Geofiction

Geofiction is a complicated topic, but it can be best defined as the creation of a city/country/world, often based on the real world, and done with no purpose except for the fun of it. A significant amount of this blog will be dedicated to the process of geofiction, highlighting the thinking behind creating a realistic environment. Opengeofiction (https://opengeofiction.net), the website where I do such things, has a strong focus on verisimilitude. Utilizing strict rules, the website is an attempt to unify a group of geoficticians with the common purpose of creating a real world. Huckleberry Springs, in my last blog post, was made using vector tools on Opengeofiction. It is a node-based model in which the map I presented contained 10,000 nodes. Some areas of my maps contain tens or hundreds of thousands of nodes, and it does take a good amount of time to create a map. I have spent over a thousand hours getting to the point where I am now with my mapping ability, but it has been well worth it, given that geofiction contributes to a better understanding of the geology, geography, and planning of our real world.

The most common question that I get about my mapping work is "why?" For many people, geofiction seems like a strange passion. I can only say that geofiction is like any other hobby, like painting, amateur radio, or blogging, in which one does what they are interested in, learns about their topic, and can expect a result. Just because the hobby is rather unfamiliar doesn't mean that it is in nature all that different.

Another common question that I get falls something along the lines of "why realism?" or "why map the bad things?" This is both an integral part of my geofiction process (usually, though occasionally I do map in a fantasy or sci-fi setting) and a way of learning more about the problems in the real world. My maps have coal-fired power plants, brownfields, landfills, ghost towns, and slums, all problematic in the real world and which through my hobby I have a better understanding of. Geofiction being realistic is the reason that I put so much thought into it.

While a lot of my work involves making maps of the real world or drawing real places with paper and pencil, most of it is geofiction. Though I don't promise a schedule, you can look forward to more maps in the future.