July/August 2024 Mapping Challenge: Nandalekon System

[Turambar]

I won't be able to start this until late July, since I am travelling. But I am putting my entry up now to commit myself to getting this one done! I really like this type of prompt.

For genre, I chose:

Space Opera Sci-Fi - A vast and unexplored star space dotted with vibrant alien civilizations, hidden space stations, ships and uncharted nebulae.

For the Wheel of Prompts, I rolled the following:

• Corporate home
• Mutated Environment
• Factory
• Place of refuge
• Abandoned Alien Megastructure

I think I will do a solar system map, and will try to incorporate more than one of these. At the very least, I will include the Abandoned Megastructure and the Mutated Environment, but I think all five may eventually find their place on the map (orbital factories perhaps?). Nandalekon System is my working name, but I may end up changing it.

[Straf]

You got No Man's Sky

[Kellerica]

Welcome to the challenge, curious to see where you take this! Just noting that I've added "2024" to your thread title for extra clarity

[Ink_alpinist]

Anxious to see that Abandoned Alien Megastructure of yours!

[Turambar]

Finally back and getting a chance to work on this. Here's a rough layout so far:

Screenshot 2024-07-27 235705.png

### Latest WIP ###

[Turambar]

I have some progress on this today. Slowly working on the planets and some of the other POIs. I am going to add moons as well. I plan to have close-up inserts in the frame for the five most important locations in the system (the ancient interstellar portal, the orbital factory, and three planets/moons with life).

Screenshot 2024-07-28 220906.png

### Latest WIP ###

[Diamond]

That sun looks FANTASTIC.

[Ink_alpinist]

Indeed it is an amazing sun! And I loved the perspective, quite dinamic!

[Turambar]

That sun looks FANTASTIC.

Indeed it is an amazing sun! And I loved the perspective, quite dinamic!

Thank you both! I got an assist from the real sun, as I used a heavily edited version which I then took into Flamepainter for additional editing. Everything else on this map is done in Gimp.

I have finished the rendering of the planets and frame. I will next need to add the moons.

Nandalekon system WIP 1.jpg

### Latest WIP ###

[Turambar]

I am finding making space maps way too fun... Are the nebulas/stars in the background a bit too much?

I have finished up with the planets, adding moons, asteroid belt, and other objects. I think labeling is probably next.

output-onlinejpgtools (5).jpg

### Latest WIP ###