Worldbulding: Anon's Creations

>>8620954
Its 35% about the world itself and 65% about how that world is displayed through the characters. What sort of responses awakens in them, how do they feel about it, the casual way they deal with its (to us) complex and different existence, the subtle awareness of its history/lore that they have and the way things are and how all those things shape their character or responses to the situations.
Its easy to build slghtly different worlds and harder the ones that are crazy different. I always hated my pick to study history, but I don't regret it in terms of worldbuilding potential, it makes you think about what humans can be in different situations.

>>8620969
Not what I was looking for, but informative and enlightening, nonetheless.

>>8620976
Sorry, to respond to your question: no, I haven't succesfully done any worldbuilding. If you want it done properly, it's really tough.
I did try to write a novel set in slightly altered European Iron Age communities dominated by Rome, except with the twist of magic existing in their world.

>>8620978
Now that seems like an ambitious project. I never try to use altered histories in my creation, modifying our universe and all that. Such a thing seems rather... Well, as you said in terms of doing WB proper, tough.

Not a single one of my creations are finished to an exact measure, all WIPs. One of my current ones that I'm working on is Vetegre, a world caught in an undending cycle of rebirth. Every race, every religion, every civilization, fauna and flora, potentially materials, and even the magic systems are up for change during each beginning of rebirth.

Right now, I've at least around three cycles, the third one having met the beginning of its end already.

>>8620954
Yeah. I have the outline of a novel and a pile of short story ideas in it. It was originally developed for a roleplaying game.

Basically it's a fantasy realm where the Elves and Dwarves are ancient Ayylians and not really aware of it except through myths. Humans are the result of an Elven STD that stripped their children of immortality, it was eventually cured but the trauma of mankind's creation, thousands of fathers watching their sons grow old and feeble in a way that the Elves were completely unfamiliar with left an indelible mark on Elven civilization which resulted in a massive blame game that devolved into civil war and collapse of a unified Elven society into rival kingdoms and city states that can broadly be organized into 5 cultural groups.

Eventually the Elves, to prevent the contagion of mortality from Humans and to avoid seeing the unpleasant effects of age, banished all of the humans to a continent to the North. Some contact is maintained and some births still happen, but 'half elves' are usually banished to human realms.

The Elves and Dwarves, owing to their shared origins, are both highly Apollonian races though this expresses itself in different ways amongst the Elven cultures. Dwarven culture is extremely homogeneous to the point where every Dwarven settlement is constructed according to the same centralized plan and the primary building in any Dwarven settlement is a library where they house copies of their book of steel, a massive collection of basically all of the knowledge of their race, from the proper ergonomic way to swing a pickaxe to the proper way to engage in courtship. Deviation from this code is usually grounds for banishment or execution. They have a scholarly class which is permitted to experiment but only in very close accordance with the book. The biggest part of their job as inventors and experimenters is using divination to find justification for what they are doing in the book, as for the Dwarves all knowledge worth knowing must be contained within it. When a divination is accepted, it is added to the book of steel in an appendix which is why it takes an entire multi-level structure to house a complete copy. The appendices are considered to be equal to the original book's contents so many appendices are actually appendices of appendices to the point where the vast majority of the book is a complex network of footnotes.

Then there are bestial races which are Dionysian, with the two I have most fleshed out being a race of lizard men and a race of insectoids. The lizard men are extremely individualistic, cunning, violent and have a cult of becoming while the insectoids are anti-individualistic mostly pacifistic pantheists.

I think that Herodotus is probably the best person to read to learn how to world build. He's quite fun to read and the best part is he has a charming naivete and lack of respect for unitary narrative that is utterly foreign to modern writers.

That's a bit beyond whatv I do, wow!

This is extremely helpful, thank you for sharing. I've not done such a thing to this since I was eleven. Or was it thirte- Pah, doesn't matter. Anyways, one of civilizations I'm working on in the world of Vetegre involves two specific races that developed alongside each other. The most prominent race are Narthons, towering humanoids that lack organic skin, and instead adopt a metallic plating that can be removed through a surgical process. The other are known as Daothatites, which are relatively smaller and weaker than Narthons. They themselves are a bit more evovled, capable of low-altitude hover and far more mobile than Narthons.

The civilization they belong to runs off of the accurate following of communism, with a few deviations of conduct and authority hither an thither.

>>8620954
I made a world for a far future/fantastical setting for potential stories, but I never used it and disregarded most of the lore when I actually wrote a novel set within it. I focused more on the character and the prose over the story/world.

>>8621038
Noice.

>>8621038
I've tried to write stories based on my worlds. Short ones, along with free-verse poems.

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I'm trying to write about a completely neutral world, because I think someone once said that if you try to be completely neutral and colorless, you'll necessarily reveal your most partial self and the true color of your soul.

And it seems to be going well. It's fun, and that's the most important part. I get kind of an exalted feeling while doing it. I feel pure. But I don't think that my imagination is big enough for what I want to do. There are things that happen, when things collide, when the world goes over a certain level of complexity--I'm totally unable to conceptualize things at that level.

What I mean is: yesterday, while I was walking to a meeting in my campus, I suddenly saw a beam of light emerging from between two buildings. When I walked into the beam, I saw that I was looking at a tunnel full of sunlight that had been projected at where I was standing for miles, and was making the road, the buildings, and everything else around it glow like it was covered with sheets of gold. I could never make something up like that. There are moments of absolute beauty that ambush us in life, there are different tones of upness and downness that I feel too foggy headed and stupid to ever be able to conceptualize and put into practice in a story. Does anyone know what I mean?

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>Story takes place on an ocean planet colonized by humans
>The planet is ruled by a feudal admralty where the local aristocracy uses massive 3d printers that were supposed to be for building infrastructure, to build battleships.
>More advanced technology exists but most stuff is 1940s tech.
>There are also sea monsters which descended from the nanomachines which teraformed the planet in the first place.
>Some of the sea monsters are hostile, and there was a big war at one point.
>Also pirates.
>Everyone wears skimpy outfits

Not sure what to do with it though.

>>8621247
Yeah, it's called life. That's why you gotta pay attention to the world around you, because ultimately anything you plop out of your brain-can is something that you saw in reality and messed with.

I had trouble writing proper long form stories so I started writing some microfiction thanks to hearing about The Bard Quarterly. I think that feeling of 'implying' with the character's actions and thoughts is far better than the actual world you built. Who cares that you have a sea of steel towers and everyone is a brain in a box?

I want to see the character freak out because he sees that because he's from a tribe exploring the big city and getting confused by it all.

The only reason to world build is so that you can hint at all the world building you did before putting it in the actual story. Same thing with character building, you give them depth outside of the story so when the reader sees them they just see the most interesting parts so the reader can easily imagine 'there's far more to this isn't there' which I think is very important for fiction.

>>8621377

Sounds interesting anon, particularly that last part.

>>8621377
I haven't seen it, but from what I know this sounds very similar to the anime Suisei no Gargantia. Even the skimpy outfits.

>>8621468
I saw it. You have to take out the 3D printers and add the fact that all the cool people either became space squids or pretty boy clones to shove in awesome mechs.
That show also had more focus on 'a city of ships at sea' and the skimpy outfits were used for the proper purposes.

>>8620954

My idea for a setting:

>Mad Max/Hokuto no Ken sort of setting, apocalyptic, world has went to shit
>Over time lots of other races have appeared some resembling elves, merfolk and dwarves from Tolkien like literature but I won't say they are outright them, there are also humans with ESP who try an Illuminati type thing that look like the underground mutated humans from Planet of the Apes
>Main character is part of an order which works to restore people's faiths in humanity as outside in the more savage parts, killing, rape, cannibalism, etc. Are all incredibly common things
>Main character is sent on a bunch of errands like a police officer, inspecting settlements where some crime has happened
>Order and chaos are a big theme, main character questions continuously whether events are random or everything is planned
>Order main character belongs too learn they've been worshiping the wrong God and the deity they fear is possibly the real God, sends everyone into a meltdown

Maybe I should write a bunch of short stories set in this world rather than going for an ambitious longer project.

If you have to "worldbuild," you're writing garbage.

>>8621546
I'm convinced this thread is the most meta-ironic one we've ever had. Every post is perfectly emulating the retardation of Jordan, Sanderson, /tg/ andd /v/.

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What does /lit/ think of my idea for a setting?

>In 1949 the Second World War ended in a stalemate
>It is now roughly 200 years later
>The story is set in a successor state to the British Empire with a capital at Alexandria
>The Britons have intermingled heavily with the local Arabs, Greeks, Jews, and Copts.
>lots of Orientalist tropes eg. seraglios, Eastern cults, opium.
>There is a communist federation in Eastern Europe called the Bread States.
>????

I'm in the same boat as this anon >>8621377. I want it to be lewd. I think one character will be a harem girl of Irish descent and another will be a refugee/spy from the Bread States. Oh, the country will be called "Crusader" because of the Crusader States from real life and also because of Operation Crusader in WW2.

It will take a lot of research to give it that true to life feel.

>>8621552
I honestly want to know why you think it's retarded.
To me, it's just people having fun imagining things. It's like going to a theme park and riding a roller coaster.
You're like that guy to me who says "no you've got to build coasters to appreciate them, and they need to be no more than ten feet off the ground and travel at a certain speed".

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>>8621552
I was going to mock it, but then I realised I'm a cynical wreck whose perspective has been destroyed by post-modern culture and especially 4chan and I felt a deep pang of shame for attempting to shit all over the innocence of these posters. Sitting here rocked with shame 2bh.

I mean look at this cunt.
>>8621247

Why would I come just to shit all over his enjoyment.

>>8621398
Nice post. I totally agree.

>tfw I know I only have to worldbuild because I spent my 20's in a basement/apartment playing video games instead of experiencing the actual world around me and subsequently I can't identify enough with it or with the people living in it to actually write anything meaningful, causing me to try to create my own fantasy setting.

That said, my current world is a future earth populated by people who have been fleeing a 200 year old cold war on the moons of Jupiter, where human civilization is based. It concerns an older pessimistic monk and his younger optimistic but amoral partner as they work as mercenaries/bounty hunters. The story is about how after their six years of friendship he's forced to betray her to save a city full of people. Any of the 'lore' I've developed is unmentioned or at least irrelevant. Most of it is inspired by the Oresteia and Macbeth.
I'm only writing this now to procrastinate on writing a paper on childhood obesity for my shitty psych class.

>>8620969
love it

>>8622506
>taking psych
>low self esteem
Yep! Correct major!
I suggest picking up some Kevin Hogan book, he does business psych. Really good at summarizing and explaining psychology in a way that doesn't suck.
As for your worldbuild, thats not a worldbuild, that's a setting.

Ultimately the most important thing to consider is what the world eats. I know it sounds insignificant, but telling the reader that you've actually sat down and sorted this stuff out really makes your world breathe. It's nearly as important as including your world's glossary at the back of the book (although you don't need to update it for every single book in the series, thank God).

>>8622532
>I suggest picking up some Kevin Hogan book
I'll look into it. I've read a lot of persuasion/psychology stuff several years ago to (pretty successfully) break myself out of a depression. Major is actually nursing, as psychology seems somewhat impractical and less directly rewarding.
>>8622532
>thats not a worldbuild, that's a setting.
Thanks, that's very kind.

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>>8621468
I'd be lying if I said it wasn't an inspiration, but it's not the only inspiration. And there are more differences than similarities.

People live on islands. Battleships are WWII style rather than the pre-dreadnaughts gargantia had. I sometimes consider including giant robots, but don't think they would actually add much to the story.

I kinda want it to be some kind of political allegory, hidden under layers of fanservice and battleship porn, and to that end I have a rough history, but I don't know how to turn that into a fun story.

>Tiamat, a biological AI arives at Tau Ceti B and begins teraforming the planet.
>Tiamat seeds the planet with aquatic life ranging from regular fish, to huge sea monsters
>Thousands of years latter humans arrive to colonize the planet. Tiamat agrees as long as they promise not to fuck things up like they did back on earth.
>The humans set up a base on the moon, and begin slowly landing colonists on the planet. The planet is named Bikini (after the Atoll) and it is decided that the society will be organized along tribal lines and conducted in a way to minimize environmental impact. This is partly a compromise with Tiamat, and partly the fact that Bikini is metal poor and only has a few small islands for agriculture.
>Unfortunately the tribal leaders turn out to be corrupt and form an aristocracy. Shipments of resources and heavy equipment from off planet (cargo) get horded. Eventually they start 3d printing battleships and fighting over cargo.
>This ticks off Tiamat, and she goes godzilla mode on the humans. The humans temporarily become united to defend themselves from her. During this period, battleships get much much bigger.
>Tiamat however is dying of old age, and her children are starting to take over. And these children have been acting more and more human.
>Eventual the sea monsters start fighting among themselves, this combined with war exhaustion on the humans side ends the war.
>New treaties are drafted, including a Washington naval treaty type limitation on the size and number of battleships. However this only serves to further entrench the admiralty and perpetuate the problems that lead to the war in the first place.


As for the skimpy outfits, In this universe the swimsuit is named after the planet, which is named after an old legend from earth about "the place where the sun touched the sea" Traditonaly people wore loincloths or sarongs, but at some point the admiralty decided to use speedoes and bikinis as uniforms (they wear flash protection gear over it when below decks during combat alert). From there it became a civilian fashion the way T-shirts caught on after WWII, and now people assoceate the swimsuit with the planet.

>some kind of political allegory, hidden under layers of fanservice and battleship porn
>how to turn that into a fun story

Sounds like Girls Und Panzer to me. Without the tanks.
Politics are nasty though. The only reason to do politics is if it impacts your characters, otherwise it's just dry. Harry Turtledove knows that.
'fun' is about what you're focusing on. Look at the literary masterpiece that is Keijo!!!!!!
Anime tends to pull a lot of the same jokes and cliches over and over, so when someone doesn't like the cliche or troupe it gets dull. Then someone either uses it well, or does a twist on it. That's fun. It's a challenge to see who can use the troupes the best to make the character's more interesting and the plot more interesting.
Like:
>I saw the ships coming in, that ship is a blahdeblah made by blahdeblah

is worse than

>My father died on a ship like that. I'm joining the navy soon, maybe that will be my grave, the blah de blah

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>>8622925
Any technical details that aren't relevant to the plot would probably be placed in appendix, so hardware nerds can gush over them without interrupting the flow of the story.

As for characters, I'm thinking that one major character would be this lady captain who has a grudge against the admiralty and wants to change society. A sort of Napoleon type who's popular among her followers, but hated and feared by the aristocracy for her skill and shameless social climbing.

I'm not sure if she should be the protagonist though, I'm told people don't like superhuman protagonists. The cliche is that the story should be told from the perspective of some everyman cabin boy serving under her.

Then again people read Honor Harrington, so bad ass bitch with a battleship isn't exactly unheard of.