...Ahhhh dang you just opened a whole can of worms..!
Noooooo, I just opened Photoshop!
If you've never ventured into the 3D capabilities of PS then don't rush in to learn it....its not as good as it sounds and is more "padding" than practical...but, having said that, sometimes its useful for the simple things. Thats not to say this is simple but you know what I mean.
Anyway, by all means scoot off over to Youtube and see what its all about but keep just keep in mind its only really good for the most basic of procedures....anything else just takes way too long to process and really defeats the object of using it.
Just for ref I didn't "render" either of the above images which is what takes the time, they are "as-is" and sometimes this is good enough.
I'll upload the PSD I created so you can play with it....at least then you'll have a working reference.
If you want to dive in straight away and "edit" the diffuse map then follow this...
1. Make sure the "Move" tool is selected...it needs to be to 'activate' 3D mode.
2. Select the 3D 'Object' layer.
3. Open the 3D panel and select the 'Color Fill' option....this will then change the properties in the 'Properties' panel.
4. Click the 'Map' icon and select 'Edit Texture', (Grrrr!), which will open the current 'Diffuse Map' for editing as a PSB file. Usual rules apply for a PSB file....save it and the 3D Object will update your edits.
5. If you select 'Edit UV properties...' instead you open the UV properties dialog where you can change the scale, tiling and offsets......its in here you can just scrub the amount of 'lines' you get on the sphere via the tiling...it'll update in real-time. (Not so good with the Map I used but certainly works well with a regular 'square' grid).
Have a play on a COPY of the following PSD...(Mediafire link as its 59MB)
http://www.mediafire.com/file/jto5zqjoct6h11i/globe_grid_MT_01.psd
I appreciate this isn't done in AI but a PS 3D object can be rendered at any size and the Diffuse Map is all shapes, so in a way its all vector graphics anyway.
BTW, the spherical object is created from a normal filled layer via:
3D > New Mesh From Layer... > Depth Map To... > Sphere
This may be different to the more 'normal' way you'll see in a video but its my preferred method as the UV's are better. If you use this method then make sure to 'Remove' the maps for both the 'Bump' AND the 'Opacity' via the 'Remove Texture', (Grrr!), option....then edit the Opacity map (PSB) to be pure White.
As it happens if you want to change the 'Diffuse' map then also use the 'Remove Texture', (Grrr!), option first....then create a new one....don't just edit the original.
Have fun.
Regards.
MrToM.