Same as title. How did people make maps, and accurate maps for their time, without any of the technology we have today. I'm always amazed at the details and scale maps were made. So how could Mercator produce his projection manually just by sailing along the coast of the continents.
I already have a ton of fantasy maps that I have made with detailed coastlines and topography, but I feel like they are really simplistic. I tried adding more details like on map on the right (some random map I found on wikipedia for some japanese region) but it takes too much time and I often end up not liking it.
Where can I find someone who could do the specific style on the right based on already made simple topography maps I have, and what are the rough price ranges for such work?
Thanks in advance and sorry if it's a wrong subreddit to ask this!
I'm developing a cli random world generator that takes actual geology and climate in consideration instead of just noise. right now the program has no zoom, so no rivers yet, but it is possible to change map projection, scroll horizontally, advance or retreat time by increments of 1 million years and automatically applies koppen climate classifications.
my goal is for it to be a fun tool for worldbuilders or to serve as inspiration, so I won't add anything like human cultures or graphical ui, I'll later add the ability to zoom in, but I don't plan into ever making it actually high resolution. I myself enjoy making maps by hand, so this tool is just for inspiration or to skip some part of the process you don't like perhaps, hope someone find it interesting.
the first 3 images are the same world changing in increments of 10my
(also the generation for some reason has a bias towards supercontinents or super archipelagos, and i don't know why, I need to fix that lol)
just wanted to share, but any feedback and suggestions are welcome ^-^
Hi everyone! I made this map for my thematic cartography class at uni and decided to share it with you all. It basically shows the spatial distribution of scorpion sting rates across the state of São Paulo, here in Brazil.
Does anyone have suggestions for other situations that could be mapped like this? I thought about replicating this type of map for international locations, but I'm not entirely sure what kind of local pest or environmental issues you guys face out there...
Besides scorpions, we've already made maps involving dengue mosquitoes and bees!
The 4 women from the corners of the map represent the continents: Europe, Asia, America and Africa. As I understand it, the top two are Justice and Medicine. But I don't understand who the two from below are at all.
At Stamen Design we are working on a research project about the existing map design & development tooling landscape in advance of a talk we’re planning for the OpenStreetMap "State of the Map US" conference. We’re interested in hearing from folks across the mapping community about what tools they use, where there are gaps, and how workflows could be improved in the future.
If you have 10 minutes, please consider filling out our census here: https://forms.gle/ZWt2m2Yq3o5CLJL4A
The survey is open until May 1!
I found this map in an antique store for thirty quid, I've been trying to date it but I don't know much about maps, can anyone help?
I need your help to identify this city. It looks like a real aerial. WWII maybe. It might be flopped, though.
It is a stitched image from TRON the movie. Yikes!
I'm a Czech architect who has worked in the Middle East for 20 years. Making this map started as a passion project — I kept returning to Wadi Tayyib al Ism near Al Bada and couldn't find anything that properly captured what the place actually is. So over three years of visits I made it myself. It's free, always will be.
The wadi has year-round freshwater springs rising through Precambrian granite fault lines, 10 distinct ecological zones in a 5 km walk from desert interior to the Gulf of Aqaba, and a human history stretching back to the Nabataean period and beyond.
I made a detailed interactive PDF map of the route. It covers:
- GPS waypoints from Al Bada town to the trailhead (27.5 km off-road) and throughout the route
- Species identification for plants, birds, reptiles and insects
- Realm-by-realm field notes and rest point guidance
- Safety and heat management advice
- Ambient sound recordings made on site
- Cultural and geological context
Completely free. No sign-up required.
https://www.martinsvitak.com/YT/KSA_WAT/Map_WTAI.pdf
If anyone has visited the wadi or knows it well, I'd genuinely welcome corrections or additions.
As the title says, I drew this while at a college cartography event (weird event to have but I was excited).
I was sort of just drawing whatever came to mind and I had the idea to make these huge impact zones. My head cannon as I was drawing is that some kind of horrifically powerful magical bombs went off to cause them. Some by accident, some intentionally to clear a path through the northern ice floes, and many as the opening attacks of a short lived but devastating magical nuclear war.
I have an extra piece of cardstock that I've traced the eastern continent onto so that I could attach it with a hinge and flip it up to show an underground map of the enormous caverns in the world. Some of these caverns have been collapsed by the bombs, but most areas remain intact.
Any ideas what else I could add, head cannons for the bombs/other geography, or other suggestions?