Tinto Maps #27 - 22nd of November 2024 - Oceania

[hellfirematt]

I went through the maps to suggest harbour levels and modern settlements to the locations in Australia, as well as to suggest the inland trade routes in both pre- and post-colonial times. But I found that some of the locations had names that were in completely the wrong places, like 1000km away in some cases. Some of the borders don't really follow major geographic features such as the impassable mountain ranges or major rivers, nor did they follow pre-colonial borders either. Some quite populated / developed areas (either modern Australia or Aboriginal pre-colonial Australia - not always the same thing) have large blobby locations whilst other less populated areas had quite granular locations.

(For names I've tried to suggest local Aboriginal names for the modern Australian settlement in that location. Where that was not possible I've suggested names for the region. Where that was also not possible, I've tried to suggest the names of the local clans or hordes in the area. And where that wasn't possible, I defaulted to names of the nation / group that inhabited the area).

And on harbour levels, Australian location sizes are far larger than locations elsewhere in the world (NB* i think this is fine. Neither Aboriginal Australia nor modern Australia have large populations relatively speaking). But I think the result of this is me suggesting a higher number of natural harbours per location than there would be anywhere else.

So anyway, I'm suggesting a bit of a major rework. It's a lot of work - Australia is enormous, but I'll start with Tasmania since it's so easy:

I'm suggesting for Tasmania to have a large uninhabited west. There's never been many people in that swathe of country. I added two corridors through it, but I don't actually know if they're realistic. I've only been through that part of the world once and whilst I personally don't think they'd be traversible in period by armies, I'm not local and so have no idea. Some of these, especially Plangermaireener, might be too small and could be merged easily into neighbouring locations. But I tried to suggest a location for each Aboriginal group.

Flinders Island
Nation: Uninhabited
Modern settlement: Wybalenna
Trade good: Fish
Harbour level: 0

King Island
Nation: Uninhabited
Modern settlement: Currie
Trade good: Fish
Harbour level: 0

Leenowwenne
Nation: Laimairrener
Modern settlement: New Norfolk
Trade good: Livestock

Linetemairrener
Nation: Paredarerme
Modern settlement: Great Swanport
Trade good: Fish
Harbour level: 25

Miena
Nation: Laimairrener
Modern settlement: Miena
Trade good: Wild game

Moomairremener
Nation: Paredarerme
Modern settlement: Bellerive
Trade good: Lumber
Harbour level: 25

Nipaluna
Nation: Nuenonne
Modern settlement: Hobart
Trade good: Stone
Harbour level: 100

Peternidic
Nation: Peerapper
Modern settlement: Strahan
Trade good: Lumber
Harbour level: 25

Plangermaireener
Nation: Plangermaireener
Modern settlement: Blessington
Trade good: Lumber / Gold

Poynduc
Nation: Toogee
Modern settlement: Payne Bay
Trade good: Lumber
Harbour level: 25

Punnilerpanner
Nation: Tommeginne
Modern settlement: Devonport
Trade good: Clay
Harbour level: 0

Pyemmairrener
Nation: Pyemmairrener
Modern settlement: St Helens
Trade good: Fish / Tin
Harbour level: 0

Taggener
Nation: Letteremairrener
Modern settlement: Launceston
Trade good: Wild game / Gold
Harbour level: 50

Tommeginer
Nation: Peerapper
Modern settlement: Stanley
Trade good: Fish
Harbour level: 0

 

[korandder]

I think you are overly pessimistic about the harbour levels compared to the Spanish ports they are using as examples.

# -25 - Cliffs - South of Chile
# 0 - Flat Coast - Barcelona
# 25 - Bay - Palma de Mallorca
# 50 - River Port - Sevilla
# 75 - Deep Bay - San Sebastián
#100 - Closed Very Defensible Estuary - Ferrol

 

[Maxipuchi]

Pacific Expanded (Part 3)
Back with part 3 of my pacific proposal. Sorry this one took so long, life got in the way, and New Caledonia and Vanuatu took much longer than anticipated also as they are extremely diverse places.
Other parts: Part 1, Part 2,

Part 3: South

Today we will cover the islands around New Zealand, and southern Melanesia.

As always, a few notes:

• As with my Greenland Proposal, I have opted for a maximalist approach.
• I will put my references at the bottom of the post.
• Wherever I have written 2 names for a location, the Native/Older name will come first, with the more common name second. On a couple cases I have picked a different native name than what is commonly used to distinguish the locations better.
• Many of these islands are really small, if the devs want to add them many of them will have to be "augmented".
• Because I used a heightmap for these islands, the atolls show up as outlines with the lagoons being blank, wherever you see a location that looks like an outline it's because it's an atoll.
• I have not included in my proposal impassable atolls, but I think they are a great idea and I have no notes as to the ones we've seen included so far.
• Using Gall Stereographic projection.
• With large Islands as there are in this region, I will write some background on the island as a whole in each section.
• This region is extremely diverse, with over 30 languages in New Caledonia, and over 100 in Vanuatu alone. I have gone with Tinto's method in making each language a separate culture. It may seem like I have overly separated the languages, but these languages are not dialects of each other, they are not mutually intelligible, where the languages were dialects I have grouped them together.
• In the culture column, the cultures between parentheses are minorities.

Group 7: Kermadec, Chatham, Bounty, Auckland, Macquarie

Locations:

Spoiler: Areas

Name	Description	Terrain	Vegetation	Climate	Raw Material	Culture	Language
Rangitāhua / Raoul	Rangitāhua, the largest of the Kermadec islands, has archaeological remains indicating that it was settled in the 14th century, between 1302 and 1326, likely by Māori from New Zealand, though it was uninhabited when it was discovered by Europeans in 1793. Obsidian from the islands surrounding Raoul has been found as far as Norfolk island, so I have suggested stone as the raw material, since obsidian was used for crafting cutting tools.	Hills	Forest	Subtropical	Stone / Fishing	Māoritanga	Tahitic - te reo Māori
Macauley	Macauley is a volcanic island to the south of Raoul. Findings of obsidian flakes suggest that the island was known to and visited by Māori people, likely in order to hunt the nutritious and fatty birds that nest on the island. The 2 smaller islands to the south, Curtis and Cheeseman, are included in this location, although they are not visible in my map due to their small size. There are 2 more 'islands' further south in the Kermadec archipelago, L'Esperance and L'Havre, that I have not included in my map as they are diminutive.	Flatlands	Grassland	Subtropical	Wild Game	Māoritanga	Tahitic - te reo Māori
Waitangi	The Chatham islands were settled in the 16th century by New Zealand Māori who eventually became the Moriori. The Moriori would eventually become a peaceful tribe that rejected violence, which made them easy picking for the Māori who in 1835 invaded the island with around 900 men. The Moriori would welcome them at first, but soon their violence made them realise the Māori intended to stay and take over. Waitangi is the main settlement in the island.	Flatlands	Forest	Oceanic	Wild Game	Moriori	Tahitic - ta rē Moriori
Owenga	In the early 19th century, before the Māori takeover, European whalers and sealers settled in whaling stations around the south coast in this location, with the main station being Owenga.	Flatlands	Grassland	Oceanic	Fishing	Moriori	Tahitic - ta rē Moriori
Wangaroa / Port Hutt	The western part of the island used to be swampy and forested. The Māori would make landfall in Wangaroa bay in the 19th century.	Wetlands	Forest	Oceanic	Fishing	Moriori	Tahitic - ta rē Moriori
Kaingaroa	The eastern part of the island, including the lagoos, was a swampy forested wetland. It was in this location, on a place called Te Awapātiki, that the Moriori held their fateful meeting. Once the Moriori realised that the Māori intended to take over the island, they held a meeting where they decided after 3 days of discussion to keep to their peaceful ways, the Māori saw this as a precursor to war and proceeded to massacre the Moriori and enslave the survivors.	Wetlands	Forest	Oceanic	Fishing	Moriori	Tahitic - ta rē Moriori
Rangihaute / Rangiauria / Pitt Island	Like Chatham Island, Pitt Island was inhabited by Moriori, as evidenced by archaeological remains on the island.	Hills	Grassland	Oceanic	Fishing	Moriori	Tahitic - ta rē Moriori
Moutere Hauriri / Bounty Islands	The Bounty Islands are a cluster of islets and rocks. They were a popular spot for sealing, but given their uninhabitability and small size I have left them as a wasteland.	Flatlands	Desert	Arctic	n/a	n/a	n/a
Moutere Mahue / Antipodes Islands	There is no evidence that the Antipodes were visited prior to European discovery. Sealing operations were set up on the island in 1805, and there would be conflict between British and American sealing gangs. I've included the Antipodes in my proposal because I want to settle arctic islands and struggle to make them grow into proper settlements. I have listed these with Māori culture simply because it would be weird to have a single location with British culture on the other side of the world, even though they would be the first ones to find it in the 19th century.	Flatlands	Grassland	Arctic	Wild Game	Māoritanga	Tahitic - te reo Māori
Motu Maha / Enderby Island	The north of the Auckland Islands, specifically Enderby island, has archaeological remains indicating it was settled between the late 12th and 14th century, with the most likely date being between 1250 and 1320AD.	Hills	Woods	Oceanic	Wild Game	Māoritanga	Tahitic - te reo Māori
Maungahuka / Auckland Island	The south of the Auckland Islands is much colder and more inhospitable than the north, as such it seems that the Māori who settled Enderby did not settle this far south; though archaeological remains as far south as Adams Island suggest that they did visit, possibly in resource gathering expeditions.	Hills	Woods	Oceanic	Lumber	Māoritanga	Tahitic - te reo Māori
Motu Ihupuku / Campbell Island	Campbell Island was discovered in 1810, it is unknown whether it was known to the Māori, but there is no archaeological evidence to suggest that it was settled before European discovery. It would become a seal and whale hunting base in the 19th century.	Hills	Grassland	Arctic	Wild Game	Māoritanga	Tahitic - te reo Māori
Macquarie	While there is no indication of settlement on the island, descriptions of an 'ancient wreck' by the captain of the ship that discovered the island has given rise to speculation that the island was visited by Polynesians in the past.	Plateau	Sparse	Arctic	Wild Game	Māoritanga	Tahitic - te reo Māori
Bishop and Clerk Islets	The Bishop and Clerk Islets are a group of islets and rocks to the south of Macquarie island. Due to their tiny size and the fact that the only landings have been made by helicopter, I have left these as wasteland.	Flatlands	Sparse	Arctic	n/a	n/a	n/a

Group 8: New Caledonia & Loyalty Islands

New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands are a very diverse area, with over 30 languages spoken here. It's a mineral rich island, with some of the largest Nickel deposits in the world, which would in colonial times become the main resource exploited by the French. New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands were settled by Melanesian people likely over 3,000 years ago, and so I have not written in each section regarding archaeological information of their settlement, as I don't feel that I need to justify the inclusion of these islands and cultures. The exception to this is islands that were settled after this original settling, usually by Polynesians in outlying islands.

I have in this section begun to name minority cultures between parentheses, as many of these locations had multiple cultures. Each minority culture would speak its own language, though i have only written the majority language under language. I have also started specifying the source of some raw resources in case the devs feel that I have assigned them incorrectly. i.e. I have classified Taro and Yams under fruits, but maybe the devs would consider these Potatoes or something else.

The Kanak people on New Caledonia would from the 7th century AD on start building large terraces and irrigation canals to grow Taro and Yams on; it seems that not soon after Caledonian society began to stratify into vertical chiefdoms, with high chiefs commanding smaller chiefs in their territory. Due to the presence of agriculture and chiefdoms I believe most of these cultures merit being SOPs.

The pre-contact population of New Caledonia is debated—historically it was placed at between 40,000 and 80,000 people—but based on an evaluation of archaeological work and subsistence practices Roux (1990) estimated as many as 100,000 people lived on New Caledonia. Christophe Sand (1995) arguest that even that estimate is too low, though he does not give a number.

The locations borders are drawn based on modern day districts, custommary districts, geography and language.

Locations:

Spoiler: Areas

Name	Description	Terrain	Vegetation	Climate	Raw Materials	Culture	Language
Leka / Matthew & Hunter	These 2 small volcanic islands are uninhabited, and due to their small size I have left them as wasteland.	Hills	Sparse	Arid	n/a	n/a	n/a
Walpole	Walpole is an island that despite its small size has archaeological remains indicating a permanent population in the past. Most archaeological remains indicate a habitation around the 13th century, though a few of them go as far back as the 6th century BC. It was uninhabited by the time of European discovery, in 1794. Strangely, Walpole has no widely known indigenous name.	Plateau	Sparse	Tropical	Stone	Nengone	South Oceanic - P'ene Nengone
Kwényï / Isle of Pines	I could not find information about villages on the Isle of Pines, so I have left it with the native name for the island.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Fishing	Numèè	South Oceanic - Nââ numèè
Yaté	Yaté is a village that was taken from it's native inhabitants by the French in the 19th century, I have chosen it to name this location as the village existed prior to the colonisation of the area.	Mountains	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Coconut)	Ṇḍùmbea (Numèè)	South Oceanic - Ṇã́ã Ṇḍùmbea
Boulari / Nouméa	Boulari is a village named after a tribe that lived on the La Coulee river. Since Nouméa would not be established until colonial times, I picked Boulari as a name for the location.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Lumber	Numèè (Ṇḍùmbea)	South Oceanic - Nââ numèè
Djubéa	Djubéa is the traditional name for this area as well as the river that flows through it.	Hills	Forest	Tropical	Fruit (Taro)	Ṇḍùmbea	South Oceanic - Ṇã́ã Ṇḍùmbea
Tchô / Thio	The native name for the village of Thio is Tchô.	Mountains	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Taro, Yam)	Xârâgùrè	South Oceanic - Nââ Xârâgùrè
Bûrûpwari / Bouloupari	This location is named after the Bûrûpwari tribe that lives in it.	Flatlands	Forest	Tropical	Fishing / Fruit (Taro, Yam)	Xârâcùù (Xârâgùrè)	South Oceanic - Nââ Xârâcùù
Xârâcùù / Canala	This location covers the region of Canala, which is named Xârâcùù in Xârâcùù after the name of the natives, and Kouaoua, which is named Kaa Wi Paa in Ajië, after the name of a mythical founder. The main power base was in the village of Xârâcùù, which was ruled by a chief named Aliki Kai or Apupia. With the help of the French he would conquer the land of Kouaoua and the tribes of the interior.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Yam, Taro, Coconut)	Xârâcùù (Ajië)	South Oceanic - Nââ Xârâcùù
Foha / La Foa	This location is named after the river that flows through it, Foha being the native name.	Flatlands	Forest	Tropical	Fruit (Taro, Yam)	Tîrî	South Oceanic - Tîrî
Mwâârhûû / Moindou	Moindou is named after 2 of the tribes that inhabited this area, which were exterminated by the French after the Kanak revolt of 1878.	Hills	Forest	Tropical	Fishing	Neku (Sîshëë)	South Oceanic - Neku
Waa Wi Lûû / Houailou	Waa Wi Lûû is the Ajië name of the province of Houailou, which is named after the valley of the same name.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Yams, Taro)	Ajië	South Oceanic - Ajië
Bu Rhaï / Bourail	The name of this location means Lizard's Tail in Ajië. This location was populated by 'Ôrôê people in the mountains, and Neku people by the coast, who were often in conflict with one another.	Hills	Forest	Tropical	Fruit (Yams, Taro)	'Ôrôê (Neku, Ajië)	South Oceanic - 'Ôrôê
Pwäräiriwa / Ponerihouen	Ponerihouen's native name means "the mouth of the river".	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Yam, Taro) / Lumber	Paicî (Ajië)	South Oceanic - Paicî
Muéo / Poya	Muéo is the name of the area that encompases this location.	Hills	Forest	Tropical	Fruit (Yams, Taro)	Arhö (Ajië, Paicî)	South Oceanic - Arhö
Pwêêdi Wiimîâ / Poindimie	The native name of Poindimie makes reference to the Wiimîâ clan that settled on this land.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Fishing	Cèmuhî (Paicî)	South Oceanic - Cèmuhî
Pwëbuu / Pouembout	The Paicî name of Pouembout is Pwëbuu, it apparently has the most fertile land in New Caledonia. This location also covers the Koné region, where the Lapita culture was first identified, and an outsized amount of archaeological work has been done in this area of New Caledonia as compared to all the rest of it.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Yam, Taro)	Paicî (Haveke)	South Oceanic - Paicî
Hyehen / Hienghene	The Fwâi name of the location is Hyehen.	Mountains	Jungle	Tropical	Incense (Sandalwood) / Stone	Fwâi (Jawe)	South Oceanic - Fwâi
Vook / Voh	This location wasn't colonised until the 1890s, a previous attempt in 1865 was repulsed by the natives, who destroyed a fort and massacred the crew of 2 French vessels after the abduction of Kanak women.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Fishing	Pwaamèi (Pwapwâ, Haveke)	South Oceanic - Pwaamèi
Bwapanu / Kaala-Gomen	Kaala-Gomen is named after the Gomen mountain tribe, though the Kanak name for the area is Bwapanu.	Hills	Forest	Tropical	Fishing	Yuanga (Kumak)	South Oceanic - Yuanga
Koumac	Koumac was likely the first place that prehistoric settlers landed on when settling New Caledonia. The name Koumac means "stubborn people".	Flatlands	Forest	Tropical	Lumber / Incense (Sandalwood)	Kumak (Yuanga)	South Oceanic - Fwa Kumak
Wégoa / Ouégoa	Ouégoa means "Waters of Goa", with Goa being the name of a tribe.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Bananas)	Nyâlayu (Caaàc, Jawe, Yuanga)	South Oceanic - Nyâlayu
Pum / Poum	Pum is the Nyâlayu name of the location. This was one of the first areas in New Caledonia to be settled.	Flatlands	Forest	Tropical	Fishing / Incense (Sandalwood)	Kumak (Nyâlayu)	South Oceanic - Fwa Kumak
Belep	Belep is named after an ancient Kanak chief.	Flatlands	Forest	Tropical	Fishing	Nyâlayu	South Oceanic - Nyâlayu
Nengone / Maré	The island of Maré, named Nengone in the Nengone language, has an interesting history as it has some of the largest stone structures in all of New Caledonia, and it continues to be a densely populated island to the modern day. It has also been host to immigrants from places as varied as the Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, and many parts of New Caledonia.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Stone / Incense (Sandalwood)	Nengone	South Oceanic - P'ene Nengone
Tokanod / Tiga	Tiga island is named after the Tiga tribe who live on it, their name for the island is Tokanod.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Fishing	Nengone	South Oceanic - P'ene Nengone
Loessi / Wé	Loessi is the name of the traditional area covering the southeast of Lifou.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Incense (Sandalwood) / Fishing	Drehu	South Oceanic - Qene Drehu
Wetr / Xepenehe	Wetr is the name of the traditional area covering the north-west of Lifou.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Yam, Taro, Coconut, Bananas)	Drehu	South Oceanic - Qene Drehu
Uvea / Ouvéa	Uvea is the name of the island this location encompasses. It is unique in New Caledonia in that it is inhabited both by Melanesian Kanaks and Polynesian Uveans.	Atoll	Jungle	Tropical	Incense (Sandalwood)	Iaai (Uvean)	South Oceanic - Hwen iaai
Norfolk	While Norfolk was uninhabited at the time of European discovery, archaeological evidence shows that the island was settled between the 13th and 14th century, likely by people from the Kermadec islands or the north island of New Zealand. That being said, some of the archaeological remains are Melanesian, suggesting that people from New Caledonia made it to Norfolk island also.	Flatlands	Jungle	Subtropical	Fishing	Māoritanga	Tahitic - te reo Māori
Lord Howe	Despite being of a significant size by Polynesian standards, Lord Howe island seems to have no evidence of prehistoric settlement. Extensive archaeological investigations have yielded no results. It wouldn't be discovered by Europeans until the late 18th century.	Flatlands	Jungle	Subtropical	Fishing	Māoritanga	Tahitic - te reo Māori

Group 9: Vanuatu & Santa Cruz Islands

As with New Caledonia, Vanuatu nad the Santa Cruz Islands are extremely diverse, even moreso than New Caledonia. Also as in Caledonia, Vanuatu seems to have been inhabited for at least 3,000 years. There is ample archaeological evidence showing a stratified society. As such I have not written in most of these location information about early settlement, as I don't feel I need to justify their inclusion.

The region was devastated in 1452AD by the eruption of the Kuwae volcano, which would tear apart Epi island, separating Tongoa from the rest of Epi, and it's likely that the people on nearby islands suffered greatly as a result.

As with New Caledonia, I have written in the culture column the minorities of each location in parentheses, and in the resource column the specific resource that I am referring to when indicating the raw material. There are a lot of cultures, as in New Caledonia, there seems to have been a concerted effort by the population to differentiate from each other, leading to over 130 languages in this area. As in New Caledonia, I have only specified the majority language in each location, but each culture would have had its own language.

I have drawn the location borders based on geography and language.

Locations:

Spoiler: Areas

Name	Description	Terrain	Vegetation	Climate	Raw Material	Culture	Language
Keamu / Aneityum	The volcanic island of Aneityum was traditionally divided into 7 chiefdoms, with these being further subdivided into over 50 districts. Keamu is the Anejom̃ name, the name Aneityum is Tannan in origin.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Breadfruit, Coconut, Banana, Taro) / Incense (Sandalwood)	Anejom̃	South Oceanic - Anejom̃
Ikaokao / Aniwa	Aniwa is a small coral island, together with West Futuna these 2 islands are polynesian outliers, with the inhabitants having come from Samoa and Wallis and Futuna rather than Melanesia. The main settlement is Ikaokao.	Atoll	Jungle	Tropical	Fishing	Futuna-Aniwa	Futunic - West Futunan
Ipikel	Ipikel is a village on the south-east of Tanna. This location was inhabited by speakers of Nɨfe, Nawal, and Narak.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Medicaments (Kava)	Narak (Nawal, Nɨfe)	South Oceanic - Narak
Lénakel	Lenakel is the largest settlement on Tanna nad is named after the people of western Tanna.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Fruits (Coconut, Taro)	Lenakel (North Tanna)	South Oceanic - Netvaar
Potnarvin	Potnarvin is the second largest village in Erromango, it is close to where James Cook landed on the island as the first European to find it. This location covers the Sye speaking lands.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Lumber / Stone	Sye	South Oceanic - Sye
Unpongor	Unpongor is the largest village in Erromango. This location covers the Ura, Utaha, and Enyau speaking lands.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Incense (Sandalwood)	Ura (Utaha, Enyau)	South Oceanic - Ura
Efil / Port Vila	The area where Port Vila was established is named Efil in the native Nafsan language. There is a minority of Futunic speaking Ifira people in this location as well, and smaller minority of Eton people.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Medicaments (Kava)	Nafsan (Ifira, Eton)	South Oceanic - Nafsan
Paonangisu	The northern area of Efate is more hilly and contains a number of islands. The largest settlement here is the village of Paonangisu. This location also contains a minority of Lelepa people on Lelepa island.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Fishing	Nakanamanga (Lelepa)	South Oceanic - Nakanamanga
Emae	The Shepherd islands are a group of islands between Efate and Epi. Since this location does not include Tongoa island, the majority of the people are Fakamwae speaking one the island of Emae, who are of polynesian decent. There is also a minority of Namakura people on the smaller islands.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Fishing / Medicaments (Kava)	Fakamwae (Namakura)	Futunic - Fakamwae
Tongoa	Tongoa is the largest and most populous island of the Shepherd islands. This island was separated from Nikaura by a volcanic explosion in 1452, which also wiped out most of the population.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Stone	Nakanamanga	South Oceanic - Nakanamanga
Nikaura	Nikaura is a settlement on the eastern side of Epi, inhabited by Lewo people.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Coconut)	Lewo	South Oceanic - Lewo
Burumba	Burumba is a village on the western side of Epi, this location contains 5 cultures. While Burumba is named after the Burumba people, I have placed Bierebo as the culture as they are the most numerous.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Medicaments (Kava)	Bierebo (Lamen, Burumba, Maii, Vovo)	South Oceanic - Bierebo
Ambrym	Ambrym is a volcano island, whose volcano is one of the most active in Vanuatu, erupting multiple times per century. I have left it as a wasteland as the caldera is barren and contains lava lakes.	Mountains	Desert	Tropical	n/a	n/a	n/a
Paamal	Paamal is a village on the southeastern part of the island, which is populated by Vatlongos speaking people.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Coconut)	Vatlongos	South Oceanic - Vatlongos
Ranon	Ranon is one of the largest villages on north Ambrym. There is a minority of Fanbak people in this location.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Coconut)	North Ambrym (Fanbak)	South Oceanic - North Ambrym
Fali / Craig Cove	Fali is the largest village on the western end of Ambrym. This location is the most diverse on the island of Ambrym, with 3 minority cultures.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Lumber / Fruit (Coconut)	Daakie (Lonwolwol, Daakaka, Dalkalaen)	South Oceanic - Daakie
Voum / Paama	Paama is a populated island situated next to a volcanic island named Lopevi. Lopevi is an active volcano that erupts every 2 years or so, it used to be inhabited as well though in the modern era the population was removed for their safety.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Ivory (Natangura Palm) / Fruit (Taro)	Paamese	South Oceanic - Paama
Lamap / Port Sandwich	Lamap is the largest village in the southeast part of Malakula. Like the rest of Malakula it is a very diverse area with at least 10 languages spoken.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Medicaments (Kava) / Lumber	Lamap (Avok, Uliveo, Nisvai, Burmbar, Mbwenelang, Aulua, Niolean, Tesmbol, Rerep, Lendemboi)	South Oceanic - Lamap
Faroun	Faroum is a village in the south of Malakula.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Coconut)	Lendemboi (Axamb, Nasvang, Navwien, Sörsörian)	South Oceanic - Lendamboi
Wintua	Wintua is a large village on the western coast of Malakula.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Fishing	Ninde (Naha'ai, Nāti, Nahavaq, Ninde, Aveteian, Novol, Nivat, Nasarian)	South Oceanic - Nombokte
Lakatoro	This is the largest town in Malakula, controlling the central part of the island.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Coconut)	Uripiv (Unua, Vivti, Nitita, Neverver, Nombokte, Litzlitz)	South Oceanic - Uripiv
Bethel	Bethel is the second largest town on Malakula.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Stone / Fruit (Coconut)	Uripiv (Vao, Tirax, Botovoro, Alavas, Nese, Najit, Njav, Njet, Malua Bay, Axa, Tape, V'ënen Taut)	South Oceanic - Uripiv
Ranputor	Ranputor is one of the larger town in Southern Pentecost Island, on Homo Bay. This location is where the practice of land diving originates, which would inspire Bungee jumping.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Coconut)	Saa (Sowa, Ske)	South Oceanic - Saa
Araga / Petit Port	Raga is the name of a people group and language of Northern Pentecost island, the name of the island as a whole in their language is Araga, meaning something along the lines of "place of the Raga".	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Coconut)	Apma (Raga)	South Oceanic - Apma
Aoba / Saratamata	Aoba is the name of Ambae island in the Omba language. Saratamata is the largest town on Ambae in the modern day.	Mountains	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Coconut)	Omba	South Oceanic - Omba
Nduindui	Nduindui is the name of a language, culture, and village on western Ambae island.	Mountains	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Taro, Yam, Banana)	Nduindui (Omba)	South Oceanic - Nduindui
N̄waewo / Maewo	N̄waewo is the indigenous name for the island of Maewo.	Mountains	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Banana, Taro)	Sungwadaga (Baetora, Sungwadia)	South Oceanic - Sungwadaga
Abnetare	This location covers the islands of Malo and Aore, as well as a few smaller surrounding islands. The main settlement in the location is Avunatari / Abnetare on western Malo island, which is called Tamambo by the Tamambo people.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Coconut)	Tamambo (Aore, Tutuba)	South Oceanic - Tamambo
Sarakata / Luganville	Sarakata is the name of the river that flows through this location, I chose this as the name for the location as I could not find a native name for the largest settlement, at the mouth of the aforementioned river, Luganville.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Incense (Sandalwood) / Fruit (Taro)	Ngen (Butmas, Nethalp, Polonombauk, Tambotalo, Mav̋ea)	South Oceanic - Ngen
Lorevilko / Port Olry	Lorevilko is a village that was home to an important chief. The French would later set up their administration in the harbour of Port Olry, and the British on Hog Harbour.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Fishing / Medicaments (Kava)	Nkep (Nethalp)	South Oceanic - Nkep
Butmas / Wailapa	Butmas is the name of a community isolated in the northern mountains in this location. It is a large community that keeps to it's traditional way of living to this day. In colonial times the coastal village of Wailapa would become the most important in this region. This location is extremely diverse.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Medicaments (Kava) / Wild Game	Butmas (Wailapa, Polonombauk, Kiai, Tangoa, Narango, Ande, Amblong, Atin, Moiso, Farnanto, Mores, Araki, Fanafo)	South Oceanic - Butmas
Tolomako	Tolomako is the name of a people and the village they inhabit in the coast of this location.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Taro) / Lumber	Tolomako (Merei, Navut, Piamatsina, Toksiki)	South Oceanic - Tolomako
Tasiriki	Tasiriki, meaning "small water", is a village in this location. The people who live here and their language, Akei, is sometimes called Tasiriki also.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Fruits (Taro) / Lumber	Akei (Kene, Daruru, Retlatur)	South Oceanic - Akei
Wusi	Wusi is the name of a village and people on western Espiritu Santo, isolated from most of the island by mountains.	Mountains	Jungle	Tropical	Stone	Wusi (Bura)	South Oceanic - Wusi
Wunpuko	Wunpuko is a large village in the north of Espiritu Santo.	Mountains	Jungle	Tropical	Lumber	Vunapu (Valpei, Nokuku, Tasmate)	South Oceanic - Vunapu
N̄wërlap / San Marcos	N̄wërlap is a small volcanic island.	Mountains	Jungle	Tropical	Fishing	N̄wërlap	South Oceanic - N̄wërlap
Gaō / Santa Maria	Gaō is the Lakon name of Gaua Island. Gaua is a populous volcanic island in the Banks Islands group. Arhcaeological finds on Tikopia and Anuta islands show that Gaua exported Obsidian in ancient times.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Fishing / Stone (Obsidian)	Lakon (Nume, Dorig, Koro, Ōlrat)	South Oceanic - Lakon
Vōnōlav / Vanua Lava / Portal de Belen	Vōnōlav is the native name of Vanua Lava, which was called Portal de Belen by the Spanish. It is the second most populous of the Banks Islands and is home to 4 surviving indigenous languages. The French would eventually mine sulphur from this island. Arhcaeological finds on Tikopia and Anuta islands show that Vanua Lava exported Obsidian in ancient times.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Stone (Obsidian)	Vurës (Vera'a, M̄ēsēn, Lēmērig)	South Oceanic - Vurës
Mwotlap / Mota Lava / Lágrimas de San Pedro	Mota Lava and the nearby Mota are densely populated volcanic islands. It would be named Lágrimas de San Pedro by the Spanish. Mwotlap is the name of the island and the people on it, as is Mota the name of the neighbouring island and its people.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Stone (Obsidian) / Fishing	Mwotlap (Mota)	South Oceanic - Mwotlap
Noypēypay / Ureparapara / Nuestra Señora de Montserrate	Ureparapara is a volcanic islnad, it is known as Noypēypay and Aö by the Loli and Löyöp people respectively. There are ruins made of coral stone on the island. It would be known as Bligh Island by the British.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Stone (Coral)	Löyöp (Loli)	South Oceanic - Löyöp
Toge / Toga	The Torres Islands are divided amongst 2 people groups, the Hiw and the Lo-Toga, the most populated island in the Lo-Toga part is Toge.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Coconut) / Fishing	Lo-Toga	South Oceanic - Lo-Toga
Hiw	Hiw is the largest island in the Torres Islands group, home to the Hiw people.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Coconut) / Wild Game (Coconut Crab)	Hiw	South Oceanic - Hiw
Tikopia	Tikopia was settled around the 10th century BC by Melanesian people. In the 13th century AD, Polynesian people started to immigrate to the island. While the archaeological evidence shows that there was conflict between the two groups, genomic work shows that the Melanesian population wasn't removed from the island, as the current Tikopians have Melanesian genetic markers. Despite its tiny size, Tikopia was a very densely populated island and remains so to this day.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Fishing	Tikopian	Ellicean Outlier - taranga Fakatikopia
Anuta	Like Tikopia, Anuta was settled in the 10th century BC by Melanesian people. However, in the 5th century AD the island was abandoned. It was repopulated by Polynesian people in the 7th century AD. Despite is tiny size, Anuta is one of the most densely populated places in the world.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Fishing	Anutan	Ellicean Outlier - te taranga paka-Anuta
Vanikoro	Vanikoro is an island in the Santa Cruz group that has historically been populated by 3 different cultures. There was an immigration of Tikopian people in the 17th century. The main settlement is called Puma.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Stone / Fishing	Teanu (Lovono, Tanema)	Temotu - Teanu
Utupua	Utupua is an island in the Santa Cruz group that has historically been populated by 3 different cultures. The largest town in the island was Nembao.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Fishing	Amba (Asubuo, Tanimbili)	Temotu - Amba
Engdewu	Engdewu is the name of the ancient village where the Engdewu culture emerges from, as well as the language that they speak.	Hills	Jungle	Tropical	Fruit (Coconut)	Engdewu	Temotu - Engdewu
Lata	Lata is the name of the largest town in Nendö island.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Livestock (Pigs)	Natqgu	Temotu - Natqgu
Tinakula	Tinakula is an active volcano islands. The population seems to have been wiped out by Volcanic activity multiple times, with successive reoccupations. Given the lack of archaeological work, its volcanism regularly depopulating it, and its small size, I have left it as a wasteland.	Mountains	Jungle	Tropical	n/a	n/a	n/a
Lom Lom	Lom Lom is the largest and most populous of the Reef Islands. These islands are densely populated.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Fishing	Äiwoo	Temotu - Äiwoo
Numa Miombilou / Great Reef	Numa Miombilou is the name for the large reef that covers most of this location. Its most populous island is called Pileni. This location is populated Polynesian outliers.	Atoll	Jungle	Tropical	Fishing	Vaeakau-Taumako	Futunic - Vaeakau-Taumako
Duff Islands	The Duff islands were populated by Melanesian people over 3,000 ago, with a later population of Polynesian people arriving in the 14th century.	Flatlands	Jungle	Tropical	Fishing	Vaeakau-Taumako	Futunic - Vaeakau-Taumako

Final Thoughts

• Efil or Nengone should be centers of trade.
• Most of these cultures would qualify or be on the fence for SOP consideration.
• I may come back and talk about which locations should count for harbour suitability after I'm done with the rest of these posts.

Thanks for reading, this one was hard. Next time we're covering Samoa, Fiji, Tuvalu and the Gilbert Islands!

----------------------------------------

References:

• On the Road of the Winds - An Archaeological History of the Pacific Islands before European Contact - Patrick Vinton Kirch
• Obsidian from Macauley Island: a New Zealand connection - Louise Furey et al. - link
• An Account of the Chatham Islands (Map on Page 2) - Ernest Dieffenbach - link
• Three Days at Te Awapātiki - Kiwa Hammond - link
• The age and position of the southern boundary of prehistoric Polynesian dispersal - Atholl Anderson et al. - link
• Prehistoric Settlement on Norfolk Island and its Oceanic Context - Atholl Anderson, Peter White - link
• Linguistic Map of New Caledonian Languages - link
• Distribution map of New Caledonian varieties of Santalum austrocaledonicum based on the specimens examined. - link
• Kanak coastal communities and fisheries meeting new governance challenges and marine issues in New Caledonia - Samuel Cornier, Isabelle Leblic - link
• Walpole, A “Mystery Island” in Southeast New Caledonia? - Christophe Sand - link
• The Languages of Vanuatu: Unity and Diversity - Alexandre François et al. - link
• Languages of Temotu Language Network - link
• Language Distribution on Malekula - link

 

[ArVass]

What about making coastal "wasteland" atolls just normal sea? Or perhaps traversable atoll sea tiles? I recognize that their function is purely cosmetic, but in some places they actually surround places like New Caledonia with an impenetrable wall of wasteland from almost all sides, which sucks.

Some places could even benefit from getting the "Maldives treatment" and just making the entire atoll one big location with atoll topography, to the detriment of microgeographical detail but to the benefit of gameplay.

 

[Maxipuchi]

What about making coastal "wasteland" atolls just normal sea? Or perhaps traversable atoll sea tiles? I recognize that their function is purely cosmetic, but in some places they actually surround places like New Caledonia with an impenetrable wall of wasteland from almost all sides, which sucks.

Some places could even benefit from getting the "Maldives treatment" and just making the entire atoll one big location with atoll topography, to the detriment of microgeographical detail but to the benefit of gameplay.

This is on purpose, it is historically accurate that ocean-going vessels couldn't dock in every coast of New Caledonia, the reefs surrounding the island only had breaks at specific places and those were used to enter the lagoons.

It also has to do with shallowness, if you read the writings of ships of the era sailing in the pacific, they will mention certain atolls as being too shallow for their big ships to sail into their lagoons.

As such, ships sailing into these lagoons had to use specific passes and chanels, which is what I believe the devs are aiming to portray with their Wasteland Atolls.

 

[Baphomet enjoyer]

Out of all of the Tinto Maps, I never expected Oceania of all things to inspire a 25 minute video essay but here we are

 

[hellfirematt]

Out of all of the Tinto Maps, I never expected Oceania of all things to inspire a 25 minute video essay but here we are

Someone might make an hour long video essay on the mostly uninhabited sub-Antarctic islands. Us nerds can get very very persnickety in our areas of interest.

 

[JimmyDD9000]

Hi guys, I have put together a bit of a proposal for what I think would be a good direction to take Australia in PC, and specifically for the area covered by modern day Victoria. I plan to do more of Australia but it's a big place and this was way harder than I thought it would be. In this post I've just gone over a review of areas, because I kind of need the areas layout to change for my Victoria proposal to make sense.

Areas

Firstly, I'd like to touch on Areas. I am of the opinion that it would be best to transition the design for areas over to something more resembling the modern Australian states (with some of the straight line borders squiggled up for aesthetics). This is because it will allow for the colonisation of the land to happen in a more historical and natural way, even it means the individual areas are smaller than Paradox originally intended for the continent.

What I mean is, no matter how many times you 'reroll' the colonisation of Australia (or have European style nation states form from Indigenous polities), cities are almost always going to form in the places of the modern state capitals, more or less. This is because they are just straight up good places for cities and people generally aren't silly about this sort of thing. It makes sense to me to have the areas be based around the hypothetical power projection of a city based in these natural capital locations, which is more or less what the state boundaries are. The idea is to encourage settlement in the fertile/coastal areas while leaving the harsher parts of the country relatively unmolested, even if they are technically claimed by a European power. My proposal is below, it's a bit slapped together sorry, and the borders are mostly just indicative-

The breakdown -
1. Lutruwita (Tasmania) - I believe Tasmania merits inclusion as an area on its own, due to massive importance as part of colonial history (Hobart was a key centre for British power during the game's timeframe) and due to the size of the Island (about the same size as Ireland). Tasmania will need more locations to make this work but there are already suggestions for good looking location layouts in this thread which I think are excellent and would work nicely. If it can't work as its own area then I guess it could be crammed in with Victoria but it would be a bit of a bummer. And probably very offensive to any poor Taswegians playing the game.
2. South Eastern Australia (Victoria) - Melbourne and Sydney need to be in separate areas. It's just very important. Because of the vibe of the thing. Landmass wise the area will be smaller than the others, but with excellent access to the sea, mild climate, fertile land and absolutely mind numbing quantities of delicious gold, Victoria should naturally develop as one of the population hotspots on the continent. The Murray River is a nice natural border to the north.
3. Eastern Australia (New South Wales) - See above, needs to be kept separate from Melbourne for the good of society. Will also naturally be a population hotspot, excellent harbours and farmland, settlers love it.
4. North Eastern Australia (Queensland) - Not much to say really, Queensland is too big to be one area. the basic idea suggested in the Tinto Maps seems like a good enough spot to cut it in half. This way you have one half more palatable to European tastes and another where its all jungles and crocodiles.
5. Yalanji / Far Northern Australia (Cape York/FNQ) - See above. Not sure about the name but I assume Paradox has a decent reason for picking it. I sure don't know anything better. Maybe Far Northern Australia to fit the naming convention of the rest of the mainland.
6. Northern Australia (Northern Territory) - Basically what Paradox already has but changed the name to match the rest of the country
7. North Western Australia - The hostile bits of Western Australia, draw the southern border where you like
8. South Western Australia - Likewise, the fertile bits of Western Australia. Another natural population centre, especially if multiple colonising countries take a swing at the continent.
9. South Australia - Let them eat crow
10. Central Australia - There's already been a few good suggestions and justifications earlier in the thread supporting the presence of Indigenous population centres and trade routes running through the interior of the continent. I think it's an excellent idea. If paradox did decide to include these trade routes, I think they merit an area of their own, similar to the way they handled the Sahara.

I look forward to seeing if anyone has any thoughts about what I've proposed here. It's getting a bit late here so I'll post my Victoria locations map tomorrow

 

[BeyondExpectation]

Hi guys, I have put together a bit of a proposal for what I think would be a good direction to take Australia in PC, and specifically for the area covered by modern day Victoria. I plan to do more of Australia but it's a big place and this was way harder than I thought it would be. In this post I've just gone over a review of areas, because I kind of need the areas layout to change for my Victoria proposal to make sense.

Areas

Firstly, I'd like to touch on Areas. I am of the opinion that it would be best to transition the design for areas over to something more resembling the modern Australian states (with some of the straight line borders squiggled up for aesthetics). This is because it will allow for the colonisation of the land to happen in a more historical and natural way, even it means the individual areas are smaller than Paradox originally intended for the continent.

What I mean is, no matter how many times you 'reroll' the colonisation of Australia (or have European style nation states form from Indigenous polities), cities are almost always going to form in the places of the modern state capitals, more or less. This is because they are just straight up good places for cities and people generally aren't silly about this sort of thing. It makes sense to me to have the areas be based around the hypothetical power projection of a city based in these natural capital locations, which is more or less what the state boundaries are. The idea is to encourage settlement in the fertile/coastal areas while leaving the harsher parts of the country relatively unmolested, even if they are technically claimed by a European power. My proposal is below, it's a bit slapped together sorry, and the borders are mostly just indicative-

View attachment 1229754

The breakdown -
1. Lutruwita (Tasmania) - I believe Tasmania merits inclusion as an area on its own, due to massive importance as part of colonial history (Hobart was a key centre for British power during the game's timeframe) and due to the size of the Island (about the same size as Ireland). Tasmania will need more locations to make this work but there are already suggestions for good looking location layouts in this thread which I think are excellent and would work nicely. If it can't work as its own area then I guess it could be crammed in with Victoria but it would be a bit of a bummer. And probably very offensive to any poor Taswegians playing the game.
2. South Eastern Australia (Victoria) - Melbourne and Sydney need to be in separate areas. It's just very important. Because of the vibe of the thing. Landmass wise the area will be smaller than the others, but with excellent access to the sea, mild climate, fertile land and absolutely mind numbing quantities of delicious gold, Victoria should naturally develop as one of the population hotspots on the continent. The Murray River is a nice natural border to the north.
3. Eastern Australia (New South Wales) - See above, needs to be kept separate from Melbourne for the good of society. Will also naturally be a population hotspot, excellent harbours and farmland, settlers love it.
4. North Eastern Australia (Queensland) - Not much to say really, Queensland is too big to be one area. the basic idea suggested in the Tinto Maps seems like a good enough spot to cut it in half. This way you have one half more palatable to European tastes and another where its all jungles and crocodiles.
5. Yalanji / Far Northern Australia (Cape York/FNQ) - See above. Not sure about the name but I assume Paradox has a decent reason for picking it. I sure don't know anything better. Maybe Far Northern Australia to fit the naming convention of the rest of the mainland.
6. Northern Australia (Northern Territory) - Basically what Paradox already has but changed the name to match the rest of the country
7. North Western Australia - The hostile bits of Western Australia, draw the southern border where you like
8. South Western Australia - Likewise, the fertile bits of Western Australia. Another natural population centre, especially if multiple colonising countries take a swing at the continent.
9. South Australia - Let them eat crow
10. Central Australia - There's already been a few good suggestions and justifications earlier in the thread supporting the presence of Indigenous population centres and trade routes running through the interior of the continent. I think it's an excellent idea. If paradox did decide to include these trade routes, I think they merit an area of their own, similar to the way they handled the Sahara.

I look forward to seeing if anyone has any thoughts about what I've proposed here. It's getting a bit late here so I'll post my Victoria locations map tomorrow

I think the Murry as an area border is a good idea, but I'd go further; follow it all the way to the mouth. On the other side, instead of following the Black-Allen line to Cape Howe, it should take the shorter route to the coast (more eastern and less southeastern) to make east and southeast Australia slightly more even in size.

 

[JimmyDD9000]

I think the Murry as an area border is a good idea, but I'd go further; follow it all the way to the mouth. On the other side, instead of following the Black-Allen line to Cape Howe, it should take the shorter route to the coast (more eastern and less southeastern) to make east and southeast Australia slightly more even in size.

I was in two minds about running the border all the way along the Murray to the mouth. On one hand it would definitely make for a prettier, more natural looking border. It would also balance out South Eastern Australia's size compared to the other mainland areas I've proposed. On the other hand it runs the border a little to close to the Adelaide location for my taste and would take away a massive chunk of South Australia's best farmland. South Australia losing land might not be a problem given how much of the Nullarbor Paradox has opened up, but I'm not sure that decision will survive the feedback process.

For the Black-Allen Line, I had trouble finding a location for that border that didn't feel arbitrary. I knew I wanted Eden and Co. to be on the New South Welsh side of the border so I just squiggled the line along the Genoa River and ended it at Mallacoota. I'm definitely much less opposed to taking land from Eastern Australia to give to South Eastern Australia. I think there's a pretty natural province to be made out of Eden/Bega etc, which could be flipped over to South Eastern Australia.

Alternatively, I considered running the border along the Northern edge of the Bidwell Nation, which would end it at Eden. I'm reluctant to go with this one because I think Eden merits inclusion as the centre of a location in its own right.

 

[PabloSugo1991]

Could you make the inner part of Australia like Canada's? With long, narrow provinces that cross around the lakes in the desert?

 

[korandder]

I think the Sahara is a better model for the centre of Australia than northern Canada. The long narrow provinces in Canada mostly represent rivers which could be traversed by by canoe; what rivers central Australia has tend to be upside down - sand on top, water underneath. For example here is a view of the Todd River that runs through Alice Springs when I visited last year:

The large lakes pictured on the map in what is now South Australia, such as Lake Eyre, are quite salty with their volumes varying enormously depending on rainfall.

 

[JimmyDD9000]

Hi guys, here is my proposal for the area covered by modern day Victoria. I tried to be as disciplined as I could with adding new locations. In my proposal there are 52 locations at an average size of approximately 4000km2 each, as opposed to 39(ish) in the Tinto version. I have designed it with the intention it be made into an area, with 8 provinces. Each province has 6-8 locations, with one exception. For the names, I did the best I could to come up with something significant for the region for each, there are no perfect names that I know of though and I imagine there'll be better suggestions out there.

Colour	Name	Locations	Description
Red	Naarm	4​	Modern day Melbourne and surrounds. Less locations than I would prefer for a province but this is as good as I could get without going under my size limit I set for myself. The idea is that province contains and excellent natural harbour with good access to the gold producing locations nearby, naturally incentivising the player to rush the city's development as happened historically
Yellow	Corangamite	6​	Modern day Geelong plus the eastern half of South West Victoria. Excellent harbour, good farmland, central location, natural second city
Light Blue	Balla arat	7​	Heart of the gold rush. I'll elaborate more elsewhere but I think highlighting just how much gold is in this part of the world will go a long way toward faithfully capturing the spirit of Victoria's early settler history.
Dark Blue	Budj Bim	6​	I wanted to seperate the South West as its own province because it's the location of some really important events and locations in Australia during the games timeframe. First Settlement of Victoria, Eumerella Wars, Budj Bim site etc. Also a very excellent sheltered deepwater port here. I went with impassable terrain to represent the Grampians, which is a bit awkward but I think the best compromise. I definitely wouldn't want to drag a cannon through there at least.
Orange	Wimmera Mallee	7​	Big, hot, flat and sparse. Fairly unchanged in spirit from what Tinto put forward.
Light Green	Yerrin	8​	Big, less hot, less flat and decently fertile. Also beautiful gold present here.
Brown	Marramdurandi	8​	The Victorian Alps. I figure best represnted by thickly forested/jungle Mountains. A bit odd to have impassable terrain in the Grampians but not here, but honestly I wouldnt know where to begin with these. Impassables are a bit reduntant when the locations are this big anyway, because they wont actually stop any border crossings. I think it will be fine so long as winter makes moving through here a nightmare. And as Jungle mountains it should already be pretty bad
Purple	Gunaikurnai	6​	Close to Melbourne, fertile, with mild weather. A little cut off by wetlands and mountains though. Wasn't really sure what to do with Western Port to be honest.

Locations

For the locations, I have provided both an Indigenous name and an English/British culture name. For the Indigenous names, where possible I went with the indigenous name for a local landmark. Failing that, I would use a town name with Indigenous origins, as these usually came from Indigenous names for the area. Failing that, I went with a clan that was found in the location, and failing that I went with the Nation. I wanted to avoid clan and nation names to account for demographic shifts during gameplay and because the borders aren't very aligned with indigenous borders. I can provide my justifications for any name choices on request. I'll admit upfront though that some are a bit of a stretch.

Culture

I have provided a list of the nations I believe should be present in a given location, as well as approximate minority numbers. I based these numbers on territorial overlap within the locations, not historical population density.

Climate

Climate is largely unchanged, except that I have added the Mediterranean climate in the South West and subtropical in the north that I believe should be present based on my understanding.

Topography

Mostly just added Hills in the locations that warranted them. Otherwise it should mostly be flatland

Vegetation

Paradox originally had Victoria as mostly sparse, which I believe is incorrect. The ground here is fertile and warrants classification as grassland, not sparse in my opinion. I have kept the Northwest as sparse. I possibly should have classified some of what I've called grassland as woods, but frankly I'm not sure where the line is. As in how much tree cover is needed to flip over to woods. Either way it definitely shouldn't be sparse in my opinion. While I'm here, I think jungle should be renamed to Rainforest, just for the vibes.

Natural Harbours

I based these off of the list floating around on these forums. Basically, Melbourne should be world class, Yarra River plus sheltered by Port Phillip Bay. Geelong and Portland as excellent runners up, Geelong due to being a nice port also sheltered, while Portland is protected from the west and weather and is one of the deepest natural ports in the Southern Hemisphere. There are few other decent little anchorages scattered along the coast.

Trade Goods

I mostly left these blank except for where I felt a certain resource really deserved a shout out. Mostly to highlight where gold should be produced. I have seven gold locations last I counted. I cannot emphasise too much how important the gold here is. There was a point where Bendigo and Melbourne both got to be the richest cities in the world due to the amount of gold here. The gold rushes didn't start til the 1850s but it's mostly alluvial gold so it doesnt need special tech to discover. As soon as someone from the right culture gets a good look at these provinces, it should be on. Budj Bim produces fish due to aquaculture developments there, and I've highlighted where a few other mineral deposits would be found. For the rest, I think a hodge podge of various natural goods like wild game, fish, fruits, legumes, sturdy grains, fur, medicaments, dye etc. with locations adjusted for game balance should do the trick. If trade goods can change with development/ownership, then a lot of these should transition to agricultural products like wool, livestock, wheat and horses.

Summary

Thank you for reading, let me know if you have any thoughts, questions or additions

Location Number	Province	Name	English Name	Size (very rough) (sq. km)	Culture	Climate	Terrain	Vegetation	Natural Harbour	Trade Good
1​	Naarm	Naarm	Melbourne	1500​	60 Woiwurrung 35 Boonwurrung 5 Wathaurong	Oceanic	Flatland	Grassland	100​
2​	Naarm	Monmar	Mornington	1400​	90 Boonwurrung 10 Woiwurrung	Oceanic	Flatland	Grassland	25​
3​	Naarm	Birrarung	Yarra	2500​	90 Woiwurrung 5 Taungurong 5 Boonwurrung	Oceanic	Hills	Forest	NA
4​	Naarm	Wirribi-Yaluk	Melton	1800​	70 Woiworung 30 Wathaurong	Oceanic	Flatland	Grassland	25​
5​	Corangamite	Djilang	Geelong	1300​	100 Wathaurong	Oceanic	Flatland	Grassland	75​
6​	Corangamite	Gadubanud	Otway	2500​	85 Gadubanud 10 Wathaurong 5 Gulidjan	Oceanic	Hills	Jungle	0​
7​	Corangamite	Purroitchihoorrong	Port Campbell	2200​	85 Giraiwurung 5 Gunditjmara 5 Gadubanud 5 Djargurdwurung	Mediterranean	Flatland	Forest	25​
8​	Corangamite	Coladjin	Colac	2500​	60 Gulidjan 20 Djargurdwurung 10 Wathaurong 5 Gadubanud 5 Giraiwurrung	Oceanic	Flatland	Woods	NA
9​	Corangamite	Djargurd Wuurung	Camperdown	2500​	60 Giraiwurung 15 Djargurdwurung 10 Djabwurung 10 Wathaurong 5 Gunditjmara	Oceanic	Flatland	Grassland	NA
10​	Corangamite	Wadawurrung	Bannockburn	2400​	80 Wathaurong 15 Gulidjan 5 Djargurdwurung	Oceanic	Hills	Grassland	NA	Coal
11​	Balla arat	Balla arat	Ballarat	1900​	90 Wathaurong 10 Djadjawurung	Oceanic	Hills	Forest	NA	Gold
12​	Balla arat	Bullarook	Hepburn	2400​	40 Djadjawurung 30 Wathaurong 30 Woiwurung	Oceanic	Mountains	Forest	NA	Gold
13​	Balla arat	Geboor	Macedon	1800​	80 Woiworung 15 Taungurong 5 Djadjawurung	Oceanic	Mountains	Woods	NA
14​	Balla arat	Leanganook	Castlemaine	1500​	85 Djadjawurung 15 Taungurong	Oceanic	Hills	Woods	NA	Gold
15​	Balla arat	Tuaggra	Maryborough	1700​	90 Djadjawurung 5 Jardwadjali 5 Djabwurung	Oceanic	Hills	Forest	NA
16​	Balla arat	Peerick	Beaufort	3400​	40 Wathaurong 30 Djabwurung 20 Jardwadjali 10 Djadjawurung	Oceanic	Hills	Forest	NA
17​	Balla arat	Tallarambooroo	Ararat	4200​	90 Djabwurung 5 Jardwadjali 5 Giraiwurung	Oceanic	Hills	Grassland	NA
18​	Budj Bim	Wurcurri gundij	Hamilton	3300​	60 Djabwurung 30 Gunditjmara 10 Jardwadjali	Mediterranean	Flatland	Grassland	NA
19​	Budj Bim	Warrnambool	Warrnambool	3800​	85 Gunditjmara 10 Djabwurung 5 Giraiwurung	Mediterranean	Flatland	Grassland	0​
20​	Budj Bim	Budj Bim	Portland	3000​	95 Gunditjmara 5 Buandig	Mediterranean	Flatland	Forest	75​	Fish
21​	Budj Bim	Tyntyndyer	Casterton	4500​	65 Jardwadjali 30 Gunditjmara 5 Buandig	Mediterranean	Hills	Grassland	NA
22​	Budj Bim	Gariwerd	Grampians	4000​	90 Jardwadjali 10 Djabwurung	Oceanic	Hills	Woods	NA
23​	Budj Bim	Dyurrite	Edenhope	3500​	85 Jardwadjali 15 Wergaia	Mediterranean	Flatland	Grassland	NA
24​	Wimmera Mallee	Nhill	Hindmarsh	9000​	75 Wergaia 15 Ngargad 10 Bindjali	Cold Arid	Flatland	Sparse	NA
25​	Wimmera Mallee	Wopetbungundilar	Horsham	6000​	60 Wergaia 40 Jardwadjali	Cold Arid	Flatland	Sparse	NA
26​	Wimmera Mallee	Yirip	Stawell	5700​	45 Jardwadjali 35 Djadjawurung 20 Djabwurung	Cold Arid	Flatland	Sparse	NA
27​	Wimmera Mallee	Wycheproof	Buloke	9000​	80 Wergaia 10 Djadjawurung 5 Jardwadjali 5 Wemba Wemba	Cold Arid	Flatland	Sparse	NA
28​	Wimmera Mallee	Renmark	Renmark	11000​	60 Meru 20 Latje Latje 10 Wergaia 10 Ngargad	Cold Arid	Flatland	Sparse	NA
29​	Wimmera Mallee	Lrymple	Mildura	11000​	65 Latje Latje 20 Wergaia 5 Barkindji 5 Kureinji 5 Meru	Cold Arid	Flatland	Sparse	NA
30​	Wimmera Mallee	Matakupaat	Swan Hill	6200​	40 Wadi Wadi 30 Dadi Dadi 15 Latje Latje 10Wemba Wemba 5 Kureiniji	Cold Arid	Flatland	Sparse	NA
31​	Yerrin	Kerang	Kerang	3800​	70 Wemba Wemba 25 Baraba Baraba 5 Wergaia	Cold Arid	Flatland	Sparse	NA
32​	Yerrin	Gunbungwerro	Loddon	6700​	65 Djadjawurung 25 Baraba Baraba 10 Wergaia	Cold Arid	Flatland	Grassland	NA
33​	Yerrin	Echuca	Echuca	4500​	65 Baraba Baraba 25Ngurraiillam 10 Yorta Yorta	Cold Arid	Flatland	Grassland	NA
34​	Yerrin	Goornong	Bendigo	3000​	30 Djadjawurung 25 Baraba Baraba 25 Taungurong 20 Ngurraiillam	Subtropical	Flatland	Grassland	NA	Gold
35​	Yerrin	Waring	Mitchell	2800​	80 Taungurong 20 Woirorung	Oceanic	Hills	Grassland	NA
36​	Yerrin	Euroa	Euroa	3300​	75 Taungurong 25 Ngurraiillam	Subtropical	Flatland	Grassland	NA
37​	Yerrin	Kanny-goopna	Shepparton	2400​	90 Ngurraiillam 10 Yorta Yorta	Subtropical	Flatland	Grassland	NA
38​	Yerrin	Moira	Moira	4000​	85 Yorta Yorta 5 Ngurraiillam 5 Waveroo 5 Wiradjuri	Subtropical	Flatland	Grassland	NA
39​	Marramdurandi	Baarmutha	Beechworth	4300​	50 Taungurong 40 Waveroo 10 Ngurraiillam	Subtropical	Flatland	Grassland	NA	Gold
40​	Marramdurandi	Wodonga	Wodonga	2500​	85 Waveroo 10 Jaitmatang 5 Wiradjuri	Subtropical	Hills	Grassland	NA
41​	Marramdurandi	Towong	Towong	5500​	90 Jaitmatang 5 Wiradjuri 5 Ngarigo	Oceanic	Mountains	Jungle	NA
42​	Marramdurandi	Bogong	Alpine	4800​	70 Waveroo 10 Taungurong 10 Jaimatang 10 Kurnai	Oceanic	Mountains	Jungle	NA	Gold
43​	Marramdurandi	Yowengillum	Mansfield	7600​	75 Taungurong 15 Woiworung 10 Kurnai	Oceanic	Mountains	Jungle	NA
44​	Marramdurandi	Bo Bo	Yarra Ranges	7000​	60 Kurnai 40 Woirorung	Oceanic	Mountains	Jungle	NA	Copper
45​	Marramdurandi	Bonang	East Gippsland	7500​	40 Kurnai 25 Jaitmatang 20 Ngarigo 15 Bidwell	Oceanic	Mountains	Woods	NA	Marble
46​	Marramdurandi	Mallacoota	Malacoota	5500​	75 Bidwell 25 Kurnai	Oceanic	Mountains	Forest	0​
47​	Gunaikurnai	Tatungalung	Bairnsdale	3000​	100 Kurnai	Oceanic	Flatland	Forest	25​
48​	Gunaikurnai	Wayput	Sale	5000​	100 Kurnai	Oceanic	Flatland	Forest	0​
49​	Gunaikurnai	Brayakaulung	Latrobe	2200​	85 Kurnai 10 Woiworung 5 Boomwurrung	Oceanic	Hills	Forest	NA
50​	Gunaikurnai	Yiruk	Leongatha	3000​	75 Boomwurrung 25 Kurnai	Oceanic	Flatland	Forest	0​
51​	Gunaikurnai	Drouin	Warragul	2500​	55 Boomwurrung 45 Woiworung	Oceanic	Hills	Forest	NA
52​	Gunaikurnai	Kooweerup	Pakenham	1900​	80 Boomwurrung 20 Woiworung	Oceanic	Wetland	Forest	25​	Coal

 

[korandder]

Looking at the raw material maps for North and Central America there seems to be an effort to represent goods that would have been available when the game starts. However, in Australia you see a lot of Wheat and Livestock which were introduced with European settlement.

 

[Sulphurologist]

Topographic review.

• The Great Dividing Range is indeed great and divisive. But for the large part is not really a classical mountain range as it is indicated now.
  • It consists of more hilly parts, more plateau-like parts and mountainous parts. (e.g. Blue mountains).
  • [edit] Most of the IRL mountainous parts are positioned on the edge of the current Location setup.
    • Possible idea to make those strips impassable/ split out a mountainous location
    • I hope that '0 dev' locations will really affect the expression of topography/vegetation.
  • The hills north of Brisbane were also missing.
• Rest of Australia could use a bit more plateaus and some speckles of hills. I broke my tradition of using 500 m elevation as a bottomline for plateaus, as a LOT of plateaus here are between 400-500 metres.
• Papua could use even more wetlands, especially in the West
• Out of curiosity: Are the reefs of New Caledonia truly impassable? Should they not become 'atoll' locations?

Current Tinto's design	Suggested topography	'Changelog' of suggestions	EDIT: possible impassables indicated

Elevation sources

Terrain Ruggedness Index (plateaus here are >500m)	Elevation. Note the plateau-like elements in W-Australia, sitting at ca. 400-500 m elevation.	EDIT: possible impassables indicated on TRI map

Wetlands

Global Wetlands and Lakes DB	PeatML lights up W-Papua, and prompts to designate more wetlands. W-Tasmania is very hilly and wet in its valleys, I opted for hills/mnts.	100-year event floods. SE Gulf of Carpentaria in N-Queensland could be considerd wetlands.

 

[matfer13]

Topographic review.

• The Great Dividing Range is indeed great and divisive. But it is not really a classical mountain range as it is indicated now. It consists of more hilly parts, more plateau-like parts... The hills north of Brisbane were also missing.
• Rest of Australia could use a bit more plateaus and some spleckles of hills. I broke my tradition of using 500 m elevation as a bottomline for plateaus, as a LOT of plateaus here are between 400-500 metres.
• Papua could use even more wetlands, especially in the West
• Out of curiosity: Are the reefs of New Caledonia truly impassable? Should they not become 'atoll' locations?

Current Tinto's design	Suggested topography	'Changelog' of suggestions
View attachment 1236734	View attachment 1236735	View attachment 1236736

Elevation sources

Terrain Ruggedness Index (plateaus here are >500m)	Elevation. Note the plateau-like elements in W-Australia, sitting at ca. 400-500 m elevation.
View attachment 1236739	View attachment 1236740

Wetlands

Global Wetlands and Lakes DB	PeatML lights up W-Papua, and prompts to designate more wetlands. W-Tasmania is very hilly and wet in its valleys, I opted for hills/mnts.	100-year event floods. SE Gulf of Carpentaria in N-Queensland could be considerd wetlands.
View attachment 1236746	View attachment 1236748	View attachment 1236747

The return of the king! What an amazing comeback you had in the last few days, do you only have the map of China left now?

 

[Sulphurologist]

The return of the king! What an amazing comeback you had in the last few days, do you only have the map of China left now?

Yes ;_;

Spoiler: ;_;

There's TOO MANY DAMN LOCATIONS TO COVER

 

[NPJ]

Seems to me it would make sense to include the Tongan Empire as a state:

Tuʻi Tonga Empire - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[NPJ]

I love the number of pacific islands you’ve included. Please don’t remove any. It’s annoying in EU4 playing in Polynesia and whole groups like the Cook Islands being missing. What you have here looks really promising!

 

[JimmyDD9000]

Topographic review.

• The Great Dividing Range is indeed great and divisive. But it is not really a classical mountain range as it is indicated now. It consists of more hilly parts, more plateau-like parts... The hills north of Brisbane were also missing.
• Rest of Australia could use a bit more plateaus and some speckles of hills. I broke my tradition of using 500 m elevation as a bottomline for plateaus, as a LOT of plateaus here are between 400-500 metres.
• Papua could use even more wetlands, especially in the West
• Out of curiosity: Are the reefs of New Caledonia truly impassable? Should they not become 'atoll' locations?

Current Tinto's design	Suggested topography	'Changelog' of suggestions
View attachment 1236734	View attachment 1236735	View attachment 1236736

Elevation sources

Terrain Ruggedness Index (plateaus here are >500m)	Elevation. Note the plateau-like elements in W-Australia, sitting at ca. 400-500 m elevation.
View attachment 1236739	View attachment 1236740

Wetlands

Global Wetlands and Lakes DB	PeatML lights up W-Papua, and prompts to designate more wetlands. W-Tasmania is very hilly and wet in its valleys, I opted for hills/mnts.	100-year event floods. SE Gulf of Carpentaria in N-Queensland could be considerd wetlands.
View attachment 1236746	View attachment 1236748	View attachment 1236747

Seeing this it makes me think the Great Dividing Range needs a gratuitous amount of impassable terrain scattered through it. I cant argue with the geographic evidence presented here, but I think something needs to be done to capture just how much of a big deal it was for early explorers to find the passes through the mountains. As well as how much of an obstacle they present for infrastructure projects even today. Whether that is making an exception and stretching the definition of mountains just for Australia or if it means adding in lots of impassable terrain.

Based on this advice for example, the Blue Mountains will be treated as forested hills, the same terrain type as central Germany. Which when you compare the population and traversability of the two regions it just feels wrong. It's not like I've tried, but I struggle to believe anyone is dragging a battery of cannons through the Blue Mountains in any sort of great hurry.