usf map / realistic coastlines

[vh]

what makes for realistic coastlines?

is it squigglyness? (fiah complained about squigglyness of swonx or tutono's borders, but the idea was later rejected)
is it mountains? (darvince says looking at mountains has to do with coastlines but fiah has no idea how they are related. edit: apparently mountains close to coasts makes coasts straight)
is it tectonics? (darvince mentioned how nausikkak is the combination of 5-6 tectonic plates while tutono or something is just 2, however this does not explain how the number of tectonic plates affect coastlines)

i would like a quantifiable response, not just "erosion and geology", but a specific quantity or number that explains it.

Also when i mean coastlines i mean both continental shape and down to tens of kilometers (a few pixels in usf). what separates a scribble from a good coast?

mother of duck here is the map ffs http://i.imgur.com/mEuBLTK.png

[Yqt1001]

Coastlines are only good if you make them.

Need any more information?

[Darvince]

Well, look at AiĆ½ota, the only way for that to be feasibly possible is if that region is extremely wet, the continent is entirely flat, and if it is a shield in a tectonic plate. Tutono is more possible because there could be a colliding plate (oddly curvy though) down the middle of it with another plate, however, other islands would have to exist. It also probably used to be two continents that merged together into one.

Continental shape, unless it is multiple plates like Asia, start with a triangle (or 2:3 rectangle), cutting pieces out of the triangle instead of adding them. For example, if you look at Africa, you can surround it with a triangle:


blah blah blah i got distracted by forum errors and imgur errors and imgur in general i will add more post tomorrow

[matty406]

Look at real maps.

[blotz]

find another earth

[vh]

Look at real maps.

not quantitative enough

[tuto99]

I have an idea: Go on Paint.net. Create a blank canvas. Select "clouds" under the render button in the effects tab. Make some noise (lol what a pun nevermind ) and then select posterize in the adjustments tab. Put the value down to 2. You should get nicely posterized, squiggly blotches. You can then color the blotches and get nice-looking continents.

[matty406]

Look at real maps.

not quantitative enough

Just study real coastlines you're not building a deathstar

[vh]

how do you know that

[matty406]

how do you know that

Because I work for the NSA

[jman]

Can I get a nation as well on the planet?

[vh]

yes

[jman]

How?

[vh]

go to the community usforum map thread

download the latest revision which is attached here: http://universesandbox.com/forum/index.php/topic,7618.msg106673.html#msg106673

download paint.net if you don't have it already

open the map

go the appropriate layer (usually the bottom layer)

draw in your country

if it's to be attached to a currently existing continent you might want to ask first