River Help Needed

[AslanC]

Gotta say, that's a very aesthetically pleasing map with some interesting geography. It's nice to see some good, realistic-looking topography (minus the caveats that Waldronate mentions), and the style is a good one.

That said, I'm not a huge fan of maps where coastlines and topography were very obviously copped from the real world, as it really messes with my suspension of disbelief and immersion into the world. Of course some parallels are fine, but the whole eastern half of this map is pretty brazen- the Greek peninsula and Western Europe, complete with the Alps and the Pyrenees, are very hard to miss. Is it too late in the game to change things around and make it a bit less obvious? The western bit looks fine, minus the obvious Crater Lake in the middle and the strange topographic artifacts in northern Imperial Austora. Just my 2 cents, feel free to disregard!

Thanks for the compliment and the criticism.

This map is a "place holder" for when I can afford to get it redone by an artist, so I used real world geography in many places to get what I needed, that will change in the long run.

The "crater lake" (Black Lake) is a magical event that left it there, so it isn't meant to be "real world", fantasy map and all that.

What "strange topographic artifacts" in Austoria are you referring to? I am curious to fix anything too strange.

[Krazma]

I spent about twelve years as a floodplain administrator and that included using a variety of simulations. One suggestion is this: For whatever area you are studying, superimpose a regular grid (or hexagon) pattern. The smaller the scale of the grid, the more accurate you'll be, but you can apply the idea on a macro scale if you're willing to accept less accuracy/detail.

For each square or hex, imagine it as an independent flat plane that you could sit atop whatever terrain features are in that area. Which direction would it tilt and how much? If you were to pour some water onto that plane, which way would it flow and how quickly?

That tells you a few things about the way water would generally behave in that area. How much water that area gets is a function of climate, but anything that doesn't get absorbed into the ground has to drain somewhere. (Actually, even what gets absorbed into the ground will eventually flow in this direction; the sources of streams and rivers are just the points where the water flow ceases to be subterranean.)

Then step back and look at the bigger picture. What's happening in the neighboring areas? You'll start to see how actual floodplains work. As drainage patterns become clear, you'll see the paths of your streams and rivers. In areas where water would flow more quickly (mountains, for instance), the paths will tend to be more linear. In areas where the flow is slower (plains, for instance), you'll see more meandering paths to the rivers and streams.

Adjust according to climate.

[Tiluchi]

Thanks for the compliment and the criticism.

This map is a "place holder" for when I can afford to get it redone by an artist, so I used real world geography in many places to get what I needed, that will change in the long run.

Sure! That makes sense. Just figured I would flag it.

The "crater lake" (Black Lake) is a magical event that left it there, so it isn't meant to be "real world", fantasy map and all that.

Sure! I mostly meant that it's identical Oregon's Crater Lake, I think the idea of the lake itself is fine.

What "strange topographic artifacts" in Austoria are you referring to? I am curious to fix anything too strange.

Mostly referring to those random islands of green (low elevation) that occur on the western part of the coastal mountain range; it's a rough transition between elevations that looks quite incongruous, especially as the transitions here generally look pretty good.