Unamed work in progress

[Cekoti]

Okay, so this is my second attempt at a map,
I am going to try and do this in a variety of styles, to try and gain experience with them.
So I've uploaded a /very/ rough terrain map and the base map.


Okay, so I've aded rings. My concern is that it it a little fuzzy. Should I go in and remove some of the rings to reduce that? What do rings actually represent?
How is the coastline/general shape of the map?
If you could give me your thoughts on the realism of the terrain?

Red = mountains
Yellow = hills
Brigt green = forest
Dark green = grassland
Blue = glacier
(The top bit is tundra/similar)
There is the desert inside the triangle mountain
With a svanna directly below.
Is this at all realistic, or should I change my methodology?

Thank you,
Cekkie xx

[The_Sleeping_Dragon]

Cekkie
Welcome and interesting project
You need to think of the logic of the ecology and geography of your world. How did it become the shape it is, why are certain features where they are etc. Volcanic/seismic, tectonic activity are important, as are tilt, polarity, EM field, gravity, rain forests, sea and ocean beds, ice packs, atmosphere, distance to nearest Star, orbit, seasonality, diurnal changes, tides and influence of nearest moons and asteroids - work out the why of your terrain then it will make sense

Your terrain currently looks like a titled N America with a northern ice cap ie its a part world
It then doesn't reflect how earth behaves so must have a very different climate system (you could invent one to create your world or go about it the other way as I suggest ie think How did my world come into existence?)

Examples of things need explaining: Desert needs mountains and deforestation, the whole thing needs carefully placed volcano especially to the north coast as this shows sign of a significant collapse but then we should see similar eco features either side eg broken up grass and forest lands. Not sure re grey and gold but could be my screen? Mountains needed near glacial area or basically whole of your continent freezes up over time

Good luck though and great start ��

The Sleeping Dragon

[Deoridhe]

What are your goals for your map? Like, are you going for a full planet/pangea type thing, or is this a detail in a much larger world? Also, how realistic do you want it to be? That determines a lot; for example, if magic is a thing in your world, you can have SUDDENLY MOUNTAINS for a convenient desert without bothering with plate tectonics.

[Charerg]

Ahem, I might point out that mountains are by no means a requirement for desert formation. Look at Australia for example, a continent competing with Europe for the title of the lowest continent on the planet with it's measly average elevation of ~300 metres. Well, the Great Dividing Range is a factor, but it's not the main thing causing the aridity of the continent, being a mountain range with average elevations of maybe 500-1000 metres (some parts of the range are very low, others have higher elevations). The main reason causing the aridity of the continent is it's location within the subtropical high pressure belt.

[Cekoti]

Okay, so the goal of this is a pangea-esque world. Obviously with a few outliers
The glacier continent is planned to have mountains, I just assumed glaciers had to have that so didn't both putting it in. I was also thinking of placing the continent up a little bit although there is tundra at its level on the
I want it to be realistic, and I should probably try and make a tectonic plate + the latitude lines
I thought you had to have mountains, my bad.

Okay, I will admit, I'm not amazing with tilt etc. This was just me drawing randomly and then noising it XD
Can anyone help me with plausability for shape etc?

[Cekoti]

Been trying to figure out plate tectonics, learn g-plates (still trying).
Have made a preliminary plates model (Sorry for the garish colours, but I was getting confused between the different plates):



Any opinions on the plates etcetera would be appreciated - it has the continents on top.

The base map is:



Any thoughts on the shape etc would be also welcome

My next goals will be:

1) Finish tectonics plates
2) Height map
3) Use height map to make rivers and determine other terrain
4) Loose my life making the rest of the map :p
5) Create the other view looks