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Thread: World and Region map requests for a conworld

  1. #1

    Map World and Region map requests for a conworld

    Hi. One of my interests in my spare time is the creation and development of my conworld (nameless). I have fairly good idea of the landmasses involved, but simply lack the photoshop skills to produce a map of a quality that I like. I feel that with a solid, detailed map, I can create a richer world since so much depends on environment, geography, etc.

    This is why I ask if someone can please make several maps that I may use for my world. What I would ask for is assistance in:

    a) creating the maps. the style I'm looking for is similar to these maps: http://www.shadedrelief.com/world/index.html . Basically, a map with topography, rivers and tributaries, lakes, etc. I do not require the placement of thousands of cities/landmarks/political boundaries. I'm more than capable of constructing these myself in photoshop. However, I would like a base map, that's detailed, to be able to build upon.

    b) assisting me in deciding realistic geographic features, placement of continents, what have you. I have a general idea of what climates I want what regions to experience and if you could help me create a realistic system that would be awesome. The Koppen classification would be a great way to precisely define each region's climatological features, and the geographical features included in the map would paint a very nice picture of the environment.

    Now on to the maps. In the attached image, I have map that was created by someone a while back. The style I want should be changed to what I requested, but also many geographical features may need to be changed (the river system needs to be seriously reworked). The general shape should remain the same, but I want a more detailed map of this region.

    So: a large map covering the attached image, with enough detail for me to fill in political boundaries, cities, mountain names, what have you.

    Next: to the far left you'll notice an island off shore. This is actually a main focus of my conworlding efforts and thus I would like an independent "zoomed-in" map to be able to accurately describe this land.

    Third: the map provided only shows the one continent. other continents exist, but have not been created. I would like rather, a world map with only basic features (major rivers and mountains). It would be far more zoomed out so as to show the world as a whole, not very zoomed in. But it would be nice to be able to have a full view of my world.

    I feel this is a rather hefty request, but there are no time constraints and anyone who would help would be greatly appreciated. This work will really only be featured on the web once I collect enough resources for my conworld to publish to the web.

    Thanks everyone.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

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  2. #2

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    I suppose a more detailed description of the world is in order. First, I will outline the basic cultural and political situations spreading across the continent.

    But first, I'll describe the planet as a whole. For simplicity's sake, let's call it Kuva.

    Kuva is an earth-sized planet, placed in an earthlike solar system, nothing unspectacular. There are two large continents, the 'western' Sarrom and the eastern Ulaya. Ulaya and Sarrom are separated by large tracts of ocean water and essentially are unreachable from one another given the current technology available. Island chains and small archipelagos exist between these two continents.

    Sarrom is pictured in the attachment in the first post and is the original birthplace of humanity. Sarrom is also the only continent to develop any form of human colonization or civilization. Ulaya is a vast wilderness, with mountains, jungles, deserts, and steppes all unknown to the modern Kuvan man's mind. While it is possible, though unlikely, that other sapient life forms have developed along the more fertile lands in Ulaya, it is likely that no intelligent life has yet to evolve. Certainly there are fascinating creatures, and Ulaya's varied climate supports a wide host of ecological niches to be filled by lifeforms not seen on Earth in millions of years.

    Thus, our concentration on Ulaya is minimal: it is purely for documentary and completist reasons. Ulaya is large-ish, but smaller than Sarrom and should have a varied geographical set up. I imagine lush jungles to its south, near the equatorial region, and rocky mountains to its north. Mountain ranges in Ulaya are a bit younger than in Sarrom. Arid deserts exist in the more isolated regions where only the hardiest creatures can survive.

    The main focus of my conworld is Sarrom. East and west are separated by a nearly impenetrable desert. Yet, communication and trade between these two regions exists simply due to the hardy desert nomads who travel through this land.

    The east-west distinction is not Europe v. China. While the western nations are most definitely influenced by European analogues, the eastern nations are far more mysterious. No great empires have really been established there: the city-state dominates. Furthermore, cultural exchange with the lower-right tropical island of Gerram has been near continuous. The eastern regions are warm, and capable of supporting dense populations along the coastlines. This region needs more rivers for example...

    Gerram is politically similar to many Columbian nations that existed in South America. Governed through confederations and rich in natural resources. Cities in Gerram are quite unlike traditional European cities. Cities are more like locations where local nobles can display their prestige; religious centers were thousands gather; centers of knowledge. Gerraic states, however, should not be mistaken as completely different. Contact with eastern Sarroic states has led to more complex government, specialization, etc. Inner peoples of Gerram are far more nomadic.

    Western Gerram is home to two main competing cultures, though this division is not exactly accurate. Inhabiting the Iberia-sized island to furthest west are the Asmodic peoples. Let me explain their backstory.

    The Asmodic peoples did not originate in this land. Originally, they inhabited the river valley region that dominates the western plain. They were located to northern part of this region and separated into two related, but mutually unintelligible language groups (compare: Cantonese vs. Mandarin or Spanish vs. Portuguese). The southern half were more 'civilized' in that population density was greater, urbanization was greater, centralized authority was more formal, and written language developed there. Northern Asmodic states were far more politically organized around traditional clans, whereas clans remained in southern Asmodic states (compare: Roman tribes), but were far less politically relevant.

    The history of the Asmodic peoples is not very detailed at this moment. A basic progression of events can be modeled like so:

    1) the southern states come to dominate the northern ones.

    2) development of democratic institutions: the Asmodic republic, which consists of a head of government: consul, and a legislative body, the Senate. Executive power rests in the hands of the consul, judicial power divided between the Senate and Consul. The consuls perhaps can be considered as philosopher-kings. Political and moral philosophy bloomed during this period.

    3) spread of Asmodic influence to the south and west, dominating the various groups living in those regions.

    4) political corruption, war, invasion, famine leads to weakening of these states.

    5) Other non-Asmodic states begin to take a firm hold, particularly the riverfolk with whom the Asmodic peoples had never conquered.

    6) The Asmodic diaspora: Asmoda migrate and dominate this western island, creating two distinct Asmodic peoples: the mainland and island. Of course, the mainland is diverse in culture as well: political unity among Asmodic states was rare and many existed.

    7) Destruction of mainland Asmodic society. To this day political tension exists between those descended from mainland Asmoda at the time of collapse and those who had already been living on the island.

    Modern Asmodic states are city-states still organized around the concept of Asmodic republics, though perhaps more properly called oligarchical republics. They are maritime and trading republics, not unlike Renaissance Italy. Rivalry between non-Asmodic peoples of the mainland exists and resentment by both sides (Asmoda resent them for genocide, non-Asmoda resent the Asmoda for the near thousand year domination of Asmoda over them). Of course, trade and cultural exchange is inevitable given their close proximity to one another.

    More to come...hope this world can pique people's interests. Like I said, I'm quite open to creative collaboration on the actual geographic and climatological layout of the continent.

  3. #3

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    This post will hopefully give light to how I feel the map should be geographically and climatologically, though I'm not an expert in either so any help to make it more realistic would be appreciated.

    I'll start with the westmost island. The mountain range is perhaps a bit exaggerated, but there are supposed to be much softer mountains there. The climate is similar to Great Britain, though a bit warmer.

    The western mainland nations are more Mediterranean with hills, plains, etc. The river system is fine, though there are more tributaries. As we go east, we enter steppe region, dry, not unlike the Pontic steppe. Then the desert has rolling hills, mountains that prevent winds and moisture from entering as well. This can be mostly approximated by the Sahara no doubt.

    The eastern nations climate are a bit more up in the air. They should be a bit hotter, especially more southeast, though temperate is also possible. Possibly some wooded areas further north.

    That southwest island is tropical, the inner regions more so, the outer regions and the mountain ranges perhaps approximating the Andes as in South America.

  4. #4

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    A few more details: notice the V-shaped area formed by the mountain ranges to the northeast? Yeah that are perhaps could be redone a little bit to represent an area analogous climatologically and geographically to Armenia. This means it's a bit colder due to the mountain ranges and the higher elevation, but it's watered by several smaller surrounding lakes and rivers running through them.

    A few choice descriptions from wikipedia:

    Temperatures in Armenia generally depend upon elevation. Mountain formations block the moderating climatic influences of the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, creating wide seasonal variations. On the Armenian Plateau, the mean midwinter temperature is 0 °C, and the mean midsummer temperature exceeds 25 °C. Average precipitation ranges from 250 millimeters per year in the lower Araks River valley to 800 millimeters at the highest altitudes. Despite the harshness of winter in most parts, the fertility of the plateau's volcanic soil made Armenia one of the world's earliest sites of agricultural activity.
    and

    About half of Armenia's area of approximately 29,800 square kilometers has an elevation of at least 2,000 meters, and only 3 % of the country lies below 650 meters. The lowest points are in the valleys of the Araks River and the Debet River in the far north, which have elevations of 380 and 430 meters, respectively. Elevations in the Lesser Caucasus vary between 2,640 and 3,280 meters. To the southwest of the range is the Armenian Plateau, which slopes southwestward toward the Araks River on the Turkish border. The plateau is masked by intermediate mountain ranges and extinct volcanoes.
    Though given the difference in geographical location, some topological and climate facts will be slightly altered, though I still imagine the place very similar to earth's Caucasus region. More coming on other regions.

  5. #5

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    Map sizes:

    * General 'remap' of the whole of Sarrom: same dimensions, just more detail
    * Far west island off the shore: 500x400
    Last edited by alman9898; 12-23-2009 at 05:00 PM.

  6. #6

  7. #7

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    The only reason I do not offer payment is I don't have all too much money, and have no idea what a typical price for this would be. It'd be far too much, I assume.

  8. #8
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    Yes, something like this would cost a lot (if you hired a "professional") as it would take a lot of work.
    Your only hope is that you sparked someone's interest big time... it's a pretty big project and in similar projects I have seen the person interested in doing the conworld was also doing the mapping.
    Check out my City Designer 3 tutorials. See my fantasy (city) maps in this thread.

    Gandwarf has fallen into shadow...

  9. #9

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    Well, someone doesn't need to do all of them, if more than one person wants to take a whack at a certain region too.

  10. #10

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    I've changed my requests, if one person wants to handle them separately if interested.

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