NationStates Jolt Archive

Um..this sounds sort of weird...but I was having a discussion today with some friends about weird hobbies, and I mentioned I draw imaginary maps just for fun on a frequent basis. It turned out a lot of other people also like this, and some quick googling revealed it's actually pretty popular. Anyway, I was wondering if any of you did this and if so, of what and how.

I usually use plain old pen, but I have a great program free off the web called Autorealm (http://www.gryc.ws/autorealm.htm)that lets you do really cool maps. I normally do countries, islands or cities...what about you guys? Or am I just a freak...:p

I do that too. You're not alone.

Whoah, its something other people actually do? Cool. Maps were the only thing I could draw for a while. That and Bolton.

Actually use to do that when I was a pre-teen. Dont really know why I started. But I know that my family was impressed at what I had done. Maybe thats why I continued to do it for awhile. Although I always have been good with maps. I freehanded the US without any visual aid in 5th grade. The teacher actually accused me of cheating at first. Then he looked around to see what I had been "tracing". Thats when he apoligized. Anyway your not any stranger than I. ;)

Anyway your not any stranger than I. ;)
actually he is

in addition to making maps, he likes to masturbate onto blueberry (ONLY blueberry) muffins and hand them out to the poor. :(

ME? :confused:

actually he is

in addition to making maps, he likes to masturbate onto blueberry (ONLY blueberry) muffins and hand them out to the poor. :(

Now thats really wrong. I suppose he would call that a "protein shake"?

ME? :confused:
don't act innocent

i've seen you at your homemade muffin booth, handing out muffins with that sick grin

:rolleyes: If I had a nickle for every time I've used that smiley today...

Haha. I draw maps all the time. Now does anybody else write imaginary histories about the places they draw?

Haha. I draw maps all the time. Now does anybody else write imaginary histories about the places they draw?
YES! If I ever really decide to write a alt world map, I'd do a map first. Even in my doodles, I make up little stories in my head of each doodlecountry's rise and fall...heheheh. Sometimes I write them down...not too bad either.

Haha. I draw maps all the time. Now does anybody else write imaginary histories about the places they draw?

Not on paper, but it's all in my head. I even draw and redraw the borders as I have my imaginary wars.

Not on paper, but it's all in my head. I even draw and redraw the borders as I have my imaginary wars.
God this is bizarre. That's EXACTLY what I do!

I normally do countries, islands or cities...what about you guys? Or am I just a freak...:p
I USED to do stuff like that, but then I grew up.



(I got a job and with school, no time to continue the practice :p )

YES! If I ever really decide to write a alt world map, I'd do a map first. Even in my doodles, I make up little stories in my head of each doodlecountry's rise and fall...heheheh. Sometimes I write them down...not too bad either.
I actually have one little world (at this point epic) that I’ve been working on for a few years on and off, alongside other stuff that usually gets thrown away after about a week.

BuMp

Drawing a map is like creating continents. It's like playing God. I deem there to be trees here! Ha! And an island... take that! It's a thrill-seeker's pleasure.

People do seem to have a certain almost...romantic association with islands

I do that all the time. Draw maps of nations, sometimes hundreds of them. Then I create their governments, oppress the citizens or free them, fight wars, redraw borders, create geography, establish colonies, create immigration/emigration rates... not always in that order. I mean, look where I am right now. :p

First of all: Hi all!
And errr ... yes! I'm doing it, too!
For years meanwhile!
And meanwhile this is so fully developed, that one could mean this country exists. I have zip codes, districts, sights and so on.
I have an ordnance map and street-maps of the biggest cities!
The capital which is called Camara has a population of 4,321,000. The cataloged street directory contains more than three thousand streets!
The country has an area of about 72,000 square kilometres and a population of 12.2 million people. Its map contains more than 400 places.
The biggest river is the "Alf River" (Yes, Alf from that soap called "Alf" :) )
which is flowing through the Islands largest lake, the Szajando lake. The lake is named after a city "Szajando" with a pop. of 220,000, but the biggest city close to the lake is Seawind with 962,000 inhabitants. The coldest place is the area around the district of the city of Mont Tauri (187,000 inh.), which lies in the Eastern part of the island. In the west you'll find a very Mediterranean climate and the very worth seeing city of Saint Vincent, the second largest in the country with a population of 2,550,000 inh.
Never miss visting the party mile on Saint Vincent Bay and something the citizens call "Little Beverley Hills", a peninsula in the western suburbs, but its real name is "Bella Bay". Saint Vincent also has the most stunning place of the country, the "Place of all Nations". It is round with a diameter of almost 500 metres and shows all continents and the seven seas are real water, but you can walk from America to Europe over a Bridge. In this place you'll find pubs, shopping malls and beergardens.
The south coast is the citizen's holiday area. To the west of another French sounding city "Beau Rivage" (873,000 inh.) there's a natural preserve where you can book safaris. In this area you'll still find the "big five": lions, tigers, elephants, buffalos and zebras. This park is in the district of "Gero Sierra"
And there's a hungarian minority on this island. Most of these people live in Csabaváros (81,000 inh.) and its surroundings. Csabaváros is only approx. 50 kms to the west of the Szajando lake. It's plain and farming dominated.

The capital "Camara" is trilingual: English, French and German.
So in this beautiful and stunning and pulsing city you'll find districts with very French sounding names like "Fort Sophie Louise" or "Jardin Thierry" as well as english districts like "Swany Bank" or "Sea Street District" and German areas like "Bahnhofsviertel" or "Bergdorf".
Camara has two airports in the South "International Airport" and "National Airport" and its coastline is in the North and the citizens call it their "Party strip" which is bordered by the French church "Église Vincent" in the west and the Magic hills in the East.
Camara has three successful football clubs: C.F. Camara, Camara Highlanders and the less successful Camara West Park Rangers.

Okay, let's stop here.

Just a hint: My methadone is the game "Sim City 4" which I really enjoy!


Is there still anybody who really thinks he or she is more weird than I am????:cool:

Is there still anybody who really thinks he or she is more weird than I am????:cool:
I don't think I am. I know I am. :p

First of all: Hi all!
And errr ... yes! I'm doing it, too!
For years meanwhile!
And meanwhile this is so fully developed, that one could mean this country exists. (long explination follows)

:eek: Wow. Devoted!:)

Um..this sounds sort of weird...but I was having a discussion today with some friends about weird hobbies, and I mentioned I draw imaginary maps just for fun on a frequent basis. It turned out a lot of other people also like this, and some quick googling revealed it's actually pretty popular. Anyway, I was wondering if any of you did this and if so, of what and how.

I usually use plain old pen, but I have a great program free off the web called Autorealm (http://www.gryc.ws/autorealm.htm)that lets you do really cool maps. I normally do countries, islands or cities...what about you guys? Or am I just a freak...:p


Yes i draw maps everyday. like frick....im in my college classes and instead of notes i draw maps...its so fun!

Bump for others: I know you're out there:p

Here's (http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/9437/ar9vy.png) a map I did quickly on autorealm to give everyone an idea of how great it is. Note I'm not very good at it...

Ah yes, I remember doing that when I was a little kid... I'd draw some big random blob on a piece of paper (with a few small islands as well) and divide it up into lots of weirdly shaped countries, sometimes with the capital cities marked and sometimes even with physical features (I was much more interested in the political than the physical geography, though). Then I'd give them names based on either some simple code or a foreign language. Didn't really make histories for them, though.

I made a map for a story I'm writing to give me consistent directional references. I used Autorealm as well, which is a wonderful program.

In middle school, I drew a very extensive map of a realm for D&D, a game I've ironically never played.

I don't think I am. I know I am. :p
Hahaha ...
allright, so you think I have to work out another map with
the size of Russia or what?
Or should I write the yellow pages of one of my metropolitans?
Or recreate Disneyland in the style of my island?
Oh well ... I can never win ...
By the way, what are you referencing to, to lick me in my madness?
:cool:

Ah, I'd always start with a map and then add to it: Countries, cultures, customs, currencies, calendars, characters...

Yea I like to draw maps and stuff, and I do the same thing with redrawing borders etc. as the imaginary wars in my head happen.

creating fantasy realm maps is only one part of a much larger hobby known as "conworlding" (from Constructed World). One element that I in particular am interested in is "conlanging", which, as you can probably guess, is the creating of imaginary languages. There's a lot of resources at www.zompist.com, including a basic language creation tutorial, a very detailed overview of a pretty complete conworld's history and languages, and a forum full of other nerds who are into this sorta thing :p check it out.

Neat site. I liked the "You know you're an (NATIONALITY) if..." thing. Very clever...

I used to do that not so long ago.

Did anybody else use dice or other methods of chance to spread a nation's borders and decide their policies?

I used to do that not so long ago.

Did anybody else use dice or other methods of chance to spread a nation's borders and decide their policies?
nope, I just sort of...randomly doodled...