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Infinitely large planet with every terrain combination

11 (21.2%)

Flat planet

16 (30.8%)

Cylindrical planet

7 (13.5%)

Some other shape (Post to specify)

18 (34.6%)

Total Members Voted: 52

[shinyarceus4]

If the world map is supposed to represent the entire world your dwarves live in, then the planet the dwarves live in is either inanely large or small but non-spherical. The Mercator projection used in real-life maps are highly distorted near the north and south poles, so landmasses like Greenland and Australia are much larger than they actually are. Yet in Dwarf Fortress, the distances are uniform no matter how far north or south you go. 1 square region at the equator is exactly the same as one at the north or south poles, where a square map as the Mercator projection is so distorted as to be unmappable. Is the DF world map just one part of an infinitely large planet where every terrain combination exists? Or is it just dwarven physics saying that the planet isn't even spherical at all? What do you think?

[NW_Kohaku]

The map is not a "world", it's a "region".

Keep in mind that you can start as an adventurer from "outside" the region.  (Functionally created from nowhere, but presumed to just be from some other continent.)

Also, keep in mind that the standard "world" is an "island", not even a continent.

Since a tile is 2 meters by 2 meters by 3 meters, and we know the exchange between local tiles, area tiles, and regional tiles, even the largest of maps in the game (257x257 regional tiles) are only the size of Ireland.

[Itnetlolor]

Remember, this takes place back when everyone believes the world is flat, therefore it IS flat.

Think Discworld

[NW_Kohaku]

Remember, this takes place back when everyone believes the world is flat, therefore it IS flat.

Think Discworld

Discworld is a subjective reality where belief actually does shape reality.

DF has a roundworld with objective reality.  What you believe doesn't mean what's really there will be any different.  (Otherwise game physics would be subjective and change from place to place and perception to perception, and game physics are absolute and objectively measurable.)

It's a round world, just that we're looking at a piece of the world that is very small so the curvature of the planet doesn't screw things too out of proportion.

[lonjil]

Torus maybe? Toruses are cool.

[Buttery_Mess]

Torus maybe? Toruses are cool.

The DF map is mathematically closer to a quarter of a torus segment than it is to to any section of a sphere. If Toady wants to stick with Cartesian grids, no DF world will ever be properly mappable onto spheroid.

I don't see what's wrong with imagining a DF world to be a thin cuboid hovering above hell. It's fantasy, it can be weird.

[Loud Whispers]

I don't see what's wrong with imagining a DF world to be a thin cuboid hovering above hell. It's fantasy, it can be weird.

Preposterous. The map is clearly a turtle's back.

[the woods]

Remember, this takes place back when everyone believes the world is flat, therefore it IS flat.

Think Discworld

A flat earth wasn't actually a commonly-held belief in European history. Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the planet by measuring a stick's shadow, which he wouldn't have attempted if he thought the world was a plane. Also, the Aristotelean model of cosmology arranges round planets into spheres of motion. This was adopted by the Catholics who at the time were telling most people what to think. http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/retrograde/aristotle.html

The map is not a "world", it's a "region".

Keep in mind that you can start as an adventurer from "outside" the region.  (Functionally created from nowhere, but presumed to just be from some other continent.)

Also, keep in mind that the standard "world" is an "island", not even a continent.

Since a tile is 2 meters by 2 meters by 3 meters, and we know the exchange between local tiles, area tiles, and regional tiles, even the largest of maps in the game (257x257 regional tiles) are only the size of Ireland.

I think the weirdest thing about that is that the north and south borders are always extremes of hot or cold.

[NW_Kohaku]

I think the weirdest thing about that is that the north and south borders are always extremes of hot or cold.

You can change it if you want, but basically, I think it's because Toady wanted to ensure that every map had every biome available.  It wouldn't be quite the same if you started a new world and the playable region carved out of it is basically Greenland - a freak ton of tundra and only a little livable land. 

That way, all the different critters can exist on a single map.

(And since I like playing with advanced map features, I tend to make the maps go from temperate to tropical, along with upping the variances and screwing with the weights on a lot of other things so that I can get more maps that have intersections of interesting biomes, so I can get an embark that has, for example, a good mountain and savage forest and evil swamp converge.)

[Broken]

Actually, the weirdest thing about DF Maps is how Large regions can have two poles.

[Naryar]

DF worlds are flat. End of discussion.

Else there would be much deformation in the tiles closer to the edges of the world.

[Replica]

I have always imagined that all Dwarf Fortress worldgens exist on the same planet.

In WH40k there are so called "demon worlds" that constantly shift and change, my best guess was that the regions constantly shift and that old regions are shifted into new.

[Owlbread]

Actually, the weirdest thing about DF Maps is how Large regions can have two poles.

Maybe they aren't poles but rather different regions. Or perhaps a large region is like a "side" or face of a globe.

[NW_Kohaku]

How can you have a planet shape poll and not have the one canonically correct answer on it?

It's a sphere.  It's supposed to be an Earth-like planet and we're only looking at a tiny portion of it, small enough that distortions from the curvature of the globe doesn't significantly impact the map shape.

[zkenyon]

it's a sphere, clearly dwarves get smaller as they walk away from the equator. This effect is particularly noticeable at the caps. where size, and therefore momentum of the water molecules is decreased enough to become ice.

I think that's how it works on earth too.