WIP - map for novel and campaign setting

[BlackChakram]

Long time forum browser, first time poster

I've made tons of maps for various projects in the past, but this one is the first where I've been ambitious enough to want to share the process with others (and gladly listen to advice!).

I'm making this world both as a campaign setting for tabletop gaming, but also as a setting for a novel I have semi-planned. (And I suppose also because I'm addicted to map-making! )

Anyways, I put together a basic map with a layout that I really love. I feel this map has everything I could ever want in terms of features. I ran through a simple climate setup after setting up tectonic plates and got a very rough second map showing forests, deserts, plains, jungles, and chaparral. I'm pretty happy with the result. Ran histograms on the desert and forest and they closely match the same percentage as the real world.

This is a sizeable section of the world - 4,000 mi x 4,000 mi. For reference, the farthest-north island on the right edge is almost exactly the size of Germany.

I intend to go very specific with this world (main raw file is 10,000px by 10,000 px) and want to make sure my basics are solid before I move forward. Any comments? Anyone see anything I'm missing that I should take care of now? Thanks, all!

landform.png climate.png

[Pixie]

Hi

I'm a fan of folks who "intend to get very specific" with their con-world, as they are surely like-minded to myself. So, welcome and take a like

I am curious about the rest of the map, as well as how did you go about running a quick climate setup. Being specific about climate is the task in hands for me, so I am very interested in hearing from you about this stuff.

[BlackChakram]

The interesting thing about the rest of the map is that there isn't any. It took me a long time to realize that when I made full world maps, something in the magic of designing the world vanished for me. I like the thought of the unknown. That man (or any other sentient race) has yet to conquer the planet. (I realized this after my wife noticed that I stopped every game of Civ 5 once the whole world had been explored )

To keep that believable, the mountains in the NE are formed from 2 tectonic plates heading dead into each other. The mountains - for all intents and purposes - are impassable. The continent in the SW has monsters and creatures that become more and more deadly the farther south you go, until passage is impossible. A bit hokey, but it serves my purposes. And is that what creating worlds is about, anyways?

Anyway, the climate stuff I got from a thread here at the Guild. I can't for the life of me find the thread, but I did find the page it links to:
The Climate Cookbook
It's a pretty simple walkthrough, but it does the job. Plus, I feel its adding a ton of character to the world since now I know where it makes sense for monsoons to occur.. stuff like that.

[Diamond]

It took me a long time to realize that when I made full world maps, something in the magic of designing the world vanished for me.

Y'know, that may be one of the most profound things I've read on here. I don't know why I never thought that myself, because now that I see it, I know it holds true for me as well.

[Azélor]

I agree.

For different reasons, it's a lot harder to make a complete world than to make just one continent.

Don't need to worry about map projection, oceanic currents, filling the empty spots because they need to be filled, etc...

[Chashio]

That is a rather nice layout of spaces... and the square format is interesting. Do you have a style in mind for the finished map or would you prefer not to say? Totally fine... I'm just very curious is all.

[BlackChakram]

I've been tossing ideas around in my mind, but no decision on final format yet. I'm leaning towards hand-drawn elements imported using GIMP. But we'll see how that goes. Is there a gallery or list here on the site of different styles? Perhaps something like that could help.

[BlackChakram]

=== RESOURCE MAP AND PANTHEON ===

I finished putting together a map of resources given some climate notes. (For anyone interested in how I decided to place what where, I made a thread over in the resource section after doing a lot of research). I wanted to specifically make sure that the continent on the SW had a unique resource. This will make it a very valuable commodity.

map with resources.png


I also put together my pantheon. I don't know about everyone else, but I have a hard time putting together a pantheon because I don't like just having a bunch of "random" gods. I need to know that there's some sense of completeness to the list. Given the importance the gods will have to the novel, I really needed to nail this. I think I came up with a pretty solid schema. I have 2 sets of axes which generate my 8 gods.

gods.png

Any comments or suggestions are more than welcome!

[Chashio]

Is there a gallery or list here on the site of different styles?

Not as such. At least, not that I know of. There are tutorials for some various styles in the tutorials section. There's also a gallery you can get to through the main navigation bar at the top of the site... not everyone puts their finished pictures there, though many do. But I usually just go to google or pinterest or map collection sites for style inspiration. deviantArt also has some large group galleries that hold lots of goodies. There are some pretty nice map books out there as well.

[BlackChakram]

There are some pretty nice map books out there as well.

You know.... it says something about our modern era that I didn't even think about actual books. And I was alive before the Internet. Just... wow. Any you'd particularly recommend? (I assume you're speaking from experience!)