WIP - (ambitious) World Map of fictious earth-like planet

[Pixie]

can I have some more please?

This multi-year project now progresses in leaps and stalemates... currently it's not leaping
Not only I have an 18-month old son which is another super demanding life-long project, my (very short!) mapping time has been devoted to more detailed maps of Acur coasts. In fact, I should have one ready to share soon.

I'm glad you like what I have done so far though. It's appreciated.

[MatchGame]

This is great! World maps fascinate me.

[Pixie]

Funny how things progress, stall, dwindle and re-ignite...
(warning, post for tectonics freaks)

Almost 5 months ago, I was doing detailed regional maps. They were the first ones to become canon for anything done in the future. In the meanwhile, I was doing history stuff (early civilizations, bronze age) as well, and some more geology to establish mineral rich regions... That was all good, even if a lot was in the backstage and too vague or incomplete to be posted.

Then a bug about my tectonics got to me - some areas I had neglected earlier, roughing it, were now becoming annoying, implausible... impossible. And tectonics weighs on you... So I stalled.

Then there were a few tutorials posted on tectonics. Every now and then, we have a small tectonics surge in here, a few good threads... Kacey and Pagan were working on their worlds, Warlin and Charerg did those valuable tutorials. I got back at it, doing the rock-crunching-invisible-work... Still at it, and it will take a few more months, at least. But it's going well.

So!... following advice from my friend Charerg, I'm posting a few maps in the next days.
Today is 150 Million Years before present:
150Ma_clean.png
(a clean map, showing only continental platforms and landmasses)

150Ma_namesandbounds.png
including boundaries (incomplete in some regions, but not important)

The main things happening before this installment and the 125 Million Years (coming soon) are:
- Krasia is just about stopping it's northeastwards movement, and is going to start feeling a pull towards west - as it's oceanic crust gets subducted.
- Yet, before it does, it will still manage to seed chaos in the Dragoz super plate, breaking it into pieces.
- Acur and Palamb are rifting apart, but Acur is also loosing Dahache peninsula, which will speed northwestwards and collide first with Dragoz.
- The boundary between Kane and Dahache is a mess of subduction sections, as subduction just triggered, it will get even more messy as continental crust from Dahache aproaches.

[Charerg]

I haven't quite had the time to process all the details yet, but at first glance, it looks like you might be setting the new benchmark for tectonic geekery (if that's a word) in world building. I mean, this almost looks like a simulation of Earth's plate tectonics with all those detailed continents and tectonic boundaries! Extremely impressive work Pixie .

I'm curious how you modelled the movements though. Did you use GPlates or the techniques demonstrated in Warlin's tutorial (which I'm not too familiar with, though I've skimmed through it)?

[kacey]

Techtonics really does weigh on you I can attest to that, there seems to be another surge starting, I think it’s addictive once you get caught up in it and contagious like a plague. I’ve been seeing a few world maps around the forum recently that make me want to get back to mine.

It’s good to see you back working on this, you’re not redoing the elevation are you? And the map looks really good, you always manage to make everything look so neat and tidy.

[Ilanthar]

Yup, I'm also glad to see you working again on the world map, Pixie. Ambitious, it still is!
I really like the shape of the central continents.

[Pixie]

I'm curious how you modelled the movements though. Did you use GPlates or the techniques demonstrated in Warlin's tutorial (which I'm not too familiar with, though I've skimmed through it)?

I'm using GPlates. Your tutorial really shed light on the issues that kept me from using it properly. Mostly how to create and attach oceanic crust, which is very handy, since it allows me to "draw" the growing plates. And because I can determine the date at which something disappears, I can also "program" their subduction. I've been using flowlines as well.. we didn't get along at start, but now I've learnt my way with them.

Techtonics really does weigh on you I can attest to that, there seems to be another surge starting, I think it’s addictive

I hope it's not a big surge... yes, it's addictive, and I don't have time in my everyday schedule for "addictive" ... I'm glad to hear you are getting your energy/creativity levels back to normal, I felt a little down about contributing to that sort of meltdown.

Yup, I'm also glad to see you working again on the world map, Pixie. Ambitious, it still is!
I really like the shape of the central continents.

Thanks for the compliment on the continents Ilanthar, but this shape won't get used for anything other than tectonics-derived-plausibility of my present day map, which is a work in progress for years to come.

[Azélor]

For me tectonic is almost like magic since I don't really understand it well.
Climates are still partly magic.
Someones ask if an orange territory is supposed to be a desert.
My answer is yes, no, maybe.
I normally paint arid places with oranges or yellow. Is this a sing?

Seriously, I should get back at this.


I got to ask: why are you doing the whole evolution of tectonic plate?
Is it in order to get more accurate/realistic results for the actual era the setting takes place?

[Kalium]

Well, you said ambitious and you did not disappoint. I just sat down to read this entire thread and it was a treat (and puts my own heightmaps to shame, wow). I'm seeing a lot of people here have their own pet worlds that they've worked on for much of their lives. The levels of dedication here are amazing and I can't wait to see what comes next.

[Pixie]

I got to ask: why are you doing the whole evolution of tectonic plate?
Is it in order to get more accurate/realistic results for the actual era the setting takes place?

I never said I was sane...
Yes, all this is to get more realistic results in the present day map - there were a couple of places that were just itching too much in terms of plausibility.. I hadn't work them properly and they felt wrong. Also, as you might have noticed, I like tectonics or the sake of tectonics.
And also, it's not just a matter of properly aligned mountains. I intend to take this mega-project to a 20th century setting, which means simulating a lot, including resources availability - gold, copper, tin, coal or oil couldn't be placed randomly, you see

... and I can't wait to see what comes next.

The single most important thing I've learnt with this multi-year thread is to wait to see what comes next.
Thanks for the compliments.

Now, to avoid double posting, here are the maps 25 million years later:
125Ma_clean.png

125Ma_namesandbounds.png
with tectonic plates names and boundaries drawn... here's what's going on:
- a couple more rifts, some subduction areas are taking their toll and pulling away pieces of main continents, there's lots of inner seas
- Dahache continental platform is just reaching the subduction zone to where it's being pulled, this will change the dynamics in that area
- looks like small stuff, but just wait for the 100 M.years map,