by Zampfeo » Fri Feb 04, 2011 11:48 pm
Having studied college-level environmental science, I too would like to see more realistic geography.
Right now we have:
Deciduous forest and coniferous forest, which are both great themselves, but the placement on a large scale doesn't make sense. There's a much higher concentration of coniferous forest in colder areas, specifically the north, and right now they're spread evenly.
Grasslands suffer from the same placement problem. I usually find them along rivers when in reality they are found far away from sources of water and humidity.
Heath and moor are fine. I encounter them inland and along small rivers which is good. Grasslands should get the same treatment considering they're all the same, just with different soil.
I'm stumped by mudflats. If they're trying to be a mudflat, they're doing it horribly wrong. They should be found near marshes and at the mouths of rivers in a delta.
Swamps are found inland. That is just ridiculous.
Thicket is perfect.
Mountains don't make any sense at all. They don't just form randomly.
What I would like to see is a total revamp of the generator. First, continental and oceanic plates would be randomly generated with direction. Then, mountains and large seas would be generated based on this. Then, rivers would originate from these mountains and make there way to the seas and finally the terrain would then be generated with latitude and mountain placement in mind. For example, if the only source of moisture nearby is a sea blocked by a mountain, then the terrain would turn into desert.