Orion Spur Map

I am still working on creating a nice star map.

I was quite happy with the galactic map I created some time ago (http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...laxy-Revisited), but it necessarily lacks detail. So I decided to zoom in a bit and create a more local map of the orion spur.

The base map I used, as you will recall, was a NASA image of the Milky Way galaxy (http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/image...-the-Milky-Way) which I turned into a more map-like background image - this included increasing the resolution, as the Milky Way Galaxy map was designed as a 60cm x 60cm drawing.

However, when I zoom in, it still gets too blocky, and besides the gaps in the spiral arms start showing badly. So I used gimp to create a new orion spur based on the original. Here's what I got so far; I am unconvinced that Terra is centered like that, I'll check tonight, but for now it'll do as a "sample" star system.

Attachment 39944

PS: Yes, I realize it's beginning to turn full circle and I am pretty much where I was a year or so ago, when I began to map out the orion spur for the first time. ;)

Alright, haven't had a whole lot of time, but this is WIP#2. I am not entirely happy with the spiral arm background yet, but it's getting there.

Attachment 40023

Just for the fun of it: This is a screenshot of Inkscape, you can see nicely how the current map fits into the bigger galaxy image - and the difference in resolution, too.

Attachment 40045

Looking awesome so far.
M

Thanks. :)

Current WIP, with some minor updates - I added sector names (just some random temp names), though this is really a lot of detail that's lost overall.

I gave the overall "cosmology" or astrography some thought yesterday night. Basically, on the orion spur map, every sector is 200x200 light-years. If I accept the trade-off that these are 2d, then it's entirely possible to create a third level of zoom - sector maps - which then map EVERY star system in the setting. Of course, creating the Orion Spur map at light-year resolution is a lot of work, but much of it could be automated in some fashion.

As an aside, the systems on the map are all Piper worlds, except for a few systems very close to Terra (the "break-out-list" attached to Terra). Distances are not correct, but relative positions are quite reasonable. ;)

Attachment 40050

Current WIP is a little detour. I decided to make the map a little more colorful.
Since I used noise on the base map, it's a 22MB png and can't be posted, instead here's a scaled down version and a 1:1 area cropped so you can make out details.

Attachment 40373
Attachment 40374

Edit: Used star brushes from http://sakura222-stock.deviantart.co...h-set-30314622 - doesn't seem to have restrictions attached to use besides giving credit.

I like it a lot with color.
M

Thanks. Labels are getting even harder to read tho.

Great stuff bartmoss! As Mearrin said, the colour makes all the difference!

Thanks ravelis.
Are the colors okay, though? The main BG is supposed to be mostly blue.

I hate being colorblind, I can never be sure about what I see.