History Main / VideoGameGeography

( ''VideoGame/ScarabOfRa'' takes place in a square pyramid where each level is below the previous level. Nevertheless, somehow exiting one level at the southeast corner takes you to the entrance to the next level at the northwest corner.

** The series' [[VideoGame3DLeap jump to 3D]], starting with ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', shrinks the game world though the use of SpaceCompression, but they are still far larger than most video game settings and ''feel'' just as large thanks to the hand-crafted environments. Still, it can be a bit jarring when, in ''[[Videogame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' for example, the tree line ends at about 50 feet above sea level, and your stroll though a temperate field suddenly ends with you on a blizzard-swept peak with field still in sight behind you. Further, The tallest mountain in the game (and stated to be the tallest in Tamriel in the lore) tops out at 766 meters tall, and its "7000 steps" are actually 732.

* '''Flat and country-shaped''': You can't walk off the edge of the map, which is shaped like any real-world border, irregular and conforming to mountains, rivers, etc. You can see some [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Level_of_Detail LOD]] land beyond the border, but you cannot get there and discover that it's sound stage quality. Most well known from the Bethesda {{RPG}}s (''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' and the new ''{{VideoGame/Fallout}}''s).

[[folder:{{MMORPG}}s]]

[[folder:{{MMORPG}}s]]

* Played straight in ''VideoGame/{{Nostalgia}}'', especially egregiously since the world map is supposed to represent OUR Earth.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' is the "flat and country-shaped" sort of variant. The game world is a flat square in the area around Washington, but once the player reaches the edge of the world, the player can see that the world continues well past the [[InsurmountableWaistHeightFence limit of movement]]. There is even an entire district of skyscrapers across the Potomac from Rivet City. Ditto ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas''.

* A particular weird example in [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyAdventure Final Fantasy Adventure]] (also known as Seiken Densutsu, Mystic Quest, or Adventures of Mana): The world map is the usual flattened torus, but it's almost entirely covered by one huge continent which connects to itself at what appears to be its 'upper left' and 'lower right' ends. That means the continent has 2 separate coastlines, yet you can travel by sea from one to the other (which would not be possible for any such continent located on a sphere). Guaranteed to mess with your brain as you try to navigate from A to B. You'll best understand it by looking at [[https://preview.redd.it/v7mld5n5e4t81.png?width=7688&format=png&auto=webp&s=3f52ba9a477a2d07075aa816447ba132171cfd79 this]] image, which repeats the map along both x and y axes.

* A particular weird example in [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyAdventure Final Fantasy Adventure]] (also known as Seiken Densutsu, Mystic Quest, or Adventures of Mana): The world map is the usual flattened torus, but it's almost entirely covered by one huge continent which connects to itself at what appears to be its 'upper left' and 'lower right' ends. That means the continent has 2 separate coastlines, yet you can travel by sea from one to the other (which would not be possible for any such continent located on a sphere). Guaranteed to mess with your brain as you try to navigate from A to B. You'll best understand it by looking at [[https://preview.redd.it/v7mld5n5e4t81.png?width=7688&format=png&auto=webp&s=3f52ba9a477a2d07075aa816447ba132171cfd79 this]] image, which repeats the map along both x and y axis .

* A particular weird example in [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyAdventure Final Fantasy Adventure]] (also known as Seiken Densutsu, Mystic Quest, or Adventures of Mana): The world map is the usual flattened torus, but it's almost entirely covered by one huge continent which connects to itself at its upper left and lower right end (as seen on the 2D projection). That means the continent has 2 separate coastlines, yet you can travel by sea from one to the other (which would not be possible for any such continent located on a sphere). Guaranteed to mess with your brain as you try to navigate from A to B. If you have trouble imagining this, see this repeated map [[https://preview.redd.it/v7mld5n5e4t81.png?width=7688&format=png&auto=webp&s=3f52ba9a477a2d07075aa816447ba132171cfd79 here]].

* A particular weird example in [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyAdventure Final Fantasy Adventure]] (also known as Seiken Densutsu, Mystic Quest, or Adventures of Mana): The world map is the usual flattened torus, but it's almost entirely covered by one huge continent which connects to itself at its upper left and lower right end (as seen on the 2D projection). That means the continent has 2 separate coastlines, yet you can travel by sea from one to the other (which would not be possible for any continent on a sphere). Guaranteed to mess with your brain as you try to navigate from A to B. For a better grasp, see [[https://preview.redd.it/v7mld5n5e4t81.png?width=7688&format=png&auto=webp&s=3f52ba9a477a2d07075aa816447ba132171cfd79 here]].

* A particular weird example in [[FinalFantasyAdventure Final Fantasy Adventure]] (also known as Seiken Densutsu, Mystic Quest, or Adventures of Mana): The world map is the usual flattened torus, but it's almost entirely covered by one huge continent which connects to itself at its upper left and lower right end (as seen on the 2D projection). That means the continent has 2 separate coastlines, yet you can travel by sea from one to the other (which would not be possible for any continent on a sphere). Guaranteed to mess with your brain as you try to navigate from A to B.

* A particular weird example in [[FinalFantasyAdventure]] (also known as Seiken Densutsu, Mystic Quest, or Adventures of Mana): The world map is the usual flattened torus, but it's almost entirely covered by one huge continent which connects to itself at its upper left and lower right end (as seen on the 2D projection). Guaranteed to mess with your brain as you try to navigate from

* All ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' games beyond the first (which has [[GatelessGhetto no way off the land mass surrounding the Dragonlord's castle]]) feature a toroid world. ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'' combines this with a HollowWorld, the inside world being a toroidal version of the original ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' world. Now, figure that out.

-->-- ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' [[note]]Well, actually, in game, it's the solution to a puzzle: ERAU QSSI DLRO WEHT. [[LampshadeHanging It was Square's catchphrase at the time.]][[/note]]

[[folder:WebComics]]

** It's a case of AllThereInTheManual, but the world of Ultima is actually a FlatWorld situated within the [[NegativeSpaceWedgie Ethereal Void]], which causes the wraparound effect. So, it all makes perfect sense. [[AWizardDidIt Kinda.]]

* All of the ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' games have had some form of this. The first 2-D games had you restricted to a completely self-contained city with no way out. ''GTA III'' had Liberty City walled in by ocean and mountains. Vice City, San Andreas, and the ''GTA IV'' Liberty City are all surrounded by ocean with no land in sight. Trying to go too far out makes you hit an invisible wall. However, the canon treats them as your usual coastal cities (e.g. one of Johnny Klebitz's patches states that he went to Los Santos on a motorbike). This is even noticeable in-game for ''GTA IV'', as the hills to the west of Alderney cut off rather abruptly into the ocean.

* One of the big questions in cosmology is the shape of the Universe, which would be a result of gravitational forces affecting the space-time continuum. The main theories are either that it's "flat" (in the sense of not being curved, rather than literally flat), toroidal, or spherical. Others suggest hyperbolic geometry. While specific local points of space can be considered curved (like gravity wells), the Universe's global curvature is currently speculative.

[[folder: Other]]
* Geographical term charts such as these: [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/98/8a/7a/988a7ae210d9b7f7972716dce6f14622.jpg]] [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/19/2f/6a/192f6a502935dba58a0ba5f9dfb0eda1.jpg]]. Their purpose is to showcase a visual representation of different landforms, though it's fairly amusing to see a tropical, desert, and arctic terrain all bunched together in the same location.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* One of the big questions in cosmology is the shape of the Universe, which would be a result of gravitational forces affecting the space-time continuum. The main theories are either that it's "flat" (in the sense of not being curved, rather than literally flat), toroidal, or spherical. Others suggest hyperbolic geometry. While specific local points of space can be considered curved (like gravity wells), the Universe's global curvature is currently speculative.
[[/folder]]

Related to WorldShapes. Compare PatchworkMap and SortingAlgorithmOfThreateningGeography. Contrast YouFailGeographyForever. Has elements in common with SpaceCompression and UnitsNotToScale.

Related to WorldShapes. Compare PatchworkMap. Contrast YouFailGeographyForever. Has elements in common with SpaceCompression and UnitsNotToScale.