r/mapmaking Apr 04 '26

Map Is this map realistic?

Post image

I made a fictional Exo-planet map, and i wonder if this is realistic enough for worldbuilding project.

what da ya think?

257 Upvotes

48 comments sorted by

72

u/GuitarKittens Apr 04 '26

Depends on what kind of realistic you're aiming for. If you're talking geography, you probably shouldn't obscure it so much so it can actually be judged

9

u/AIDs_AI_Is_Delicious Apr 04 '26

Yeah, i should have upload the no-cloud version.

1

u/CarobCritical7290 Apr 08 '26

I would also suggest adding a clouds only layer as well

31

u/AIDs_AI_Is_Delicious Apr 04 '26

30

u/chinablu3 Apr 04 '26

Needs clouds.

But in seriousness, it looks cool! Some of the mountain range on the eastern continent look a little too ‘perfect.’ They would look better on a map with a more hand drawn aesthetic but on a realistic map like this it feels off to me. Otherwise I like the shape of things and the biomes feel about right.

5

u/UndeadCitron Apr 04 '26

There might be a little too much snow in the east and too little in the west, but otherwise it looks about perfect

14

u/CuteNectarine4178 Apr 04 '26

It feels alive 10/10

5

u/SoaringMoon Apr 04 '26

3

u/AIDs_AI_Is_Delicious Apr 04 '26

Aww dang it, never realized it. 😭

3

u/The_Last_Fluorican Apr 07 '26

unintended Hexagon Bestagon jumpscare

3

u/dronko_fire_blaster Apr 04 '26

Looks good! What did you use to make it?

4

u/AIDs_AI_Is_Delicious Apr 04 '26

Sketchbook

3

u/dronko_fire_blaster Apr 04 '26

So you did it by hand?

3

u/AIDs_AI_Is_Delicious Apr 04 '26

Partty much, but the textures comes from NASA Blue Marble map.

2

u/dronko_fire_blaster Apr 04 '26

Ah nice.... Hm might try doing that myself at some point, been trying to make a realistic map, but haven’t been supper happy with the workd generator out-there currently

2

u/RosalilyArts Apr 05 '26

Like the sketchbook app?

3

u/AIDs_AI_Is_Delicious Apr 05 '26

The Sketchbook mobile app to be specific.

2

u/RosalilyArts Apr 05 '26

Well its fantastic, definitely realistic enough.

I use the old desktop version of sketchbook, I usually see Krita and other apps to dominate the art block so its cool to see this kind of art in sketch.

2

u/CarobCritical7290 Apr 08 '26

I happen to have that app, so I'll rry it out and I'll post it in this community and add a link to said post

4

u/ImprovementVisual788 Apr 05 '26

howd ya do the terrain so seamlessly, its cool

3

u/Ok-Protection-4267 Apr 06 '26

Its beautiful 🙂‍↔️👌🏻👌🏻

8

u/blue_sidd Apr 04 '26

This is an image, not really a map. How did you make it? Realistic meaning what? Maps aren’t really the end all be all of world building.

6

u/AIDs_AI_Is_Delicious Apr 04 '26

Kinda strange. I draw the sea first and then add the texture underneath. I use NASA Blue Marble map for most of the texture. I did it on Sketchbook.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 04 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/AIDs_AI_Is_Delicious Apr 05 '26

Its lore reason, the planet has a more axial tilt than Earth.

2

u/KalyterosAioni Apr 05 '26

I like it. The first thing I noticed was snowy mountain peaks in the leeward side of rain shadow mountain ranges that look a little out of place, especially on that wide orogeny on the eastern side of the western landmass. Other than that nitpick, it looks excellent.

Can you share a little more info on your workflow to achieve this? I've been trying to find satellite image textures and falling!

2

u/AIDs_AI_Is_Delicious Apr 05 '26

I use the NASA Blue Marble map for texture, basically pile several of it (30 layers) all into one workable texture (Use a light brush), after that I can add mountains and other stuff depending on the shape of the landmass.

2

u/Night_Shiner_Studio Apr 06 '26

Looks pretty damn realistic to me. What did you make this in?

2

u/No_Entrepreneur3184 Apr 06 '26

Did you make climate zone?

2

u/AIDs_AI_Is_Delicious Apr 08 '26

No

1

u/No_Entrepreneur3184 Apr 09 '26

Would you make it?

2

u/AIDs_AI_Is_Delicious Apr 09 '26

I'm not good at climate and science stuff.

3

u/Flat_is_Earth312 Apr 15 '26

This looks like the Forma world from Centaura and Dead Ahead but expanded. I can clearly see the Libra continent and the Norma peninsula.

1

u/Razorion21 Apr 04 '26

howd ya make this

1

u/BagelRedditAccountII Apr 04 '26

Middle of the map highkey reminds me of Forma

1

u/AIDs_AI_Is_Delicious Apr 05 '26

Because this map takes inspiration from it, two continents split apart. The difference is that the planet is smaller and has more axial tilt.

2

u/BagelRedditAccountII Apr 05 '26

Yeah, Forma would probably be a Sudarsky Class II or warm mini-Neptune gas giant given its stated surface gravity (1 Earth g) and stated size (2.3 Earth radii), with much of its mass being water or water vapor.

1

u/MyOwnPenisUpMyAss Apr 04 '26

Nah, you gotta restart, sorry man

1

u/Ok-Difficulty-9672 Apr 09 '26

yes it's pretty realistic

1

u/Round_Answer8962 Apr 11 '26

It looks really nice!! ;)

1

u/BeboTheMaster Apr 04 '26

That looks fucking awesome bro. I have a map to globe converter on my website. It’s completely free. Chideas.net

2

u/BeboTheMaster Apr 04 '26

Here’s the exact link Globe Mapper

0

u/TinyEpicTales Apr 05 '26

Thought it was a magic eye image lmfaooooooooooooooooooooooo