[paid]Cosmographer Work Needed

[crossmlk]

Everyone,
I have been playing around with Cosmographer but I'm afraid my skills with the program have not developed to the point that I can create what I need. How pathetic that is will become apparent with my request ; ).

I'm creating a Traveller open license project and am in need of some maps. I will need up to 6 Traveller style hex worldmaps and a Traveller style sector map. I'm looking for the following level of ownership of the final product:
"I will have the right to use the image for commercial purposes, the artist will have the right to exhibit the image as part of his portfolio but not to exploit it for commercial gain. "

This is a paid project so please PM me to discuss your rates.

Thanks for your time and consideration of my project.

Mike Cross
Terra/Sol Games

[Ascension]

You'll need 5 posts before the private messaging works, this is to stop spammers. So you might want to include an email so that people can get with you. Cheers.

[isomage]

Could you show us some examples of the style you're looking for (I've seen a lot of variation)? Also, are you wanting a full sector of 16 subsectors, or just a single subsector? Is it a requirement that the maps be made with Cosmographer? Color or black and white?

By the way, here's my random subsector generator, in case you might find it useful for anything. It uses the original Book 3 rules. The form fields are all optional. http://axiscity.hexamon.net/users/isomage/traveller/

[crossmlk]

Thanks for the info guys. For those wanting to e-mail me, my address is;
crossmlk@aol.com.

isomage, love your random generator. That is the style of "subsector" map I'm looking for. That's what I want a subsector but I have a specific layout in mind, so whoever ends up doing the map I'll have to e-mail that to them.

For the world maps I'd like use the classic traveller hex map (see
http://zho.berka.com/rules/isohex.gif) and I'd like both a black and white version and a color version. Can a map be made in color and then converted to black and while so there would only be one map necessary? It is not a requirement that maps be made with Cosmographer my thought was since it already has the templetes for these type maps someone familiar with the program could easily create them.

Thanks for helping me communicate better what I'm looking for guys.

[isomage]

Thanks for the info. A few more questions: Do you need vector graphics or will bitmap do? If a bitmap is acceptable, what resolution and dimensions do you need? Along with the subsector data, will you have any specific details about terrain for the world maps? What's the due date?

[Valarian]

If you could get the UWP data in to a standard SEC format, I could load the data in to Traveller Universe for you. The output from this is great for colour maps.

Example Sector: http://www.trisen.com/sol/images_10/sm.gif
Example J-6 Map: http://www.trisen.com/sol/images_10/yori.jpg

[crossmlk]

Valarian,
OK, I'm going to display my extreme ignorance here. What is the standard SEC format? I assume it's the 9 digit code used in Traveller world creation but I'm not sure and wanted to confirm. Also what do you mean by load the data into the Traveller Universe? Like I said - extreme ignorance.

isomage,
OK, again showing ignorance. I'm not sure what vector graphics are. Could you explain the difference between them and a bitmap? As far as resolution and dimensions I'm not sure what the correct answer should be so I'll describe what I'm looking for. I want to have full page maps for a print product in B&W and then color copies of the same maps for posting to my website. Do you have any ideas what I'd need for resolution and dimensions based on that? I will have a general description of the worlds and their terrain. Not in a big rush on this but I think I'd like to have stuff to start layout by the end of June or middle of July. Is that an unrealistic time frame?

Thanks guys for all you help on this, and I appreciate you walking me through the process.

[töff]

Can a map be made in color and then converted to black and while so there would only be one map necessary?

Yes. It is ideal to have a single image source rather than two separate maps; because, if you have two, then any change to one map must be made to the other, doubling the work.

• If you have a B&W source, coloring layers can be added. Some, but not all, changes to the B&W source will require changes in the color.
• If you have a color source, you can cleverly create adjustment layers in Photoshop (or some similar proggy) that [1] desaturate the color all the way to grayscale, and then [2] adjust the brightnesses of individual colors (e.g. red often looks too dark when made gray; yellow often looks too light). Changes to the underlying color sourse rarely require changes to the adjustment layers.

[töff]

I'm not sure what vector graphics are. Could you explain the difference between them and a bitmap?

http://www.sketchpad.net/basics1.htm

[isomage]

My random subsector generator code could easily be adapted to make a map based on data you'd provide. I've started prototyping a similar random world map generator (duplicating the classic form as the subsector generator does) which I would also be able to use to make maps to specification. In a few days I should have a good idea of whether or not I'll be able to produce suitable maps.

Regarding raster vs vector graphics: in a nutshell, raster graphics specify the color of each pixel in a fixed-resolution image, while vector graphics are essentially drawing instructions and can therefore be rendered at any size without loss of quality (i.e., without pixelization if you blow up the image). I would be able to provide you with vector-based PDF files, so you would be able to size them however you wanted.

I'll see how my coding goes, and if I'm able to come up with maps of suitable quality (and if you haven't accepted any other offers in the meantime) then maybe we can work something out. The timeframe sounds fine.