Please correct me if I am wrong in any of this information and I will remedy the issue, thanks.
Background:
The current map is similar in style to a previous map constructed by British Grand Pacific, who introduced the Urth concept (with The East Pacific being its own planet) and included size proportions for nations. He introduced the concept of claiming territory and not plots for nations. That map was inspired by a map created by Lazlow, who maintained his map for several years before it was retired and transitioned into the Citizenship Map. Prior to that map, Kandarin updated and maintained a map of his own, and introduced a framework of guidelines for claiming map plots and roleplaying concepts like annexations, the likes. The first map, constructed by 1 Infinite Loop, had more of a “real world” look to it and was based on a map of Eastern Asia.
Some maps are rather similar in look and appeal (such as the map from Kandarin to Lazlow). Others are much different (such as the maps from Lazlow to BGP or from Loop to Kandarin). Regardless, they represent a culmination of hundreds of roleplays and roleplay nations of The East Pacific, past and present, and a historical continuity that exists for about 15 years in real-time.
2004(?) - 2008 - TEP “Asia” Map (Link)
The Earliest TEP maps were loosely based off of maps of Asia. While this map served its purpose to the region, a particular concern for this map was that many attributed terrain and environments to real-life environments. That is, Loop was more or less Japan, and Kelssek, while Canadian in terms of flair and style, felt like mainland China. The map even included a Republic of Korea in, of course, historically Korean territory. Other issues like overcrowding and a lack of coastline for many nations compounded difficulties.
2008 - 2013 - TEP “Texture” Map (Link)
This map, created by former admin and former Rejected Realms delegate Kandarin, was carefully constructed to give TEP its own personal flair. Due to events surrounding the region at the time (specifically, the coup by The Empire), many older nations moved on but many newer nations or nations not previously involved in roleplay (myself included) took a liking to the map. This map saw the creation of states such as Listonia, expansion of Packilvania, and establishment of new powerhouses like Southern Yugoslavia (later renamed Laiatan).
This map was not without its problems. While the textured surface was a rather nice touch, it made for changing borders a veritable nightmare. When Kandarin retired, it became increasingly difficult to update the map and/or change borders. Even removing individuals from the map became a tough task, as without the proper textures to go from one had to really eyeball the textures.
2013 - 2015 - TEP “Vector” Map (Link]
Named “Vector” because the map included borders drawn from the Texture Map, this map was constructed by Lazlow and was maintained by his nation throughout the course of the map’s existence. Nations like South Hills (SHACOG) and Allegheny rose to prominence here. In 2014, the map was changed from a “roleplay” map to a “citizens” map, due to the emergence of the Urth Map. When the Urth map was inaccessible, it was proposed briefly to return to this map, but due to significant changes between Vector and Urth, that idea was abandoned.
2014 - 2015 - TEP “Urth” Map (Link]
After much deliberation and discussion, TEP realized that (a) the Vector map and Texture map were a bit on the small side, (b) it was difficult to measure land area, and (c) The map was still full of older nations that probably should be retired. In lieu of those important reasons, the region was provided an Urth map, Urth because TEP was no longer just a floating region “somewhere” but was now its own planet with actual moons. For the first time, a scale was developed, and land masses could be calculated. The map was much larger and more fluid, allowing for better interaction between players. Biome maps were attempted and worldwide climates were at long last making sense (i.e., Really Nice Hats had to adopt a more colder climate despite the fact that the nation had hot deserts in its past).
2015 - 2020 - TEP “Urth II” Map (Link]
In response to a map conflict, a map designed “in the spirit of past TEP maps” was commissioned. Two artists were commissioned for the purposes of producing a map that could be (a) measurable, e.g. one could determine the size of their nation, (b) borders of historical nations would remain the same, and (c) the map could be easily edited by a novice cartographer. After much discussion, the current map, Urth II, created by Franz-Mekkado narrowly beat out a map proposed by Grand Britannia. The size designation of 1 pixel = 50 square kilometers is now in place, allowing for one to easily measure the size of their nation via an image editing program (some nation sizes are calculated here).
2020 - Present - TEP “Urth HR” Map (Link)
In an effort to provide a better experience for the residents of the Urth map, the incumbent Cartographers Jesse and Dylan increased the size of the map to nearly eight-fold. Along with this, many of the original coastlines and landmasses of Urth II had been altered enough to warrant a new version of the map to be named. On this iteration of Urth, each pixel is 6.3416 square kilometers, replacing the old system of 50 square kilometers.
