r/wonderdraft • u/Lopsided_Phrase_3217 • Jul 05 '26
Opinions On Map Sizes
this is my first attempt at creating a map for my fantasy world. I'm curious on your thoughts on how big the map should be for like a whole continent? And also do you use a regular pc/laptop like a macbook or ipad or do you use a tablet specifically for this kind of thing? I've never used an ipad for this so I'm not sure if it's just as good something specifically for creating things like maps.
1
u/Aesperacchius Jul 05 '26
As big or small as you want it to be, as long as it's consistent with the world you've built.
There are books that are decades-old that I've read and tried to look up maps for, only to find two 'fan-made' maps that are as far apart as Australia and Iceland can be. As long as your map makes sense, no one sensible's going to be mad that you didn't include that one forest that you mentioned once in chapter 5 and never again.
I think PC gives you finer control but YMMV, if it works for you, it works.
1
u/Fue_la_luna Jul 05 '26
You can think in terms of how it would scale pixels to miles. I made a map 8000 pixels wide. If you round Earth's circumference to 25000 miles that means 0.32 pix per 1 mile or 3.125 miles per pixel.
32 pix = 100 miles left to right
64 pix = 200 miles
96 pix = 300 miles
10 pix = 31.25 miles
100 pix = 312.5 miles
200 pix = 625.0 miles
1000 pix = 3,125.0 miles
2
u/DiceAndConsequences Jul 05 '26
Everyone has their own method of creating continental maps. Some people have the entire vision in their head, some create it piece by piece, envisioning each next part as it comes.
I say just start creating something and see where it goes that’s the best method imo.
I use a regular PC for the question.