Boredom + MS Paint = this. Work in progress

[Gryffindorian]

I would highly recommend getting yourself photoshop to continue with this project. It makes it much easier IMO. I did THIS a while back using lots of layer effects so that all I had to do was make the shapes and all the colors and lines were automatically drawn in for me.

That's pretty good. I like how some fantasy games (e.g., Morrowmind) design their maps. They not only have a practical purpose but also serve to enhance the universe, kinda like Lord of the Rings' Middle-earth.

 

[Jadzia]

I think there should be a mountain range between the inland sea and the eastern coast on that northwestern continent.

I was thinking the same thing. If you look at that region you'll see it looks like two tectonic plates right up against each other. This of course means that there will be mountains and valleys in the the region where the two plates touch.

A question for everyone else: where should I put major features like mountains, rivers, maybe more lakes or inland seas?

I think it might be useful at this stage to think of where the tectonic plates are. Strings of little islands like that florida keys thing you've got around the left hand island often happens where two plates join. It's more obvious around alaska and oceania. See picture:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tectonic_plates-fr.png

Once you've decided that. You can think how those plates are moving, and how the land surface is affected by that movement. For example, it will bulge and ripple into mountain ranges if two plates are moving into one another.

Hope that helps

 

[RJDiogenes]

I do like that Southern continent, however it does make me think that there is an overabundance of inland seas. It seems kind of unlikely to me, even though I like the features themselves.

 

[Michael Chris]

Very nice job. I'd do it as a vector image, which would likely be easier to control.

 

[What's his face]

Here's a new update.
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n227/emistal/map-3.jpg
I may add a few small islands in the southern ocean but geography is essentially done until I trace the geography into photoshop or a cartography program.

Still on the list to do:
1) Physical Map (Islands, deserts, rivers, etc)
2) Political map (I'm hoping to have at least a hundred countries on this planet)
3) Major cities and settlements map
4) Description of countries (flags, population, basic history, economy, capital city, leader, etc)

I think there should be a mountain range between the inland sea and the eastern coast on that northwestern continent.

I was thinking the same thing. If you look at that region you'll see it looks like two tectonic plates right up against each other. This of course means that there will be mountains and valleys in the the region where the two plates touch.

A question for everyone else: where should I put major features like mountains, rivers, maybe more lakes or inland seas?

I think it might be useful at this stage to think of where the tectonic plates are. Strings of little islands like that florida keys thing you've got around the left hand island often happens where two plates join. It's more obvious around alaska and oceania. See picture:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tectonic_plates-fr.png

Once you've decided that. You can think how those plates are moving, and how the land surface is affected by that movement. For example, it will bulge and ripple into mountain ranges if two plates are moving into one another.

Hope that helps

That it did. I made two pictures which show what you're asking. The first picture is the standard map with red lines indicating the rough borders of the tectonic plates. The plate in the centre ocean drifted southward from the north pole, filling the gap between the two major continents.
The second picture is just a quick thing where I put the continents all together just to show how they fit together. If any geography/geology majors can check for accuracy can you let me know if there are any problems & how to fix them?
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n227/emistal/mapplates.jpg
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n227/emistal/mappangaea.jpg

I do like that Southern continent, however it does make me think that there is an overabundance of inland seas. It seems kind of unlikely to me, even though I like the features themselves.

I agree. It just didn't look right. Those are actually not seas but glacial lakes similar to the Great Lakes in North America and the Athabasca, Great Bear and Great Slave Lakes in Northern Canada. Is this better?

Very nice job. I'd do it as a vector image, which would likely be easier to control.

Can anyone suggest a suitable cartography program I can use?

 

[Jadzia]

Just to clarify -- Is that at the top a land mass like antarctica? And is there no southern polar land mass?


For tectonic plates, I'll give a summary of what I see on wikipedia's Earth picture.

-- The biggest ocean is one large plate. (Pacific plate) All other large plates are continental plates.

-- All other oceans occur are where two plates are drifting apart, with the join roughly half way between the land masses (North Atlantic ocean, South Atlantic ocean, Indian ocean, Antarctic ocean). If there are more than two plates involved, there tends to be one plate holding up one side of the ocean, and the various other plates holding up the other side. Furthermore, these ocean join lines all tend to run roughly north-south, or towards the polar plate, not across east-west.

-- Continental plates are approximately 50% land, 50% ocean, and the land tends to be against the edge of the plate on one side, and it's opposite coast is not near plate edges. The exception is a polar continental plate where the land tends to sit in the middle of the plate.

-- The large ocean plate is pushed against from all sides.

-- Land near plate edges tends to have mountain ranges more often than not.

-- If one side of a plate doesn't have mountain ranges, but the land is against the edge of the plate, there's likely to be a small plate just off-shore taking up that strain.

-- archipelago tend to occur where two continental plates meet mid ocean (also includes new zealand).

-- Polar continental plate tends not to give archipelago

-- Small plates can be used to explain large gulfs or large peninsulas of land (the red sea, gulf of mexico, arabia, india).

-- Lots of messy broken up islands can occur where a small plate interferes with what would otherwise be archipelago (Philippines)

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Can anyone suggest a suitable cartography program I can use?

Try AutoREALM. It is meant for exactly this purpose. It's vector-based, and you can use fractal lines so that the map contours will look detailed at any zoom level.

It also lets you set the scale, and then use a ruler to gauge distances. It's really a slick little program.

 

[What's his face]

Just to clarify -- Is that at the top a land mass like antarctica? And is there no southern polar land mass?

Yes. It's essentially the reverse of Antarctica. It's a polar land mass, except in the north.

For tectonic plates, I'll give a summary of what I see on wikipedia's Earth picture.

-- The biggest ocean is one large plate. (Pacific plate) All other large plates are continental plates.

-- All other oceans occur are where two plates are drifting apart, with the join roughly half way between the land masses (North Atlantic ocean, South Atlantic ocean, Indian ocean, Antarctic ocean). If there are more than two plates involved, there tends to be one plate holding up one side of the ocean, and the various other plates holding up the other side. Furthermore, these ocean join lines all tend to run roughly north-south, or towards the polar plate, not across east-west.

-- Continental plates are approximately 50% land, 50% ocean, and the land tends to be against the edge of the plate on one side, and it's opposite coast is not near plate edges. The exception is a polar continental plate where the land tends to sit in the middle of the plate.

-- The large ocean plate is pushed against from all sides.

-- Land near plate edges tends to have mountain ranges more often than not.

-- If one side of a plate doesn't have mountain ranges, but the land is against the edge of the plate, there's likely to be a small plate just off-shore taking up that strain.

-- archipelago tend to occur where two continental plates meet mid ocean (also includes new zealand).

-- Polar continental plate tends not to give archipelago

-- Small plates can be used to explain large gulfs or large peninsulas of land (the red sea, gulf of mexico, arabia, india).

-- Lots of messy broken up islands can occur where a small plate interferes with what would otherwise be archipelago (Philippines)

I think my map follows most of those. If not can you point out where it doesn't so I can make changes?

 

[RJDiogenes]

I do like that Southern continent, however it does make me think that there is an overabundance of inland seas. It seems kind of unlikely to me, even though I like the features themselves.

I agree. It just didn't look right. Those are actually not seas but glacial lakes similar to the Great Lakes in North America and the Athabasca, Great Bear and Great Slave Lakes in Northern Canada. Is this better?

I knew they were glacial lakes, I just said inland sea because they are so huge. This is definitely better, although I wasn't really complaining; the number and size of giant lakes seems unlikely, but unlikely things do happen. There's no reason that a planet couldn't look like this, especially if the ice age had been in the very recent past.

 

[Jadzia]

I've had a go myself using your islands as a starting point.

 

[What's his face]

Impressive Jadzia.
I've redone my planet's plates to look something more like this:

The arrows indicate the direction of drift and the squiggly yellow lines are where mountains are. The two yellolw arrows on that one continent indicate that plate is rotating.
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n227/emistal/mapplates-6.jpg

 

[Jadzia]

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n227/emistal/mapplates-1.jpg

As you can see I got rid of the archipelago connecting continents 1 and 4.

I need to change some things around too. I think I will move the island in the northeast (marked ?) to the convergence points of continents 1, 4 and 7.
I also have to move and rotate some of the continents to take into account their direction of drift.

Yes I prefer your new plates. They look more realistic, although continent 5 still looks a bit squashed in. Perhaps extend that red line on the lower right side of plate 5 to continue upward at a similar angle so that plate 5 includes a triangle of ocean. I think then it would look better.

The island you want to move -- maybe. I think it would look fine in either place. It depends on what you want the island to be. Where it is now looks kind of mysterious, but at 1-4-7 it would be an obvious strategic location. And yes, lying on a fault line it would more likely be a volcanic island, and possibly still active? , so any lore associated with it can revolve around that .

I'm noticing 1 and 2 are diverging, so that region to the right of the great lake isn't going to be mountains -- more like the lake will be growing.
If you make island 5 move up instead of right, it will allow 4 and 5 to grind against each other, which is ideal quake territory, and maybe useful in the lore for island 5 -- you can happily imagine the native inhabitants of 4 will think of the land of 5 to be the domain of evil gods because of the regular quakes along that fault line.

Island 6 looks cold and bleak. Island 3 looks the most interesting for some reason. I imagine that having the most temperate climate on the map, and supporting the most advanced civilisation.

Island 2 looks warm continental and some tropical areas, while island 1 looks cool continental. None of these islands come across as being desert-like... maybe the middle of 4 is the best candidate ?

Good work. I look forward to seeing some terrain and climate details.

 

[What's his face]

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n227/emistal/mapplates-1.jpg

As you can see I got rid of the archipelago connecting continents 1 and 4.

I need to change some things around too. I think I will move the island in the northeast (marked ?) to the convergence points of continents 1, 4 and 7.
I also have to move and rotate some of the continents to take into account their direction of drift.

Yes I prefer your new plates. They look more realistic, although continent 5 still looks a bit squashed in. Perhaps extend that red line on the lower right side of plate 5 to continue upward at a similar angle so that plate 5 includes a triangle of ocean. I think then it would look better.

The island you want to move -- maybe. I think it would look fine in either place. It depends on what you want the island to be. Where it is now looks kind of mysterious, but at 1-4-7 it would be an obvious strategic location. And yes, lying on a fault line it would more likely be a volcanic island, and possibly still active? , so any lore associated with it can revolve around that .

I'm noticing 1 and 2 are diverging, so that region to the right of the great lake isn't going to be mountains -- more like the lake will be growing.
If you make island 5 move up instead of right, it will allow 4 and 5 to grind against each other, which is ideal quake territory, and maybe useful in the lore for island 5 -- you can happily imagine the native inhabitants of 4 will think of the land of 5 to be the domain of evil gods because of the regular quakes along that fault line.

Island 6 looks cold and bleak. Island 3 looks the most interesting for some reason. I imagine that having the most temperate climate on the map, and supporting the most advanced civilisation.

Island 2 looks warm continental and some tropical areas, while island 1 looks cool continental. None of these islands come across as being desert-like... maybe the middle of 4 is the best candidate ?

Good work. I look forward to seeing some terrain and climate details.

Thanks for the long reply but I have changed the configuration of the plates just this second (though I have saved the old one that you are referring to) for reference here it is:
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n227/emistal/mapplates-2.jpg

I really like the idea of earthquakes in the connection of 4 and 5 so I will steal that idea

I like the description of the continents' climates you've offered. I was thinking the exact same thing. Though 3 isn't going to be bleak and desolate, it will have rather strong winters. I was thinking of northern Canada when I was drawing it. The northernmost area will likely be boreal forest, with taiga in the centre of the continent and tundra in the south.

 

[Jadzia]

Draw in your equator and tropics.

I remember reading some time ago that tectonic movement is theorised to be powered by the centrifugal force of the earth, modified by coriolis (sp) force.

If you imagine a centrifuge, mass is flung outward, which on a sphere means towards the equator, ie, the plates with the most mass-per-unit-area are "flung" towards to equator, while the lighter continents move towards the poles.

There has been suggestion that as ice accumulated on antarctica during some prehistoric ice age, it became much heavier, so began to move towards the equator, taking it out of the antarctic circle and into a warmer climate where the ice melted. Then being lighter it drifted back down again to where it is now and got it's ice back. Naturally, the world sea levels would have risen and lowered with that same tectonic cycle.

Maybe you could have something like this in your creation story?

 

[RJDiogenes]

This planet needs a name.

That was a nice sequence, Jadzia; it would make a good animation.

 

[What's his face]

This planet needs a name.

Yes it does. To guide the naming process I think some minor background history is in order:

Humans first evolved on the north-western continent. About 30,000 years ago some early humans migrated to the continent to the south that's shaped like a doggy (I think I want to call the ocean in between them the "Mediterranean Sea" or something similar as it serves the same purpose as the one on Earth.) and the southern tip of the arctic continent. Later on, after a few millenia, brave humans travel along the coast of the northern continent and arrive on the northern shore of the eastern continent. Migration occurs southward all the way to the southernmost continent. (This continent remains populated by nomadic people until only a few hundred years ago – think the Inuit or Mongolia –though by the present day they have moderately developed, if underpopulated nations)

You have your agricultural revolution about 25,000 years ago that spreads gradually outward from the north-western continent. most fertile land in this half of the world is in the middle continent, on the banks of the river connecting the inland sea to the ocean.

The first civilization (to be named) pops up running along the banks of that river. (So this river and the sea should be named in the language of that first civilization) Within a thousand years there are many civilizations on all three continents, ranging in size from large empires to small city-states. Cities localted on the chain of islands become quite rich as they serve as port cities that connect the two continents.

One of the civilizations, located on the northern half of the north-western continent becomes quite advanced (Think classical Greece and Rome) and prosperous due to an abundance of natural resources and conquers most of that half of the continent.

Eventually that civilization spreads to the volcanic island in the central ocean. (Therefore it should be named in the same language) The island is at first controlled by the mainland but distance makes this difficult. Over the next couple hundred years it develops its own offshoot culture and becomes sovereign (Imagine if Vinland had been a success?).

More to come later, covering the time ranging from this planet’s early middle ages to the discovery of the eastern world by the west, colonization to the decline of the dominant Greek-Roman-style civilization (which eventually becomes similar to modern Russia by the present day - stagnant, kleptocratic, hostile and depleted) to the rise of the east and the present day.

Also I am learning how to use Adobe Illustrator. Once i am done an Illustrator map I will post it here.

 

[RJDiogenes]

How about "Hither?" Because no matter where you go, there you are.

 

[Jadzia]

How about "Hither?" Because no matter where you go, there you are.

Or how about "Pither ?" Because then you can say "I am at present on a cycling tour of North Cornwall, taking in Bude..."

 

[RJDiogenes]

You mean as in "Brotherhood," but with "Pi" instead of "Bro" and no "hood?"

 

[All Seeing Eye]

I want to see something like this.