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Trying to create a map for my fictional world. Obviously, I can do bits like color a paper blue and throw some random green shapes on there to create the land masses. However, the more I look into this the more I realize it's very very difficult. Rivers flow a certain way, vegetation grows in some places but not others. This is hard to fake.

Ideally, I would like to find some kind of program (free) where I could just click "generate" and get a map world with oceans, rivers, lakes, vegetation, etc.

If this isn't an option, are there tips and tricks I can follow to create a natural, authentic feel?

Any ideas for this?

Clayton Brown
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  • This may help: https://worldbuilding.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2594/creating-a-realistic-world-series – Tim B Jun 04 '19 at 20:33
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    Your free program could be Google Earth! Possible duplicate of What tool can I use to draw a simple map of a fictional world? – Willk Jun 04 '19 at 20:33
  • And the answer here seems useful too: https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/19815/how-do-i-create-realistic-geography – Tim B Jun 04 '19 at 20:34
  • You may note, that there are several votes to close this question as a duplicate. Don't be disheartened, the questions and answers there may help with your story. When you have a few minutes, please take the [tour] and read up in our [help] about how we work: [ask]. - There's always the search facility on this site, you'll get to know our culture given time. – Escaped dental patient. Jun 04 '19 at 20:48
  • You are correct, it is a very involved pursuit, replicating natural forces that evolved shapes over millions of years. While I have no single source recommendation you'll want to check out the works over at the rabbit hole that is /r/proceduralgeneration: (best of luck and don't get lost)

    https://www.reddit.com/r/proceduralgeneration/search?q=map&restrict_sr=on&include_over_18=on&sort=relevance&t=all as well as "map" you can search for "terrain": https://www.reddit.com/r/proceduralgeneration/search?q=terrain&restrict_sr=on&include_over_18=on&sort=relevance&t=all

     – kleer001 Jun 04 '19 at 20:58
  • Consider a free base tool (Unity) and a for-cost but not terribly expensive tool like Gaia - and you'd be there. I use it for generating gaming environments, and though I use it in a largely manual mode and process to allow me to art-direct everything, it has a fully automated setup too: click-click whump! Look, a complete environment. – GerardFalla Jun 05 '19 at 16:49

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You may be interested in the world generation engine behind Dwarf Fortress. In world gen mode, you can adjust a huge variety of parameters. The Dwarf Fortress Wiki contains detailed instructions; using the advanced world generation options, you can adjust properties like rainfall, ocean placement, and mountains. It will take care of placing realistic mineral formations, rivers, and biomes (as well as a detailed history of the world's civilizations, which you can probably ignore for your purposes).

Otherwise, the link mentioned in the comments (Creating a realistic world Series) provides great resources.

Kofthefens
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