Oh damn, rivers don’t start from the ocean sometimes?
That’s a lot of info I didn’t know, thanks!! I’ll definitely have to go back and revise, I’m not a diehard realism type (just because I don’t want to get too lost in rabbitholes of unnecessary details) but I do want it to be passably realistic. I’ll look into that stuff before I do!
I definitely love how writing often does that, write itself, after you set up the initial pieces. It’s really beautiful. I’m sure understanding dialectics and having a proper understanding of historu helps us a bunch in that.
Just want to jump in to say that “environmental determinism” can make a world seem kinda flat. So like you said, don’t get bogged down by the nitty gritty details too much. However, it’s good to learn the rules and norms of worldbuilding to gauge which one actually matter to your story. And more importantly which rules you want to break.
So yeah, rivers always flow into the ocean. But maybe there’s a reason why some of your rivers work the opposite way.
I usually like just enough detail to hint at a larger world. But, to quote my friend, “we don’t need to know every side character’s grandma’s sexual kink” 😂😂😂 it’s hard for me to stop sometimes, I really could label every rock if I didn’t stop myself.
Always ‘Rule of Cool’ above all else 😎 whenever it feels to flat I try and think of some weird wrench to throw into it. I figure real life ain’t so different! Still I should probably learn the basics of how rivers work…
Yes it’s important not to get too bogged down unless you’re making a hardcore sim of some sort, but having a realistic backdrop helps a lot when you want to highlight something unique to your world. A river that flows up from the ocean and ends in the sky is completely unrealistic but could be one of the greatest magical wonders of your world. Or a peculiar large river that diverges to form two more could become the center of a conflict between two downstream cities who want to divert it in different ways.
Nope, water (at least, normal water) flows downhill under the force of gravity and an ocean/sea/big lake is usually as low as it gets. It doesn’t necessarily end up taking the shortest path, but it will inevitably carve a channel to the lowest point it can reach. Water is pretty unstoppable, most of the varied topography of the earth is just the long-term results of tectonic forces pushing rocks up, and then water that falls on those rocks trying to get back to the ocean.
You can also work backwards too, and that’s very handy. Say you want an important town on a certain place. Why was it built there? Add a river! Do you want it to be the center of a conflict? Maybe it’s at a strategically important mountain pass, or maybe there’s gold in them there hills!
Personally I really like post-apocalyptic fantasy and settings that take slightly more complex politics into account. Eberron is one of my favorite D&D settings, it frequently dispatches with a lot of the “good vs. evil” stuff in favor of having characters and races with more complex material motivations, and the Mournland is a lovely wasteland wracked with wild magical phenomena and dangerous people.
Oh damn, rivers don’t start from the ocean sometimes?
That’s a lot of info I didn’t know, thanks!! I’ll definitely have to go back and revise, I’m not a diehard realism type (just because I don’t want to get too lost in rabbitholes of unnecessary details) but I do want it to be passably realistic. I’ll look into that stuff before I do!
I definitely love how writing often does that, write itself, after you set up the initial pieces. It’s really beautiful. I’m sure understanding dialectics and having a proper understanding of historu helps us a bunch in that.
What sort of stuff do you like to write?
Just want to jump in to say that “environmental determinism” can make a world seem kinda flat. So like you said, don’t get bogged down by the nitty gritty details too much. However, it’s good to learn the rules and norms of worldbuilding to gauge which one actually matter to your story. And more importantly which rules you want to break.
So yeah, rivers always flow into the ocean. But maybe there’s a reason why some of your rivers work the opposite way.
Edit: By the way I really like your flag designs!
I usually like just enough detail to hint at a larger world. But, to quote my friend, “we don’t need to know every side character’s grandma’s sexual kink” 😂😂😂 it’s hard for me to stop sometimes, I really could label every rock if I didn’t stop myself.
Always ‘Rule of Cool’ above all else 😎 whenever it feels to flat I try and think of some weird wrench to throw into it. I figure real life ain’t so different! Still I should probably learn the basics of how rivers work…
And thank you so much!!
Yes it’s important not to get too bogged down unless you’re making a hardcore sim of some sort, but having a realistic backdrop helps a lot when you want to highlight something unique to your world. A river that flows up from the ocean and ends in the sky is completely unrealistic but could be one of the greatest magical wonders of your world. Or a peculiar large river that diverges to form two more could become the center of a conflict between two downstream cities who want to divert it in different ways.
Nope, water (at least, normal water) flows downhill under the force of gravity and an ocean/sea/big lake is usually as low as it gets. It doesn’t necessarily end up taking the shortest path, but it will inevitably carve a channel to the lowest point it can reach. Water is pretty unstoppable, most of the varied topography of the earth is just the long-term results of tectonic forces pushing rocks up, and then water that falls on those rocks trying to get back to the ocean.
You can also work backwards too, and that’s very handy. Say you want an important town on a certain place. Why was it built there? Add a river! Do you want it to be the center of a conflict? Maybe it’s at a strategically important mountain pass, or maybe there’s gold in them there hills!
Personally I really like post-apocalyptic fantasy and settings that take slightly more complex politics into account. Eberron is one of my favorite D&D settings, it frequently dispatches with a lot of the “good vs. evil” stuff in favor of having characters and races with more complex material motivations, and the Mournland is a lovely wasteland wracked with wild magical phenomena and dangerous people.