The glaciologist was frustrated with existing map-generating programs, which do a pretty good job imitating the texture of real landscapes but fail to realistically place natural features such as rivers and canyons, because they are randomly generated rather than forming according to real-world geology. O'Leary wanted a computer-generated map to go along with his computer-generated story.
NaNoGenMo, alternatively, challenges coders to write a program that can generate a 50,000-word novel.
The event is the programmer's version of National Novel Writing Month, which challenges writers to pen a 50,000-word novel within the month of November. O'Leary came up with the idea for his cartography bot while participating in National Novel Generating Month, or NaNoGenMo.
