G'day and welcome to my first foray into the comlicated and involved world of realistic mapmaking.
This map is for C3C and PTW 1.21f
The aim of the map
I wanted to make a map that was both realistic and exciting to play at the same time. I originally was going for authenticity but as I went along I found that I had to make compromises for the sake of an enjoyable game.
For example, the eastern side of the Great dividing range has been widened and made as grasslands. Had I made this true to life then it would have only been 1 - 2 tiles form the mountains to the sea, so I did that for sake of playability.
There are other areas that I have changed things a bit as well such as Tasmania.
How the map was made
When I started to make the map I had to do it painstakingly tile by tile. I used a few different maps to get the outline of the continent correct.
Once I did that I then used another map to place the terrain (thank you Loulong for your refferal it was what I needed).
This wasn't an easy task as there are practically no maps that show the terrain of the whole continent to any great depth, by using a combination of differnt map I was able to figure out where the bush is, the deserts etc. And this was done tile by tile too.
Resource placement
This was by far the hardest part of making the map, as I was buggered if I could find any decent websites that would go into some detail about which resource go where. That and the fact that we dont even have some resources like Aluminum and Rubber made it very hard to decide where to put everything.
Here is a quick summary...
Wheat
- I tried to place wheat where agriculture was available, so that wheat represents any form of farming or growing from actually wheat fields to orchards to other sorts of produce like spuds and carrots etc.
Cattle
- I wanted cattle to represent the farming industry(cattle, sheep etc) so you see lots of it out where the cattle stations are but not much on the east coast.
fish
- We have some great fishing here so I made fish abundant.
Game
- I put abundantly and I cant remember why.
Wine
- I put in the wine producing regions only.
Mineral deposits
- This is where I got stuck. As much as I could I tried for correct placement but I found little information that gave me maps as to where to put the stuff so I did my best.
Summary
I tried to make it as real as possible but there are mistakes so if someithing is too out of place then let me know and I'll change it.
Changes as of 4/6/2004
The Gibson desert in WA has extended west towards the coast as has the great Sandy Desert been extended North towards Derby, also the land just inland fromm Derby, Fotzroy crossing and down towards Port Headland is now desert with the exception of the the tiles near the coast.
The whole of the East Coast is now more accurate, I've shaved abour 4 tiles width off it to make it more realistic (Thanks Colt for that suggestion).
The Nullabor Plain has now got more desert.
Tasmania has recieved more forests in the North, NorthEast and NorthWest.
Added Resources as per everyones suggestions (Thanks fella's, keep 'em coming).
I've left some islands of the QLD coast for all those holiday makers to head to at Christmas
I've added fish to the coastal square off the East Coast after I did the map.
This map is for C3C and PTW 1.21f
The aim of the map
I wanted to make a map that was both realistic and exciting to play at the same time. I originally was going for authenticity but as I went along I found that I had to make compromises for the sake of an enjoyable game.
For example, the eastern side of the Great dividing range has been widened and made as grasslands. Had I made this true to life then it would have only been 1 - 2 tiles form the mountains to the sea, so I did that for sake of playability.
There are other areas that I have changed things a bit as well such as Tasmania.
How the map was made
When I started to make the map I had to do it painstakingly tile by tile. I used a few different maps to get the outline of the continent correct.
Once I did that I then used another map to place the terrain (thank you Loulong for your refferal it was what I needed).
This wasn't an easy task as there are practically no maps that show the terrain of the whole continent to any great depth, by using a combination of differnt map I was able to figure out where the bush is, the deserts etc. And this was done tile by tile too.
Resource placement
This was by far the hardest part of making the map, as I was buggered if I could find any decent websites that would go into some detail about which resource go where. That and the fact that we dont even have some resources like Aluminum and Rubber made it very hard to decide where to put everything.
Here is a quick summary...
Wheat
- I tried to place wheat where agriculture was available, so that wheat represents any form of farming or growing from actually wheat fields to orchards to other sorts of produce like spuds and carrots etc.
Cattle
- I wanted cattle to represent the farming industry(cattle, sheep etc) so you see lots of it out where the cattle stations are but not much on the east coast.
fish
- We have some great fishing here so I made fish abundant.
Game
- I put abundantly and I cant remember why.
Wine
- I put in the wine producing regions only.
Mineral deposits
- This is where I got stuck. As much as I could I tried for correct placement but I found little information that gave me maps as to where to put the stuff so I did my best.
Summary
I tried to make it as real as possible but there are mistakes so if someithing is too out of place then let me know and I'll change it.
Changes as of 4/6/2004
The Gibson desert in WA has extended west towards the coast as has the great Sandy Desert been extended North towards Derby, also the land just inland fromm Derby, Fotzroy crossing and down towards Port Headland is now desert with the exception of the the tiles near the coast.
The whole of the East Coast is now more accurate, I've shaved abour 4 tiles width off it to make it more realistic (Thanks Colt for that suggestion).
The Nullabor Plain has now got more desert.
Tasmania has recieved more forests in the North, NorthEast and NorthWest.
Added Resources as per everyones suggestions (Thanks fella's, keep 'em coming).
I've left some islands of the QLD coast for all those holiday makers to head to at Christmas
I've added fish to the coastal square off the East Coast after I did the map.