Thus Endeth the 5th Day

[the_gneech]

Okay, I chopped it, channelled it, banged a few nails through it, and sprinkled nuts on the top. Behold, the New! Improved! Ethangea, with all cities and names yanked off, some topography moved around, and the edges un-cropped. Now I'm off to Office Depot to pick up some tabloid paper to run through the color printer and make large printouts of. With my Sharpies, my computer, a few notes, and a general idea of where I want things to go, I'm off to write history! Or at least, this world's history.

Questions, comments, and suggestions are most welcome.



-The Gneech

Comments

Planetary apron strings?

[level-head.livejournal.com]

The world has comparable seasons to ours, which is what, a 23% inclination? I knew that once.

23.45 degrees. We're just a little above the center of a 3 degree "wobble", which tops out at about 24.5 or so.

Our seasons are also significantly influenced by our variation in distance from the sun. Our closest approach is in the first couple of days in January. The result is that Northern hemisphere seasons are milder (in our winter, the closer sun offsets the effect somewhat) and Southern hemisphere seasons are more extreme.

(It's worth noting that this world also has a single, large moon -- in other words, it's basically Earth with a different "skin.")

I see you are philosophically tide to our pair-shaped planet. Let youself go! The "big honkin' moon" effect is likely to be extraordinarily rare in the universe -- ours seems to be the accident of a major collision that re-melted the entire planet and rebounded "just right" to produce the effect we have. The scenario in "Inherit the Stars" is just about as likely -- though there are problems with orbital capture.

There are fractal edge generators in programs like Corel Draw that may be useful to you to provide realistic detailing of shorelines. Shorelines were the original classic metaphor for fractal edges -- it seems that you can examine them in nearly infinite magnification and still have jagged edges. It helps make a map seem "right".

You may also want to "rough out" the rest of the planet -- sailing ships can go far, and the lands over the horizon may figure into a story at some point -- particularly if The Lady Gneech's suggestion of flying transportation is included.

===|==============/ Level Head

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Well, the moon as it exists in our world figures mightily in my own "personal" mythic landscape, as it were ... I gotta have it. :)

As for the rest of the planet, the area I've drawn out is already more than I plan to use any time in the near future. Right now I'm drawing with as large a brush as I've got while still being able to make out detail.

In rough terms, I know that the southern landmass continues in a vaguely triangular shape to the southwest. What, if any, civilizations exist down there, I don't know. Given that this is only one side of the world, there is probably also another landmass or two across the vast oceans to the east and west, known only in legend, if at all. -TG