We have studied the pattern formation of nanogold particles at both homogeneous and model binary heterogeneous molecular surfaces. The growth mechanisms and topological features of the nanogold colloidal networks, and especially their dependence on the chemistry of the surface phases and nanoscale structures of the underlying surfaces, have been investigated. In addition to the critical role played by these nanoscale surface properties, both the immersion time in the colloidal suspension and the late-stage hydrodynamic flow related to the drying of the remaining dispersion film were shown to determine the topological features of the emerging networks. As a fundamental result, a "size-scaling" criterion between the aggregating particles and the underlying nanodomains was found, which critically determines both the length scale and the topology of the emerging patterns.