Worldbuilding is the process of constructing an imaginary world,
sometimes associated with a whole fictional universe. The term "world
building" appeared as early as 1965 in science fiction criticism, and is used
in relation to science-fiction or fantasy stories and games. The resulting
world may be called a constructed world. Developing an imaginary setting with
coherent qualities such as a history, geography, and ecology is a key task for
many science fiction or fantasy writers. Worldbuilding often involves the
creation of maps, a backstory, and people for the world. Constructed worlds
can enrich the backstory and history of fictional works, and it is not uncommon
for authors to revise their constructed worlds while completing its associated
work. Constructed worlds can be created for personal amusement and mental
exercise, or for specific creative endeavors such as novels, video games,
or role-playing games. History
The creation of literary fictional worlds was first examined by fantasy
authors such as George MacDonald, J. R. R. Tolkien, Dorothy L. Sayers, and C. S.
Lewis. Tolkien addressed the issue in his essay On Fairy Stories, where he
stated that the "Secondary World" or "Sub-Creation" is substantially
different from the art of play-writing: "Very little about trees as trees can be
got into a play." Constructed worlds shift away from storytelling, narrative,
characters and figures, and may explore "trees as trees" or aspects of the world
in-and-of-themselves. Later analysis of fantasy worlds in the 1960s
contextualized them in the medium or the narrative of the works, offering an
analysis of the stories in the world, but not the world itself. Media
franchises are similar to constructed worlds but do not necessarily rely on
them; for example a media franchise such as Star Wars has a constructed world,
while The Beatles, as a franchise, does not. In the 2000s, world-building in
film has increased in popularity. When before, writers sought to create a
character that could sustain multiple stories, now they create a world that
can sustain multiple characters and stories.
Methods Worldbuilding can be designed from the
top down or the bottom up, or by a combination of these approaches. The
official world-building guidelines for Dungeons and Dragons refer to these
terms as "outside-in" and "inside-out," respectively. In the top-down approach,
the designer first creates a general overview of the world, determining broad
characteristics such as the world's inhabitants, technology level, major
geographic features, climate, and history. From there, he or she develops
the rest of the world in increasing detail. This approach might involve
creation of the world's basics, followed by levels such as continents,
civilizations, nations, cities, and towns. A world constructed from the top
down tends to be well-integrated, with individual components fitting together
appropriately. It can, however, require considerable work before enough detail
is completed for the setting to be useful, such as in the setting of a
story. With the bottom-up approach, the
designer focuses on a small part of the world needed for his or her purposes.
This location is given considerable detail, such as local geography,
culture, social structure, government, politics, commerce, and history.
Prominent local individuals may be described, including their relationships
to each other. The surrounding areas are then described in a lower level of
detail, with description growing more general with increasing distance from
the initial location. The designer can subsequently enhance the description of
other areas in the world. This approach provides for almost immediate
applicability of the setting, with details pertinent to a certain story or
situation. The approach can yield a world plagued with inconsistencies,
however. By combining the top-down and bottom-up approaches, a designer can
enjoy the benefits of both. This is very hard to accomplish, however, because the
need to start from both sides creates twice as much work, which may delay the
desired product. Elements
From a game-design perspective, the goal of worldbuilding is to create the
context for a story. Consistency is an important element, since the world
provides a foundation for the action of a story. However, J. R. R. Tolkien
described the goal of worldbuilding as creating immersion, or "enchantment" as
he put it, and descriptions of the world can be wholly disconnected from the
story and narrative. An uninhabited world can be useful for
certain purposes, especially in science fiction, but the majority of constructed
worlds have one or more sentient species. These species can have
constructed cultures and constructed languages. Designers in hard science
fiction may design flora and fauna towards the end of the worldbuilding
process, thus creating lifeforms with environmental adaptations to
scientifically novel situations. = Physics=
Perhaps the most basic consideration of worldbuilding is to what degree a
fictional world will be based on real-world physics compared to magic.
While magic is a more common element of fantasy settings, science fiction worlds
can contain magic or technological equivalents of it. For example, the
Biotics in the science fiction video game series Mass Effect have abilities,
described scientifically in-game, which mirror those of mages in fantasy games.
In the science fiction novel Midnight at the Well of Souls, magic exists, but is
explained scientifically. Some fictional worlds modify the
real-world laws of physics; faster-than-light travel is a common
factor in much science fiction. Worldbuilding may combine physics and
magic, such as in the Dark Tower series and the Star Wars franchise.
= Cosmology= Constructed worlds often have
cosmologies, both in the scientific and metaphysical senses of the word. Design
of science fiction worlds, especially those with spacefaring societies,
usually entails creation of a star system and planets. If the designer
wishes to apply real-life principles of astronomy, he or she may develop
detailed astronomical measures for the orbit of the world, and to define the
physical characteristics of the other bodies in the same system; this
establishes chronological parameters, such as the length of a day and the
durations of seasons. Some systems are intentionally bizarre. For Larry Niven's
novels The Integral Trees and The Smoke Ring, Niven designed a "freefall"
environment, a gas torus ring of habitable pressure, temperature, and
composition, around a neutron star. Fantasy worlds can also involve unique
cosmologies. In Dungeons and Dragons, the physical world is referred to as the
Prime Material Plane, but other planes of existence devoted to moral or
elemental concepts are available for play, such as the Spelljammer setting,
which provides an entirely novel fantasy astrophysical system. Some fantasy
worlds feature fictional religions. The Elder Scrolls series, for example,
contains a variety of religions practiced by its world's various races.
The world of the 2000 video game Summoner has a well-developed cosmology,
including a creation myth. = Geography=
Map construction is often one of the earliest tasks of worldbuilding. Maps
can lay out a world's basic terrain features and significant civilizations
present. A clear, concise map that displays the locations of key points in
the story can be a helpful tool for developers and audiences alike. Finished
creative products, such as books, may contain published versions of
development maps; many editions of The Lord of the Rings, for example, include
maps of Middle-earth. Cartography of fictional worlds is sometimes called
geofiction. The physical geography of a fictional
world is important in designing weather patterns and biomes such as deserts,
wetlands, mountains, and forests. These physical features also affect the growth
and interaction of the various societies, such as the establishment of
trade routes and locations of important cities. Desire for control of natural
resources in a fictional world may lead to war among its people. Geography can
also define ecosystems for each biome. Often, Earth-like ecology is assumed,
but designers can vary drastically from this trend. For example, Isaac Asimov's
short story "The Talking Stone" takes place in a world where silicon, rather
than carbon, is the basic building block of life.
Some software programs can create random terrain using fractal algorithms.
Sophisticated programs can apply geologic effects such as tectonic plate
movement and erosion; the resulting world can be rendered in great detail,
providing a degree of realism to the result.
= Culture= Worldbuilding designers sometimes employ
past human civilizations as a model for fictional societies. The 1990 video game
Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire, for example, takes place in a world full of
tribes based on civilizations in early Mesoamerica and Africa. This method can
make a fictional world more accessible for an audience. Simon Provencher has
stated as a 'Golden Rule' of Worldbuilding that "...unless specified
otherwise, everything inside your world is assumed to behave exactly as it would
in the real world." Another example is Steven S. Long, a representative of the
Champions role-playing game, who stated that "Everything that happened in the
real world has also unfolded in the exact same way in the Champions
Universe." This means any past wars, elections, and technological
advancements in our world occurred the same way in the Champions Universe
unless explained otherwise. Creating a cohesive alien culture can be a distinct
challenge. Some designers have also looked to human civilizations for
inspiration in doing so, such as Star Treks Romulans, whose society resembles
that of Ancient Rome. The fictional world's history can explain past and
present relationships between different societies, which can introduce a story's
action. A past war, for example, functions as a key plot point in the
Shannara and Belgariad series. Types of constructed worlds
Examples of constructed worlds include Terry Pratchett's Discworld, the
pseudo-Earth Hyborian Age in the Conan series, Arrakis in the Dune series,
Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea and Gethen, the Subcontinent of Hayao Miyazaki's
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and Arda, the location of J. R. R. Tolkien's
Middle Earth, in The Lord of the Rings. Constructed worlds are not always
limited to one type of story. Lawrence Watt-Evans and Steven Brust created
Ethshar and Dragaera, respectively, for role-playing games before using them as
settings for novels. M. A. R. Barker originally designed Tékumel well before
the advent of role-playing games, but many gamers, including Barker himself,
have used it as a setting for such games.
A shared universe is a fictional universe that can be used by different
authors. Examples of shared universes include the Star Wars expanded universe
and campaign setting developed specifically for role-playing games. One
of the oldest of these is Oerth, developed for the Dungeons and Dragons
Greyhawk setting. Forgotten Realms is another such D&D setting, originally a
homebrew campaign world by Ed Greenwood. See also
References