jasmine_greengate
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If Exiled Kingdoms were located in real world, how large would it be? Like Taiwan, or like Australia? What would be it measures in kilometers or miles?
Size of Varannar island in RL
- Thread starter jasmine_greengate
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You can walk across it in a few hours, so Hawaii size? -or- It's big enough to have several distinct climates, and regions, so continent size?
Translating a game world into real-world size references is not easy and would require suspending strict adherence to physics, in-game content or reality. That's just the nature of designing game worlds.
Scattered in the game, there are a few references to how long it takes to travel in the Kingdom. Some include statements from River boats captains, or the NPC's in teh quest Those in Need. The first say it takes only a few hours to travel by boat between cities, the latter said it took weeks to cross the desert. You do both in a minute or two of walking. So not consistent size references.
Personally, I settle on the Island being the size of the North America Continent with a vaguely similar shape. Keep in mind, that while there are obvious similarities between Varannar and real-world North America, it would be presumptions to draw too much of a connection there. North America has neither dragons, magic.
Translating a game world into real-world size references is not easy and would require suspending strict adherence to physics, in-game content or reality. That's just the nature of designing game worlds.
Scattered in the game, there are a few references to how long it takes to travel in the Kingdom. Some include statements from River boats captains, or the NPC's in teh quest Those in Need. The first say it takes only a few hours to travel by boat between cities, the latter said it took weeks to cross the desert. You do both in a minute or two of walking. So not consistent size references.
Personally, I settle on the Island being the size of the North America Continent with a vaguely similar shape. Keep in mind, that while there are obvious similarities between Varannar and real-world North America, it would be presumptions to draw too much of a connection there. North America has neither dragons, magic.
stonedwolf
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The size of the USA? 
Coast to coast is a three month hike on modern roads. Obviously the US has a lot of influence in the game in terms of design, but in terms of sizing I'd say it was closer to Scotland (the TGO challenge is coast-to-coast hiking in 15 days). Perhaps a bit bigger but not vastly. Scotland was large enough to hold 5 distinct kingdoms in the early middle ages.
Coast to coast is a three month hike on modern roads. Obviously the US has a lot of influence in the game in terms of design, but in terms of sizing I'd say it was closer to Scotland (the TGO challenge is coast-to-coast hiking in 15 days). Perhaps a bit bigger but not vastly. Scotland was large enough to hold 5 distinct kingdoms in the early middle ages.
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It is exactly plot-sized.
The biome variety is also plot-caused.
But yeah, the size of Scotland sounds about right.
I never tried to portray any real world countries in EK, neither USA nor others. I regularly get emails in which people "discover" it's actually USA, UK, Brazil or Mexico. Always a fun read.
The biome variety is also plot-caused.
But yeah, the size of Scotland sounds about right.
I never tried to portray any real world countries in EK, neither USA nor others. I regularly get emails in which people "discover" it's actually USA, UK, Brazil or Mexico. Always a fun read.
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I like "plot-size." That perfectly expresses flexibility of any game world. I may borrow that term. I may also use it to describe other things.
What size of coffee? Plot-size.
I also like Scotland as a reference size. I think I would have preferred Ireland but that's just because I can't find Scotland on a map (it keeps getting obstructed by the UK).
While I can nerd-out as much as the next person, I've been puzzled by the need for fantasy games to fit into real world models. "That's not how it works in real life," is just such an odd thing to say in a game with dragons and wizards.
What size of coffee? Plot-size.
I also like Scotland as a reference size. I think I would have preferred Ireland but that's just because I can't find Scotland on a map (it keeps getting obstructed by the UK).
While I can nerd-out as much as the next person, I've been puzzled by the need for fantasy games to fit into real world models. "That's not how it works in real life," is just such an odd thing to say in a game with dragons and wizards.