The NextGen OTL Worlda Series

This is an updated WorldA basemap that I've been working on for a while. The greatest changes are to the British Isles, which are completely redrawn (courtesy of @KapiTod), as well as the addition of numerous lakes around the world (from this map from one LJB92 on DeviantArt). This map also distinguishes between natural lakes (black outline with water infill), manmade lakes/reservoirs (blue-gray outline with water infill) and salt pans/seasonal lakes (blue-gray outline with land infill). Finally, I've also added the Kiel Canal, adjusted the edges of the map, replaced Antarctica with a different patch (also not my own work, but I'm not sure who initially created it), and fixed various minor errors (such as Lake Inari not having a water infill). I hope this will prove useful.
Basic Basemap.png
 
Alright, I'm gonna edit the colors on the new basemap real quick and update the .psd so that we can start migrating stuff. Just a reminder to keep it all in NCS for internal consistency. Also, I'm torn on whether or not we should use the smaller lakes - on a lot of maps (especially early modern era), they can cause a lot of clutter in already dense areas.
 
Alright, I patched the new basemap to fit NCS; the water and land colors were slightly off. I made the call to remove a few lakes in Europe, simply because that area gets very cluttered; I feel that clarity of borders is slightly more important than geographic detail in those cases. I also took off the manmade lakes, though if you need them for the map in question's time period, feel free to just use the original copy! The .psd has been updated as well.

Great work on this updated worlda, by the way. It looks great!

worlda.png
 
Alright, I patched the new basemap to fit NCS; the water and land colors were slightly off. I made the call to remove a few lakes in Europe, simply because that area gets very cluttered; I feel that clarity of borders is slightly more important than geographic detail in those cases. I also took off the manmade lakes, though if you need them for the map in question's time period, feel free to just use the original copy! The .psd has been updated as well.

Great work on this updated worlda, by the way. It looks great!

View attachment 422979

Definitely agree with removing all the tiny lake, they were a bit unsightly in my opinion. Looking great and cheers to the new WorldA Basemap!
 
Definitely agree with removing all the tiny lake, they were a bit unsightly in my opinion. Looking great and cheers to the new WorldA Basemap!
Yea, generally my opinion is that if the lake can be represented as a single blue pixel, it isn't significant enough to be put on a worlda, given that the map itself is only something like 1,200 x 700 pixels.
 
Yea, generally my opinion is that if the lake can be represented as a single blue pixel, it isn't significant enough to be put on a worlda, given that the map itself is only something like 1,200 x 700 pixels.
What about Lake Tahoe? Or the fact that you excluded Lake Balaton despite Hungary being effectively built around it?
 
This is an updated WorldA basemap that I've been working on for a while. The greatest changes are to the British Isles, which are completely redrawn (courtesy of @KapiTod), as well as the addition of numerous lakes around the world (from this map from one LJB92 on DeviantArt). This map also distinguishes between natural lakes (black outline with water infill), manmade lakes/reservoirs (blue-gray outline with water infill) and salt pans/seasonal lakes (blue-gray outline with land infill). Finally, I've also added the Kiel Canal, adjusted the edges of the map, replaced Antarctica with a different patch (also not my own work, but I'm not sure who initially created it), and fixed various minor errors (such as Lake Inari not having a water infill). I hope this will prove useful.
View attachment 422949
Awesome! Though as FancyHat said the omission of Lake Balaton is unfortunate.

Also, for pre-1947 maps make sure you erase Rybinsk Reservoir, everyone makes that mistake when making higher resolution maps.
 
Also quick fix, in Chukotka there's a smudge of yellow colour, and on the island near it part of the land is coloured sea.
 
Also, for pre-1947 maps make sure you erase Rybinsk Reservoir, everyone makes that mistake when making higher resolution maps.
I could put together a companion map that dates changes to coastlines (there's something similar on the wiki, but it's a few years old). I'm also considering making an updated river basemap that includes watersheds.
Also quick fix, in Chukotka there's a smudge of yellow colour, and on the island near it part of the land is coloured sea.
Thanks for pointing those out; I'll fix them shortly.
 
Also I was using this for something else, but I think that uninhabited regions should be shown on the worlda:

KENaKWorlda.png


Ignore Russia, I was colouring it in for something else. Also ignore the colour scheme.

Basically, gray is inhabited, white is uninhabited regions, and light blue is uninhabited regions with ice caps. All as of the present day.
 
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Also I was using this for something else, but I think that uninhabited regions should be shown on the WorldA.

Basically, gray is inhabited, white is uninhabited regions, and light blue is uninhabited regions with ice caps. All as of the present day.
I'd say, actually, that they shouldn't be shown on political maps. Blank land on the WorldA doesn't represent uninhabited areas but rather a lack of organized political control. I don't think anyone would argue that the interiors of Greenland or Australia aren't part of those states, for example.

This is a very useful resource nonetheless, however.
 
I'd say, actually, that they shouldn't be shown on political maps. Blank land on the WorldA doesn't represent uninhabited areas but rather a lack of organized political control. I don't think anyone would argue that the interiors of Greenland or Australia aren't part of those states, for example.

This is a very useful resource nonetheless, however.
I would argue that uninhabited land is by its very nature uncontrolled. A state is essentially an organisation of people, so an area without any people isn't under the control of a state. Conversely, areas in Antarctica with bases in them should be shown as part of the state that owns the base.

*edit* I'm not saying that the interior of Greenland isn't part of that nation, but rather that that area isn't de facto controlled by Greenland. So I propose to continue to show recognised borders, even if they run though uninhabited areas, but not colour in that area.
 
Alright, I patched the new basemap to fit NCS; the water and land colors were slightly off. I made the call to remove a few lakes in Europe, simply because that area gets very cluttered; I feel that clarity of borders is slightly more important than geographic detail in those cases. I also took off the manmade lakes, though if you need them for the map in question's time period, feel free to just use the original copy! The .psd has been updated as well.

Great work on this updated worlda, by the way. It looks great!

View attachment 422979
hey, hadril, would you mind patching out the river map to fit with 4.0 (what I assume the new basemap will become)? I planned on adding the rivers to every map, but with the new basemap change the rivers will be completely off.
 
I would argue that uninhabited land is by its very nature uncontrolled. A state is essentially an organisation of people, so an area without any people isn't under the control of a state. Conversely, areas in Antarctica with bases in them should be shown as part of the state that owns the base.

*edit* I'm not saying that the interior of Greenland isn't part of that nation, but rather that that area isn't de facto controlled by Greenland. So I propose to continue to show recognised borders, even if they run though uninhabited areas, but not colour in that area.
Or, we could use the tribal/cultural group colour from ncs (if it has one, I've pretty much only used the SUCK.)
 
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