Max version the line thickness can be changed by altering the diameter of the loft circle.

Each country is a separate mesh - useful for demographic or statistical models. They can be independently scaled or moved in or out and textured.

A few materials are included. For simplicity the nations have simple colors selected (these colors may not have translated in the export to the 3DS version).

Some of the preview images above show the use of Darktree procedural textures (frosty ocean, metallic continents, clouds, terrain-like material, etc.). If your 3D application supports the powerful and FREE Symbiont plugin from Darksim, then you can download and use some of these same free textures from their site. For your convenience the names of textures used are listed in the accompanying text file.

Turbosquid can forward any questions on to us for a prompt response.

P.S. If you search on globe and sort by community, this product doesn't appear on page 1 because of an acknowledged aberration in the Turbosquid sort algorithm, but it is a top asset and its correct position is on the first row of page 1.