Landmark generator (or something)

[Kellerica]

Hey guys.

Does anybody else have trouble coming up with interesting locations and landmarks for those huge annoying blank spaces on their maps? I always do, and because of this, I came up with this little idea.

I started putting together a list of adjectives, such as "abandoned", "holy", "stormy", "frozen", "lonely", etc. etc., and another one of locations, like "city", "road", "lake", "mountain", and so on and so forth. My idea was to randomly combine words from these lists, and hopefully use the results as inspiration for both world-building and story-writing.

So, my question to you is, do any of you fine Guild folks happen to have any idea how one could actually turn these word lists into a generator type of thing? Being a complete idiot when it comes to technology I haven't got the slightest clue on how to actually make what I need. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

(sorry if the explanation isn't very clear, English isn't my first language)

[ladiestorm]

I don't know how to create a random generator, but I may have a solution that would work in the interim. It may take a little bit of work on your part, but this is something I do in my writing, sometimes. Make two number charts.... one with your adjectives, one with your locations. Then pull out your dice. Or, if you need, there are quite a few free 'random' dice rolling programs out there.... you can download one of these. Then, whenever you get stuck with one of those 'empty spaces' and want to come up with an idea... pull out your two charts, and roll the dice, twice. Once for your adjective chart, then a second time for your location chart.

The one thing to understand about 'random generator' programs... is that they are never TRULY random, because they are all based on an algorythm(my spelling is atrocious at times). If you want true randomness, make charts and roll the dice... and leave it all to chance

oh, and your English is excellent!

[jshoer]

The one thing to understand about 'random generator' programs... is that they are never TRULY random, because they are all based on an algorythm(my spelling is atrocious at times).

That's why random.org is the best!

I have mixed opinions about this idea. On the one hand, it is a very good way to get a start, and it might come up with complains that you otherwise wouldn't think of. On the other hand, it won't be as creative at coming up with names like the "spine of the world" example.

It might work best if you first come up with long lists, so there are many options, and second, be willing to change things around at your whim. Use the randomly generated options for inspiration, not the final determination.

[Kellerica]

Oh, I seem to have made a poor job of explaining myself here...

I'm not using this to come up with names. I'm just looking for inspiration as to things that my map could include. So for an example, if I get something like "the weeping cave", I won't just slap that to my map and be done with it. What I do is, I then start working with those words as my basic idea. How could a cave weep? Is it a sound that wind makes in a tunnel? Maybe there is water mysteriously dripping from the stone? Is there a story behind this "weeping cave"? Is is sacred, or do the people believe that is haunted and to be avoided? And so and so forth.

If I come up with a story-element that I like, then it goes onto the map. And it will most definitely not be called just The Weeping Cave, it will get a proper name of its own.

Long story short: I should have specified that this thing is to be used more as a source of inspiration for world-building, not a name generator. Sorry if I was unclear

[LordEntrails]

If you want to have some sort of psuedo-automation, you could put the lists into columns in Excel (or your favorite spreadsheet) and then use VLOOKUP (or comparable function) along with a random number generator (Excel has one, I don't know what it is) to combine the two or more lists into a phrase.

Other thing you could do is look at some of the name generators out there, as this is essentially what they do. There might be some open source code out there you could adapt. But all of these might be beyond what you are looking for. ladie's suggestion is the easiest to implement and requires no special knowledge.

[Applejack]

Generators s u c k.
I used to do what you did as well.
Nowadays the names come at me though.

What I think is important is to come up with names that don't directly include the object,
but do let you know what it is.

If you create names for your mountains.
You don't have to put Ridge, mountain, Alpine or peak in every name.
For instance, the Forgotten Realms series has a beautiful name to
describe the major mountain range in the fictional world it is set in.

Namely: Spine of the World.
It's clearly defining a mountain range, yet is 100% unique and creative.
You can do this with anything.
I have a river system called the Veins of the Woods, or a mountain range
called the Black Barrier.

At first it might be hard, but don't let that discourage you.
Another important thing to do is to looking up synonyms.
There´s a whole lot more ways, but I felt like this one was pretty important... l o l

[ravells]

You could do it in excel. Check out this tutorial here:

http://ms-office.wonderhowto.com/how...-excel-359742/

[Kellerica]

And Excel to the rescue! All set up now. Thank you, kind sir!

[ravells]

My pleasure. It's a pity because a member here wrote a really cool application which did what you wanted (and a lot more besides) but it's no longer available.

[Applejack]

Thb, I don't see how using generators gives one satisfaction.
It's....lame...?