Topic: Planetary Dawn Project: Construction of Worlds

[Hydromancerx]

Well with Sagan 4 I have made biomes before. Like realistic where they should actually go biomes. As long as I know the elevation then I can know where the biomes go. So the best way is to do a topography map.

Example Topo Map from Sagan 4

Examples Biome Mao from Sagan 4

[Hydromancerx]

The map using the Sagan 4 template.

So making a realistic map is not that hard if you understand the rules.

Plate Tectonics
You have to choose what directions the plates will go. In doing so you can see if you are making a mountain or a deep sea trench. Those that go side to side also make mountains but not as huge as say the Himalayas.

Sea Currents
Sea currents for the most part are easy to draw. North and South poles try to make a clockwise cold water current. While at the equator is a clockwise warm water current. In between is where it gets tricky. East Side of the continents tend to get warmer wetter currents, while West side of contents get cooler dryer currents.

Biomes
Based on the elevation and sea currents you can determine where biomes will be. So like double red sea currents on low elevation in the tropical zone makes Tropical Rainforest. The biomes are limited to the following zones ....

Marine

Vents = Volcanic + Sea Floor

Cold Seep = Seep + Sea Floor

Ocean (Trench Floor) = Trench + Sea Floor
Ocean (Trench Zone) = Trench + Open Water
Ocean (Trench Slope) = Trench + Sea Slope

Ocean (Abyss Floor) = Abyss + Sea Floor
Ocean (Abyss Zone) = Abyss + Open Water
Ocean (Abyss Slope) = Abyss + Sea Slope
Ocean (Abyss Sea Mount) = Abyss + Sea Mount

Ocean (Midnight Floor) = Midnight + Sea Floor
Ocean (Midnight Zone) = Midnight + Open Water
Ocean (Midnight Slope) = Midnight + Sea Slope
Ocean (Midnight Sea Mount) = Midnight + Sea Mount

Ocean (Twilight Floor) = Twilight + Sea Floor
Ocean (Twilight Zone) = Twilight + Open Water
Ocean (Twilight Slope) = Twilight + Sea Slope
Ocean (Twilight Sea Mount) = Twilight + Sea Mount

Tropical Ocean (Sunlight Zone) = Sunlight + Open Water + Tropical
Temperate Ocean (Sunlight Zone) = Sunlight + Open Water + Temperate
Polar Ocean (Sunlight Zone) = Sunlight + Open Water + Polar

Tropical Shallows = Sunlight + Sea Mount + Tropical
Temperate Shallows = Sunlight + Sea Mount + Temperate
Polar Shallows = Sunlight + Sea Mount + Polar

Tropical Sea = Sunlight + Sea Floor + Tropical
Temperate Sea = Sunlight + Sea Floor + Temperate
Polar Sea = Sunlight + Sea Floor + Polar

Tropical Bay = Sunlight + Sea Floor + Tropical
Temperate Bay = Sunlight + Sea Floor + Temperate
Polar Bay = Sunlight + Sea Floor + Polar

Tropical Coast = Sunlight + Sea Floor + Tropical
Temperate Coast = Sunlight + Sea Floor + Temperate
Polar Coast = Sunlight + Sea Floor + Polar

Ice Sheet = Sunlight + Open Water + Glacial

Land

Glacier = Lowland + Glacial
Peak = Highland + Glacial

Tropical Beach = Beach + Tropical
Temperate Beach = Beach + Temperate
Polar Beach = Beach + Polar
Glacial Beach = Beach + Glacial

Tropical River = Freshwater + Tropical
Temperate River = Freshwater + Temperate
Polar River = Freshwater + Polar
Mountain River = Freshwater + Mountain
Glacial River = Freshwater + Glacial

Tropical Salt River = Sal****er + Tropical
Temperate Salt River = Sal****er + Temperate
Polar Salt River = Sal****er + Polar
Mountain Salt River = Sal****er + Mountain

Tropical Lake = Freshwater + Tropical
Temperate Lake = Freshwater + Temperate
Polar Lake = Freshwater + Polar
Glacial Lake = Freshwater + Glacial

Tropical Salt Lake = Sal****er + Tropical
Temperate Salt Lake = Sal****er + Temperate
Polar Salt Lake = Sal****er + Polar
Mountain Salt Lake = Sal****er + Mountain

Tropical Salt Flats = Tropical  + Salt Flats
Temperate Salt Flats = Temperate + Salt Flats
Polar Salt Flats = Polar + Salt Flats
Mountain Salt Flats = Mountain + Salt Flats

Tropical Riparian = Flood Plain + Tropical
Temperate Riparian = Floor Plain + Temperate
Polar Riparian = Flood Plain + Polar
Mountain Riparian = Flood Plain + Mountain

Tropical Salt Riparian = Salt Flood Plain + Tropical
Temperate Salt Riparian = Salt Floor Plain + Temperate
Polar Salt Riparian = Salt Flood Plain + Polar
Mountain Salt Riparian = Salt Flood Plain + Polar

Swamp = Wetland + Tropical
Marsh = Wetland + Temperate
Bog = Wetland + Polar
Moor = Wetland + Mountain

Salt Swamp = Salt Wetland + Tropical
Salt Marsh = Salt Wetland + Temperate
Salt Bog = Salt Wetland + Polar
Salt Moor = Salt Wetland + Mountain

Tropical Rainforest = Rainforest + Tropical
Temperate Rainforest = Rainforest + Temperate
Taiga = Rainforest + Polar
Alpine = Rainforest + Mountain

Tropical Woodland = Woodland + Tropical
Temperate Woodland = Woodland + Temperate
Boreal = Woodland + Mountain

Tropical Scrub = Scrubland + Tropical
Chaparral = Scrubland + Temperate
Polar Scrub = Scrubland + Polar
Rocky = Scrubland + Mountain
Volcanic = Scrubland + Volcanic

Savanna = Grassland + Tropical
Plains = Grassland + Temperate
High Grassland = Grassland + Mountain

Dunes = Desert + Tropical
Desert = Desert + Temperate
Tundra = Desert + Polar
High Desert = Desert + Mountain

Ice Sea Cave = Sea Cave + Glacial
Limestone Sea Cave = Sea Cave + Limestone
Sandstone Sea Cave = Sea Cave + Sandstone
Volcanic Sea Cave = Sea Cave + Volcanic

Ice Cave = Cave + Glacial
Limestone Cave = Cave + Limestone
Sandstone Cave = Cave + Sandstone
Volcanic Cave = Cave + Volcanic

Ice Cavern = Cavern + Glacial
Limestone Cavern = Cavern + Limestone
Sandstone Cavern = Cavern + Sandstone
Volcanic Cavern = Cavern + Volcanic

Limestone Water Table = Water Table + Limestone
Sandstone Water Table = Water Table + Sandstone
Volcanic Water Table = Water Table + Volcanic


Reference for the Ocean Biomes

[Oviraptor]

I'm going to start working on the plates now. Keep in mind though, that unlike Sagan 4, this planet has an axial tilt identical to Earth.

[Krakow Sam]

But people wear hats on their feet, right?

[Hydromancerx]

I'm going to start working on the plates now. Keep in mind though, that unlike Sagan 4, this planet has an axial tilt identical to Earth.

The rules should work for Earth too. Sagan 4 is ever Earth-like if you remember from when you made the maps in the early days.

You can see Earth follows more or less the same rules. Such as California and Peru currents being the cold/dry on the West side of contents and Brazil and Gulf Stream being the warm/wet on the East side




Also Earth's Axis tilt is 23.5 degrees while Sagan 4's is 24 degrees. They are very close.

[Oviraptor]

Well, according to that image you posted, the axial tilt would be 30 degrees. That's all I was getting at.

[Hydromancerx]

So I have an idea / suggestion / request for the backstory.

It is the far far future and Earth has colonized the galaxy. Our planet was once a lifeless rock until Earth terraformed it and begin a colony on it. However the colony quickly failed and fell into ruins. The human colonists however still survived, however their civilization collapsed into tribal societies who all but had forgotten that they came from another planet.

Plants and animals from Earth were used to terraform the planet so many of the species we would be familiar with. There are some genetically modified ones as well as new species that adapted specifically to this new planet. However all are pretty recognizable on what species they came from. There are no fossils besides the ones made from Earth species. There were no aliens who lived on the planet before. And as a result of no deep fossil record there is no fossil fuels such as Oil, Coal, Natural Gas, etc.

This will mean the Humans of this world will have to find different ways to advance technologically. Likewise there may still be the ruins of the original colony somewhere as well as terraformers scattered across the globe. Who knows what high tech relics lay in wait. Maybe even dormant robots.

Beyond that I want to leave it vague for us to play around with. This way we can have any plant or animal wherever we want with it still making sense and even have some "magic" relics or genetically modified "monsters" to encounter. A fusion of scifi and fantasy.

What do you guys think?

[Oviraptor]

Think of this more like an alternate reality Earth. It's basically identical to Earth in every way, except that the continents developed differently and thus everything on the planet did, too. So while all the organisms are the same as Earth's, where they live and how they got there would be different. Humans would be the same humans but their culture, society, and history would be unique to this world. So to the inhabitants of this world, that IS Earth (though who knows what they will end up calling it). That way they have the same breadth of history (and pre-history) as Earth does.


And here is what I came up with for plate tectonics:



And here is the first "official" project KMZ file: https://gofile.io/?c=oab8Jx It includes the 800 pixel version of the map, the 10k pixel version of the map, and the tentative plate boundaries. (The 10k file takes a while to load so be patient).

[Hydromancerx]

Aww but then we could have cool stuff like this ...

Mountain and Forest Trolls
http://hyrotrioskjan.deviantart.com/art/Mountain-and-Forest-Troll-363533827

Unicorn
http://hyrotrioskjan.deviantart.com/art/Unicorn-291560859

Manticore
http://hyrotrioskjan.deviantart.com/art/Manticore-291386079

Snow Goblin
http://electreel.deviantart.com/art/Antarctic-flightless-bats-323942760

[Oviraptor]

I believed we envisioned this to be as realistic as possible, not fantastical. Introducing such fantasy elements is a slippery slope that I think we should steer clear of.

[Slinky]

Aww I was hoping this could be more creative and stuff but it seems like we're pretty tied down to hard realism huh?

[Oviraptor]

There is plenty of room for creativity, but it should be focused on humans interaction with their environment and each other. If aren't sure how that could work, take a look through the PCP3 forum: http://pcp4unme.freesmfhosting.com/index.php

[Hydromancerx]

I believed we envisioned this to be as realistic as possible, not fantastical. Introducing such fantasy elements is a slippery slope that I think we should steer clear of.

My idea was realistic. Since expecting life to evolve exactly the same way as it did where the continents are all mixed up is nearly impossible. In fact even iff we ran evolution again on Earth with the exact same configuration it could come out much differently. My scenario explained why there are different contents but the same animals, plants and humans.

We can skip the fantasy elements if you want but I was not sure if it was a fantasy world map or not. This would give it the best of both. Plausible fantasy and plausible monsters.

[Slinky]

I kinda am in favor of "plausible fantasy", and really like those animals hydro posted, but again, I'm not as experienced in this game so if that's outside of the rules then I'll go with whatever is inside the rules and kinda change my mindset a bit

[Inkling]

I'm still interested in participating, but I'm not quite getting what we're doing.