Help Needed: Continents or Archipelago?

[u/The_Shadowhand]

I am working on a map and am using paper to help come up with the shape as a bit of a crafting exercise.

But I need some help!

My goal was to come up with a world map but the more I stare at my current configuration and shapes it looks more like a series of islands.

Does anyone else find this to be the case?

If so what shapes should I change or are there any other adjustments I should make to help the map feel believable visually as a world map.

[u/Mirihim]

First I just wanted to say this is a cool way to plan a map. And I think this would work as either continents or as a series of islands.

I would suggest that the reason it feels more like a series of islands, rather than continents would be down to scale and detail. If we were to break the real world into "rough shapes" as you've done here I would expect a similar response.

Right now there is neither any detail nor sense of scale (this isn't a criticism as you are literally at a blocking out phase right now). An unfinished product always looks a little off. Once you add detail it should help with that.

Also, it might help you if you made the formation less box-y because right now it really feels like this was arranged to fit cleanly on a sheet of paper. Push the continents a bit further apart while maintaining the general layout and see how that feels.the lack of signicifant oceans might be pushing this more towards island than continent. (This isn't to say worlds CANT be box-y, just that it might help shake that feeling. If it doesn't work then you can easily change it back).

Once you work on adding detail (at the correct scale) to the map I'm sure it would feel less ~islandy~

[u/Mirihim → u/Mirihim]

Also, many of the techniques commonly used to make fantasy maps (in my opinion) have the effect of making things feel small in scale. Like adding triangles for mountains, showing trees, adding ripples to the coast, etc. While these are all awesome and valid ways to draw a map, when you view a world in its totality, you dont really see things on an individual level such as mountains, trees or towns. So just keep in mind that certain details are helpful for some purposes, but can hinder you in others.

I often find we use the very same techniques when working at different scales and it leads to problems differentiating between the two.

[u/The_Shadowhand → u/Mirihim]

Ohh ok, ya I know what you mean. The world this is for is for what I would call a generic fantasy setting goes through industrialization and a global war. So while I am probably going to look at fantasy maps for reference I was leaning more towards real world maps from the 19th century for visual references.

In reality though I’ll probably need a few variations, one for geography, one for resources, nations, etc.

The map is for a game design project though so I have to be a little careful and not get carried away haha

[u/Mirihim → u/The_Shadowhand]

Haha oh the peril of getting carried away! Yes absolutely look towards those references, I love looking at some of those old survey maps from that period, such works of art.

[u/The_Shadowhand → u/Mirihim]

Thanks! I did a lot of paper sculpture in art school and I always found trying to work with how paper folds when pushed in different ways resulted so wanted to try that out.

It’s hard to tell but a lot of the folds on the different landmasses I was planing to make mountains wherever the paper was elevated.

Thanks for your thoughts though! I do have a question though, when you say detail could you provide some specifics as to what you mean. Like do you mean mountains, lakes and such? Or other geographic features?

Spreading out the landmasses is probably also a good thing to try, thanks!

[u/Mirihim → u/The_Shadowhand]

Yeah absolutely adding physical details is what I mean. It obviously depends on what style of map you are trying for, is it an in-world map "made" by the people of your setting and as such are you planning to constrain it their understanding and technological level. Or are you planning it as an out-of-world thing, purely for your use and/or sharing with others? Or is it something different and completely abstract?

As a general rule (for myself) I prefer to be a little bit more literal in a "world map" sticking to showing only major things like landmass, oceans, and significant bodies of water, the largest of rivers, rough colours to hint at climate, and perhaps nation borders and names if relevant. At the moment I like making maps in a "satellite style" but not striving for photorealism, angling more for a painted aesthetic.

When you zoom in to a more regional map, then I find putting things like individual icons, kingdom banners, points of interest, etc. gives a greet feeling without running the sense of scale.

But these are just things I personally find useful, not that any of it is prescriptive advice for how things must be done. I hope some of it made sense.

[u/The_Shadowhand → u/Mirihim]

I honestly didn’t consider in world I was more thinking of it like an object for the people running the game to reference and long term I want to do a like living map where the large scale conflicts of the setting are recorded based on the most common result at tables so the setting builds upon the narratives happening at tables.

I’ll have to look at some references for that period though like you mentioned to get a sense of what I want to show.

[u/DiggoryGraves]

Imo the visual difference between the two at this stage, is whether the parts seem like they could be drifting plates or whether they are too disconnected. In your case, it's clear where those splits and drifts have happened, but there's just too many of them. In the central north, for example, those smaller landmasses require two fault lines close together to have formed from plate techtonics, so they feel more like islands formed by volcanism. All this said, I'm a major techtonic plate stan, if you're not trying to be that scientific with it, I'd believe these were continents if the finished map has continent scale features on those landmasses.

[u/The_Shadowhand → u/DiggoryGraves]

While I am not necessarily fixating on the tectonics of it I am very curious as to what issues there could be when considering plates.

The example you mentioned in the north seeming more like volcanic islands, what could I change to make it seem like a continent?