Id like to make a galaxy..

[Horus77]

Which would be the best program to do this? id like to be able to put down faction borders, points of interest and so forth.

The last map i made was a really wierd looking blotch on a piece of paper i wrote up a few months ago

[selden]

One issue is that galaxies are 3D objects, so you'll need a 3D viewer/designer to make sense of everything. 2D views can be misleading, but perhaps no more misleading than 2D maps of planets' surfaces. Although spiral galaxies tend to be relatively thin, 1000 LY (a typical thickness) is a lot of room!

At any rate, you might want to consider using a 3D modeling program, although learning one might take more time than you're prepared to spend on the project. Personally, I found Anim8or easy to learn. It's free and runs under Windows. Blender is free, too, runs on Windows, MacOS and Linux, and is a lot more sophisticated.

FWIW, Orion's Arm has some maps that might provide some ideas.
http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-topic/49c787abb28fd
and there's at least one OA map being developed here:
http://www.cartographersguild.com/showthread.php?t=6696

[Horus77]

Ah sounds good, thanks selden, and also i remember reading up about a program called AstroCartographer(?) i think im wrong about it though, but if i remember correctly it was just a small space map maker, are there any like this availible on the net for free?

[Nexis]

Ah sounds good, thanks selden, and also i remember reading up about a program called AstroCartographer(?) i think im wrong about it though, but if i remember correctly it was just a small space map maker, are there any like this availible on the net for free?

I think you mean AstroSynthesis at this page http://www.nbos.com/products/astro/astro.htm.

If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the Universe. - Carl Sagan