# Mapping Resources > Reference Material >  On-line fractal world generator

## pyrandon

Here is a link to Dire Press' free, online fractal world generator:

http://direpress.bin.sh/tools/world.cgi

This would be especially useful, I think, if the resulting map were imported into an application (Photoshop, GIMP, etc.) for altering!

Enjoy!

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## pyrandon

Here's another free fractal world generator, although this one is a download from Raieh Fractal Planet:

http://raieh.homelinux.net/cgi-bin/r...l?FractalWorld

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## RobA

> Here is a link to Dire Press' free, online fractal world generator:
> 
> http://direpress.bin.sh/tools/world.cgi
> 
> This would be especially useful, I think, if the resulting map were imported into an application (Photoshop, GIMP, etc.) for altering!
> 
> Enjoy!


I emailed the author and he has added a greyscale option for the palette.  This makes it easier to convert it to a heightfield and use for other purposes....

-Rob A>

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## pyrandon

> I emailed the author and he has added a greyscale option for the palette.  This makes it easier to convert it to a heightfield and use for other purposes....


Okay, get over here right now, young man, so I can slap a dinner-plate sized gold sticker on your forehead!  That was a stroke of brilliance.  Well done!

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## gammamutant

anyone know where to find a good fractal map generator that outputs a flat geodesic map?

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## drow

where by 'flat geodesic' you mean... ?

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## thespiritcoyote

since the icosahedral is implemented in these fractal world maps already...

a 'something else' might be very useful. http://www.progonos.com/furuti/MapPr.../geodesic.html

I have personally found it most frustrating when looking for polar biased projections from such generators...
I recall there were calculations I had seen once for allowing a paired sphere projection /or/ polar projection, to distribute deformations equally over a hex grid, and thus be able to tilt a view easily to any degree in both longs and latts... such an implementation would be very handy in a world generator that has the implementations of the fractal algorithms. This would be useful as a 'flat geodesic' projection, that doesn't have the aesthetically hard triangular angles or the warped pents to keep track of, as the icosahedrals have...
The fractal world generator seems to have an algorithm in it's code-base that would be supportive of such a possibility, considering the number of widely varying projections made available.

...I confess, my first thought of the intended meaning of 'flat geodesic' was something more like a Robinson or Mollweide style projection, as even the Mercator and Square (appearing to be close to an equidistant cylindrical though I have not measured a comparison for certainty of this... is it?) are already available... but as I have been hopefully passing this post since the querry, and in search of my own projects, waiting to see now that some other ansewer did not come... I'll just add my own thoughts...

 :Cool:  Most impressive visually is the animated gif, most impressive professionally is the many projections with very little deformation discrepancies between them... asking for more is like asking for candy when you have the cake, but such is one of the demons inherent to human conditions...  :Wink:  so we go unsatisfied into paradise... industrious little buggers that we are...
I have many thanks for those that have offered these tools, possible improvements are always appreciated never demanded...
I also keep an eye for variations, and an ear for anyone else who has spoted one.

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## drow

yes, the 'square' projection is equidistant cylindrical.
the fractal world generator can now do icosahedral and sinusoidal projections,

 

still working on mollweide and possibly transverse mercator (messy).
cheers!

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## drow

imperfect mollweide; elliptical, but not homalographic (then again, it's a made-up world map)

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## selden

Torben Mogensen's _Planet_ is a free command-line fractal planet generator available at http://www.diku.dk/hjemmesider/ansatte/torbenm/Planet/. You have to build it yourself, though. It runs under Windows, MacOS and Linux. I have Cygwin installed ( http://www.cygwin.com/ ), which made building it for Windows relatively easy. It can generate maps with about 10 different projections.

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## drow

perfect mollweide; homalographic elliptical

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## drow

and finally,



transverse mercator!

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## SteamKat

If I were to make a map using Drow's fractal world generator - would I be able to use it commercially? I'm writing a book, and hope to use it as part of my world building tools - that might get thrown in with other materials..  I suppose I'd need to ask, if the results of my seed in the generator would be copyrightable by me, and or.. if I can have permission to use it?  
((I quite found the generator through Google, and was surprised and elated that he(?) is part of the Cartographers Guild that I'd joined some months ago!))

I like the realistic results that are gathered on the edges of the continents, and they look far more organic than other programs etc that I've tried (Including, drawing them by hand.. it looked like child's play) lol.

I've been working on the map for a few hours now, and this is what I've come up with.. (Lets see if I can upload the map!)

[Add] I added a few more hours of work on the map. The only portions of the map that I think are left from the generator are the continent shapes and placement (for the most part). I was thinking I would have the water texture showing through, but it's been replaced entirely.

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## drow

sorry, i haven't had much time to check in here lately.  nor do i recall if i've answered your query in email before now or not.  regardless, any results of the fractal world generator are completely yours to use as you see fit.  go do awesome things.

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## Vakus Drake

It seems as though donjon usually makes pangaeas, changing the water level doesn't help because it just ends up creating archipelagos from the pangea. I'm not sure how I would be able to get a generation with multiple continents with at least 3 totally isolated continents or continent clusters. I'm need three separated landmasses for a RPG campaign And i'm unsure how to get these three totally isolated cultural areas.

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## drow

yeah... you can get that sometimes, but only if you're really lucky.
fractal algorithms aren't intended to model earth-like plate tectonics.

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## mad_cat

I use this tool in my tutorial with Paint.net in creating your world. I could make a map without this tool, but it wouldn't nearly be as exacting. I wish I could setup my own c compiler so I wouldn't overuse his site.

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## johnvanvliet

it is not an  online html page 
but for a more "earth like" there is the old "FractlPlanet"
-- the code really NEEDS a update 
fracplanet
https://github.com/ldo/fracplanet

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## Razron

I made a fantasy map generator for a school project a few years ago that is tectonic plate based. It can generate continental divides, continental rifts, island chains, peninsulas, ect. I'm continuing to update it and add new features. You can see examples or download it from http://jeheydorn.github.io/nortantis/.

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