(C&C) Q&A Thread - Quick questions go here

[gestaltist]

No, white skin did not originate in the middle east, nor in egypt. As a result, white skin is not typically found in the middle east, nor in egypt. White skin originates in the Baltic, and is more associated with reduced fish intake than with reduced meat intake. That's assuming you mean actually 'white', in the modern sense, skin. The actual gene mutations involved are much, much older - some are thought to be up to 35,000 years old. It's true that some light-skin mutations entered southern europe from the middle east in the neolithic, but those mutations were also already present in scandinavia, and in any case would not have produced white skin the modern sense, only 'arab' or 'mediterranean' skin.

I clearly meant white in a wider sense than you do here...

[Ahzoh]

Does the tectonics look naturalistic?:

Spoiler:

[sangi39]

Just a couple of cursory notes:

1) Where you've got two plates running alongside each other, relative to each other they move in "opposite" directions (even if they're technically moving in the same direction in an absolute sense), so at (0, 0) and (-2, 1) you need arrows pointing in opposite directions.

2) Similarly, at places like (-2, 2) and (-5, 1), you've got two plates heading in the same direction, one behind the other. Because their absolute speeds will be different, these two plates will either by pulling away from each other or colliding, to the arrows need to be pointing in different directions to represent this.

That's all I really have for the moment. I suppose where two plates collide in the middle of the ocean you might get a few sporadic volcanic islands if the collision has been going on long enough, but I could be wrong.

[LinguoFranco]

I presented an idea for a conworld that was essentially WW1 with magic where magic is required to activate machinery and devices. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it work and it was impractical as technology would be inaccessible to non-mages. I based the source of magic on special humans with a rare blood type that is used to create runes to activate the tecnology, but it seemed impractical for several empires to depend on rare group of humans to keep their societies running.

I guess the best solution is technomancy, where technology works just like it does in our world for the most part, but it can be enhanced or improved upon with magic. A person could still drive a tank with runes written on it, for example, but to him it's just a tank. A mage can activate the runes and make it even more powerful, but only the one who activates the rune can use it.

Unfortunately, this rules out the cool ideas I had where technology and weapons are stolen from other mages through illusion spells and magic acting as a security system.

[Creyeditor]

Unfortunately, this rules out the cool ideas I had where technology and weapons are stolen from other mages through illusion spells and magic acting as a security system.

Why? Could you elaborate on this?

[LinguoFranco]

Unfortunately, this rules out the cool ideas I had where technology and weapons are stolen from other mages through illusion spells and magic acting as a security system.

Why? Could you elaborate on this?

Because in the original system, magic worked as a key and mages could hijack a machine if they used illusion spells. In this revised system, a mage would only "hijack" the more powerful capabilities of the machine that is inaccessible to the average person.

[Evynova]

I presented an idea for a conworld that was essentially WW1 with magic where magic is required to activate machinery and devices. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it work and it was impractical as technology would be inaccessible to non-mages. I based the source of magic on special humans with a rare blood type that is used to create runes to activate the tecnology, but it seemed impractical for several empires to depend on rare group of humans to keep their societies running.

I guess the best solution is technomancy, where technology works just like it does in our world for the most part, but it can be enhanced or improved upon with magic. A person could still drive a tank with runes written on it, for example, but to him it's just a tank. A mage can activate the runes and make it even more powerful, but only the one who activates the rune can use it.

Unfortunately, this rules out the cool ideas I had where technology and weapons are stolen from other mages through illusion spells and magic acting as a security system.

That's gotta be the most frustrating thing when conworlding, sacrificing ideas we found amazing for the sake of realism.

Maybe you've already thought about it, but another idea is to make magic accessible to anyone granted they get the proper training. Mages would then be the most powerful and efficient users of magic thanks to their extensive training, and the non-initiated/beginners would only have access to basic spells, or would be unable to use magic altogether. You could also create a hierarchy based on proficiency with magic within the military (hell, why not even make diplomas that allow soldiers to access higher ranks if they have good enough grades?). Rare bloodtypes could play a role and make certain people more powerful or quicker at learning and mastering spells, while some weapons would only unleash their full potential with a fully trained mage (so that you don't throw away all of your ideas).

Keep in mind that even in our world, all weapons and vehicles aren't accessible to every soldier. There is special training that is required: being able to shoot a sniper rifle won't automatically make you capable of driving a tank. Magic could in that sense still be used as a security system against soldiers that did not receive training in magic, and powerful mages would still be able to hijack weapons from lesser-trained enemies.

[elemtilas]

That's gotta be the most frustrating thing when conworlding, sacrificing ideas we found amazing for the sake of realism.

Realism is so overrated.

I often wonder why it is so many of us seek to escape 'reality' by devising an 'invented' world; only to be driven mad by the process of invention that fails to yield a sufficiently realistic world.

[Evynova]

That's gotta be the most frustrating thing when conworlding, sacrificing ideas we found amazing for the sake of realism.

Realism is so overrated.

I often wonder why it is so many of us seek to escape 'reality' by devising an 'invented' world; only to be driven mad by the process of invention that fails to yield a sufficiently realistic world.

For my part, I'm to obsessed with science and rational thinking to allow myself to create something which I know just couldn't work. I like to know why things happen, and I like to be able to explain why they happen. That applies to my conworld, if I get an idea and I cannot explain it, then I don't use it.

[elemtilas]

That's gotta be the most frustrating thing when conworlding, sacrificing ideas we found amazing for the sake of realism.

Realism is so overrated.

I often wonder why it is so many of us seek to escape 'reality' by devising an 'invented' world; only to be driven mad by the process of invention that fails to yield a sufficiently realistic world.

For my part, I'm to obsessed with science and rational thinking to allow myself to create something which I know just couldn't work. I like to know why things happen, and I like to be able to explain why they happen. That applies to my conworld, if I get an idea and I cannot explain it, then I don't use it.

Sure! Thing is, it's certainly possible to create something that "couldn't work" given the constraints of the primary world; yet we can still sort out the details, the hows and the whys things work given the constraints of another world.

If I get an idea and can't explain it, I just chalk that up to me not having learned what it means yet. Perhaps eventually I'll discover the explanation!

[Ahzoh]

Does the distribution of the rivers look naturalistic enough?:

Spoiler:

Also, not sure how I'll do borders for nations when mountains, rivers, and forests are unavailable.

[elemtilas]

Also, not sure how I'll do borders for nations when mountains, rivers, and forests are unavailable.

Perhaps like countries have done *here*: broad swathes of ill-defined border marches, belonging really to neither country, perhaps claimed by both (when expedient), possibly declared as independent by the locals (if any).

[Evynova]

Also, not sure how I'll do borders for nations when mountains, rivers, and forests are unavailable.

Perhaps like countries have done *here*: broad swathes of ill-defined border marches, belonging really to neither country, perhaps claimed by both (when expedient), possibly declared as independent by the locals (if any).

Borders often follow rivers or hills or things like that. But it's true most of them don't show any pattern whatsoever. You could also make a border follow a river, then make the river change its course because of erosion (or man-made deviation) but leave the border as it was. Landscape is the easiest way to make borders.

Also, if you have the time, take a look at the border between India and Bangladesh. I have no idea how it happened but you've got parts of India, that are inside Bangladesh, inside India. Mind blowing.

[alynnidalar]

Not anymore! In the past few years, apparently efforts were undertaken to simplify the border by exchanging a number of the enclaves. The famed counter-counter enclave (the chunk of India, inside a chunk of Bangladesh, inside a chunk of India, inside Bangladesh) is now just part of Bangladesh.

Apparently nobody exactly knows how the border ended up that way, but according to legend, the little chunks of land were used as stakes in games between leaders. Maybe not literally true, but a neat story nonetheless.

[Evynova]

Not anymore! In the past few years, apparently efforts were undertaken to simplify the border by exchanging a number of the enclaves. The famed counter-counter enclave (the chunk of India, inside a chunk of Bangladesh, inside a chunk of India, inside Bangladesh) is now just part of Bangladesh.

Apparently nobody exactly knows how the border ended up that way, but according to legend, the little chunks of land were used as stakes in games between leaders. Maybe not literally true, but a neat story nonetheless.

Thanks for the info, I didn't know that!

There are also enclaves in my itty bitty country, and more than one! I can already name Baerle-Duc, a ridiculously complex commune (I don't know how to translate that into English, I guess, "municipality"?) that is in several pieces, and one of them is an enclave in the Netherlands.


Also last year, Belgium lost a little bit of territory. There was a Dutch enclave that made it impossible for the police to intervene (I don't recall why), and drug dealers took advantage of it knowing they wouldn't get caught. So to make things practical, Belgium gave 14 hectares of its territory to the Netherlands, which offered 10 hectares of its own as a compensation.

And I almost forgot: my country is separated into different areas, but let's make things simple because nothing is ever easy in Belgium, trust me. There is the Northern part, the Flanders (where people speak Dutch), the South, Wallonia (where I live, and French is spoken) and Brussels somewhere in the centre of the country (but also in Flanders and people speak both French and Dutch, but mainly the former which pisses the Flemish off because the area is technically in their territory lol). Well it just so happens that there is a bit of Wallonia in Flanders, and a bit of Flanders in Wallonia:

Look at the yellow part on the right, and there's a red bit on the left. The blue part is the German-speaking part of Belgium.

[Ahzoh]

And regarding my question regarding the distribution of rivers?

[Dormouse559]

commune (I don't know how to translate that into English, I guess, "municipality"?)

You could say "municipality" if you wanted to, but it's common to just say commune.

[LinguoFranco]

I presented an idea for a conworld that was essentially WW1 with magic where magic is required to activate machinery and devices. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it work and it was impractical as technology would be inaccessible to non-mages. I based the source of magic on special humans with a rare blood type that is used to create runes to activate the tecnology, but it seemed impractical for several empires to depend on rare group of humans to keep their societies running.

I guess the best solution is technomancy, where technology works just like it does in our world for the most part, but it can be enhanced or improved upon with magic. A person could still drive a tank with runes written on it, for example, but to him it's just a tank. A mage can activate the runes and make it even more powerful, but only the one who activates the rune can use it.

Unfortunately, this rules out the cool ideas I had where technology and weapons are stolen from other mages through illusion spells and magic acting as a security system.

That's gotta be the most frustrating thing when conworlding, sacrificing ideas we found amazing for the sake of realism.

Maybe you've already thought about it, but another idea is to make magic accessible to anyone granted they get the proper training. Mages would then be the most powerful and efficient users of magic thanks to their extensive training, and the non-initiated/beginners would only have access to basic spells, or would be unable to use magic altogether. You could also create a hierarchy based on proficiency with magic within the military (hell, why not even make diplomas that allow soldiers to access higher ranks if they have good enough grades?). Rare bloodtypes could play a role and make certain people more powerful or quicker at learning and mastering spells, while some weapons would only unleash their full potential with a fully trained mage (so that you don't throw away all of your ideas).

Keep in mind that even in our world, all weapons and vehicles aren't accessible to every soldier. There is special training that is required: being able to shoot a sniper rifle won't automatically make you capable of driving a tank. Magic could in that sense still be used as a security system against soldiers that did not receive training in magic, and powerful mages would still be able to hijack weapons from lesser-trained enemies.

Thanks, you've given me some good ideas! So I guess the trick is not to tie the runes to blood, since only the individual who created the rune could use the device and things like lights wouldn't be widespread if that were the case.

There could be a hierarchy of magic users where "mage" refers to a person who has surpassed a certain level of experience in magical skill.

Should all technology be based around magic, or would this only apply to military technology and maybe some vehicles? I'd expect that the average person would have no need for a pistol that can turn into a more powerful form, for example.

I originally had magic being rare in the world because most of the mages died in a civil war, but I decided it would be more interesting having an industrial society with magic.

[alynnidalar]

Guns that turn into other forms, you say...

[Adarain]

Guns that turn into other forms, you say...

You forgot Ironwood's gun-gun. It's a gun, but it's also ... a gun