Mapping

Mapping is only one small aspect of a World Building although there is often great importance placed on the creation of maps.

For Fantasy themed worlds, where a different set of geogrpahical land formations rise, mapping can be creative. Fantasy worlds are not restricted by the laws and sciences of Earth, such as the setting of the fantasy book series, "Landscapes of Ephemara" by Anne Bishop. Fantasy worlds can be creative and have a broader acceptance of what the name World encompasses.

Earth like worlds will contain geographic and scientific similarities which can assist in aiding them to be more familiar and believable to the reader. Conworlders with a passion for detail may enjoy getting lost in the small details which will require indepth World Building research before embarking upon mapping.

Time Period Reference

One of the first decisions to be made at the mapping stage, is to decide the time period of the map. A geofiction has the potential to develop a variety of maps that show the change in the structures or land formations and water levels over a period of time. Role-play games, especially those that are set in one time period may only ever have to produce one map for the period that the game is set. Like Geofictions, RPGs can also benefit from using maps that were developed for previous time periods. as they provide a historical reference for players. Historical maps can also help to foster ideas for game play such as hidden artifacts from ancient times. These ideas are also useful artistic references in the development of geofictions.

Type of Map

The art of Cartography, or mapping has been a relied upon artform since before 6000 BC. Mostly appearing on stone tablets, the ancient maps such as the Babylonian clay tablet depict small settlements etched into stone. Since then, mapping has grown into an established artform ranging from basic diagrams to 3D art.

Diagrams

One of the simplest forms of mapping is a diagram. It can be used to depict its topic by use of connections, movements and hierachys. A map showing the ages of the world might look like this:

 
A diagram of a City might include the names of suburbs, estates, parks, town features and hotels and could be a simple construct of words, such as:

Brisbane City
-Toowong
--Heights
--Riverside
--Cemetary
--shoots
-Hamilton
--River
--Port
--Raceway Park
-Ashgrove
-Indooroopilly
--Shopping Mall
--River

More complex diagrams might include a geographical reference point, population number and the time travelled to reach each destination.

Mapping programs

There are many varied mapping programs available for world builders. Some programs are free under GPL licensing, such as Autorealm, the GNU mapper and Fractual World Generator. While others can be downloaded online for a reasonable fee such as Dundjinni and Campaign Cartographer 3.

Mapping programs can be helpful and fun to use but drawing a map from hand using paper and ink can be just as much fun. Choosing the medium in which to develop your map will be a personal choice based on your artistic strengths and the desired visual finish of your map.

If you're considering choosing a mapping program, take a look at this list of Mapping Programs. The list includes a summary of mapping programs, their benefits and features.

Simple World Design

The first aspect to decide in the design of a world is the world's physical shape. A traditional oval shaped world will need to consider geographical features that may impact culture or environment such as the world's tilt and the location of poles.

An easy way to begin drawing the map of a traditional world is to begin with one continent. The following continent was created using Corel Paintshop Photo Pro but you could easily create something similar with MS Paint or even in Word using shapes.

The first thing to draw is the shape of the continent. The outline is drawn in a new layer with a coloured pen tool in a dark green shade. The lower layer or background is filled with an aqua blue to represent the ocean. Finally the shape is filled with a lighter green to represent the land.

Once the basic outline is determined, mountain ranges and rives are drawn next. Starting rivers in high terrain, such as mountains and drawing their path towards lower terrain such as the coast where they meet the sea or other water courses, keeps their placement on a map realistic.

Questions

1. What is the size of your world in relation to its inhabitants?
2. Would your world have traditional landscapes made up of water and earth?
3. Would you draw a detailed map on each square?
4. Would the landscapes on the squares align perfectly with the adjacent squares even when moved?
5. Would each face of the cube have a significant meaning? IE a different dimension or different plane of the same world.
6. Would your world exist on the face of the cube, or within the cube itself.
7. What effect would the cube's movements have on each of the landscapes?

Use of maps

Maps are a very useful tool in Geofictions. They can provide the reader with a visual reference for the duration of their stay in the world. They can also provide the reader with a false or incomplete graphical representation. For entertainment value a World Builder, may decide not to include certain information on some maps so that a reader is deliberately left unware or even misguided regarding certain aspects of the world.

Another use for a map in a geofiction is to show the reader a map that may have existed from a particular time period. The map may be drawn in the eyes of a citizen or character. For a writer, using this map as a reference while writing can keep their attention on those aspects the character would be most familiar. This application i practical for writers whose Geofictions are usually the background to a much larger work.

In a role-play game, a map may help a roleplayer visualise the scene and determin the proximity of their character in relation to other players. This is useful tool for battle scenes. The map that is shown to the players may not be a complete map of their area and could be different for each player, missing any elements that the player's character would not be aware of in the game.