Chapter 1 – Geography, Climate Bands, & Settlement Logic

Chapter 1: Geography, Climate Bands, & Settlement Logic

Created by Sarah Choi (prompt writer using ChatGPT)

Geography, Climate Bands, & Settlement Logic — A Worldbuilding Guide for Environment Concept Artists (Concepting + Production)

Worlds that feel inevitable begin with geography. Latitude sets the sun’s path and prevailing winds; mountains and currents sculpt climate bands; water and resources determine where people settle, how they build, and what they value. For environment concept artists, tying environments to this chain—planet → climate → biome → culture → architecture → kit—keeps concepts believable and production consistent. This guide treats both concepting‑side exploration and production‑facing execution in equal measure.

1) Planetary Frame: The Levers that Drive Climate

Latitude & solar angle. Near the equator, sun paths are high and day length is stable; toward the poles, the sun skims, seasons intensify, and shadows lengthen. Design implication: equatorial scenes favor high‑angle light and strong convection haze; polar scenes feature long slant light, low sun warmth, and crisp air.

Atmospheric circulation cells. Three bands per hemisphere—Hadley (equator to ~30°), Ferrel (~30°–60°), Polar (~60°–90°)—drive prevailing winds:

Trade winds (E→W) in the tropics push warm, moist air westward; expect rainforest on east‑facing coasts in some worlds, monsoons where land heats strongly.
Westerlies (W→E) in mid‑latitudes bring storms that track east; expect changeable weather, strong fronts, and deciduous forests/grasslands.
Polar easterlies are cold and dry; expect low precipitation and tundra/ice.

Pressure belts. Equatorial low (rising moist air → rain), subtropical highs (~30° dry descending air → deserts), subpolar lows (~60° storm tracks), polar highs (cold, dry). Use these to place deserts, rain belts, and stormy seas.

Ocean currents. Warm western boundary currents (e.g., Kuroshio/Gulf Stream analogs) raise coastal temps; cold eastern boundary currents (e.g., California/Benguela) cool coasts and create foggy deserts. Coastal palettes, fog recipes, and vegetation density should follow the current regime.

Tectonics & topography. Mountain arcs and plateaus block moisture (rain shadows) and set river basins. Volcanic arcs enrich soils but add hazards (ash, lahars). High basins trap cold air (frost pockets) and pollution (smog bowls). These macro forms pre‑decide biomes and settlement corridors.

2) Climate Bands → Biomes: Visual & Material Signatures

Treat each band as a kit of kits with consistent air, palette, material availability, and wear logic.

Equatorial humid (0–10°). Air: fast atmospheric falloff, green‑leaning bounce under canopy, frequent shafts in clearings. Materials: hardwoods, laterite brick, palm/fiber, damp stone with biological staining. Wear: moss, lichens, rot; corrosion accelerates. Settlement logic: waterway cities, stilt architecture, shade courts.

Subtropical highs / desert belts (~15–35°). Air: warm mid‑distance lift, heat shimmer, high diurnal swings. Materials: adobe/rammed earth, lime plasters, sun‑baked brick, stone; scarce timber. Wear: salt efflorescence, wind‑scour, desert varnish. Settlement logic: oases, qanats/canals, walled towns, caravanserai spacing ~30–40 km.

Mediterranean margins (~30–40° on west coasts). Air: clear summers, stormy winters; blue sea bounce. Materials: stucco over masonry, terracotta tile, olive wood. Wear: sun‑chalking paints, salt spray. Settlement logic: hill towns, port quays, vineyard terraces.

Temperate mid‑latitudes (~35–55°). Air: rapid weather shifts; layered aerial perspective. Materials: softwood/hardwood mixes, fired brick, slate/clay roof tiles, wrought iron. Wear: freeze–thaw spalls, sooty leewards. Settlement logic: river crossings, market grids, water mills.

Boreal & taiga (~50–65°). Air: cool, low sun with blue shadows; slow falloff in dry winter air. Materials: conifer timbers, log construction, steep roofs for snow shedding. Wear: pitch seep, frost heave. Settlement logic: along rivers for thaw‑season trade; stilted walkways in boggy ground.

Tundra & polar (>65°). Air: very low sun angles, long twilights, extremely crisp silhouettes; frequent mirage effects. Materials: permafrost constraints; stone/gravel, imported timber, insulated panels. Wear: wind scour, sastrugi, snow drift logic. Settlement logic: coastal (fishing) or mineral outposts, low profiles behind snow fences.

Highland exceptions. Elevation cools climate; expect alpine biomes at any latitude above the tree line. Terraces, switchbacks, and avalanche sheds shape architecture.

3) Settlement Logic: Why Towns Exist Where They Do

Water first. Reliable fresh water (springs, confluences, aquifers). Visual cues: intake towers, cisterns, wells, canal headworks, water stairs. Production: add kit pieces for culverts, gutters, and wash zones.

Food & arable land. Alluvial fans, floodplains, volcanic soils. Visual cues: riparian farms, irrigation networks. Production: field textures, levee profiles, harvest props by season.

Trade routes. River fords, portage points, caravan nodes, mountain passes. Cues: toll gates, warehouses, caravanserai, ropeways. Production: road hierarchy kits (width, surface), signage cadence, stables.

Defense & visibility. Spurs, isthmuses, bluff edges. Cues: keeps, watchtowers, walls hugging contours. Production: rampart kits, glacis angles, murder‑hole modules; silhouette logic for watchlines.

Resources & industry. Ore seams, forests, fisheries, salt pans, clay pits. Cues: slag heaps, tailings ponds, tannery yards, kilns, smoke vents. Production: pollution/soot decals, water discoloration, hazard wayfinding.

Hazards & avoidances. Floodplains, lahar paths, avalanche fans, fault scarps, storm surge levels. Cues: high‑water marks, stilt districts, stone breakwaters. Production: “no‑build” zones and seasonal variants (dry vs. flood stage kits).

Cultural & ritual geographies. Pilgrimage routes, sightlines to sacred peaks, auspicious orientations. Cues: processional avenues, threshold gates, shrine clustering. Production: procession width standards, altar kits, ban on certain forms where taboo applies.

4) Concepting‑Side: From Map to Mood‑True Environments

Start with a macro map. Sketch continents, currents, and mountain arcs. Place deserts on lee sides of ranges in subtropical highs; rainforests on windward equator‑side coasts; grasslands inland. Drop provisional settlement rings at water/route/resource nodes.

Biome presets. For each band, author a one‑page air + palette recipe (falloff rate, hue drift, temperature mix), a material shortlist, and a shape grammar tied to climate (steep roofs in snow, deep eaves in sun, small apertures in storms). Use these to drive thumbnails before adding props.

Settlement beats. Keyframe the arrival (why here?), center (market/ritual/industrial heart), and edge (interface with wild). Ensure each beat reflects water, route, and hazard logic. Pair each keyframe with a gameplay‑lens variant proving readability.

Anti‑cliché checks. Replace tropey forms with function‑first analogs: instead of random cliff villages, show switchback terraces where soil and water exist; instead of floating neon soup, tie signage density to street hierarchy and power availability.

5) Production‑Side: Encoding Geography into Kits and Systems

Kits by band and culture. Create modular wall/roof/foundation kits per biome with climate‑driven dimensions (e.g., eave depth for sun belts; snow load truss spacing for boreal). Provide trim profiles and LOD silhouettes resilient to distance haze.

Material matrices. For each biome, publish PBR ranges and wear logic: desert plaster (albedo mid‑light, roughness high, salt crust decals), maritime steel (albedo mid, roughness low with rust masks), boreal timber (albedo mid‑dark, roughness mid with pitch streaks). Link to fieldwork exemplars.

Air presets & lighting plans. Implement the concepting recipes as production fog/volumetric settings and time‑of‑day exposure targets. Maintain readability parity across day/night and seasons (swap delivery—sun streaks → lantern cadence—without changing semantics).

Wayfinding standards. Road/river hierarchies get distinct cadences of lamps, paint bands, and sign icon sets. Mounting heights respect snow drift heights in winter bands and flood heights in monsoon towns. Keep accessibility (contrast minima, shape redundancy) documented per band.

Streaming & occlusion. Use landforms as occluders (S‑curves, buttresses, vegetation walls) to support long traversals without global fog blankets. Landmark silhouettes must survive LOD under the band’s typical air recipe.

6) Geography → Palette, Shape, and Wear: Quick Cheat Sheets

Band	Palette Tendencies	Shape Grammar	Wear/Decals
Equatorial Humid	deep greens, warm earths, cool skylight	deep eaves, raised floors, dense screens	moss, rot, water stains, verdigris
Subtropical Desert	ochres, umbers, teal sky; low chroma	thick walls, small apertures, shade courts	wind scour, salt crust, varnish
Mediterranean	warm walls, blue sea bounce, dark greens	arcades, courtyards, tile roofs	sun chalking, sea spray, rust
Temperate	neutral base, seasonal shifts	gables, chimneys, brick bonds	freeze–thaw spall, soot, ivy
Boreal	cool neutrals, blue shadow	steep roofs, log frames, small windows	frost heave cracks, pitch streaks
Tundra/Polar	high‑value snow, low‑sun warmth	low profiles, berms, snow fences	drift scallops, wind scour

7) River, Coast, and Mountain Typologies (with Design Hooks)

Rivers. Meanders on lowlands (point bars, oxbows), rapids in uplands (step‑pools). Design hooks: ferry stages, warehouse quays, water stairs, mill races. Production: spline kits for embankments; decal packs for wet lines and flood marks.

Coasts. Rocky headlands (spray, kelp), sandy barriers (dunes, overwash), deltas (levees, polders). Hooks: lighthouses on promontories, breakwaters, fish markets. Production: modular revetments, harbor furniture, foghorn/VFX recipes.

Mountains. Rain shadows, talus cones, hanging valleys. Hooks: passes with walls/gates, avalanche sheds, terrace farms. Production: rock typology kits, snow drift masks, switchback path modules.

8) Culture as Climate’s Negotiation

Architecture is adaptation plus identity. Tie cultural motifs to climate solutions: lattice screens double as shade and pattern; steep roofs double as snow shed and icon; blue‑white harbor paint doubles as anti‑fouling lore. Document taboos (no windows on windward walls; sacred orientation) so production doesn’t drift.

9) Hazards & Resilience as Visual Story

Show resilience infrastructure: seawalls, levees, cisterns, snow fences, lahar channels, firebreaks. Weathered marks (high‑water stains, char, patched plaster) signal cycles. Production: provide resilience kits and swap sets for damaged/repair states.

10) Performance & Accessibility Considerations by Band

Desert midday: suppress sparkle with matte backgrounds; use heat haze sparingly; bold silhouettes against lifted distance.
Rainforest: control particle density; reserve shafts for decision points; high saturation only in accents.
Snow/night: clamp specular bloom; add matte backers behind interactables; emissive cadence at hand height.
Smog basins: localized volumetrics; signage cadence to cut mid‑gray mush; color‑vision redundancy in wayfinding.

11) Common Pitfalls (and Fixes)

Biome salad: unrelated plants and palettes in one zone. Fix: Author band‑specific species lists and palette ceilings; enforce via kits.
Rain shadow ignorance: wet forests on lee sides. Fix: Place forests windward; depict steppe on leeward; add passes and caravan nodes appropriately.
Water denial: settlements without believable water. Fix: Add intake, cisterns, wells, aqueducts; route drainage.
Cliché architecture divorced from climate: open glass boxes in snow belts. Fix: Reconcile with insulation, vestibules, steep roofs, or relocate style.
Over‑fogging to hide layout: performance and mush. Fix: Use occluders and value banding; localize fog.

12) Exercises (Concepting + Production)

Macro map sprint: In 60 minutes, draw a continent with currents, winds, mountains; place 6 settlements with one‑line reasons; keyframe one arrival.
Band preset sheet: Create air/palette/material presets for two bands; paint a gameplay‑lens keyframe for each.
Rain shadow test: Design a mountain range’s windward/leeward towns; compare palettes, kits, and water infrastructure.
Harbor kit: From currents and tides, design a breakwater/quay kit with three assemblies; add wayfinding and night lighting cadence.
Resilience pass: Take a floodplain town and add resilient upgrades (levees, stilt districts) while preserving readability.

13) Hand‑Off Checklist (Concepting + Production)

Macro map with winds, currents, mountains, and rain shadows
Band presets (air, palette, materials, shape grammar) with field examples
Settlement reasons documented (water, trade, defense, resource, ritual)
Kits per band: walls/roofs/foundations with climate dimensions
Material matrices with PBR ranges and wear logic
Wayfinding standards tied to road/river hierarchies and band constraints
Readability parity examples for ToD/season states
Resilience/hazard kits and no‑build zones marked
Streaming/occlusion notes using landforms; LOD silhouette checks for landmarks
Accessibility notes per band (contrast minima, strobe limits, color redundancy)

Conclusion

Geography and climate are the world’s art direction. On the concepting side, start from winds, currents, and mountains to place biomes and justify settlements, then author band presets that drive mood and shape language. On the production side, encode those decisions into kits, materials, air settings, wayfinding, and resilience systems that keep levels readable and performant across times of day and seasons. Build from planet to prop, and your environments will feel inevitable—and ship smoothly.