New here and looking for some help/advice

[Dunkelerritter]

Howdy all,

I'm entering the land of cartographers in relation to a cartography problem in a space sim. We do have explorers as a profession. It seems that cartography will be a useful skill. The game is called "Star Citizen" ( https://robertsspaceindustries.com/orgs/KMS ) which is in Alpha test and development. For most folks, cartography may not be so important. I am leader of a guild which simulates a military unit and as such, maps will be extremely useful to my troops (live players roleplaying as military troops). Currently, there are limited options for my ground teams regarding maps. We may have to make our own the best we can and it may have to be done during game play.

Anyone here play "Arma 3"? (check out time 2:48 in this clip for a map example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs1R5dDHIQg ) They have a map available to their soldiers. It functions a bit like Google Maps where you can scroll around the map, zoom in, and zoom out. It has grid markings friendly to military sims. Additionally, you can draw on the map and everyone on the team has instant access to the updated map. I'm looking at ways to give my troops a tactical advantage like this whilst in the field.

Currently, the best I've figured out to do is to take a screen shot of the area from whatever angle is possible at the time (hopefully flying from South to North so the top of the picture will be "North"). I can modify the pic on my PC, overlay a grid, draw markers for enemy positions, route of travel, obstycles, etc. This is less than perfect because 1) altitude will vary so there won't be a standard area of the grid squares from map to map. 2) the angle of the picture may distort the grid layout. 3) With this method, the best method I can think of is to use a mathematical grid (x,y axis) with 0,0 being at the center of the map. This less than perfect method gives people some reference for where they are and the lay of the land, but calling in an Air Strike on an enemy position isn't likely to be a very accurate science with this method.

So, I am looking for suggestions. Possibly software that would allow my cartographers in game to map out a planet and might allow more accurate maps to be available to my ground teams (hopefully functionality similar to the map feature in Arma 3 for ground troops in that game).

I likely have a couple of years before this anticipated invasion (Operation Pitchfork). So, I've got some time to try out different ideas. Now, I can anticipate that I won't have access to some of the enemy planets before the invasion. That means that maps will have to be made during the course of the event. The one commonality will likely be that the planets and moons are spheres (various sizes though). Asteroids may be odd shapes, but I'm more interested in planets and moons. Rough, hand drawn maps could be an option as well as screen shots. Both methods will require scouts to get the lay of the land and important feature information.


Many thanks for any advice.

I wish you all a nice day,

Dunkelerritter

[JsinOwl]

Howdy. I'm having trouble grasping exactly what it is you need, but have you looked at any of the virtual tabletops like Roll 20 or Fantasy Grounds? I've never used them myself, but they have much of the functionality you need. I think altitude will be your biggest obstacle. I'm not aware of a 3D world mapping tool of the scale you need except maybe Terragen (see here https://planetside.co.uk/). I briefly explored it, but got scared and ran away.

You've come to the right place. There are many experts here, unfortunately, I'm not one of them. Good luck on your quest.

[Azélor]

Several years before the invasion?