Timeline (and general FFVII world reference)

[Anguipes]

I've been pondering the world map, in particular travel times and time zones (I may be over-thinking this...) but there's a problem. Namely, the map as it works in FFVII the game is totally borked. It maps on a torus rather than a sphere, and as far as I'm aware there's no way to make the two equivalent.

I'd actually rather like to see if I could make a vaguely sensible spherical interpretation of the FFVII world, but it might take a little time and would be strictly non-canon (and probably make a mockery of the canonically very short travel times in FFVII - start of the game to end is supposed to be just over six weeks!). If people are willing to accept it for the RP though, I'll see what I can do.

(Moral of this thread: FFVII background is a terrible, inconsistent mess )

[Madhouse]

That's a lot of work you're putting yourself into! I don't think we are picky in that aspect. We only need a reference we can all agree in, be it the mess of a world map we already have. Though I must admit that the idea of a more coherent world map makes me drool. So.... if you ever did that, it would be a huge contribution not only for us, but for the whole FF7 fan community!

I guess we could all try and work on it, if we can.

[SOLDIERofficer81]

When I think of travel times, I am not really thinking about how exactly IC travel time equals OOC time or number of turns or whatever. I just don't want Player A's character in Midgar getting info about something happening between Players B and C's characters in Wutai and then Player A having his character arrive in Wutai in his next post while Players B and C are still RPing their scene. So, it's more about players using good sense rather than following explicit travel times. So a general reference we can all agree on and follow would be nice.

[Anguipes]

I'm going the crazy option. And it looks like it'll be easier to do than I thought (actually making it look nice, that'll take longer...).

Basically though, Midgar and Wutai are opposite sides of the the world - think US and China. If Gaia's the same size as Earth, we're talking twelve-hour plus flight territory, and a timezone difference to match.

[Anguipes]

That was surprisingly painless. Map added - a Mercator projection based on my adjustments covering the relevant areas, and some location/timezone details. If anyone want to know exactly what I did to get those results, let me know and I'll start a thread elsewhere.

[Madhouse]

Hah, wow. You did that surprisingly quick. Thank you for that! Did you project the coordinates arbitrarily or did you do it based on "canon indications"?

[Anguipes]

The short version is that I re-jigged the map based on three points of reference - northern crater and the icy area, Corel desert, and the jungle strip that passes through Gongaga/Ancient Temple/Mideel. Middle of the jungle strip would be the equator, with the strip extending 10 degrees either side. The desert strip is 10N to 30N. I arbitrarily decided to put the northern crater at 80N, and the icy area stops between 55-60N (which might be a little too far south, come to think of it). Once I'd reprojected the map I just found the locations and calculated their position.

It seems to leave everywhere at reasonable distances, though I wouldn't read too much into the latitudes.

[Madhouse]

Nice. So the entire southern section of the planet is one big ocean/unexplored territory?

[Cloud Strife]

Cloud would be seven I believe? Also, are starting just before the war?