Back to formula for terrain materials

I'm not happy!!

 I spent a lot of time trying to get satisfactory terrain materials. I am getting to understand the many options for layering, masking and filtering -- it's a powerful toolset, but  I'm not making adjustments through an artistic process. It still feels like I'm making arbitrary changes, looking for "cool".

So onwards! I'll try again tomorrow.

So what do I do when I'm unhappy with the terrain materials? I turn on the fog and the volumetric lighting and splash open waters here and there...

Reaches for sunglasses