How NOT to map a city - keep it realistic folks

[Deleted User] · April 2020

The title says it all. Whoever did this map is off their rocker if they think this is anyway a realistic city.

https://www.thepoke.co.uk/2018/03/22/guy-makes-role-playing-games-criticised-map-new-orleans-unrealistic-gone-viral-recap/?fbclid=IwAR0o2tv2OnUJOfbWt3sGn1P2y9B0U6eFRZdCjEdY9bRylDXaU8vSITFcqfY

Loopysue · April 2020

I guess they did it just because they could

Lorelei · April 2020

The lake comment is certainly my favorite!! LOL

Mateus090985 · April 2020

Hahahahaahahah. Excelent!

Monsen · April 2020

Some people just don't seem to grasp the concept of making maps believable.

mike robel · April 2020

I think that bridge is just an artifact I get all the time when drawing paths/polygons. you have to click one end to make it go away.

[Deleted User] · April 2020

I hope you all realize that this is the REAL life map of new Orleans

Maidhc O Casain · April 2020

It wouldn't be NEARLY as funny if it wasn't!

JimP · April 2020

The early French explorers thought those two lakes were lakes. So that is where the names come from.

After it was discovered that Borgne is not a lake but a bay, folks decided to keep that name. They felt it had become traditional.

jslayton · April 2020

Every item on that map has a good historical reason for being there. When viewed without that historical context, most of those items appear to be inefficient and so unlikely. Most fantasy maps will be viewed separate from their own history and so any inefficient items may jar the viewer's suspension of disbelief.

taustinoc · April 2020

Posted By: JimPThey felt it had become traditional.

And tradition is the most powerful force known to man.

Merion · April 2020

So the 'explorers' settled there without ever checking the other side of the 'lake' for so long that the name became traditional?

Monsen · April 2020

Maybe the people they sent to circumnavigate it hasn't come back yet? It is quite a long walk trying to follow the shoreline of that lake

JimP · April 2020

My knowledge of the history of there is a bit sketchy.

Then went up the Mississippi River from the Gulf of Mexico, and likely from their fur trading outposts on the Great Lakes, went down the Mississippi River as well. There were also landings in the Biloxi, Mississippi area.

The Great Lakes are large enough they might have thought Lake Borgne was similar. Can't see the far shore, it must be another huge lake.

Wyvern · April 2020

Worth bringing this topic back to mind next time someone comments along the lines that some bit of geography on a map isn't like that in the real world.

Hey, maybe we can show streams CAN flow uphill sometimes this way, without using magic

Monsen · April 2020

Worth bringing this topic back to mind next time someone comments along the lines that some bit of geography on a map isn't like that in the real world.

It is well worth remembering that our own world sometimes breaks the "rules" we tend to assign to many features, yes. But it is equally important to remember that these "violations" are rare. Many people approach fantasy mapping without knowing too much about these things, and comments about how things usually work in the real world can be very helpful to make more believable maps.

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How NOT to map a city - keep it realistic folks

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