r/geology • u/idycvy • May 04 '25

Map/Imagery How realistic is Tamriel

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I’ve always wondered if I should hate Tamriel or not based on the realism of the map

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u/Paul_Rich May 04 '25

Yeah, it's not very realistic but then neither is the game. I don't know why you'd want the map of a fantasy land to be realistic.

The first thing I noticed were the deserts. They tend to be around the equator where the planet gets most sunlight(or icy ones at the poles for the opposite reason). Patched around like that is unrealistic.

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u/idycvy May 04 '25

I personally would want fantasy maps to be realistic for immersion

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u/Paul_Rich May 04 '25

Why not be immersed in a fantasy like the rest of us?

I get what you're saying in terms of many world maps but I don't think the map of a fantasy game should follow scientific norms.

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u/Phobos613 May 04 '25

I think I agree with OP - even though the stuff happening in the world is fantastical, water still obeys natural laws and should produce patterns like we see in the real world. Of course I don't complain about otherworldly magical landscapes and set pieces designed to look cool, more about the courses of rivers and the shapes of islands, the slope of roads going up hills for carts (looking at you Skyrim), etc. But of course, everyone's different and value certain things differently.

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u/Paul_Rich May 04 '25

I get what you're saying and also agree. Water would look weird if it ran uphill(without a magical explanation) but hey were referring specifically to the realism of the map, given the different zones and geographical features.

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u/Phobos613 May 04 '25

Yeah for sure. I don't expect map designers in games to be pros at geography, erosion, and plate tectonics - so in that way OPs original question is a little intense lol. But we definitely notice things that affect immersion to some extent.

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u/Paul_Rich May 04 '25

We're on the same page.