OpenGeofiction
Information about the OGF Planet: Extreme points and records.
Posted by Alejandro24 on 18 April 2017 in English.Hello mappers. I have many questions about this fictional-realistic world, and it is there are many basic data that are lost in the wiki or not defined at all. I suggest to create pages in OGF Wiki trying to explain many basic aspects of the OGF Planet (from here, OGFp). Anywhere, here are some of those questions:
-
Where are the OGFp? In a solar system like ours or in another with other design?
-
What is the size of the OGFp? The same as Earth?
-
In consequence, are the physical characteristics of the OGFp different from the Earth?
-
What is the name of the OGFp?
-
Do the OGFp have natural satellites?
-
How many oceans and continents are in the OGFp?
-
How the landmasses in the OGFp fit in the tectonic plates theory?
-
How different are the geophysics in the OGFp?
-
Is there any geological history for the OGFp?
-
When did the life surged? Does it follows any evolutive theory?
-
Are we assuming that the habitants of the OGFp are humans or another kind of species?
-
In any case, where did this intelligent species/OGF-humans appeared by first time?
-
Where is the highest point over the sea level?
-
Where is the lowest point over the sea level?
-
Where is the deepest point in the ocean under the sea level?
-
What is the biggest ocean and continent?
-
Where are the northernmost and southernmost points of land? And the easternmost and westernmost?
-
What are in the north and south poles?
-
Where are the most hottest and coldest places and by how much?
-
What is the longest river?
-
What is the biggest dessert? Are other biomes also measured?
-
What is the biggest lake or inland sea?
-
What is the biggest island?
-
What is the biggest glacer?
-
Where are the most remote point of the OGFp?
-
What is the most populated country and city?
Well, that are the questions by the moment…
Discussion
Comment from Myrcia on 18 April 2017 at 20:28
What is the size of the OGFp? The same as Earth?
Yes, it is the same size as earth.
In consequence, are the physical characteristics of the OGFp different from the Earth?
http://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/Talk:World_climate
What is the name of the OGFp?
http://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/Talk:The_Name_of_this_Planet
How many oceans and continents are in the OGFp?
http://opengeofiction.net/user/admin/diary/458
How the landmasses in the OGFp fit in the tectonic plates theory?
http://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/Talk:OGF:Plate_tectonics
Is there any geological history for the OGFp?
http://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/OGF:Map_of_known_mountains
http://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/Talk:World_geology
Are we assuming that the habitants of the OGFp are humans or another kind of species?
Humans
Where is the highest point over the sea level?
All of these questions about superlatives are moot. We have agreed not to use superlatives about places in the OGF world because this runs counter to the open, sandbox nature of mapping.
http://opengeofiction.net/user/isle%C3%B1o/diary/1178
What are in the north and south poles?
http://wiki.opengeofiction.net/wiki/index.php/Glacies_Australis
Comment from isleño on 18 April 2017 at 21:09
To add to what Myrcia said:
If you want to be happy in OGF, you need to be comfortable with ambiguity, unanswered questions and unknown explanations.
The location of the OGF world is deliberately undefined. In fact it’s not even clear whether OGF is an alternate Earth, occupying the same space as ourselves, or a different planet entirely. Let people imagine it privately however they wish.
The name of the OGF world is deliberately undefined. I don’t support giving the planet a name because that would encourage people to think of it as an alien place, distant from Earth, which it may or may not be. Tides exist, so presumably there would be natural satellites. But again, this is deliberately undefined. If we say there are two or three or four moons, people will start to perceive it as an alien world, and we don’t want that.
Questions of geology have been brought up again and again, but are deliberately left unanswered. It’s not possible to create a coherent geologic history without constraining people’s freedom to create the geologic features they want for their countries. As for biology and evolution, the people are human beings (as you can see from the images of them in the wiki), but the details of their origins are deliberately undefined.
As Myrcia pointed out, most of the other questions are covered by our policy toward international superlatives (which is also a wiki page). This world is highly incomplete, and will likely remain incomplete forever, so it makes sense to leave many things undefined, many questions unanswered, many facts unknown.
Comment from zhenkang on 18 April 2017 at 22:43
This world is consistently changing, so that is why superlatives are discouraged. Follow Mycria links
Comment from Ūdilugbulgidħū on 19 April 2017 at 11:12
I’m afraid I missed the last few days - so this comment brings together some thoughts on this and tule00’s diary entry. I would second what isleño says - the main aim and most interesting content in OGF is believable mapping - maps that lead us to imagine a fictional place. There is not really much more to say than that. We are basically mapping places that could exist in the real world onto a different base map, using the same tools as we’d use in the real world. Everything that leads on from that points to ambiguity; even whether that is what we are actually doing is not certain (and I expect some people would disagree with it). In terms of ‘realism’ the real world OSM is also incomplete and may not actually show what is really there, so could mean a big hole in the map. Perhaps the wiki partly exists to support why some places have detail, some not, you’re free to decide that for yourself.
I think ‘realism’ is probably a red herring - for a start, this is not a realistic world - it could not actually exist. Personally, I think we should focus on mapping that looks believable. That could be through collaborating over a wide area and multiple countries, with some historical/cultural links showing on the map, or it could be by going into micro-detailing in a small area, with unique buildings/names/cultural artifacts. Thankfully, everyone has that freedom. For myself, I’d prefer it if the world looked believable from a distance as well as close up which is why a geological history for ‘the base map’ would be a good start. Frankly, the new continents and some of the old continent edges and islands don’t fit the laws of physics, they don’t look realistic. If we could sort that out, it might help to think about this as a realistic world - but even if we don’t, we still have the opportunity to make interesting, believable maps, including some of the ways these different places fit together.