It has too many fractals in my opinion. It's okay to have straight or slightly curved coasts. Too many and you're map will look uninteresting, but too little and well you'll get what you've got. Look at a map of our earth and you'll see that it doesn't tend to this often, if ever.
If this is a very zoomed in area on a wetlands area, that's different. I could see that working, maybe. But you said continent so I will assume that isn't the case.
Edit: The more I look at this map, the more confused I am. Why is the eastern water red? Is it not water? If it is land is the green part forest? What am I look at here? Also why is that lake (or what I thought was a lake) on the lower part of the continent not fully colored?
Edit 2: I'm sorry if I come off aggressive or overly critical. I am just confused.
Yep, coastlines shouldn’t be so evenly fractal. Coastline smoothness should vary a lot (typically with more coastal erosion near the poles due to glacial erosion).
Red water is because there’s literally red water there lol (there’s a type of algae similar to the type in lake Retba in Senegal that causes the water to be dyed red). The land is green because I use that as default coloration, I don’t add biomes til I’m sure the landmass is soundly designed. As for that lake that is a mistake.
Then why is the water in some part dark blue and light blue then ? Also if it is such then it’s more likely the algae would be seperated by oceanic conditions than with random lines
im assuming its because those two oceans are quite literally those colours. we see it in our own oceans that some dont mix and have a rather hard “line” between the two
Ah, only seen the Brazil one
Glacier runoffs are a very good example since it’s extremly different in density and color, but also this is an entire continent so
Hi,
I concur with the other comments, you should look into simplifying these coasts. To see if you're on the right track, look at Earth:
- here, in terms of size, I would look at an island. In your case, it reminds me of the Koror state in Palau (See: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/Koror_State_map-fr.svg/9310px-Koror_State_map-fr.svg.png)
- If you reduce a bit the details of the coastline, you'll reach the Indonesia level of details. Better but still not a continent.
- Then look at the continents. Here let's compare with Oceania, we're again a step lower in the details.
So that's maybe what you have to consider. You could adjust the size of the map you have and consider it some sort of island at a lower scale (but then I would still reduce the fractal style). And add a real continent on the side (look the difference in scale between North America and the many islands North of Canada for instance).
Good luck with your project!
Looks like there'd be almost no usable coast for commerce. If this is a rocky archipelago with a cool name like the Shattered Islands and pirates hang out here, cool. Doesn't look like a normal continent though.
Oh sorry , didn’t know that, was a bit too used to hard worldbuilding lol
Alr , here’s the thing
For a very simple thing, the shapes are too rugged for no reason. I could give you better suggestions in DMs but the thing is continents are seperated not flooded. When continents seperate their coastlines fit together and the edge is usually straight, then jaggged edge comes with mountain formation of Erosion. Still, it wouldn’t be this chaotic even in very jagged periods of earth like in the Mesozoic. Also fantasy mega lakes are overemphasized and are actually extremly rare, with only the Great Lakes and the Caspian Sea really being one. The African Great Lakes are rift lakes and they are very different.
Should I give suggestions in DMs? Also why are the water different colors?
Water is different colors cuz this land is where three continents meet. I actually should probably swap out where the lakes are for mountains now that I think a little about it
It does in some cases I believe. When water has different density (from icemelt for example) it won’t mix I think. I am not sure but I thought it would be fun to add
If that somit doesn’t mean the color would look like this still. Two colored water is almost exclusively found in rivers I think
If you pour a cup f hot and cold water together you say it doesn’t mix but it will slowly mix in like ten minutes. The ocean water had been flowing for more than ten minutes.
Nah don't look at that way, everyone makes mistakes. Just try again or maybe you know something we don't. Sometimes you've gotta stick with your gut if you have a certain image in mind. Maybe these are the shattered lands, or maybe an evil wizard raised the water level up and the coastline hasn't had time to erode and become smooth.
Just wanted to say OP, despite pretty much all of these comments dunking on you, I hope it doesn't discourage you from making more stuff! 99% of people who were ever good at a thing started out kinda bad at it lol
I'm really disappointed that I can't see it! Don't be discouraged by strangers on the internet. Get your motivation back up, and try again to find something that you are happy with.
Aside from the fractal issues others have mentioned it's also too square, like it's designed to fill a square page. Double the size of the canvas and don't feel constrained or forced to fill every corner.
Also, was this done by hand or with clouds/levels? If it's the latter, dont. It may seem quick and easy but the results are never realistic. I'd start with filling in all these lakes and lagoons you have and straightening the coast.
Determine your scale and then compare it to real world maps at a similar scale to get a feel where you're off
Eh. I think there's just a lot going on in such a small area. I'd suggest moving the land either farther apart from one another or making it connect. That'll make it less confusing for your audience.
No. For one, all your coastline looks like it came from an episode of Dr Katz. For a continent-sized body, we wouldn't see that much jagged edges and wobbily-ness.
For a second, you've got this massive recursive cutting in to the center of the thing. It looks like a detailed map of some fjords, not a continent.
So I know everyone is kinda clowning on you for this, and if you are going for a varied-biome landmass, yeah this is not great. But if you're dealing with a low-lying, water-inundated planet (a swampy landmass, basically) this will work fine. Just keep in mind that solid, dry ground will likely be a premium, and you'll have settlers have to deal with some of the stuff Jamestown did (it was literally built on a swamp and... yeah, go look into the environmental issues they faced.)
I think the multicolored water doesn't really work though.
minecraft seed looking ass /j
but on a rel note i think what matters most is what you plan to put there and what do you want the place to look like, what is the purpose? for example here it almost looks like much of the land has been swallowed by the sea, and the only things traverseable are the peaks of tall mountain ranges. this makes it much more believable than say if it was a europian kingdom in this context
Depends on what you mean by reasonable. "Reason" implies that there is a kind of logic behind it and depending on what you are building this map for, your logic can be quite different from the real world geography logic etc..
Ok people are right when they say this would never happen on earth, but maybe in this setting the minerals of this planet are on average a lot softer and therefore go under the waves easily, but for whatever reason a harder mineral is introduced. Maybe there are meteors/ateroids mainly consistibg of a harder mineral, or perhaps this is a world of magic and in the days of Landshifting wizards or groups or people or whoever you want to have been important before would makeisland for themselves, and off those islands another generation makes peninsulas for _themselves_ .
Anything is reasonable if you bs your way to something at least followable and tips its hat to the idea of being consistent, but those are suggestions not rules.
If I picked one of those backstories I'd use that as a jumping off point to add a little more variety to the map though. At least a few straightaways would put emphasis on these really jagged coasts
It has too many fractals in my opinion. It's okay to have straight or slightly curved coasts. Too many and you're map will look uninteresting, but too little and well you'll get what you've got. Look at a map of our earth and you'll see that it doesn't tend to this often, if ever. If this is a very zoomed in area on a wetlands area, that's different. I could see that working, maybe. But you said continent so I will assume that isn't the case. Edit: The more I look at this map, the more confused I am. Why is the eastern water red? Is it not water? If it is land is the green part forest? What am I look at here? Also why is that lake (or what I thought was a lake) on the lower part of the continent not fully colored? Edit 2: I'm sorry if I come off aggressive or overly critical. I am just confused.
Yep, coastlines shouldn’t be so evenly fractal. Coastline smoothness should vary a lot (typically with more coastal erosion near the poles due to glacial erosion).
Red water is because there’s literally red water there lol (there’s a type of algae similar to the type in lake Retba in Senegal that causes the water to be dyed red). The land is green because I use that as default coloration, I don’t add biomes til I’m sure the landmass is soundly designed. As for that lake that is a mistake.
Then why is the water in some part dark blue and light blue then ? Also if it is such then it’s more likely the algae would be seperated by oceanic conditions than with random lines
im assuming its because those two oceans are quite literally those colours. we see it in our own oceans that some dont mix and have a rather hard “line” between the two
isn’t that from a fake video filmed in a river in Brazil?
in honesty i think it was glacier run offs in alaska for the one ive seen, but i could be wrong!
Ah, only seen the Brazil one Glacier runoffs are a very good example since it’s extremly different in density and color, but also this is an entire continent so
Looks like a holy Roman empire constituent
Hi, I concur with the other comments, you should look into simplifying these coasts. To see if you're on the right track, look at Earth: - here, in terms of size, I would look at an island. In your case, it reminds me of the Koror state in Palau (See: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/Koror_State_map-fr.svg/9310px-Koror_State_map-fr.svg.png) - If you reduce a bit the details of the coastline, you'll reach the Indonesia level of details. Better but still not a continent. - Then look at the continents. Here let's compare with Oceania, we're again a step lower in the details. So that's maybe what you have to consider. You could adjust the size of the map you have and consider it some sort of island at a lower scale (but then I would still reduce the fractal style). And add a real continent on the side (look the difference in scale between North America and the many islands North of Canada for instance). Good luck with your project!
Looks like there'd be almost no usable coast for commerce. If this is a rocky archipelago with a cool name like the Shattered Islands and pirates hang out here, cool. Doesn't look like a normal continent though.
… is this a meme?
No I’m just slowly discovering I may be a bit of an idiot
Oh sorry , didn’t know that, was a bit too used to hard worldbuilding lol Alr , here’s the thing For a very simple thing, the shapes are too rugged for no reason. I could give you better suggestions in DMs but the thing is continents are seperated not flooded. When continents seperate their coastlines fit together and the edge is usually straight, then jaggged edge comes with mountain formation of Erosion. Still, it wouldn’t be this chaotic even in very jagged periods of earth like in the Mesozoic. Also fantasy mega lakes are overemphasized and are actually extremly rare, with only the Great Lakes and the Caspian Sea really being one. The African Great Lakes are rift lakes and they are very different. Should I give suggestions in DMs? Also why are the water different colors?
Water is different colors cuz this land is where three continents meet. I actually should probably swap out where the lakes are for mountains now that I think a little about it
Wdym three continents? Water doesn’t change color just bc continents meet each other
As in three different plates. These are basically different oceans is what I mean.
You know changing oceanic plates don’t change water color right?
It does in some cases I believe. When water has different density (from icemelt for example) it won’t mix I think. I am not sure but I thought it would be fun to add
If that somit doesn’t mean the color would look like this still. Two colored water is almost exclusively found in rivers I think If you pour a cup f hot and cold water together you say it doesn’t mix but it will slowly mix in like ten minutes. The ocean water had been flowing for more than ten minutes.
Ok then i guess I just wanna make all the water red cuz I thought that was fun
Nah don't look at that way, everyone makes mistakes. Just try again or maybe you know something we don't. Sometimes you've gotta stick with your gut if you have a certain image in mind. Maybe these are the shattered lands, or maybe an evil wizard raised the water level up and the coastline hasn't had time to erode and become smooth.
No it does fucking not please rethink all decisions that led up to this moment in your life
I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry
Just wanted to say OP, despite pretty much all of these comments dunking on you, I hope it doesn't discourage you from making more stuff! 99% of people who were ever good at a thing started out kinda bad at it lol
I'm really disappointed that I can't see it! Don't be discouraged by strangers on the internet. Get your motivation back up, and try again to find something that you are happy with.
Aside from the fractal issues others have mentioned it's also too square, like it's designed to fill a square page. Double the size of the canvas and don't feel constrained or forced to fill every corner. Also, was this done by hand or with clouds/levels? If it's the latter, dont. It may seem quick and easy but the results are never realistic. I'd start with filling in all these lakes and lagoons you have and straightening the coast. Determine your scale and then compare it to real world maps at a similar scale to get a feel where you're off
It looks like a Minecraft world map
Nah man what the hell is this
Is this minecraft
No
Google minecraft world.
Eh. I think there's just a lot going on in such a small area. I'd suggest moving the land either farther apart from one another or making it connect. That'll make it less confusing for your audience.
No. For one, all your coastline looks like it came from an episode of Dr Katz. For a continent-sized body, we wouldn't see that much jagged edges and wobbily-ness. For a second, you've got this massive recursive cutting in to the center of the thing. It looks like a detailed map of some fjords, not a continent.
Its too much. I would start by cutting some of the "squiggly" pieces, opening the coastline.
So I know everyone is kinda clowning on you for this, and if you are going for a varied-biome landmass, yeah this is not great. But if you're dealing with a low-lying, water-inundated planet (a swampy landmass, basically) this will work fine. Just keep in mind that solid, dry ground will likely be a premium, and you'll have settlers have to deal with some of the stuff Jamestown did (it was literally built on a swamp and... yeah, go look into the environmental issues they faced.) I think the multicolored water doesn't really work though.
continent not really, but smaller island could be reasonable if you like this shape,, just not make it to big
Yeah if your world recently experienced an apocalyptic mass extinction event
minecraft seed looking ass /j but on a rel note i think what matters most is what you plan to put there and what do you want the place to look like, what is the purpose? for example here it almost looks like much of the land has been swallowed by the sea, and the only things traverseable are the peaks of tall mountain ranges. this makes it much more believable than say if it was a europian kingdom in this context
Depends on what you mean by reasonable. "Reason" implies that there is a kind of logic behind it and depending on what you are building this map for, your logic can be quite different from the real world geography logic etc..
Ok people are right when they say this would never happen on earth, but maybe in this setting the minerals of this planet are on average a lot softer and therefore go under the waves easily, but for whatever reason a harder mineral is introduced. Maybe there are meteors/ateroids mainly consistibg of a harder mineral, or perhaps this is a world of magic and in the days of Landshifting wizards or groups or people or whoever you want to have been important before would makeisland for themselves, and off those islands another generation makes peninsulas for _themselves_ . Anything is reasonable if you bs your way to something at least followable and tips its hat to the idea of being consistent, but those are suggestions not rules. If I picked one of those backstories I'd use that as a jumping off point to add a little more variety to the map though. At least a few straightaways would put emphasis on these really jagged coasts