Research for the map from Spyro 1

In order to make the arrangement of all the worlds as realistic as possible, I've been focusing on the evolution of the dragons. To see, based on their characteristics, which dragon families would likely be neighbours.

I got a bit distracted with the evolution. There was a lot to think about.

For instance, I don't think it's ever mentioned in the series how long the average dragon lives for. Is it 1000+ years? I'm leaning towards yes, as I really liked the idea of the elder dragon at the beginning of the third game actually remembering the forgotten worlds from his youth. But I haven't decided.

The small family numbers mean evolution takes hold quickly. This leaves it open to a lot of interpretation as silly mutations like double horns and multi-spined-beards spread easily throughout the small populations.

Here's what I've settled on for now:

• The first split divides the dragons into nose horned dragons (Dreamweavers and Peacekeepers), and non-nose horned dragons (Artesans, Magiccrafters, Beastmakers).

• The second split, with the Forgotten subspecies (species?), is more for fun. I imagine the Dreamweavers are closely related to the Forgotten.

• Third, the Magiccrafters split off and hide in the mountains.

• Fourth, the two remaining dragon populations split into the four other families.

Ancestor Dragon?

Again, I believe this is pretty solid, but I'm open to any suggestions. I'm going to go into the geology of the worlds next. That, coupled with all this research I just did on the evolution, should tell me the most logical place to position all the worlds.

EDIT: I have made a mistake. Upon watching the Spyro 3 cutscenes, the old dragons from the forgotten worlds are the ancestor to all modern dragons - if dragons live for considerable less than 1000 years. If that's the average age for a dragon, then the families would already have to be established. In my defense, my Spyro 3 save was the one my sister saved over the least when we were younger.

Astronomical Problems

This part of the process has taken a longer time than I anticipated. My current goal: To make an accurate solar system of the Spyro universe based on the backgrounds. Which is hard.

Don't get me wrong, the backgrounds are beautiful. But they didn't exactly have astronomical consistency in mind when they painted them up.

So, first up, all the heavenly bodies I could discover...



Most heavenly bodies in the game fit into one of these. Inconsistencies in size can usually be explained through irregular orbits. And the fact that all the backgrounds are just really inconsistent anyway.


"Where is the light coming from?!"

PROBLEM 1:

Remember how I wanted the Dragon Worlds and Avalar to be on different planets? That could be hard to do, as the two have pretty much exactly the same heavenly bodies floating in their skies.

PROBLEM 2:

All the moons/suns are different sizes. There can't be eight different sized suns.

SOLUTION:


What...?

Yeah, after a lot of thinking, planets swooping around in between one another's irregular orbits is genuinely the only way Spyro's backgrounds can make any sense. As a bonus, it's kinda possible for Avalar and the Dragon Worlds to be on seperate planets, so I'm rolling with it. In this model, however, you cannot see the Dragon Worlds from Avalar and visa versa due to their aligned orbits.

I haven't QUITE double checked it all out, 100%, so if you see any mistakes, feel free to bring them up. But I feel pretty confident.

PROBLEM 3:

I think this will just come down to personal preference, as it's almost impossible to tell, but, this solar system could be a binary system. Maybe.



But it also could simply be another planet. After all, the crescent moon in Enchanted Towers didn't follow the laws of light, why should this planet? (If it is one?)

CONCLUSION:

The backgrounds really make very little sense, but I've done what I can. It isn't really too important, though, as the important part of this project is the map. I just wanted to make sure the backgrounds wouldn't conflict with the maps I had in mind.