Ok, firstly, a little question. Is the General Discussion forum the right destination for 'applied theory' on how to think stuff up for world building (and thus the basis of the map)?

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On to the main topic. I was curious about how you guys define culture. I heavily borrow cultural elements from real civilizations and it's more like I ADAPT those civilizations, than making up new ones.

Now when for a change I actually am making up something entirely unique (still mainly by looking at real world references) I try to establish a feel for the culture. The first thing I would often think off is architecture. But when designing buildings (more or less, I'm no architect, I just want a feel, and something to show) I have quite some issues with getting a somewhat consistent architectural style. Another problem is getting other style elements, such as clothing, and cultural habits all to conform to one another.

Am I the only one thinking so much about this, and if not (probably) how do you keep cultural consistency? How do you define a culture for a country you made up?

I can't draw that well, so I mostly draw some examples of buildings (or find pictures of them if they are based on real buildings) and just stick to describing food, agriculture (or not), clothing and a few other cultural significant things. It's hard to keep it consistent though. So I was wondering if other people just skip this, or use cultures based on real ones, or think as much about it as I do.