Ninevia--a highly realistic conworld!

[Peter Toth]

Happy New Year cartographers!

My latest project, Ninevia, is an almost fully-fledged conworld that required over a month of meticulous labour to craft, all using GIMP and Wilbur. Because of limited RAM and freezing issues, I was forced to construct and process each continent separately before compositing them together on the final map, and even then the process was plagued with multiple computer crashes. My main focus concerning this piece (as with all my previous work) was to achieve realism. I wanted to create something that would be plausible from a scientific standpoint as well as pleasing to the eye (possibly because of its scientific plausibility!)

I know math and physics aren’t everyone’s forte, so feel free to skip the section explaining the Euler Poles and rates of motion of Ninevia’s tectonic plates. For those who are interested enough to give a critique, I would appreciate hearing from you, as I’m not 100% certain that my plate motions are entirely realistic. A critique on any other aspect of this conworld would be much appreciated, for only through constructive criticism can I ever aim for a more realistic conworld in future posts.

The composition diagrams I’ve included aren’t just for show, but have been painstakingly calculated assuming a particular density gradient throughout the planet. Notice that I’ve made Ninevia slightly larger than the Earth but also lowered the planet’s gravity; doing this required me to trim down Ninevia’s iron core to 19% by mass. I’m very partial to a low-gravity planet, knowing that running and climbing mountains would be far easier coming from Earth.

The satellite view was “taken” during the northern winter of Ninevia, when snow covers the top half of the top left continent (calculated using Clima-Sim). The map also features a very large desert called Silicus, which is not only located at about 30 degrees latitude but also behind a rather large mountain range. For this reason, the desert is huge and features no rivers, at least nothing permanent. (Can someone provide a little instruction here?)

I’ve also included a few “planet shots” of Ninevia just to show the poles and distribution of continents from an orbiting vantage point. I tried, using only GIMP, to correct the distortion near the poles, which inevitably happens when the equirectangular map is wrapped around a sphere. I know the latest version of Photoshop makes this process almost automatic, but that is a luxury I cannot afford.

In future posts, I’d like to stray a little farther from Earthlike specs and explore other variations, such as a world with a highly elliptical orbit or a very high axial tilt. To succeed in doing so, I’m going to be visiting the library and steeping myself in astronomy, geology and meteorology over the next few months. I was even thinking of calculating amphidromic points to construct tidal maps of future worlds, but I’m sure everyone will call that overkill.

In conclusion, I’d like to proclaim a message to every single member of Cartographer’s Guild: KEEP ON CONWORLDING and creating fantasy maps! Let’s continue popularizing this odd hobby using social media and general word of mouth (feel free to friend me on Facebook). Perhaps in due time, we’ll see more books published (and software programs created) on this fascinating and addictive pursuit.

Here is Ninevia:

Simple Satellite.png

Altitudes.png

Tectonics2.png

Size Diagrams.png

Globe3.png

Globe1.png

Ninevia Properties:

Radius: 6417 km
Density: 5.275 g/cm3
Mass: 0.97356 Mearth
Gravity: 0.962 gees
Rotation Period: 26.344 hours
Escape Velocity: 0.983 x Earth
Albedo: 0.362
Percent Iron: 19%
Core Radius: 2875 km
Axial Tilt: 24.7
Eccentricity: 0.0114
Semimajor Axis (relative): 0.98 AU
Semimajor Axis: 1.23225 AU
Irradiance at 1 AU: 1365.1
CO2 Level: 280 ppm
CH4: 700 ppb
Star Mass: 1.0821 Msolar
Star Temperature: 6020 K
Star Radius: 1.14724 Rsolar
Star Luminosity: 1.54882 Lumsolar
Star/System Age: 4.785 Byr
Magnetic Field: 0.9 Earth Values
Geological Activity: Earthlike Tectonics
Year Length: 1.31497 Earth Years, 480.29 Earth Days

Motions of Ninevia's Plates:

Plate Name Latitude of Euler Longitude of Euler Degrees per Ma
Plate 1 (Grunwald) -34 135 0.76
Plate 2 (Brownstone) 35 -35 0.70
Plate 3 (Maestro) -18 -8 0.68
Plate 4 (Southern Appele) 57 -69 0.23
Plate 5 (Sigmund) -53 89 0.26
Plate 6 (Viscum) -4 32 0.12
Plate 7 (Islington) -30 50 0.84

I hope you've enjoyed viewing this conworld as much as I did in creating it. Please critique, and see you again soon.


Peter

[Larb]

I do appreciate some physics, so I approve of this post. I've never delved into it too deeply though because I'm yet to design a world wildly different from earth.

When I was thinking of the parameters of my main conworld, I did give some thought to things like the axial tilt and stuff, but I wanted earth-like seasons and whatnot. So while my planet's year is slightly shorter, it's generally very similar to earth.

I sometimes think about altering the parameters when considering new world ideas. Such as how the star type and atmospheric composition can change the colour or the sky. Or affect what colour the plants are for the purpose of photosynthesis. Or how low gravity would allow for taller/bigger creatures with lower bone density (so they'd be easier to break) etc etc. I think looking at the physics can spawn some really interesting world ideas.

[Azélor]

Weaker magnetic field...
Nice work !

I do wonder how you have a star only marginally heavier than the Sun but 54% brighter?

[Naima]

Happy New Year cartographers!

My latest project, Ninevia, is an almost fully-fledged conworld that required over a month of meticulous labour to craft, all using GIMP and Wilbur. Because of limited RAM and freezing issues, I was forced to construct and process each continent separately before compositing them together on the final map, and even then the process was plagued with multiple computer crashes. My main focus concerning this piece (as with all my previous work) was to achieve realism. I wanted to create something that would be plausible from a scientific standpoint as well as pleasing to the eye (possibly because of its scientific plausibility!)

I know math and physics aren’t everyone’s forte, so feel free to skip the section explaining the Euler Poles and rates of motion of Ninevia’s tectonic plates. For those who are interested enough to give a critique, I would appreciate hearing from you, as I’m not 100% certain that my plate motions are entirely realistic. A critique on any other aspect of this conworld would be much appreciated, for only through constructive criticism can I ever aim for a more realistic conworld in future posts.

The composition diagrams I’ve included aren’t just for show, but have been painstakingly calculated assuming a particular density gradient throughout the planet. Notice that I’ve made Ninevia slightly larger than the Earth but also lowered the planet’s gravity; doing this required me to trim down Ninevia’s iron core to 19% by mass. I’m very partial to a low-gravity planet, knowing that running and climbing mountains would be far easier coming from Earth.

The satellite view was “taken” during the northern winter of Ninevia, when snow covers the top half of the top left continent (calculated using Clima-Sim). The map also features a very large desert called Silicus, which is not only located at about 30 degrees latitude but also behind a rather large mountain range. For this reason, the desert is huge and features no rivers, at least nothing permanent. (Can someone provide a little instruction here?)

I’ve also included a few “planet shots” of Ninevia just to show the poles and distribution of continents from an orbiting vantage point. I tried, using only GIMP, to correct the distortion near the poles, which inevitably happens when the equirectangular map is wrapped around a sphere. I know the latest version of Photoshop makes this process almost automatic, but that is a luxury I cannot afford.

In future posts, I’d like to stray a little farther from Earthlike specs and explore other variations, such as a world with a highly elliptical orbit or a very high axial tilt. To succeed in doing so, I’m going to be visiting the library and steeping myself in astronomy, geology and meteorology over the next few months. I was even thinking of calculating amphidromic points to construct tidal maps of future worlds, but I’m sure everyone will call that overkill.

In conclusion, I’d like to proclaim a message to every single member of Cartographer’s Guild: KEEP ON CONWORLDING and creating fantasy maps! Let’s continue popularizing this odd hobby using social media and general word of mouth (feel free to friend me on Facebook). Perhaps in due time, we’ll see more books published (and software programs created) on this fascinating and addictive pursuit.

Here is Ninevia:

Simple Satellite.png

Altitudes.png

Tectonics2.png

Size Diagrams.png

Globe3.png

Globe1.png

Ninevia Properties:

Radius: 6417 km
Density: 5.275 g/cm3
Mass: 0.97356 Mearth
Gravity: 0.962 gees
Rotation Period: 26.344 hours
Escape Velocity: 0.983 x Earth
Albedo: 0.362
Percent Iron: 19%
Core Radius: 2875 km
Axial Tilt: 24.7
Eccentricity: 0.0114
Semimajor Axis (relative): 0.98 AU
Semimajor Axis: 1.23225 AU
Irradiance at 1 AU: 1365.1
CO2 Level: 280 ppm
CH4: 700 ppb
Star Mass: 1.0821 Msolar
Star Temperature: 6020 K
Star Radius: 1.14724 Rsolar
Star Luminosity: 1.54882 Lumsolar
Star/System Age: 4.785 Byr
Magnetic Field: 0.9 Earth Values
Geological Activity: Earthlike Tectonics
Year Length: 1.31497 Earth Years, 480.29 Earth Days

Motions of Ninevia's Plates:

Plate Name Latitude of Euler Longitude of Euler Degrees per Ma
Plate 1 (Grunwald) -34 135 0.76
Plate 2 (Brownstone) 35 -35 0.70
Plate 3 (Maestro) -18 -8 0.68
Plate 4 (Southern Appele) 57 -69 0.23
Plate 5 (Sigmund) -53 89 0.26
Plate 6 (Viscum) -4 32 0.12
Plate 7 (Islington) -30 50 0.84

I hope you've enjoyed viewing this conworld as much as I did in creating it. Please critique, and see you again soon.


Peter

Hello , First of all congratulations on the world building process.

What percentage of water do you have on planet though?
Couse water level is also corresponsible for tectonic activity , the lesser the water the less probable is the formation and sustainability of tectonic , balanced by relative density of oceanic lithosphere and the relative weakness of the asthenosphere this is due to the excess density of the oceanic lithosphere sinking in subduction zones. The other two main driving forces , but lesser compared to the first are then Gravity and Tidal and Centrifugal effect due to rotation and presence of a moon or more moons, so you might want to consider those too . Overall though to me by a quick look your world looks perfectly plausible so Good Job done ...

Btw what tools you used to build your maps?

[The Lazy One]

That's some thorough work! Seconded the 54% question: i suppose it's the 30% larger cross-section combined with the higher temperature?

[Peter Toth]

Thank you to all who responded; Larb, Azelor, Naima, the Lazy One; your feedback means very much to me.

Yes, Larb, I completely agree: considering and abiding by the laws of physics can lead to a rich diversity of possible worlds. Some world-builders neglect the physics, reasoning that it constrains the creative process, and I'm partial to this viewpoint, to a degree. I always prefer complete freedom when brainstorming for a conworld idea, so I defer the physics for later only when I need to know whether my newly-spawned idea is plausible. However, I think even with the constraints of physics, the number of possible worlds is virtually unlimited.

Regarding the "54% question," I derived that value using the Digital Demo Room at http://rainman.astro.illinois.edu/dd.../advanced.html. I used a stellar mass of 1.0821 and a slightly-higher-than-solar metallicity, which would tend to make the star slightly cooler and longer lived. I chose an age of 4.785 Byr, which is quite close to the star's life expectancy, after which luminosity keeps increasing exponentially. While I don't take this derivation as gospel, I have been told it's quite accurate; however, in my compulsive need for precision, I checked the Norton Star Atlas, which lists a 1.05 solar mass star (G0) with a luminosity of 1.5. The less-accurate approximation, to derive luminosity by raising the mass to the 3.5 power, gives a luminosity of 1.32, which I rejected in favour of the Norton.

Thank you Naima. I haven't yet calculated my percentage of water on Ninevia, but I estimate the value to be between 60-75%; I hope this supports tectonics. I've considered adding a moon, which will certainly affect tectonics, especially one much larger than our moon. I figure that the centrifugal effect would be smaller with Ninevia's slightly slower rotation. Regarding the tools I used for creating my maps, number one is my OCD. I'm a very self-critical person who constantly evaluates whether a newly-drawn geographical feature, such as a mountain range, looks "realistic." If the feature fails to meet my strict criteria, I reject and redraw. Over a long and somewhat mechanical process of adjusting and polishing, I arrive at something that pleases me. I rarely use pencil and paper to draw my maps, only software; my two trusted tools are GIMP and Wilbur. I've developed a process over the years that generates some very interesting coastlines and geographical features, but I'm always testing new ideas to lend my maps ever more realism.

Thank you to all again for your feedback.

[Azélor]

I used a stellar mass of 1.0821 and a slightly-higher-than-solar metallicity, which would tend to make the star slightly cooler and longer lived. I chose an age of 4.785 Byr, which is quite close to the star's life expectancy, after which luminosity keeps increasing exponentially. While I don't take this derivation as gospel, I have been told it's quite accurate; however, in my compulsive need for precision, I checked the Norton Star Atlas, which lists a 1.05 solar mass star (G0) with a luminosity of 1.5. The less-accurate approximation, to derive luminosity by raising the mass to the 3.5 power, gives a luminosity of 1.32, which I rejected in favour of the Norton.

4,7 BY is not old for a G star. The average lifespan is 10 billion years and probably longer if it's true that high metallicity stars live longer.
Metallicity is probably what's increasing the luminosity.

Thank you Naima. I haven't yet calculated my percentage of water on Ninevia, but I estimate the value to be between 60-75%;

70,25% according to my estimation.

[rebelandarunner]

Peter, I love the maps almost as much as the geophysical characteristics. I'm working on a world of my own and I'd like to know how you calculated those characteristics (such as mass and iron concentration) in order to come up with similar explanations for my own project. Any assistance you can provide would be appreciated.

[Peter Toth]

Hello there rebelandarunner,

So you're interested in learning a little geophysics to make your conworlding more realistic? Wonderful! I love creating worlds that are not just "good looking" but "REAL looking."

All the planet attributes (mass, radius, gravity, etc.) were calculated using basic formulas found in Stephen Gillet's book "World-Building: A Writer's Guide...", but they're also available on the Web; just Google. The stellar attributes were generated by the Stellar Evolution Simulator (http://rainman.astro.illinois.edu/ddr/stellar/) and processed with Excel; then, I just selected an "age" and read off the temperature, luminosity and such. Deciding the atmospheric composition and partial pressures of the planet's gases was done with an Excel spreadsheet specially designed for that purpose; I don't have any handy equations to offer.
The compositions were calculated with a little calculus, using a modified "density profile," which you can find easily on Google (just type "earth density profile.") You could also use one of those "mass-density curves" and select a realistic point on the graph, but I wanted something a bit more precise.

I hope this helps; if not, just send me a personal message and tell me exactly what you want to calculate.

Peter

[Khaalis]

Ok, gotta ask... What would it take to get you to create the basics of a new planet for someone? Seriously. Or at the very least a tutorial on how you did all this along with possibly running the data?

I'm coming back to trying to do a world map after years of hiatus after loosing all the work I'd done in the past, other than a few saved jpgs (HDD crash years ago). However, my biggest issue with most world maps is just what you state about looking not not necessarily looking "Right".

This was the old work. I'd like to create something similar (2 land masses). However, starting over seems daunting as I don't even remember how I did this in Gimp/Wilbur and would need to learn over again. Not to mention how you got the actual planet view, the correct flow of biomes, etc.

Karrakys WIP R2 v6.jpg