Zompist Bboard Again

I like seeing Koppen maps (or any climate classification system) of people's conworlds. Here's a thread to share such maps. And to start here's the Koppen maps for my world, Enumene (WIP, I havent distinguished the various continental zones from one another and the desert regions need a rework imo)

I always wanted to do something like this but Inkscape makes it difficult. I also never really know how big or small a koppen region should be.

Íröd:

Ahzoh wrote: ↑Sun Apr 12, 2026 5:29 pm I always wanted to do something like this but Inkscape makes it difficult. I also never really know how big or small a koppen region should be.

I did my maps in GIMP; I'm teaching myself Inkscape atm which presents design challenges not present in GIMP though you do get lovely pixel-free maps out of it unlike in GIMP.

I used Madeline James' guide to climate creation as well as the guides on "An Apple Pie from Scratch". I found that by combining the two I arrived at a workable climate system for Enumene. NB: while James is definitely the more approachable method her writing style betrays a 'learning as you go' approach that could use a tad bit more editing to improve its readability. In any event trust your gut and remember: it's your made up world lol!

Man in Space wrote: ↑Sun Apr 12, 2026 7:06 pm Íröd:

Love that supercontinent

Obviously there's no international standard for representing the Köppen type with colours, but I find it hard to think of A-type climates as blue.

(What do synaesthetes think? This could be very interesting.)

Arzena wrote: ↑Mon Apr 13, 2026 10:18 am

Ahzoh wrote: ↑Sun Apr 12, 2026 5:29 pm I always wanted to do something like this but Inkscape makes it difficult. I also never really know how big or small a koppen region should be.

I did my maps in GIMP; I'm teaching myself Inkscape atm which presents design challenges not present in GIMP though you do get lovely pixel-free maps out of it unlike in GIMP.

I used Madeline James' guide to climate creation as well as the guides on "An Apple Pie from Scratch". I found that by combining the two I arrived at a workable climate system for Enumene. NB: while James is definitely the more approachable method her writing style betrays a 'learning as you go' approach that could use a tad bit more editing to improve its readability. In any event trust your gut and remember: it's your made up world lol!

I use to read the Climate Cookbook. Sadly, I can't find the original website anymore. That second link seems to be a copy of it, some of the graphic pictures look familiar.

alice wrote: ↑Mon Apr 13, 2026 2:36 pm Obviously there's no international standard for representing the Köppen type with colours, but I find it hard to think of A-type climates as blue.

(What do synaesthetes think? This could be very interesting.)

I am not a synaesthete, but my thinking of what Köppen climate type should have which colour is informed by a world climate map in my old school atlas, and that has A=red, B=yellow/orange, C=green, D=blue/purple, E=iceblue.

Ahzoh wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2026 3:10 amI use to read the Climate Cookbook. Sadly, I can't find the original website anymore.

Is this it?

WeepingElf wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2026 4:42 am

alice wrote: ↑Mon Apr 13, 2026 2:36 pm Obviously there's no international standard for representing the Köppen type with colours, but I find it hard to think of A-type climates as blue.

(What do synaesthetes think? This could be very interesting.)

I am not a synaesthete, but my thinking of what Köppen climate type should have which colour is informed by a world climate map in my old school atlas, and that has A=red, B=yellow/orange, C=green, D=blue/purple, E=iceblue.

Me too, for more mundane reasons (red = "hot", blue = "cold").

alice wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2026 2:38 pm

WeepingElf wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2026 4:42 am

alice wrote: ↑Mon Apr 13, 2026 2:36 pm Obviously there's no international standard for representing the Köppen type with colours, but I find it hard to think of A-type climates as blue.

(What do synaesthetes think? This could be very interesting.)

I am not a synaesthete, but my thinking of what Köppen climate type should have which colour is informed by a world climate map in my old school atlas, and that has A=red, B=yellow/orange, C=green, D=blue/purple, E=iceblue.

Me too, for more mundane reasons (red = "hot", blue = "cold").

Yes. That probably also was the reason why the colours were chosen that way on the map in the school atlas.

alice wrote: ↑Mon Apr 13, 2026 2:36 pm Obviously there's no international standard for representing the Köppen type with colours, but I find it hard to think of A-type climates as blue.

(What do synaesthetes think? This could be very interesting.)

Not a synaesthete but in contrast to what Alice said, blue on Koppen maps (especially the dark blue for Af) always strikes me as meaning 'lots of water' instead of 'cold'. This may betray my growing up in California where 'winters' mean the return of water to the ecosystem instead of it being cold per se

I'm not exactly a synaesthete (even though certain speech sounds evoke certain colors to me), but blue for tropical rainforest seems wrong to me. If anything, I would make tropical rainforest bright green, which bright green signifying lots of lush plant life, and I would make desert bright red, with bright red signifying lots of heat. Also, I would use darker 'cool' colors for colder climates, with dark blue, dark purple, or dark gray for tundra climates (but I would use white or cyan for frozen ice caps).

My personal preferences would be pretty similar to the most commonly used schemes.

My honest main nitpick with Köppen is the definition of cold and hot desert/semi-arid. Like you have parts of Sahara, southern Argentina and much of Mongolia, which are all very different in their actual average temperatures, in the same "cold desert". Should be split at least 3-way for both, arguably 4-way...

Also would personally split "oceanic tundra/tropical mountain tundra" (average temperatures year-round above freezing but below 10C) and "continental tundra" (average temperatures in at least one month venture below zero).

Also would probably have moderate-winter and severe-winter continental split moved to a somewhat lower winter temperature isotherm...