Ha, but this is different as they are god-made blobs.Originally Posted by groovey
Earth has low elevation areas sometimes stretching far inland.
Ha, but this is different as they are god-made blobs.
Earth has low elevation areas sometimes stretching far inland.
That's very right. Sometimes, a break is even an excellent things, offering some fresh ideas and perspective. I tend to go working on something else (very different if possible) when I got bored or lost motivation. And usually, I come back on the project with a renewed envy and new ideas.By Pixie
If you feel burned out by all this, leave it in the backburner for a while. After all, it's just a hobby
Concerning you good example, they added the shadows to give the feeling of 3D and break the flatness. You surely can obtain this kind of result in Wilbur (though my method isn't probably the best, as it is very long).
Thanks for your words fellas. I think I'll indeed take a break from this WIP, officially, since with what I got I'll work on political maps and such, for private use.
Here's the political map of my world from the POV on the Empire (red on the map), with the main powers and their areas of influence (diluted colors), influence mostly through trade.
It's a simple not stylized map labeling the oceans and main seas, the big regions (all capitals) which are not really unified strong political powers, thus are not very important for the Empire or are unknown in detail to it; the main political powers (each in a different solid color); and the capital of each (black dot and italic name).
I'm content with the last map I got from Wilbur and the rivers it gave me, and for climate I've settle to work with average temperatures from Earth based on latitude, to know approximately what the cultures on each area would have to live with. That means for now I've got what I need to world-build.
I will volunteer to try Azelor's new guide to climate if that ends up happening tough.
It's not really a pretty map (it's for me to world-build), so I posted it mostly as a nod to the 4 of you who have helped me and encouraged me with my map all this time, in the labels you should see what I mean. You're part of that world somehow forever.
Many thanks to you 4 and of course multiple other fellow guildies who tried to help or shared their input punctually.
This sounds like a goodbye, but it isn't at all. I don't even dare say it's a goodbye to this WIP because I feel it's finished, for this guild's standard it isn't, so I might revisit it on moments of greater confidence, but for now I want to focus on other stuff.
Hey groovey, thanks for the nod!I like that map. It's simple, as you say, but not everything has to be complicated. Also, and I'm sure it has been said many times before, if the map, the topography, the political borders, and everything else that's on it work for *you*, then it's fine. You are the creator, not we.
I can't say much about the political borders you've chosen and how they relate to your topography and climate, because I'm not yet in that phase (still struggling with my topography and such).
As a side note, I do like the way you've represented Acublia, still completely white (and undiscovered?). It makes me think of the maps produced during the times of the "great discoveries", when a lot of them had large white spots marked "Terra Incognita". You can dream away just by looking at your map and wonder if there could be an El Dorado or a Shangri-La hidden somewhere behind that white. You never know, do you?...
Cheers - Akubra
“I am an agnostic on most matters of faith, but on the subject of maps I have always been a true believer. It is on the map, therefore it is, and I am.”― Tony Horwitz, One for the Road: An Outback Adventure
Good move, groovey! Get that historical phase of worldbuilding started!!
And, as for Guild Standards, this "rough political map" you just posted is already (and at least!!) in the top 50%... good color balance, fine labeling and realistic land masses and coastlines.
Yes! I'm excited to work on the History and the political context for the novel.
I't weird cos I made it be labelled from the POV of the Empire, but at the same time the map is way too detailed for the level of advancement the world is in, and contains info even about lands not explored, but I needed it so for my own purposes.
Arlia is really the explorer nation, with a great advanced navy, so what I figure is at some point merchants from the Empire got their hands more or less honorably on maps the Arlians did, and then incorporated that info on the imperial maps. I got no explanation about the south pole land mass or the north of Acublia, not even the Arlians would have wanted anything to do there... I guess it's better not to think about it much.
I haven't made my mind at all about the land that bears your name Akubra. I didn't mean for it to have humans at all, but since I had to made Picsi have some so the Arlians could get rich (sorry Pixie, your people are under a serious crisis at the moment) trading with them for a bit for gold and silver (yes I know that sounds familiar...), it's hard to think some peeps from there wouldn't end up reaching the south of Acublia, it's hard to defend that continent would stay free of humans.
About political borders and climate... I basically placed the empire around the approximate latitudes that I know best in our planet, so the general average temperatures have the same range than from the very north of Africa to Germany, mostly so I'd be familiar with it. To divide the empire (not shown in the map) I used rivers and height as a general rule. I didn't give it much tought to be honest.
Are any of you doing some world-building with your maps, even if basic ideas of peeps living in them?
I don't do that many map and many of them are Earth map. But when i do an original map, yes, I do some background. It's almost a necessity. You need good names and a good map need some immersion. You think about it here and there and come up with a story overtime. My map of Leothwald had a lot of evocative names related to it's people and history.
Of course it was just a small map, as large as eastern Europe maybe. Therefore, I've never worked on the tectonic or climates. I just took the same characteristics as the areas more or less where the Baltic states are.
Last edited by Azélor; 09-15-2015 at 10:45 AM.
Make Multiple maps then. You can have an Overall Map and a PoV map, etc...
Yes... The map I posted is for a Web novel I intend to write. I'm slowly getting through the geographic stage. The next part will be to place all the cities and nation borders ^.^Are any of you doing some world-building with your maps, even if basic ideas of peeps living in them?
Good! I'm excited for you ...and curious too!
Oh yes, I do have ideas, since a long time actually. But I've got a bit of a dilemma, and it keeps nagging me. There are two scenario's I'm considering:
- The "standard" scenario in which living beings evolve on a planet. As time goes by they develop human-like characteristics and start exploring the planet, concquering new lands, trade, wage war, and do all the things we do here ...but differently.
- An alternative scenario in which the planet already has animal-like and plant-like beings, but nothing human-like. Space explorers from our own Earth would end up colonizing this planet. Of course, it would have to be a habitable planet for humans. One of the first questions to solve would be: how do they get there? They probably would need millions of years to reach the planet. First I thought about generetion ships, then I started thinking about sleeper ships, and finally a combination of those sleeper ships and embryo space colonization. I've got a few ideas about how it would go once they get there, but it's still a bit chaotic.
In both scenarios some aspects of the lives of the inhabitants could be taken from here, and others could be quite alien to how we do things. Most of the time I do have a preference for scenario 2 though...
Cheers - Akubra
“I am an agnostic on most matters of faith, but on the subject of maps I have always been a true believer. It is on the map, therefore it is, and I am.”― Tony Horwitz, One for the Road: An Outback Adventure
Reply With Quote
