Let's Build Another World

[bartmoss]

Sorry for the lame thread title.

Began a new map last night. It's an experiment, sort of, in that I have a particular world-building idea in the back of my head. Anyway, I have not much time this morning so I'll just post them here in the spirit of "release early, release often".



(Yes the 2nd map is missing a few islands, this is not intentional.)

[cantab]

Looks like a good outline for a supercontinent.

Have you thought about your climate? I'm thinking that unless your planet's very small, the interior of the supercontintent is likely to be pretty dry, especially the eastern parts. Obviously where you put your mountains will have a big impact. The northernmost regions of the supercontinent could be an ice cap, or the planet could be ice-free and then warmer and wetter overall. Of course the cataclysm will change the climate a lot; the newly-created sea could bring rains to formerly dry regions.

[bartmoss]

Thanks, cantab. No, I have not yet thought much about the climate. I do know the basics of course but I'd be a liar to claim I am an expert so I really appreciate all feedback and suggestions. :-)

Updated WIP, changed coastlines to be neater:

[cantab]

I'd be fibbing to claim I'm an expert on climate too ;-)

New coastlines definitely look better, especially the new version of the western island chain.

[bartmoss]

Started to place mountains. It's hindered by the fact that I have absolutely no idea where the smaller continents collided. Judging by this map of Gondwana, I should probably have some severely mountainous regions here and there.

[bartmoss]

What do you guys think of this very rough composition of plates, with mountains to be placed marked in the lighter color?

I do not need something super-realistic for this world - it is a fantasy world with "created by gods" origin - but I'd like it to look reasonably natural.

[cantab]

A few of the angles are a bit sharp; plate boundaries typically, though not always, meet at 120 degree angles. In any event, those on the supercontinent would mostly be old boundaries.

Your ranges on the eastern and western coasts are indeed appropriate. They'd be analogous to the modern Andes, quite high and possibly have a fair few volcanoes.

Your inland areas are also I think decent. I would suggest making one at most high mountains from an active continental collision (like the Himalayas). The others would likely be older and eroded down more, think like the Appalachians maybe. All would be non-volcanic I think.

[bartmoss]

Thanks. Yeah ignore the pointiness, it was a really quick mockups. If the placement itself seems fine, that's awesome. I'll round things a bit.

Placing these is actually a lot of work. New WIP:

[bartmoss]

Alright, a heap of mountains later:



I moved the inundation layer on top of the mountain because the islands are really hard to see otherwise. The third map omits the mountains for more clarity.

On the subject of mountains, I think I am fairly happy with them, but if you think I made some glaringly stupid placements - by all means do point them out.

Edit: Added a map post-Cataclysm with mountains.

[cantab]

Looking good. Yeah I think everything's reasonable enough.