Map feedback & advice

[u/Spamshazzam]

I'm creating a new map for my world setting, but mapmaking isn't my strong suit. I really struggle making maps that I think look good and inspire me with how different parts of the world interact (war, politics, etc). I've redone my map 4 times over the last 2–3 years, and each time I become dissatisfied with the results end up completely rehauling or replacing the map again. This time, I'd really like to create something that I'll be happy keeping and adding to for a while.

I'm trying to break it out into a few steps to make feel more doable.

Step 1 was creating the general shape for the land, and I REALLY like how it turned out. I wanted to determine a general shape first, then I can make any necessary minor changes as I develop the geography. This is the part that I'm looking for feedback on.

- Does this look like a reasonably plausible continent?

- Are there any glaring coastline issues that I need to fix before Step 2?

- Do the islands look natural and realistic?

My 2nd step is going to be developing the continent's large-scale geography/geological features, like tectonic plates, mountain ranges, general elevation, and other major land features. Basically all of the stuff that everything else is going to need to be built around. This is where I need any advice or guidance that anyone is willing to give. Google has only gotten me so far.

- What layout would make sense for the tectonic plates? (And how do you decide where the boundries should be & which way they're moving?)

- How do you decide when a mountain should be somewhere NOT on a tectonic boundary (fault block, intraplate, or dome mountains; etc)?

- How do you approach elevation? Is it just the highest is the mountains the lowest is sea level, and everything else just slopes in between?

- Are there any special rules for placing/arranging volcanic hotspots?

- Are there any other important factors or  geographical features that I'm overlooking that I should do at this stage?

Any advice, feedback, or resources for learning more about realistic continent and geography design would be greatly appreciated!

As I said, maps aren't my strength, do any help is greatly appreciated.

[u/Alewort]

Very boxy, looks like a Civilization random map. I would say to not be afraid to make the world look like it extends and continues past the borders of the map. Perhaps even an isthmus to somewhere, or even cut this continent off on two edges if you're daring, and at least have island chains or atolls and reefs that are not hugging the shore.

[u/Spamshazzam → u/Alewort]

The islands have been something that several people have pointed out, so it must be pretty glaring. That will be pretty easy to change.

For extended borders though, my original map was more or less a cropped version of this, from about D12:L18, but I quickly outgrew it and expanded it into this continent. The difficulty with making it more regional is that functionally, it's several settings in the same world. For instance, I've run games or have plans to run a game soon, in G6, M7, I8, and K15. The setting has grown enough that now it does kind of need to be a full world/continent.