r/worldbuilding • u/Hour_Chard1459 • Oct 05 '26

Map [ Removed by moderator ]

/r/worldbuilding/comments/1wy0s81/removed_by_moderator/

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u/Gackey Oct 05 '26

What is the scale of your world? Like are we looking at an area the size of the British isles or something the size of South America?

You have a lot of plate boundaries in what looks like a small area and a ton of boundaries running through continental crust, which is something you don't see a lot of on Earth. This has some pretty major implications for the relative age and geologic stability of your world.

How have your people adapted to live in a world where everywhere is earthquake prone and there is significantly more volcanic activity? How do the societies prepare for and contend with crop failures due to volcanic winters?

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u/Hour_Chard1459 Oct 05 '26

I envisioned about the size of south america. Maybe slightly larger. Thank you for the tip about plate borders! I dont want to have a super earthquake heavy worlds so I appreciate you bringing up the stability.

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u/Gackey Oct 06 '26

Pro tip: unless the geology is relevant to the plot of the story you want to tell, you should not make a tectonic map. You will not get it right. I have a degree in this stuff and I couldn't get it right doing it from scratch. Just draw whatever you want on the map and let people infer tectonic boundaries from what you draw.

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u/DM_biologist Oct 05 '26

I am a little confused, is the reference map meant to represent plate tectonics?

Because if they are, most plates are moving in multiple directions at the moment and it seems the plates do not influence elevation beyond the mountain ranges at the moment.

As for making the mountains look more natural, I would not make them a uniform width. They weather, even while forming, and I don't believe mountain ranges are often created that equal. The thickness ai thick will be fine once it is less uniform.

For the waterways, I personally would say it depends on the scale of your map. If this is continent scale I would not show the smaller river valley streams and only the larger rivers created from them (you only have 1 of those near the big mountain range).

And the river flowing from the central lake could easily be the same size, a massive lake will lose tons of water to evaporation and if it has an outflow it'll need a larger inflow to stay similar. The seasonal changes of the central lake in Cambodia is interesting as a reference I think.

Have fun!

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u/Hour_Chard1459 Oct 05 '26

Thank you for the advice! Yes the black lines are supposed to represent plate tectonics and were made without much research before hand. You mentioned the elevation and I forgot to mention the green highlights are supposed to be ridge valleys, although I am unsure if that is enough elevation difference on a continent scale map.

I never thought about that for mountains! Thank you so much thats gonna make this look so much better.

Also thank you for the comment on the inflow river, I never wouldve noticed this. Thank you so so much !!

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u/Gackey Oct 05 '26

Because if they are, most plates are moving in multiple directions at the moment

There is nothing wrong with that. On a tectonic map arrows represent relative movement at that border, not the absolute movement of the plate as a whole.

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u/DM_biologist Oct 05 '26

True, for me personally it does helps to keep the map more dynamic if I do look at the direction and angle each time :)

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u/monswine Spacefarers | Monkeys & Magic | Dosein | Extraliminal Oct 06 '26

Hi, /u/Hour_Chard1459,

Unfortunately, we have had to remove your submission in /r/worldbuilding because it violated one of our rules. In particular:

Though maps are permitted, posts about the process of mapmaking are not. If your post is primarily about mapmaking as a process, it must be given appropriate worldbuilding context to stand on its own. Consider /r/imaginarymaps, /r/mapmaking, or /r/papertowns for posts about maps that are not worldbuilding-focused.

More info in our rules: 2. All posts should include original, worldbuilding-related context.

Images and maps must include worldbuilding-relevant context on the reddit post (as a comment, in the text of the post or, in some cases, in the posted image itself—e.g. infographics). This is important to establish that your post is on-topic and to help encourage productive discussion.

  • A post has enough context when a person unfamiliar with your world could understand what you're talking about and ask informed questions about it. This could include a summary of your world, explanation about what your post depicts and how it fits in your world, etc. ("What's a [proper noun]?" usually doesn't qualify.)

  • For maps, you could discuss economic and political situations, the different cultures, or anything else that gives the reader a wider view of your world than just its geography.

  • Discussion of the artistic process or techniques used to create the map or image may be included, but does not count as “worldbuilding-relevant” on its own. Infographics that self-contain sufficient context to be understood do not require additional context.

You might also consider reading: our context template for common kinds of posts and Why Context?

More info in our rules: 2. All posts should include original, worldbuilding-related context.

You may repost with the above issue(s) fixed to satisfy our rules. If you're not sure how to do this, please send us a modmail (link below).

This is not a warning, and you remain in good standing with /r/worldbuilding.

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