List the Most Common "Reality" Errors!

[Chick]

A discussion in another thread has led to a suggestion that we need a general list of the most common "reality" errors people make.

Rivers are well covered in the excellent tutorial "How to Get Your Rivers in the Right Place", so that's a good start.

I'd like to compile a simple list of the most common errors, so please post the things you know of that newcomers get wrong. I'll start ....


1. Lakes have one and only one outlet. Not 0, not 2 or more, just one. (Yes, there are rare exceptions, but this list is for the "norm")

2. River systems end in the ocean. They may go through lakes, but ultimately all water flows to the sea.

3. Rivers never split. If they go around an island, they rejoin immediately. A river may have multiple channels through a final delta to the sea, but the river is still just one river.

4. Mountains form in linear or gently curving ranges. Ranges don't meet at sharp angles.

5. Lonely mountains form only as shield volcanoes, otherwise mountains are part of a range.

6. Rivers don't run through (in one side and out the other) a mountain range unless there is a clear water-level pass though the mountains.

7. Swamps and lakes form in depressions, not on hillsides.

8. Deserts form in middle latitudes, not equatorial.

9. Rivers flow downhill always.

10. Rivers run fairly straight down in hills and mountains, but wind around and meander on flat land.

11. Rivers generally taper wider toward the downstream, but most of the width growth occurs at confluences.

12. Coastlines are jagged and irregular, not round and smooth.

13. Forests should always be shorter than the nearby mountains.

14. Towns and cities should be smaller than the mountains.


See the remainder of this thread for discussions of these items.
Please continue this list !!

[Meshon]

This is a great idea! I consider myself completely out of touch with reality, so I'll do my best to avoid posting here, and learn rather.

cheers,
Meshon

[Azélor]

2- This could be misleading and not always true : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endorheic_basin the Tarim basin is clearly not a sea

[Chick]

2- This could be misleading and not always true : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endorheic_basin the Tarim basin is clearly not a sea

Sharp angle junctures might be rare (depending on just what counts as 'sharp' anyway) but not extraordinary. You can probably spot a few examples of those on this map.

As I have stated, this thread is about the NORM. There are exceptions, but they are rare and unusual and require special circumstances. I really don't want to include them, and no one who wants reality should be using them unless they understand the special circumstances required.

This thread is about COMMON situations and the common mistakes that newcomers make, not about exceptions. So please keep it to that, thanks

[Ghostman]

4. Mountains form in linear or gently curving ranges. Ranges don't meet at sharp angles.

Sharp angle junctures might be rare (depending on just what counts as 'sharp' anyway) but not extraordinary. You can probably spot a few examples of those on this map.

[ChickPea]

This is a great idea for a thread (though I just knew there'd be a bunch of people along saying X can occur in nature blah blah....!)

I know you've pointed out that lakes have only one outlet above, but I think it's worth emphasising that - generally speaking - lakes always HAVE an outlet. That's not something I'd realised before (not that I'd really thought about it much though.) If it hadn't been pointed out to me, I would certainly have included lakes that were just stand-alone bodies of water with no outlets.

[Chick]

I thought of another list item ...

6. Rivers don't run through (in one side and other the other) a mountain range.

[Chashio]

Actually, I thought it would be a good idea to include the exceptions; they're so fascinating and I know many of us gravitate toward mapping places that often don't fit into the norm. It would be cool and helpful, I think, to have them together--the usual and the unusual--with examples and explanations for why, when, how, what, where, etcetera, so that people can get a fuller sense and understanding of what is possible in the real world and make decisions about their settings based on a more complete view of those possibilities (and probabilities), without having to resort to asking whether or not the basic foundation of elements in their map is plausible or spending tons of time scouring the Internet for those answers when they may not know the terminology to find what they're seeking.

I know it is a large project (immense), but I just thought it would be fun and nice to put together a collection of illustrated guidelines (guidebook?) geared for mappers, with a map (or maps) of examples, some supporting information, and links to sources where you can learn more.

Maybe it's not a good idea, or unnecessary, or maybe it's even been done already--or it's just too much to put on the plate right now (I know I'm swamped at the moment)... but that is kinda what I was thinking, anyway. What do you think?

[Chick]

Actually, I thought it would be a good idea to include the exceptions; they're so fascinating and I know many of us gravitate toward mapping places that often don't fit into the norm. It would be cool and helpful, I think, to have them together--the usual and the unusual--with examples and explanations for why, when, how, what, where, etcetera, so that people can get a fuller sense and understanding of what is possible in the real world and make decisions about their settings based on a more complete view of those possibilities (and probabilities), without having to resort to asking whether or not the basic foundation of elements in their map is plausible or spending tons of time scouring the Internet for those answers when they may not know the terminology to find what they're seeking.

I know it is a large project (immense), but I just thought it would be fun and nice to put together a collection of illustrated guidelines (guidebook?) geared for mappers, with a map (or maps) of examples, some supporting information, and links to sources where you can learn more.

Maybe it's not a good idea, or unnecessary, or maybe it's even been done already--or it's just too much to put on the plate right now (I know I'm swamped at the moment)... but that is kinda what I was thinking, anyway. What do you think?

It's all fantastic ideas! Do we want a very basic guide for newcomers trying to do their first map? Or do we want an intermediate thing with descriptions of the exceptions? Or do we want a fully illustrated tome gathering together all the information in many of the existing tutorials?

I think the latter is a fabulous idea, but too complex and time-consuming for most of us.

I started out to do the first -- very basic do's and don't's guide for newcomers. I wouldn't mind including a tiny bit about exceptions, but mostly to point out how specific the circumstances need to be for them.

This thread can accumulate all the ideas you want, but for my part, I'll put together the very basic guide (maybe with mention of the exceptions, since everyone always wants to jump on them).

Volunteers for advanced versions are very welcome!!

[Bobemor]

2. Water always flow downwards towards the sea

Might be a bit clearer?