PANEC Galaxy Map 40 LY (WIP)

[oliverberger]

Greetings, fellow cartographers!

I just wanted to share a WIP of the galaxy up to 40 lightyears from SOL in our PANEC (Post Apocalyptic Near Earth Campaign) roleplaying setting.

40ly_01a.png

Contructive criticism is more than welcome. Shoot ahead.

Tools and resources used include Adobe Illustrator CS4 and Project Rho starmaps (HabHYG40ly).

Cheers, Oliver

[jfrazierjr]

Ok... first a disclaimer: I don't really care about star charts. Nothing against your map, they are just not my thing.

I like the legend parts for the different spectral classes and access levels. However, I am confused a bit about the other parts of the legend.


It seems that the three lower boxes are a bit confusing and could be cleaned up. Honestly, the more I look at the symbol/back color part of the legend, the more confused I get. Earth peeps appear to be square in the legend, but Morre station is hostile, while Sol itself is Hexagon(seems like that should be Marks Colonial Council) and habitable.

I just don't know, so ummm ok..

Also, what do the various bands of background color represent? Is that territory controlled by each of the 4 groups? This seems odd given Bernards Star/Ord Howalk are both "blue" in region control but one is hostile and the other his habitable. Of course, I am further confused since stars can't host life, so what does hostile mean in context(ie, no habitable planets in the system or relationship wise(which it appears to NOT be the case).

Sorry if this is obvious to someone more versed in Sci-Fi map design....

[AnthonySalvatoreErcolano]

Maybe if you make the galaxy as the background so that there would be a better sense of orientation

[oliverberger]

Ok... first a disclaimer: I don't really care about star charts. Nothing against your map, they are just not my thing.

Wow. Considering that star charts aren't your cup of tea I have to thank you on the double for taking the time to reply. Thanks!

Also thanks for your all your input. I will explain everything below and believe that your misinterpretation is due to the fact that the website itself is only available in German.

It seems that the three lower boxes are a bit confusing and could be cleaned up. Honestly, the more I look at the symbol/back color part of the legend, the more confused I get. Earth peeps appear to be square in the legend, but Morre station is hostile, while Sol itself is Hexagon(seems like that should be Marks Colonial Council) and habitable.

There is a difference in hostile and access to the system. Hostile/habitable only refers to the presence of habitable planets or moons in the system (or the absence of such) while the access colors green, orange and red tell you if you can freely enter the system (green), need a permit (orange) or are not allowed to enter the system or parts of it at all (red).

Since Earth had a cataclysmic event on December 27th 2.156 AD it is off-limits to all spacecraft since. Reason is that the volcanic eruption of Yellowstone blew some micro organism into the atmosphere that aggressively destroyed all NBO (nano bio-optical chip technology society did rely on) on the planet. By enforcing a strict blockade ever since Humanity managed to contain the microorganism on the planet itself. That's why it is off-limits.

MORRE Station is a hostile SYSTEM meaning there are no habitable planets or moons (but a space station). Access to the system requires a permit (orange). I hope this clarifies it a bit?

Also, what do the various bands of background color represent? Is that territory controlled by each of the 4 groups? This seems odd given Bernards Star/Ord Howalk are both "blue" in region control but one is hostile and the other his habitable. Of course, I am further confused since stars can't host life, so what does hostile mean in context(ie, no habitable planets in the system or relationship wise(which it appears to NOT be the case).

You are absolutely correct (see above). Hostile/habitable refers to the system's planets supporting Human life or not. The background colors indeed show political affiliation to a certain factor. So Barnards Star is Earth Alliance controlled space (blue) and the system itself is controlled exclusively by EA and supporting life (box with white background).

SOL has a pentagon instead of a square since it is home to the Mars Colonial Council which obviously is tied to Mars. All this is explained in the German blog posts on PANEC.de.

Again, thanks for your questions and input. I hope my answers help you understand my intentions better. Cheers, Oliver

[oliverberger]

Maybe if you make the galaxy as the background so that there would be a better sense of orientation

Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I really appreciate it and already thought about having a background image but decided not to use one as I feel it would confuse the viewer. The space shown is only about 40 lightyears from SOL in all directions so a whole galaxy doesn't make much sense to me. Additionally the star systems with their respective spectral colors are shown in the map and wouldn't be visible if there'd been a background image.

[Abu Lafia]

Great job Oliver! The overall look is really neat and it has a nice "old-school" touch to it, although i personally would prefer less saturated colours. Given the background information the map is well "readable" and the layout of the map key is pretty cool. Keep up the good work!

[oliverberger]

Thanks a lot. Do you have an example (map) using less saturated colors? I'd give it a try but won't cycle through lots of iterations on this. Also glad you like the map key!

[Abu Lafia]

I'm never sure about the terminology but what i meant by less saturation is more a lower opacity of the coloured territories like in these maps
by Levodoom: http://levodoom.deviantart.com/art/S...-old-436687735
or by ProjectWarSword: http://projectwarsword.deviantart.co...-Map-482223944

As said, it's more a thing of personal taste. Generally, i'm a sucker for more "subtle" colour palettes kinda like in this map by offeye: http://offeye.deviantart.com/art/Sta...-Map-298911855 (I really love aubergineish and pflaumeish colours ). But i'm fully aware that they often come at the cost of lesser readability.
Btw., when doing research for a space map some time ago, i stumbled upon this wonderful site: http://www.lcars.org.uk/lcars_Alien_panels.htm A real treasure trove for sci-fi colour palette inspiration ... it's rather Star Trek heavy though

[oliverberger]

Love the resource links in your post. Thanks.

Concerning a lower opacity is a bit tricky with this map (or my fledgling InDesign skills ...) as the political spheres overlap and thus create a rather ugly overlay. But I will give it a try and highlight the border in a more vibrant color while lowering the opacity a bit.

The Star Wars map you linked is one of the most beautiful maps of this kind but also one of the worst content-wise. Almost everything is in the wrong place ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Cheers!

[Abu Lafia]

I work pretty much exclusively with raster-based program (gimp) and haven't much experience with vector progs, so i can't give you any further advice how to achieve it. I saw the slight overlay of the spheres too but i think it should be fixable rather easy?
I browsed rather superficially for colour schemes. I love the Star Wars Universe a lot, but have not the slightest clue about its "real" topography!