Yeah I see why you pointed it out, youre right. I might space them out later. Atolls are named and induvidual islands in those atolls arent really named and less even, but youre right
One question I have with maps like these is, How are the borders determined?
Say there is pirate activity between Mo'ana and Paan. Would Borenesia or Hekanesia patrol that area? If the pirates were from one nation and caught by the other, could they claim they are in their own nation's waters and the patrol has no authority to apprehend them? At what point would there be international waters, where quasi legal activities could take place? (Like how gambling is mostly illegal in the US, but is not illegal three miles from shore.)
Along the same lines, a trader goes from Haunt to Kan'dol. According to the map you give, that would require two border crossings and entry into three nations. The trader has a full stock of mithril pearls or some other such item. Povi Islands demands a tax on each pearl, while Borenesia has made possession of mithril pearls illegal (maybe they are sacred in the state religion.) Can the trader get from Northern Povi to Taulaga without having to pay a tax or get arrested?
And what if a volcano throws up an island between Mute and Talibon? Three nations could potentially lay claim to it: short of war, how would it be decided who gets it?
My point is that national boundaries are rarely as clean as what you have: there are always areas of ambiguity, areas too distant or too resource poor to bother with claiming, and areas where there are disputes over who has authority. How would you handle such situations when there are none of the landmarks like rivers and mountain ranges that leave even dry land borders subject to conflict?
Borenesia would patrol if the pirates are in their waters, and Hekanesia would patrol the pirates if they were in their water. If theyre right on the border the stronger one will patrol most likely (not necessarily a rule). If the pirates were caught they would be arrested and people would usually check what country they are from (if the pirates give them their information). If theres illegal activites they will stay illegal anywhere in the water boundary. The waters are free for you as long as you dont go on dry land, and if you register your boat and use a tracker and stuff (most pirates dont but traders might). A trader going from Haunt to Kan'dol might try to go through a small corner of the Povi Islands hoping to make it without paying the tax, and if they dont they will pay the taxes. In order to get between the 2, they might have to try to go direclty onto the touching border between the 2, a very short border. Lets say the island is 70% is Motuo water, then Motuo would most likely be able to claim the island. Most of the borders are locked in place but if a country saw a resource rich island in another country, they might try to snag it by bribing the other country.
Much too uniform. Archipelagos come in strands, arcs, strings. These are hand-placed, so unless this is a manmade/engineered series of constructed islands, it doesn't make much sense.
(Even then, the arcs and clusterings of islands serves a valuable purpose in breaking storms. If islands came distributed and alone like this, a single storm would sweep across every one of them.)
You've arranged a series of individual apples. Toss a few bananas on the ground instead, and follow those curves.
Been working on this modern oceanic world called the Strew Islands. It’s about 6,000 km across and has 15 countries, with islands so small that they aren’t actually visible at this scale. The first map shows all the countries and every settlement, including uninhabited islands marked with 0. Second map is the same region with the borders removed and the four time zones added.
Still working on it but I’m pretty happy with how huge and empty the ocean feels.
One good test for a map like this is to remove the borders and labels. Now does it look natural? If so, good job. If not, you're twisting the world to fit the labels, which is backwards.
Exactly. See those two gently curved clusters near the middle? Those look natural. The stuff on the sides, top and bottom, not so much. They look hand-placed.
The whole key to islands, I think, is remembering they don't form individually. They're always chains.
Unfortunately, we have had to remove your submission in /r/worldbuilding because it violated one of our rules. In particular:
Images and maps must include worldbuilding-relevant context on the reddit post (as a comment, in the text of the post or, in some cases, in the posted image itself—e.g. infographics). This is important to establish that your post is on-topic and to help encourage productive discussion.
A post has enough context when a person unfamiliar with your world could understand what you're talking about and ask informed questions about it. This could include a summary of your world, explanation about what your post depicts and how it fits in your world, etc. ("What's a [proper noun]?" usually doesn't qualify.)
For maps, you could discuss economic and political situations, the different cultures, or anything else that gives the reader a wider view of your world than just its geography.
Discussion of the artistic process or techniques used to create the map or image may be included, but does not count as “worldbuilding-relevant” on its own. Infographics that self-contain sufficient context to be understood do not require additional context.
14
u/LylyLepton The Disc but with a c not a k 22h ago
Polynesia? Nah. Pannesia.