OpenGeofiction
"Protecting" Tarott - or: Re-thinking "definite" landscapes in OGF
Posted by joschi81 on 27 March 2017 in English.Hi everybody!
Like other people, I sometimes struggle with problems in my imaginary countries that lead to the question: Is it already definite or can I still change something? Normally, when I have drawn an area up to a very high level of detail, I leave it as it is, of course. But what with roughly sketched structures that were only definite in my head but did not appear on the map yet? I allow myself to change them, even heavily, if there’s a special need.
For Tarott (map) I definetily saw the need to change something very elementary. As it is an old city that survived many wars (even after heavy destructions) and as it was founded thousand years ago (maybe even more), it needs to be in a protected location. An open bay directly at the West Sea did not seem logical at all, finally.
So, I dared to rethink Tarott bay and - although it has only been outlined very rougly so far - I’m satisfied with the result:
(To be honest, although not being a motorway enthusiast, I always wanted a western bypass for Tarott to release traffic congestion at the central trunk road in Tarott and at the eastern motorway rings - there is going to be an outer ring in the east as well.)
This is how the open Tarott Bay looked before:
It feels much better now. :) And at crucial points, I’m going to build some old fortifications (or ruins of fortifications).
Happy mapping!
Johannes
Discussion
Comment from Myrcia on 27 March 2017 at 20:17
First off, I love the new Tarott Bay. I think it looks incredibly realistic.
Second off, it is your nation, I think you can change it as much and as often as you like as long as it fits in the general idea of verisimilitude and regionalism. I often find there’s little more pleasurable than deleting entire towns or neighbourhoods I’m unhappy with and re-drawing them. Sometimes I’ll remove something and leave its ‘ghost’ which is part of my nation’s canon (e.g old airports or railway lines). Sometimes I’ll remove something and re-building something entirely different in which case it wouldn’t be part of my nation’s canon.
Comment from eklas on 27 March 2017 at 20:20
It looks nice! I just think that perhaps the unnamed river in the northwest should lead into the bay, it makes more sense I guess.
Comment from joschi81 on 27 March 2017 at 20:23
@eklas: Good point! I’ll change that.
@Myrcia: You’re right, it’s my nation. But people are living there. I don’t want to upset them. :D
Comment from histor on 27 March 2017 at 21:17
Honestly said: The old and the new version both have their charme.
Clear is, that rough mapped items have a better chance to be modificied as detailled drawn areas. And as Myrcya write: Some structures can after changing live as “ghost”, but a lot of nodes and ways will be deleted and are gone in the design-nirvana. Indeed sometimes there is the point, you ask yourself: Is this design that, you really want? If not, the best is a hard cut and start new in this area,
Comment from Sarepava on 27 March 2017 at 23:08
It looks excellent, just a few more suggested refinements:
A few more mud flats around the bay wouldn’t go amiss. The harbour authorities will only need to dredge the main channel through the centre and the bay is going to get some quite big changes in water levels as the tides go in and out. Check out the estuary around Cuxhaven, or Poole harbour or Southampton Water in southern England for examples of how much tidal flats occur in natural harbours.
The motorway bridge across the bay is quite long (taking into account the necessary approach roads) and would need to be quite high to allow shipping and be able to withstand sea storms in winter. Consider a tunnel or an Oresund tunnel-bridge combo? The motorway as it exists isn’t actually the most useful route as a relief road, as for anybody driving north-south it requires a detour as long as sitting in traffic on the direct route, still hitting the congested southern part of the A1 and then not currently being able to turn to the south onto the A2 at Charlottenhof (I assume you intend to complete this interchange in future). Continuing the ring motorway around the two airports would most benefit the majority of travelers.
Also not entirely convinced of the viability of the two ferry routes from Loy, connecting only small settlements (although ferries in this area do add interest to the map) and doubling the motorway. The one to Hannack does appear to help railway connections but at 20km even on a fast passenger boat it’s nearly an hour voyage through busy shipping lanes and so anybody travelling towards Loy on the train would probably be better off riding into central Tarott, presumably changing at the Hbf or Kulzertor stations and taking another train around the bay. I can’t see this would be much slower and I would imagine somewhat cheaper, not affected by weather etc. A Hannck-Central Tarott route might be useful (speed can be faster as it’s in the shipping lanes rather than crossing them), as might Loy-Olmsand.
However, whenever I explore Tarott I wish I could create mapping as good as this and specifically less British-looking - there are many changes I would make to several cities in Karolia to make them more North and Central European.
Comment from BMSOUZA on 27 March 2017 at 23:54
I would prefer the old version, but the historic background you mentioned make the new version a very good thing!
Comment from UnSoiDisantOracle on 28 March 2017 at 01:21
I like the interesting change to one of the largest established cities at OGF.
Like Sarepava, the motorway connection in the west jumped out at me at first. But I think the marsh-y bay/inlet west of Freschel would get little to no shipping traffic as currently set up. So it could be realistic to link the Wendtbrohn peninsula via a direct causeway to Gross Nedern while moving the motorway tunnel slightly east (closer to Loy) and creating a “Y” bridge (or bridge-tunnel) that would be more convenient for everyone.
Comment from ilikemaps on 28 March 2017 at 21:27
I’ve taken inspiration from this and made a peninsular going into the sea from my capital city Carran but it looks unrealistic to me. Although I’m not sure way, it is supposed to be part of an island chain going to Melker.