Quote Originally Posted by Korash View Post
All you need to do is look at the land mass and say that "I think some mountains should go here and there, some forests here and maybe there, hills in this area and so on. Once you have some basic stuff laid out, remember that rivers flow from High ground to Low, and the steeper the faster it flows (and the straighter it is) and when it hit the low lands it will start to wonder a bit. ( as steel General has said a few times, Think of Rivers as a tree > the leaves are the high ground and as the branches get closer to the trunk (and the ground) they come together and get thicker. Only rarely will the trunk split before it gets to the ground (sea or ocean). Sometimes you will see exposed roots (think deltas) but not very often. In the lowlands, you may get swamps that spread the river a bit. Forests will usually have some sort of stream or river passing through it somewhere as a source of water.
Great info. Much better than simply rivers go from high ground to low ground.

Lakes will usually be be in low land, or at least lower than the land around it. One thing to remember, more than one river may flow into a lake, but only one will flow out. Placing the rivers and lakes is mostly a "I want something here" sort of thing. One thought to keep in mind is that most early towns and cities are placed along coast lines, lake shores and rivers (major trade routes don't you know) so think about where you want to have the cities.
One river out? Didn't know that. See, I am learning something.

Like Ravs said, the best way to figure out your map is to pick up some paper and a good pencil and go at it. Seeing as how you already have the land mass, make the outline as I described above and print it out. I would suggest doing it initially on a 11x17 and print out a few copies. I tried to find the tut that I was trying out for the mountains to show you what I was doing if you like that style, but I couldn't. Sorry.
Yes, I have been experimenting with drawing the map myself on paper. And, yes, it is easier than fractal programs. And, it looks a little more real, methinks.

Once you have a sketch that you like the look of, post it in the WIP forums. If you would rather, I could help you out developing the map, but available time is not something I am long on, so the help is most likely to be spaced quite a bit. I have been trying to get better at terrain features so I don't mind doing something like this. Just let me know what you want to do, or any corrections/additions/placement issues you want me to make.
Whatever help you can offer is greatly appreciated. And, I hope your comments thus far will help more than just me. Because this info is really good.

I have an outline for a map that I did recently. It has no features, for it was my first attempt at drawing my own map. Don't worry about adding features to it. I was just wondering if the contour of the land is realistic. And, if not, what did I do wrong?

http://www.everythinglee.com/terra/maps/map1000.PNG


Once again thanks for the help.



Mark