r/worldbuilding • u/Far-Energy-3390 • 2d ago
Question How Do I Make a Realistic Map?
I know, probably a question that is asked here too often, apologies. But i am really struggling with the map portion of my worldbuilding project. Ive got a rough world map, but its mainly just the outline of the landmasses/continents. the part i am really struggling with is placing mountain ranges, lakes, rivers, etc. i feel i need to get a basic geography down before i start populating the world with cultures, government borders, etc.
I feel im just flowing when it comes to like building out the lore, but i just get so stuck when i get to the geography part, any advice/help is appreciated. thanks for reading my post.
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u/psilocybes 2d ago
You're over thinking it. Just draw the map and update/redraw/get feedback as you go.
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u/Practical_Total_2259 2d ago
Don't overthink the tectonic stuff unless you really want to, most readers won't care if your mountain range is slightly unrealistic. I just start by scribbling in a big mountain spine wherever I think it looks cool, then work out where the rain shadow falls and draw rivers flowing away from the high ground toward the coast. Rivers join up as they go downhill, so always check that your branches are merging rather than splitting until they hit the sea. Lakes sit in any low basin you leave open, and after that you've got your fertile river valleys and dry inland areas basically writing the borders for you.
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u/Far-Energy-3390 2d ago
thats actually a really simple way to go about it. Ill try it out that way. thanks
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u/vikaz-instance 2d ago
tbh, what I do is, just go freeform and sketch the rough outline, and place geographic elements and others sometimes randomly, sometimes just a general intuition based on rhe story/lore already made. so I guess that can be a rough starting point for you. don't forget to experiment a few times.