World Map. It need some checking. Srsly.
Hi guys. It's me again!
And another question about another map.
I've generated a map in wilbur and did some work in photoshop to stylize it.
Now a question: is it topographically correct? are there any major mistakes or bugs which I must fix ASAP?
Looking forward to your answers, mapmaking gurus!
The only two things that I see are that there are a lot of coastal mountain ranges...but that could be offset by scale. The other thing is that the ranges don't seem to have any tectonics associated with them in a few places. There are some nice long ridges but there are also a lot of willy-nilly wandering ranges. So while technically fine the geology could be called into question. I don't really mind either way - just pointing out some things if you wanted to work on them.
If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
-J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)
My Maps ~ My Brushes ~ My Tutorials ~ My Challenge Maps
Well, thank you, Ascension! But can you explain some more about the tectonics thing and why coastal mountains are strange? At least give please some links where I can learn this things.
And also... Can you mark on my map with Large Red Marker some of this glitches?
Thank you again, o Thee Helpful One!
P.S. If I understand well, "willy-nilly" ranges must be removed, right?
Last edited by Graphomaniax; 12-28-2009 at 03:13 AM.
Kind of update.
overall, i think the map looks ok. they only thing i would question is the coloring. are you planning to color it more later or leave it like it is? Its kinda bright to my eyes.
GL Marc
Visit my site for roleplaying at http://www.rpgrescue.com.
This map here is a kind of draft for a world. I will not leave it like this. Colors here are just a parody to real world physical maps and they are also used for better relief recognising.Originally Posted by Davros01
I plan to redraw the whole world in less detailed style (I mean without all this tiresome *height* stuff).
I also plan to make some large-scale region maps of this world. But it is only plans, and I dunno if I can handle all this work. It would be nice if I could.
Last edited by Graphomaniax; 12-28-2009 at 12:16 PM.
Here's a basic overview of mountain creation on Earth.
Mountains are created in three major ways:
Volcanism, Faulting, and Folding. All three of which are associated with Plate Tectonics and mostly happen at plate boundaries with subduction zones.
Most mountain ranges on continents are caused by folding. Island chains are usually caused by volcanism. Faulting generally occurs where there's already folding.
For an example of folding take the Rocky Mountains in western North America. This mountain range was created because the Pacific plate is spreading in the middle and is forcing the sea floor to subduct under the western edge of the North American continent. This force causes the continent to fold up as well as some volcanism and faulting. So when you get coastal mountain ranges it's generally caused by a sea floor plate spreading apart and forcing up against a continent or two.
So in your map you have a problem with some mountain ranges being shadowed by other mountain ranges. (Meaning that it would be impossible for plate spreading to cause the mountain ranges hidden behind other mountain ranges.
Another cause for mountains is when two continents collide as is the case with the Himalayas. The Indian subcontinent has basically crashed into the Asian continent causing a huge pileup along the northern edge of the Indian subcontinent and the southern edge of the Asian continent. This is the way to get the largest and most severe mountains on a planet.
The Appalachian mountain range on the North American continent was caused by very old plate collision as well. It's just been so long since it happened that they've all worn down quite a bit.
Getting mountain ranges in the middle of a continent can be achieved through a "hot spot" which is an upwelling of magma under a continent that can cause volcanism. They tend to be much smaller and do not run in long lines.
This is a very simplified version of the process and you should check out Plate Tectonics on Wikipedia for a more detailed explanation.
“Maps encourage boldness. They're like cryptic love letters. They make anything seem possible.”
-Mark Jenkins
Very, very, VERY interesting information! Especially map of plates! Now that makes sense!
Thank you! And take some rep!
Willy-nilly means randomly placed and scattered. While coastal mountains are possible, especially in fjords, there are just a whole bunch here. Sure they look fantastic from an aesthetic point of view and make for great paintings they don't happen all that often. I'm not saying to put your mountains smack in the middle of the continent either, that doesn't happen either. What I am saying is to push them back from the coasts a bit, few hundred miles. Leave a few, for sure, this is fantasy after all, but push most of them back. Wormy said everything else pretty well.
If the radiance of a thousand suns was to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...I am become Death, the Shatterer of worlds.
-J. Robert Oppenheimer (father of the atom bomb) alluding to The Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 11, Verse 32)
My Maps ~ My Brushes ~ My Tutorials ~ My Challenge Maps
Yes, try to avoid too many coastal mountains like the shown image (from http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03388 at NASA). Seriously, though, there are lots of places where mountain ranges run into or alongside ocean. Coastal plains have a larger mindshare, however.
My criticism of the map would be perhaps a few too many mountains and there are some awful artifacts in the river layouts from the Wilbur processing. It's tough to get that processing just right, however.
Last edited by waldronate; 12-28-2009 at 06:30 PM.
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