I wish i knew better terminology to provide better context/information.... Here goes though!

What if you had them each develop their own culture similar to, But not directly of earth cultures.
An example of what I mean is sort of like how life evolved in the isolated communities in the setting of Dinotopia, IE: They have Fabric, Textiles, Vehicles (Of Sorts), Trade and Commerce.

If you start with commerce and textiles, And what the Land is like,
You can then build your way up, With how the Homes and Structures in each setting are like, Stone, Wood, Natural, Etc.
And everything in a civilization works up from there, As the basis of every civilization always starts with home settling, And farming~

I hope that this makes sense, Or at least some of it!
You can do it my friend, Good Luck! 💚✨

You're just fine!

*nods* I get it. There are a number of architectural elements that have developed similarly over the world (really, there's only so many ways to make a house! ).

Well, one part that Neopets does is that each land is thematic to a culture (or mix of cultures) on Earth and does have imports/exports based on some of it. My temptation is to create simplified areas in a given continent, for instance something based on Venice (famous not only for its canals but also its skilled glass makers) but with the architecture similar to Japan or China.

It'd be hard to do justice to diversity because there's over 3000 cultures on Earth (and that's not getting into subcultures!) and 195 countries, which is quite a lot! Places like Neopia can get away with having a few countries/lands around with different themes (Halloween, Tropical Island, Medieval, etc.) and it feels like good representation even when it's really not.

Thanks! *hugs*

While I can't help you with your project itself, I can say it seems somewhat relatable to the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, both of which take place in a layout similar to your own. You may find some inspiration in these two series.

Thanks! I really loved both of those series!

A few things to consider before you consider culture. Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Agriculture is largely determined based on weather patterns. Is the land at the western edge of a continent in the horse latitudes? Then it will be a dry desert (Atacama, Namibia, etc..). Is it on the eastern seaboard around 35 degrees? Then you have lush vegetation quite suitable for habitation. There's lots more one can discern here. This is why the Visigoths did terribly in Spain because they tried to grow crops more suitable to northern Europe, but the Caliphate did better when they grew oranges and the like. Or why Oil is used in the Mediterranean but Butter is used in England and Germany. You can get a lot of mileage out of doing a little development on weather patterns and agriculture. Note that if you change the orbital period or the inclination of the planet to the orbital plane this will change the weather patterns, but not as much as you might think. The prevailing winds are caused by temperature changes due to more energy from the sun reaching the equator than the poles; these temperature changes cause pressure changes in the atmosphere and this causes the winds and ocean circulation. Pretty much every standard weather pattern derives from this. The next biggest contributor is where the land is.

Natural Resources are going to be determined largely by Plate Tectonics. Some metals like Copper, Nickel, Zinc, and Iron are going to be fairly abundant if the planet is Earth-like. Same goes with Cobalt and to a lesser extent Chromium and Manganese. This gives you your Brass, Bronze, and Steel. Different kinds of rocks and thus different metal inclusions are going to be determined based on where subduction zones and plate rifting have occurred. That also determines where mountains are going to be (which feeds back into your weahter). The location of these natural resources will help you understand how various civilizations and cultures can thrive because without natural resources it is hard to get past hunter/gatherer stage.

How much detail you want to spend on such questions is up to you, but it's definitely worth entertaining them a little bit and it will add a degree of verisimilitude to your setting. And finally, these kinds of questions can also be story hooks which is why you want to have a shared setting in the first place.

Dominus tecum

*nods* I've already decided that Rani is Earth-like in most ways except how its continents are arranged. The interesting feature is that Beringia and Aldania could be considered 'counterweights' to one another in that they're roughly the same area but on opposite sides of the globes. This'd be like having a second Asia-sized continent instead of South America, so there's going to be a lot of interesting dynamics when it comes to weather and resources.

I've definitely been considering things like climate and such. One of the things I love to try and figure out is where mountain ranges and rivers would be based on how plate tectonics and climate would affect them. Figuring out how much moisture, dryness, heat, and cold a region will get isn't easy but, as you say, it adds verisimilitude to a world.

---

Of course, if I were really pulling a Neopets, such a concern would be moot as that whole world basically runs on magic and whatever weather, flora, and fauna exist are at least half in the realm of 'rule of cool' or 'a wizard did it'. There's something to be said for just having fun with a setting without too much heavy consideration as long as most of it makes sense.

Of course you should always allow a little rule of cool. There is some level of that to be expected in a fantasy setting. Hot spots like Yellowstone or Hawaii for instance can appear anywhere so you always can take advantage of those dynamics.

Dominus tecum