Help!

[bloodyrosemccoy]

Hey, nerds!

Help me out here, because Google and the library catalog both look at me like I’m some sort of nut when I say I want resources on creating maps for made-up worlds. I am a nut, of course, but dammit, I know there are answers out there for nuts like me, because I have countless fantasy books with detailed maps in their fronts and also a lot of RP-ing friends who spend their weekends barging around such worlds. The resources must exist, because not every nerd is willing to reinvent the wheel.*

But god help me if I can find any of these resources, so I turn to you, you nerds. Where can I find good books/sites/software on creating maps of worlds that are not Earth?

I’m counting on you, internet! Don’t let me down!


*Yes, a lot of us are, but dammit this is the FUTURE and you would think we of all people would be willing to share pointless knowledge like this on the internet.

Comments

[agenttrojie.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry I have no resources to share, but I am just kind of going to camp in this post because I too would REALLY LIKE to have this information.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

And here I'd listed you as one of my possible mapping resources ...

[agenttrojie.livejournal.com]

Oh, I can show you how to map small-scale, but A Whole World I am no good for!

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

*grin* I need both at this point. My most current stories take place in a smallish part one of my worlds, but I feel incomplete if I don't have the whole planet there, so I have graph paper and do a lot of size-transfers to zoom in and out manually.

[agenttrojie.livejournal.com]

Basically if you have distances and directions I could make you a map? But that would be with, like, a ruler and coloured pencils and a protractor. I don't know how to do it on a computer, or really how to explain it. They cut the mapping section out of second year sedimentology before I had to teach it ...

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Hmmm ... I may take you up on it. I would have to work hard on just WHAT I needed, though. At this point I've got the terrain, rough distances, landmarks, and various climatic zones worked in. I'll come up with questions as I go, and I'll hail you if I need a hand.

[agenttrojie.livejournal.com]

Sweet :D

[stagemanager.livejournal.com]

About four sections down, there are a handful of links to mapmaking.

http://hiddenway.tripod.com/world/

You're welcome.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

I'd checked there, and found a few things, but unfortunately most of the links are broken. But I do like the 3D Starmaps link.

[ruisseau.livejournal.com]

http://www.brodt.dk/peter/maps.html

http://www.profantasy.com/

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

I may have to shell out for Campaign Cartographer. My biggest problem is judging distance and scale. I'm terrible at it, and of course there's the whole problem of a flat map of a round world ...

[blackbyrd2.livejournal.com]

No resources, but I can give you some ideas of how the geology should work, assuming carbon-based life forms simlar to Earth-types;

Evolution is going to require approx the same kind of proportions/type of world we have here, so you could figure about 1/2 - 3/4 of the planet as water, assume the tectonic plates will shift like ours, and that mountain ranges will then follow these plates around, creating pushup mountains like the Rockies, or volcanic mountains where the plates are moving apart.

Larger planets will need to be less dense in order to have habitable, usable amounts of water/oxygen, etc., and not crush the inhabitants. Higher density/larger mass planets which create das uberstrong aliens will have a whole different chemistry, and may use ammonia instead of water, which means your creatures won't be able to directly interact without life-support suits. (Gas giants, etc.) Smaller planets will have a difficult time hanging onto the gases needed to make an atmosphere and protect the life from radiation.

Moon/earth is going to be your best bet for a double planet system. Keep the tides in mind.

Good luck!

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

That's the stuff I'm tops at! (Actually, if you need resources, I've got a couple of terrific books about exactly that I can dig up.)

As I mentioned in another comment, at this point my questions are about the maps themselves--while I'm great at what I term "zoomed out" planetbuilding (density, distance from star, atmosphere, plate tectonics, alien life on said world), my sense of scale is pretty pathetic. I have real trouble gauging how something fits on, say, an island. I'm looking to plan cities, figure out distances from landmark to landmark, translate a global map onto a flat surface, that sort of thing. I'm leaning toward Campaign Cartographer right now, actually.

[blackbyrd2.livejournal.com]

Oop! Sorry then. :)

I hope it does what you need. I've sketched a map or three for D&D in my time, but couldn't give you a clue how to be more accurate about it. I only ever worried about the parts where the people were going to go. :D

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

Mark Rosenfelder's "The Planet Construction Kit" has some of this stuff - I haven't really worked through it yet.

[enigmania.livejournal.com]

I found some promising leads by googling "worldbuilding cartography", like http://www.cartographersguild.com/ (the cartographers choice examples are amazing and link to development discussion threads sometimes)

And goodness, from the makers of Campaign Cartographer: http://www.profantasy.com/products/ft.asp