Returning visitor, a map in progress, and a brick wall...

[MiToVo]

Just before I start on my reply.. I've continued this thread over here, where it seems more appropriate.

To respond to you, John...

Indeed. I'm still reconsidering the 20x20 thing. It sounded like a good size to work with when I started out, but as I continue I'm reconsidering. That my map is intended to be more "symbolic", rather than accurate, I think I have some flexibility in how large or small icons are.

The way I came to that figure initially was by looking at the world maps of other games, and found that many of their worlds are not that huge, though it seems that they're massive.

It was surprising, for example, to find that the entire "world" of Skyrim is only 16 square miles. It feels much larger. I'm sure scale of stuff, and player movement speed (when not instant traveling anyway) plays a big role in that.

Here's a link to a cool image someone put together comparing the sizes of various worlds...

Click!

Thanks!

well for two islands in a 20 Km x 20 Km area

you will need at least one Volcano
the lower part of the big isl. might be a good spot

creating a height map for islands is a lot eraser than for major continents
the rivers are a direct result of the heightmap