Map Dimensions?

[Squessibionaro]

Hi, I'm new to the cartographers guild and had a question. I was wondering what image dimensions or ratio of length to width would be the most appropriate when planning to create a world map? I'm Game Master for an upcoming pathfinder campaign me and my friends have started (never GM'd before....) and would like to create a world map for my campaign world but i'm not even sure how to begin, like what image dimensions would i even use for a map.

I've used gimp fairly extensively in the past so that's my program of choice, although mostly for simple things like parallax mapping in RPG maker.

I plan on browsing the tutorials when I have additional time, also any other tips would be greatly appreciated.

I apologize if my question is silly or confusing in some way, but i am by no means an artist OR cartographer. After being directed to this site though, I might be looking to change that....

[Falconius]

Equidirectangular projection (2 wide by 1 tall) is the easiest to deal with. You can project it easily onto a globe etc. And it is easy to conceive of how it works. However it also ends up with huge distortion at the poles so if you want to map those areas in detail too you might want to put them into separate insets.

[Squessibionaro]

I expected a good bit of distortion on the main world map and thus plan to individually map the continents separately as well.

Thanks for your reply.

[LordEntrails]

How are you going to be using the maps? i.e. are you printing them on letter size paper? or A sized? Are you displaying them via a projector or on a TV screen?

Use the ration that goes with how you will be presenting them.

[waldronate]

First, decide how you want to use the map. Then, pick an appropriate map projection. Then, draw your map(s) onto grids in whichever projection(s) you chose.

[Squessibionaro]

I'd like to create it as if it were a map for navigation of the world, whichever projection would suit that purpose best. As for how it will be displayed it will be placed in the "Tabletop Simulator" program as an image for our table top, so I can adjust the table based on the dimensions of the map if need be.

[waldronate]

I'd like to create it as if it were a map for navigation of the world, whichever projection would suit that purpose best. As for how it will be displayed it will be placed in the "Tabletop Simulator" program as an image for our table top, so I can adjust the table based on the dimensions of the map if need be.

Mercator is a popular projection for navigation because straight lines on the map are fairly close to paths of constant bearing. However, Mercator has huge area distortions away from the equator. Some modern militaries like the Universal Transverse Mercator projection (see the Military Grid Reference System) because it manages distortions in a not-too-bad way, but it has serious problems in overlaps (look at a MGRS map of Korea for an example: it lies at the overlap of two zones).
A whole-world map might not be the best choice for gaming. Unless your game specifically requires whole-world maps, I recommend making a map as large as your intended area and just using that. You can pick a projection to minimize distortion in your important area and not worry about distortion in not-important areas.

[Jamie the Jasper]

Bear in mind that if you're working with a fantasy world that's vaguely equivalent to medieval Earth, map makers might not necessarily even be aware that they live on a globe, so the issue of projection becomes moot. The entirety of the world may not even have been mapped. The map could even be designed to reflect things other than perfect geographical accuracy, such as the centralised strength of an empire - as was the case for many real maps in our history. Many of these maps were all kinds of different shapes and sizes, depending on what the map was designed for and what kind of materials were available. Something like that might be a more characterful and immersive role playing prop than a geographically and scientifically accurate map of the entire world. Maybe something to bear in mind.

[rebelandarunner]

Bear in mind that if you're working with a fantasy world that's vaguely equivalent to medieval Earth, map makers might not necessarily even be aware that they live on a globe, so the issue of projection becomes moot. The entirety of the world may not even have been mapped. The map could even be designed to reflect things other than perfect geographical accuracy, such as the centralised strength of an empire - as was the case for many real maps in our history. Many of these maps were all kinds of different shapes and sizes, depending on what the map was designed for and what kind of materials were available. Something like that might be a more characterful and immersive role playing prop than a geographically and scientifically accurate map of the entire world. Maybe something to bear in mind.

For starters, I think that the purpose of Squessibionaro's request is how to go about crafting a map of the world so that he, as the GM, can use it as a tool, not simply provide a prop for his players.

Furthermore, I would challenge the notion that map makers of medieval Earth were not aware that they live on a globe. The fact is that most cartographers (then known as chart makers), from the time of Idrisi on, knew the Earth was a globe. However, such knowledge was inconsistent with the teachings of the Catholic church whose doctrine advocated otherwise.

Having said all of that, it would be pretty cool to have a scientifically accurate map of the world (for the GM) and a set of cartograms as props for the players.

[johnvanvliet]

all of the above

for "whole world " maps i use a 2X1 simple cylindrical map projection
Example : ( a 2048x1024 very small map )

2k.tex_shade.png

but the poles are very distorted , for those i use "polar stereographic" projection
Example - the North pole area : (used Gimp to remap it )

2k.tex_shadeNP.png

PS. i used "wilbur" to eroid the heightmap and it dose not work well on poles