töff needs another project like a pig needs-- Jack Vance's "Ports Of Call" & "Lurulu"

So yeh. I love the writing of Jack Vance. The latest that I read from him got in my head. I had to start a new map project. You know the feeling?

I compiled the place data, played with the overall route, and finally devised a three-loop arrangement that conforms to the story.

I'm now trying to arrange the stars & planets along the route.

Jack Vance? You must be as old as me....at least. I'm sure he'd smile seeing this. More design brilliance please...MR TOFF!

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Originally Posted by ravells

You must be as old as me..

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So if I admit that I've read Virgil ... and really liked him ...
Heck, I've read Plato, too. Didn't agree with him, but I liked him.

Anyway, Lurulu came out in 2007. You don't have to be old to read Vance.
I'm waiting on his autobiography now!

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Originally Posted by ravells

I'm sure he'd smile seeing this.

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Probably not ... he's blind :( ...

I'm really struggling with how to display the cities. Hmm.

I have a lot of elements & data per stop: star name, star icon, star number, planet name, planet icon, and 1-5 named locations per planet, plus the route lines that still have to squiggle in & out of the whole mess (only one yellow dotted line shown here, but there's at least six different overlapping routes that I intend to include).

There's too many ways to do it! I just have to find one I like.

And plus, Illustrator's kerning is really misbehaving on those type-on-paths. :\

Personally, I like the version with the line having the dot on the end, though maybe make the line thinner and the dot a bit smaller.

Just my take on it...

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Originally Posted by Steel General

I like the version with the line

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I played with the lines more but I didn't get anything that blew my skirt up.

I think the problem is that the cities need to be ON the planets. I can't use spatial relationships everywhere else and then throw them out the window for the cities. (Oh that was an odd metaphor.)

I'ma try to do get the city dots onto the planets. One planet has FIVE dots so I'm really worried about crowding.

Does it matter where on the planet the dot is?

If not, just spread them out in an appropriate gometrical pattern.

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Originally Posted by Steel General

Does it matter where on the planet the dot is?

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I am not planning to go into that level of detail, mapping routes from site to site on a planet. I suppose I could, but I have not envisioned the overall style of the map that way. It'd be cool, though, dammit. But no. I cannot afford the time to go into that level of detail. Furthermore, at least one planet as has sites on opposite sides of the globe, and that would require a way to show planet backsides. I just can't go that far.

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Originally Posted by Steel General

If not, just spread them out in an appropriate gometrical pattern.

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Yeh, that was the idea. But I still have a lot of elements based around each planet: its name, its star (also with a name), its sites (1-5) (also with names), and the route lines in & out. I think the route lines, though, can go underneath, so the site names overlap. The routes will be visible, and color-coded, between planets, so some overlap at the planets themselves will not obscure meaningful data.