The true size of countries

[Nasr]

http://thetruesize.com/

This is a great tool for comparing the actual sizes of countries.

It has some interesting strategic implications.

 

[Sharp163]

http://thetruesize.com/

This is a great tool for comparing the actual sizes of countries.

It has some interesting strategic implications.

... Like what?

Greenland is bigger than it looks. Noted.

 

[Nasr]

Well, for example, the distance from Tripoli, Libya to the Suez is roughly similar to the distance from Berlin to Moscow.

Whereas it looks like half that distance on the map.

 

[Nasr]

Most countries near the equator are about triple the size they appear.

So for example Indonesia is a huge sprawling land mass that reaches from France to Kazakhstan, on the map it looks tiny.

 

[Nasr]

The Malaysian Peninsula is as big as Poland.

The Philippines reaches from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

I could go on.

Needless to say, Greenland is just one minor example.

 

[LordOfWar16]

Well, it should be commonly known that world maps we know are actually incorrect, to make navigation easier, atleast for salors back in the 16th century. The countries kept their shape, but got stretched and distorted. We in europe are actually way smaller than we might think.

This is the world map most of us if not all know it. It was created in 1596 to help sailors navigate.

This one is from 1974 by D. Arno Peters. The Gall-Peters projection makes seeing the relative size of places much easier. However it also has its flaws as certain places appear stretched, horizontally near the poles and vertically near the Equator.

 

[CrasherZZ]

The only way to make the map look totally correct would be to overlay it onto a Google Earh display. I wish they could do that.

 

[Opanashc]

The only way to make the map look totally correct would be to overlay it onto a Google Earh display.

Or use a globe.

 

[LordOfWar16]

@Opanashc Thats an possibility, yes. But it is much more complicated to do it in an manner that actually works propperly. There arent that many strategy games out there that do it and even less that do it well.

In the end the traditional map that everyone knows is probably the best solution, since everybody knows it that way.

 

[Sanny]

But how does this relate to Hearts of Iron IV where some countries are not their proper size?

 

[henzington]

Eu4 has many islands and other areas that are not the right size because selecting islands would be almost impossible if they were the right size.

 

[Pellaken]

Areas with many provinces should be purposefully oversized.

like this, only not so horrid

 

[adam_grif]

The use of a globe for the next generation of Clauzewitz engine would be appreciated.

 

[parkerg12]

YES!!! Thanks for opening this discussion!! this is an extremely important topic when thinking logistics and if the logistics are distorted then the capabilities of nation would be distorted as well.
for instance if north Africa is distorted then it would be easier for nations to keep in supply than it was historically and thus many of the challenges faced by the British and Italians would not be prevalent.

 

[joe9594]

Does anyone know if travel time was based on the actual distance between places or the size on map in previous HOI games?

 

[scroggin]

Well here is why japan would have trouble conquering Australia.

 

[LordOfWar16]

You guys also need to keep in mind that europe is purposefully bigger, since the bulk of the action is taking place there. The british channel is bigger ingame than it is irl aswell for gameplay purpose and America is at an angle. The ingame map isnt supposed to be accurate.

 

[hitchens]

Well here is why japan would have trouble conquering Australia.View attachment 154827

Most of Australia is wasteland with a small population. Japan would conquer Australia easy.

 

[Will Steel]

Heck, that map doesn't even show the entirety of India. And the map projection is really bad.

 

[Lither]

But they couldn't even reach the mainland with their horrid supply tail, so it's a moot point