Murphy's Law 7: ...Maybe?

[MoleMage]

Well...I'd put the former under geography more than ecology. Know what? I have no idea what I'm talking about. Just ignore the rambly pambly Mole.


*Scuttles off into a molehill.*

[McDouggal]

Unrelated? Ecology's really important for good worldbuilding. You can't just put the squiggly river through the pointy mountains, you need to think about regional and local climate patterns, the latitude and rain shadows and which way the wind's blowing.

But... that's what I do!

EDIT: Then again, I'm lazy.

[HalfTangible]

But... that's what I do!

EDIT: Then again, I'm lazy.

Apparently Coffee takes worldbuilding very, very seriously. I just put X with Y and think about what that does when character Z actually gets there with very, very little thought to how weather actually works.

[Alagaesian]

I take geography into account too, but not by the shape of the continents.

Example: I have three towns: Kengo, Riversedge, and Pine City. Due to story requirements, it takes about two-and-a-half days on horseback to get from Kengo to Riversedge, and another three to get to Pine City. At ~50 miles/day, this means Kengo and Pine City are, at a maximum, 275 miles apart. I want Kengo to be a moist, semitropical climate, but Pine City to have central-Canadian kinds of weather - snowy, windy, shorter summers. 275 miles is obviously too little. BUT, considering that it's late fall in my story, I can put Kengo on the coast, making the weather wetter and milder, and therefore warmer, than it would usually be. I've also made Pine City colder by sticking it in a mountain range.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Well, that was anti-climactic. I finished my ecology final in half an hour, spent almost as long checking over it, and walked back to my door thinking, "Really? That was it? Was I given an incomplete test packet or something?" But I'm done, which means that assuming Skyward Sword doesn't take over my life, I'll update tomorrow!

Apparently Coffee takes worldbuilding very, very seriously. I just put X with Y and think about what that does when character Z actually gets there with very, very little thought to how weather actually works.

Thank you!

Heh, it's just that ecology's my thing, and I genuinely enjoy it. And I want my world to be as accurate as possible; it really bugs me when people don't seem to care. I mean, I know I'm not perfect; for crying out loud I'm a college student planning to go into veterinary medicine using only my textbook and online sources as a reference, but I'm trying to be as accurate as possible.

I take geography into account too, but not by the shape of the continents.

Example: I have three towns: Kengo, Riversedge, and Pine City. Due to story requirements, it takes about two-and-a-half days on horseback to get from Kengo to Riversedge, and another three to get to Pine City. At ~50 miles/day, this means Kengo and Pine City are, at a maximum, 275 miles apart. I want Kengo to be a moist, semitropical climate, but Pine City to have central-Canadian kinds of weather - snowy, windy, shorter summers. 275 miles is obviously too little. BUT, considering that it's late fall in my story, I can put Kengo on the coast, making the weather wetter and milder, and therefore warmer, than it would usually be. I've also made Pine City colder by sticking it in a mountain range.

Exactly! But then what happens with me is that I look at how world currents and winds and stuff happen and then I tend to let things spiral...

Algaesian, what you could do is look at the different ocean currents and the like change the weather. Look at a map. Many people think that New York City and London are at similar latitudes, but actually New York City's on a similar latitude as Madrid, and London's about as far north as Calgary. I knew this, but I was still a bit surprised when the sun didn't set until practically 10 PM when I went to Ireland a couple summers ago. It's just that the Gulf Stream gives western Europe a much more mild climate than you would expect given its latitude.

Ecology's fun!

You wouldn't happen to do freelance geography design, would you? I wouldn't have the money to hire you right at the moment, or probably for quite a while, really, but knowing if (and how much, if so) I should start saving up for it would be nice, so...

Buh...guh...I...uh...

...really?

[Lord Raziere]

Yes, yes, geography really important to worldbuilding….

unless you find a good way to step around it. which is what I did.

my space sci-fi setting, I stepped around it by looking into space stuff instead, keep the focus on a wider universe than any one planet. that keep the planet themselves believable.

my fantasy universe, well its so far on the high magic end of the scale, physics is more determined by the local world's god than anything resembling our world- for example a good chunk of such worlds don't even have sun or plant life because the gods there don't have it in their purviews. worlds made by pantheons however are closer to our world since they are more balanced between different gods.

[Alagaesian]

I always thought of "ecology" as the biological system that inhabited the area. The weather and climate system generally falls under the "geography" umbrella.

None of my writing tends to be that involved with magic. Sure, it plays an important role in my plots, but I tend to fall back on the "like Earth but with magicians/magic items/magical creatures" territory instead of using magic to shape the very physics of my universes. In fact, the very physics tend to have a lot of influence on what my magic systems can and can't do...

Anyways, congratulations on your exam, Coffee. Thanks to this wonderful discussion on geography, I've now decided to take an idea from my own life to contribute to Pine City's cold, windy climate: Alberta Clippers. For those of you not from the Midwest/Canada, Alberta Clippers are cold, dry winds blasting south from the North Pole, sweeping straight into the Midwest because there's no mountains or jet stream to stop them. This weather phenomenon has given me the idea to make Pine City experience powerful windstorms in the winter.

This makes it even more urgent that my protagonists get to Pine City ASAP - if they don't hurry, they'll arrive late enough in the year that the windstorms will freeze them to death before they can get there.

Looking forward to the update.

[Elemental]

I thought that the weather and ocean currents come under climatology. But that's probably a subset of geography anyway.

Also, this comic is awesome. Nothing else needs saying.

[CoffeeIncluded]

I always thought of "ecology" as the biological system that inhabited the area. The weather and climate system generally falls under the "geography" umbrella.

None of my writing tends to be that involved with magic. Sure, it plays an important role in my plots, but I tend to fall back on the "like Earth but with magicians/magic items/magical creatures" territory instead of using magic to shape the very physics of my universes. In fact, the very physics tend to have a lot of influence on what my magic systems can and can't do...

Anyways, congratulations on your exam, Coffee. Thanks to this wonderful discussion on geography, I've now decided to take an idea from my own life to contribute to Pine City's cold, windy climate: Alberta Clippers. For those of you not from the Midwest/Canada, Alberta Clippers are cold, dry winds blasting south from the North Pole, sweeping straight into the Midwest because there's no mountains or jet stream to stop them. This weather phenomenon has given me the idea to make Pine City experience powerful windstorms in the winter.

This makes it even more urgent that my protagonists get to Pine City ASAP - if they don't hurry, they'll arrive late enough in the year that the windstorms will freeze them to death before they can get there.

Looking forward to the update.

Technically, the definition for "Ecology" is "the scientific study of the distribution, abundance, and interactions of organisms and their physical and biological environment" so this stuff also fits under the category.

Nice! That would make complete sense! Thank you!

[Lady Serpentine]

Buh...guh...I...uh...

...really?

Really! I'd much prefer to have a valid map for my world, if possible, and I have no real idea of how to pull the various sections I have together.

[McDouggal]

Well, that was anti-climactic. I finished my ecology final in half an hour, spent almost as long checking over it, and walked back to my door thinking, "Really? That was it? Was I given an incomplete test packet or something?" But I'm done, which means that assuming Skyward Sword doesn't take over my life, I'll update tomorrow!

*Starts dancing to final fantasy 1 victory music*

[CoffeeIncluded]

Here's the comic!


#165: Class Nutritional Warfare

C'nor, I was just...surprised is all.

*Sigh* And of course I come back to find that not only are ALL the AA batteries in the house dead, but the wii sensor bar is also broken, so I can't play Skyward Sword until we get a replacement!

[MoleMage]

I've heard that you can use a pair of lit candles instead of a sensor bar...the wiimote is what actually picks up the info.

[CoffeeIncluded]

I've heard that you can use a pair of lit candles instead of a sensor bar...the wiimote is what actually picks up the info.

No way am I using open flames. And really? My comic is that uninteresting?

[enderlord99]

It was an amazing comic, until I realized it just took real world religions, and changed them just enough to get by the moderators. I don't want to read about altered versions of real-world religions in a comic. At least, not as the main premise. And yet... it's still a really good comic, just not as good as it used to be.

[CoffeeIncluded]

It was an amazing comic, until I realized it just took real world religions, and changed them just enough to get by the moderators. I don't want to read about altered versions of real-world religions in a comic. At least, not as the main premise. And yet... it's still a really good comic, just not as good as it used to be.

Huh? I didn't do that...

[HalfTangible]

It was an amazing comic, until I realized it just took real world religions, and changed them just enough to get by the moderators. I don't want to read about altered versions of real-world religions in a comic. At least, not as the main premise. And yet... it's still a really good comic, just not as good as it used to be.

...

What on earth gives you that idea? The fact that these religions are portrayed in a way that makes sense doesn't mean they're metaphors for real-world religions of any kind. The only problem i've ever had with Murphy's law is that plotlines seem to resolve too quickly after their introduction...

[enderlord99]

Huh? I didn't do that...

Oh...

Sorry...

But still... "Day of Descent" and "Day of Ascent" sound like Christian stuff. I think. I wouldn't know, though, because I'm not Christian. So... Probably not.

[HalfTangible]

Oh...

Sorry...

But still... "Day of Descent" and "Day of Ascent" sound like Christian stuff. I think. I wouldn't know, though, because I'm not Christian. So... Probably not.

...BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA...

<-is a christian

Gyahahahaha!! ooooooh... xD I wish i could explain why that's hilarious. But no, not christian stuff.

[McDouggal]

THANK YOU. SO MUCH.

Btw, I've learned more about what not to do on a date by watching Matt fail (repeatedly) than I've learned on my one aborted date (she never showed).

[MoleMage]

I like the comic plenty, which is why I'm still here. I just felt proud of my little tidbit there.

[Alagaesian]

Just because a religion is monotheistic and full of Knight Templars doesn't mean it's a metaphor for Christianity. I can think of a handful of other religions that fit under that umbrella for portions of their history.

Anyways, back to the latest comic. I remember being somewhere along Matt's train of thought when I visited fancy restaurants as a kid. I wonder how Matt's going to react once he sees the bill...

[McDouggal]

Bill? What bill? I don't see any bill.

[MoleMage]

My train of thought nowadays is that "They keep giving me this bread. I think they're trying to get me to eat the bread, that way they can keep serving smaller portions and not get caught on charging the same."

Usually somewhere along there is "I wonder what I should drink with this."

[HalfTangible]

Just because a religion is monotheistic and full of Knight Templars doesn't mean it's a metaphor for Christianity. I can think of a handful of other religions that fit under that umbrella for portions of their history.

Anyways, back to the latest comic. I remember being somewhere along Matt's train of thought when I visited fancy restaurants as a kid. I wonder how Matt's going to react once he sees the bill...

Technically they're polytheistic - the religions here believe that the other gods exist, they just don't worship them. How else would they murder the dragon whose name I forget (Salblaze?)

[BeethroBudkin07]

Btw, I've learned more about what not to do on a date by watching Matt fail (repeatedly) than I've learned on my one aborted date (she never showed).

Ditto here. Except for the whole 'one aborted date' thing. I never had a date.

But yeah, good comic, put a smile to my face. I want to see more.

BTW, how old is your Wii? Mine is from about 2006 and I have yet to see it, or the sensor bar, for that matter, fail in any major way (except the Wii can't read gamecube disks too well anymore, but that's because I thought it was a smart idea to leave it on for several nights while watching computers play Mario Party 4, 5 and 6 to fall asleep)

[CoffeeIncluded]

Ditto here. Except for the whole 'one aborted date' thing. I never had a date.

But yeah, good comic, put a smile to my face. I want to see more.

BTW, how old is your Wii? Mine is from about 2006 and I have yet to see it, or the sensor bar, for that matter, fail in any major way (except the Wii can't read gamecube disks too well anymore, but that's because I thought it was a smart idea to leave it on for several nights while watching computers play Mario Party 4, 5 and 6 to fall asleep)

Nah, it's because the cord got ripped. I got a new one though, so it's all good!

[Lither]

Just because a religion is monotheistic and full of Knight Templars doesn't mean it's a metaphor for Christianity. I can think of a handful of other religions that fit under that umbrella for portions of their history.

Really? I haven't noticed any organisation that resembles them so far.

[HalfTangible]

Really? I haven't noticed any organisation that resembles them so far.

(The Paladins of Kago)

EDIT: Er, for Knights Templar

[Mystic Muse]

Guys, I think we should drop this.