River police here. The reason why river-splitting is so harped upon is that it's a _vanishingly_ rare phenomenon IRL, but it's not uncommon for a beginner cartographer to make all of their rivers split. Because that's what they _appear,_ at first glance, to be doing on maps; looking at a satellite photo of a river valley doesn't give a good sense of the flow's direction, so rivers seem to branch out like trees. In reality, they never do that, because gravity pulls only one way - downwards. When bifurcation happens, it's usually temporary (during thaws, the flow is too plentiful for a single riverbed, so the water carves an alternative one that dries up after a few months), and only around hard obstacles that a river can't easily erode. Rivers also split at deltas, where they slow down and thus start depositing silt in front of their own flow, so they have to splay out over a large area trying to get around it. People often look at deltas and assume rivers behave the same all along their flow. In reality, having them split like crazy is like making all your mountains be like the Zhangjiajie stone pillars, "because it can happen."
@inkarnate7021 I struggle a bit with smaller region maps. For instance I was working on a map for central Mirkwood for a Lord of the Rings rpg and I used the path tool for my river but it just didn't look right. More oractice needed I think.
@@wilfbiffherb Have you joined our Discord server? Myself and other mentors can totally help you out with your rivers. Our Discord community is incredibly helpful.
Rivers frequently converge. They always follow the incline of the ground. Big rivers are a collection of smaller streams. Larger/longer the river, larger the number of streams that connect to become one. Flat terrain makes rivers wind more. Steep terrain makes them flow straight.
Not all rivers run to the sea. Look in the state of Nevada at the Truckee river, which flows from Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake, which has no outlet. And the Humboldt River, which flows from the Jarbidge, Independence and Ruby mountains and flows east across Nevada to terminate in the Humboldt Sink. There are many other examples on earth. The Great Salt Lake is fed by three rivers, again no outlet.
We are working on sci-fi/cyberpunk art. We don't have dedicated art to post-apocalyptic but you totally can get away with it. I would 100% suggest joining our Discord server. Users there have created several maps and they would likely be very helpful with your project.
While I have no problem with fantasy rivers doing whatever the creator wants them to . . . On Earth, major rivers don't split into other major rivers. Splitting a river like this is the equivalent of having it run up hill or just go airborne. Again, fine for fantasy, but not real. On a more positive note, thanks for talking about using the line tool. I will use this.
River police here. The reason why river-splitting is so harped upon is that it's a _vanishingly_ rare phenomenon IRL, but it's not uncommon for a beginner cartographer to make all of their rivers split. Because that's what they _appear,_ at first glance, to be doing on maps; looking at a satellite photo of a river valley doesn't give a good sense of the flow's direction, so rivers seem to branch out like trees. In reality, they never do that, because gravity pulls only one way - downwards. When bifurcation happens, it's usually temporary (during thaws, the flow is too plentiful for a single riverbed, so the water carves an alternative one that dries up after a few months), and only around hard obstacles that a river can't easily erode. Rivers also split at deltas, where they slow down and thus start depositing silt in front of their own flow, so they have to splay out over a large area trying to get around it. People often look at deltas and assume rivers behave the same all along their flow. In reality, having them split like crazy is like making all your mountains be like the Zhangjiajie stone pillars, "because it can happen."
Cool thanks for the info.
Oh my God thank you for making this, I have been having the worst time with rivers on my map and it's been because of the mask effects 😅
The path tool is great tool to use for making rivers. So glad the video was helpful. Mission accomplished :)
loved the video! can't wait for the next one 😊
Really appreciate your support. I will keep pumping them out :)
Thanks for the tips, man. Always learn something new.
Happy to help!
Thanks for this, really helpful. Any tips for making rivers on a more local scale? Region/area maps.
Oh yeah just make the terrain first and then have the river snake (meander) around the terrain. The larger the curves the older the river.
@inkarnate7021 I struggle a bit with smaller region maps. For instance I was working on a map for central Mirkwood for a Lord of the Rings rpg and I used the path tool for my river but it just didn't look right. More oractice needed I think.
@@wilfbiffherb Have you joined our Discord server? Myself and other mentors can totally help you out with your rivers. Our Discord community is incredibly helpful.
@inkarnate7021 that is an excellent suggestion. Where can I find the link?
@@wilfbiffherb right here
discord.gg/nuX9sSAf3t
Thank you. Nice lesson!
You are welcome!
Rivers frequently converge.
They always follow the incline of the ground.
Big rivers are a collection of smaller streams. Larger/longer the river, larger the number of streams that connect to become one.
Flat terrain makes rivers wind more. Steep terrain makes them flow straight.
Thank you for the info :)
Not all rivers run to the sea. Look in the state of Nevada at the Truckee river, which flows from Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake, which has no outlet. And the Humboldt River, which flows from the Jarbidge, Independence and Ruby mountains and flows east across Nevada to terminate in the Humboldt Sink.
There are many other examples on earth. The Great Salt Lake is fed by three rivers, again no outlet.
Cool thanks 👍
Hello, sorry for the inconvenience, but do you do commissions? And if so, what are your rates? For example, for a world map?
Is Inkarnate any good for creating semi-realistic maps? I am thinking a post-apocalyptic map, so not so much fantasy style.
We are working on sci-fi/cyberpunk art. We don't have dedicated art to post-apocalyptic but you totally can get away with it. I would 100% suggest joining our Discord server. Users there have created several maps and they would likely be very helpful with your project.
Ty
While I have no problem with fantasy rivers doing whatever the creator wants them to . . . On Earth, major rivers don't split into other major rivers.
Splitting a river like this is the equivalent of having it run up hill or just go airborne. Again, fine for fantasy, but not real.
On a more positive note, thanks for talking about using the line tool. I will use this.
Cool,thanks for sharing your thoughts. Take care.