My world (in progress)

[TheRedNightmare]

Hello, everyone. I'm very new to cartography and, right now, I'm working on building this world with a friend of mine. We don't expect to be done with this for a very long time. So far, we only have a small rough sketch of the continents, some larger drawings of the continents for the tentative world map (which is pretty much just continent silhouettes for now), and a vague idea of the world's societies. I'm sorry that I don't have a more complete product to show you all, but I'd like for some of you to answer some questions.

First of all, I'll show you all the rough sketch, part of the full map projected on the moon in Google Earth, and the original file for the map part.







Second of all, here are my questions:

1. How could I make the northern part of the continent in the Google Earth screenshot not look so stretched?

2. Could you guys give me some critique on how the continents I've drawn are? Are they too broken-up? Too unrealistic? Is there anything you could point out?

I'd really appreciate any advice you would have to give me. I just want to enjoy the process of making this world. Thank you.

[Chick]

Hello TheRedNightmare, welcome to the Guild!

Is there some reason you really want to project this onto a sphere? Most gaming really doesn't require that and can do just fine with a flat map of the sort in your graph paper drawing.

The continents are probably a bit to small and too many of them for a realistic earth-like world with plate tectonics. This looks more like a water world with a ton of islands. I suggest you go to the Gallery (link at top of your screen) and look through a lot of maps there. Pick out some that seem like the right mix of land and water for your needs, and then redraw yours similarly.

Also while you are there looking, pay attention to the coastlines of the good maps, and you will see that yours are a bit too smooth. They need more variability like you have in the top left corner. Coastlines are fractal, and if you google some terms like "fractal coastline" you will see what I mean.

It looks like a good start for you folks, so I'll look forward to seeing your next version as you develop it.

[jbgibson]

Welcome to the Guild! A couple of responses:

1: Kudos for trying to get something that is plausible, accounting for projections. If a given rectangular projection goes to the pole, it includes infinite distortion at that point, where a point on the sphere becomes a line on the map, as long as the equator. A quick and dirty fix for that is to just not map very high latitudes. Instead, cut off your view at 65 to 75 degrees north and south, and the very worst of the distortion is skipped. You could do that crudely with what you have drawn, just by relabeling the latitude. Search the board for posts that Hai-Etlik responds to - he's one of our best advocates for correct geodesy/ coordinates/ projections, and an archive of his explanations would be a pretty good tutorial on why one would choose one projection over another.

2: Chick's points about the fractal nature of nature are apt - there's just *going* to be some roughness/ irregularity, along with the smooth sweep of a sandy spit or current-sculpted coastline. At the same time, maps don't have to show all the detail of reality. Sure, a navigation chart better show all the nooks and crannies. But a wall chart showing political arrangements could be practically cubist, and still be useful. THe continent shapes seem decently plausible to me. There's a pleasant mix of large landmasses and small. Indeed, if I stare at the world map too long I start imagining stories of my own - where commerce would be pinched, where invasions would be easy, where climate zones would form, where storms would wreak havoc. That a simple pencil map overview draws one in like that says you have some good stuff going.

How'd you fractalize the coast of your test-continent?

Planning on enjoying detailing this world over the long term is a great idea. Worldbuilding can be incredibly fulfilling, and can consume great, enjoyable swaths of time. Is there anything you and your friend want to do with the result, or is it worldbuilding for the sheer joy of it?

[TheRedNightmare]

Thanks for some of the feedback. I'm glad you like it so far and I do hope to keep improving on it (it's part of my nature to do that, I feel). Anyway, let me answer your queries.

Chick, I totally concur with what you say about there being too many continents for there to be plausible plate tectonics. I'm hoping to figure out how to make it fit better, even though, in my opinion, there are a few ways some of the land masses could fit together. However, jbgibson's comment says that my land masses are fine, which makes me want to get a second opinion from some other members. I will try experimenting with fewer islands, though.

Jbgibson, thanks for pointing me towards a user who might have some tips for my first problem. And I'm really glad that you like my drawing of the world map, especially since I had done it with little regard for commercial viability, climate, or weather. I just wanted to make it look cool, in my eyes. And to be honest, this started out as something I first drew up when I was 10 for this game called "Spore". I was hoping there would be a planet editor like one of the trailers promised, but that was never included in the final game.

As for what this all is for, this is purely a for-fun thing. My friend and I are going to write a story based around this map, but we're not doing it to make a quick buck. We just want to keep working on this for years, slowly tweaking it to our liking and seeing how it changes.

Finally, I'd like to share how I fractalized the coast for the test continent. I used OldGuy's method for realistic coastlines for pretty much everything. So far, it looks pretty good, but I'm going to try to figure out how to get more offshore or barrier islands with this method.

Regardless, I welcome any more advice that anyone else has to give me and I'm itching to fiddle around with this.