Frodo World Map and Lore
Hello Guild,
After 500-plus hours of obsessive work and rechecking calculations, I've finally finished the project I started on January 1st of this year. It's a world called Frodo, and I've focused on absolute scientific plausibility, guessing on NOTHING. Read the text, immerse yourself in the visuals; you may actually feel as if you were standing on Frodo's surface.
First Half.pngSecond Half.png
Peter
I came here from Reddit just to read your lore and admire the pages in high Res. Absolutely fantastic work!
Very, very cool. I wouldn't want to live there, but it was a fascinating read!
Very cool , nicely made and realisticOriginally Posted by Peter Toth
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Thank you Nautilus, Diamond, and Naima for the kind words!
No, Diamond, I don't think I'd want to live on Frodo either given the gravity gradient and frequent cyclones. If, however, I was lacking any alternative options, I'd choose to live somewhere on the east coast, the happy medium between the hot, steamy rainforests to the south, and the frozen tundra higher north.
By the way, thank you Naima, for the technical advice early on in the initial phases of this project, when you advised me about the meteorology and circulation regime of this conworld. Just to let you know this guidance was a pleasure and an asset to receive.
I also want to thank Jo, who commented, on February the 7th of this year:
"You two have completely lost me!
I'm unable to follow your scientific reasoning, which I find fascinating!
All I can say is that the story you're writing sounds very promising!
In any case, the basic idea, with the crucial role played by the environment, is really interesting!"
I normally make the habit of thanking everyone who provided any form of feedback, but somehow I forgot to mention you. I apologize for this and I want to let you know how much I appreciated this comment. Sheer pleasure is what motivates me to draw my maps, but receiving critiques and praise is also very much valued, for it lets me know whether the map has "hit the mark" or not.
I also wanted to thank the Guild in general for providing an outlet to express myself in this unique artistic form.
For my next project, by the way, after brushing up on some topo practice, I want to create my "dream paradise world," which would have all the necessary physical parameters to allow comfortable human life on at least 90% of its surface.
Peter
Beautiful topography. Do you think you could share your method with us? I haven't exactly figured out how to get Wilbur to generate heightmaps such as this. I've tried my hand at World Machine but the Basic Edition limits the size parameters and the full version costs upwards of 150 USD.
Hello and thank you brauthaz!
It's funny as my topo algorithm was the only aspect of this project I felt embarrassed about.
For many years, I've been studying topography obsessively and striving to reproduce a variety of naturally occurring topo patterns, without ever giving in to the impulse of copying of DEM data (which is much more easy, however). I usually use Miguel's method (I can send you the file but the Internet link seems to have vanished.) along with a couple fractal noise filters that are still experimental at this stage. Eventually I'll be making an accessible tutorial about my entire process, if I can ever attain any satisfaction about the accuracy of that process.
Personally I would never invest even $50 USD on automatic worldbuilding tools such as World Machine as I believe the raw process, combined with a little finesse and diligence, can work wonders and reproduce terrain FAR more realistic. (And besides, I'm living a fair deal under the poverty line.)
I probably started out just like you about 6 or so years ago, not knowing a clue about Wilbur and idolizing Guild members such as Ilanthar, Charerg, Waldronate, Pixie, Harrg, arsheesh and many others that I'm probably unwittingly leaving out. Thanks to those idols of mine and their honest critiques, I've been able to improve my mapmaking to a fairly acceptable degree, although I have far more to learn.
My advice would be to study topography until you start dreaming about it in your sleep (which is what I've done). Imagine the patterns while you're working your day job and try to reproduce those patterns during your worldbuilding time. With practice, patience, and advice from the pros, I believe you can even perhaps pay some bills with commissions in the near future. To maintain your mapmaking mojo, however, you should always keep your worldbuilding time motivated by pleasure. As soon as it fails to feel like a magical or divine undertaking (a.k.a. more like "work"), you should distance yourself from it until the desire returns. And if this is your hobby, the desire will ALWAYS return!
So, I hope that helps, and happy mapmaking / conworlding!
Peter
Very cool concept and great maps & lore!
Thank you so much Ilanthar!
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