# Gallery > Cartographers Choice >  A space map: Valhalla Orbital Complex - by Francissimo

## Ilanthar

*A Space Map: Valhalla Orbital Complex*


*Created in : Sketchup, Photoshop*

*Review*
Not only a hobby fantasy cartographer, Francissimo is also a professional one. With this stunning orbital complex, he shows his talent and creativity for space & science fiction maps, and his excellent 3D skills. This map blends blueprint, screen interface, spatial scenery with ingenuosity and aesthetics.
The Valhalla Orbital Complex is well thought-out and could easily be pictured in a classic SF movie like 2001 or Avatar. As is often the case, Francissimo gives us more than the final map, explaining his process with the software he used. We owe him previous tutorials for animated maps, interactive ones using leaflet & 3D maps from Qgis data.
He is already working on other maps, with new ideas and experiments, so we will have more to see soon.

*Original Thread*
*WIP Thread*

----------


## ThomasR

Really good choice  :Smile:

----------


## Mouse

Congratulations Francissimo!  Really great map - well deserved  :Very Happy:

----------


## Tonnichiwa

Fantastic choice. This map makes me wish we had the ability to zoom inside and look around similar to the way google earth lets you look at individual streets. I think it would be amazing to do a virtual tour of this place. Very well done Francissimo!

----------


## Diamond

Long overdue CC for Francissimo, that's for sure!

----------


## ChickPea

Congrats Francissimo! This was an incredible piece of work.

----------


## Wired

I'm in awe - and jealous!  :Wink:

----------


## Blaidd Drwg

Congrats! This is a fantastic map  :Very Happy:

----------


## GSEC

Deleted by user.

----------


## AdventureDepot

Excellent, it evokes nostalgia for some old space theme.

----------


## Warlin

Congrats Francissimo for this map and your CC. A well deserved one for an amazing SF map.

----------


## Francissimo

Wow i just noticed i had a map nominated, it truly is a great honor to join the cartographers choice! 
I've spent hours wandering in that part of the forum, getting inspiration from those beautifull piece of art. Having one of my maps selected to be here makes me really happy and proud :Smile: 
A big thanks for this nomination and the kind comments in the thread, i'm so glad to be a part of this community :Smile:

----------


## damonjynx

> Wow i just noticed i had a map nominated, it truly is a great honor to join the cartographers choice! 
> I've spent hours wandering in that part of the forum, getting inspiration from those beautifull piece of art. Having one of my maps selected to be here makes me really happy and proud
> A big thanks for this nomination and the kind comments in the thread, i'm so glad to be a part of this community


No thanks are needed Francissimo, you well and truly deserve it! It would have been a crime for this map *NOT* to be CC. It's bloody brilliant. 

I wish I could do stuff like this, but just looking at your WIP thread made my head throb. Apart from the mention of layers and blending modes it was so far above my head the discussion may as well have been taking place in the station you rendered!

----------


## Sanderling

The map is beautiful overall, but it seems you’ve taken some design elements directly from Deep Space Nine, in particular the Commercial and Habitation rings.  The Hanging Gardens module also seems to draw heavily from one of the ships from the Colonial Fleet in the new Battlestar Galactica.

----------


## shermday

Absolutely stunning work. Clearly well thought and planned.

----------


## Francissimo

Thanks for the comments guys :Smile: 




> The map is beautiful overall, but it seems you’ve taken some design elements directly from Deep Space Nine, in particular the Commercial and Habitation rings.  The Hanging Gardens module also seems to draw heavily from one of the ships from the Colonial Fleet in the new Battlestar Galactica.


Yep that's right, i explained in the wip thread that i used elements from sketchup 3D wharehouse, including a part of the beautifull deep space nine station. The hanging gardens aren't from battlestar galactica but were a part of the valley forge from the movie Silent running. The sketchup part of the map was kinda like playing lego, i took various parts of existing models, cut them in pieces and put all this together.

----------


## Jaxilon

i love this. Great job.

----------


## Steel General

Well done!

----------


## SteveG

nice work. 
I really like the alternative language  :Smile: 
Hope to see more of this work

----------


## Shall Teclex

The only thing that excites me more than seeing an SF piece introduced as  Cartographers' Choice is to see this particular map on the front page of the Guild. It's not just an extraordinary map, it's everything the space map should be, with all those believable details and, above all, amazing atmosphere. Congrats, Francissimo!

----------


## Blaede

Excellent!

----------


## Kencomer

The reason for having those huge wheels in a zero gee structure would ordinarily be to provide a functional replacement for gravity: they spin, and stuff in the rims gains weight due to centrifugal force. I started to make a post why orbiting these wheels next to an asymmetric off-axis station looked risky, then realized that my Space Station Designer's badge hasn't been notarized.

I don't know what sort of coupling you had in mind but if they are not firmly attached as one system, load imbalances would leave the wheels wobbling and wandering all over. If they are attached firmly, that wobble/wander action (as well as inertia transfers from incoming vessels) could easily result in a tearing of metal and a venting of gases. Better send those wheels a safe distance away.

Beautiful map, though. I might use it anyway.

----------


## Kat

I really like this map. It has a lot of detail.  :Smile:

----------


## Jervob

Very good question

----------


## TurtleSoup

Wow! Getting a Space Odyssey vibe here! Very interesting concept!

----------


## Sardine

It looks so realistic!  Yet it's fiction.  It at least makes we want to reach out for one of my scifi games.

----------

