# Mapmaking Discussion & Philosophy (WIP/Critique) > Sci-fi/Modern Mapping >  Galhemna Star System

## Wired

WIP of a map I'm doing for a friend's story. Much of the information is still lacking (see "Bircos" as an example of how it will be featured), star ships, space stations, citadels, ship yards and mining rigs will also be added soon. 

I received a nice, detailed description, but just for this I think the in-story description has a nicer touch.  :Smile: 

_Galhemna was one of a triad of systems that formed the beating heart of the region. Jan-xhai was a nexus of trade, a port of call for the thousands of ship and cargoes  legal or not  that helped provide the Veiled Reaches with everything it needed. Natuos was the nerve net that controlled that heart, the epicenter of corporate and governmental control that guided and directed every action and effort in these sectors and Galhemna Galhemna was the immune system, purifying and protecting.

 A Security Force of nearly two hundred warships protected eight planets and thousands of transports, personnel transports, construction vessels and shipwombs. Freighters came in laden with raw materials and equipment and either left divested of their cargo, or laden with the industrial offerings to bequeath to the smaller military bases throughout the Veiled Reaches and its adjacent sectors, each of them fed from Galhemnas relentless industry. Citadels hung across the orbital tracks like scattered pearls, there to defend the system from any invader. Minefields, far denser than the one that had greeted Yunlro, had been laid down across libration points, and where they had not been, networks of augur drones and pickets prowled, ensuring that any attempt to slip into the system would be doomed to failure.

 Deeper in-system, sullen formations of battleships stood watch over garrison moons and strip-mined planets, awaiting orders to deploy. Vast networks of shipwombs sprawled through asteroid belts and hung in orbit over the cracked remnants of the inner planets, the ore and metals of the shattered worlds feeding Galhemnas armouries, factories and construction yards. Despite all this, the system was consuming resources faster than it could harvest them. For the past decade and a half, Galhemnas rate of production had been rising, its demand for more workers, more ships, more raw materials and refined products increasing steadily. The number of shipwombs, factories and armouries had more than doubled and the systems output of war material had trebled. A response to the piracy in the region. That was the official explanation. The Veiled Reaches were wealthy and far from the Compact proper. Such a combination always attracted a criminal element and the Unbound in this region were annoyingly persistent, unexpectedly aggressive and frustratingly capable._

----------


## Ilanthar

It looks like a terrific start, imo  :Smile: ! I love what you did with the background.

----------


## Wired

> It looks like a terrific start, imo ! I love what you did with the background.


Thank you.  :Smile:  I was asked to do something that' s like the Horsehead Nebula in principle: a dark center with a wild and active border region. As it's called the _Black Veil_ I went with an elongated form. It's really the first completely hand-drawn nebula I've done so far.

----------


## Falconius

That's awesome.  Nebulae are very difficult to do so they look good and this definitely does.

----------


## Mouse

I agree.  My nebulae have never got past the amorphous cloud stage, so I definitely appreciate what you have done with the background  :Smile:

----------


## Wired

Thank you for the kind words. I managed to put in some work on this yesterday, but Progress will be slower now due to commission commitments. I decided to add a scale, though I'm not certain if this will be the final version.



Edit: If you find awkward Instances of capitalization in my Posts, it's due to me being condemned to use Internet Explorer with my country's Settings at work...

----------


## Diamond

Okay, that is AWESOME.  Love the color, love the layout (especially the layout - that semi-perspective look rocks).  A definite contender for the next Atlas Awards, if you finish it by the end of the year.

----------


## Wired

> Okay, that is AWESOME.  Love the color, love the layout (especially the layout - that semi-perspective look rocks).  A definite contender for the next Atlas Awards, if you finish it by the end of the year.


Wow, that is some _serious_ advance praise. Thank you! I just hope I can live up to that!  :Smile:

----------


## Ilanthar

The layout is great! You find a very good planets size/distance ratio. And yup, I second Diamond, it's a splendid one, already, Wired  :Smile: .

----------


## Wired

> The layout is great! You find a very good planets size/distance ratio. And yup, I second Diamond, it's a splendid one, already, Wired .


Thank you, Ilanthar!

I had a few minutes (hours?) to spare on this. I'm still a good deal away from being finished, but I'm getting closer. Getting those basic 3d models done and colored is still a pretty new thing for me.

----------


## Wired

The map is getting closer to completion. Here's another part I did for it: my interpretation of a CSF citadel, heavily armed and equipped with powerful augur (sensor) domes. In the front two system defense frigates do a fly-by.

----------


## Mouse

WOW!

That is just amazing, Wired  :Very Happy: 

I only have a tiny nitpick.  In the main map the text is just a tiny bit difficult to read in the info boxes.  Just a fraction larger might work a whole lot better (unless of course we are seeing a reduced version).

----------


## tilt

Damn that's nice... love the colors and the look of the elements.  :Smile:

----------


## Wired

Thanks, everybody! This should be as close to final as it gets. Now I only need some feedback from the person it is intended for.  :Smile: 

@Mouse
I made it slightly larger.  :Smile:

----------


## Mouse

Oh yes - I can read it now without taking my varifocals off and pressing my nose to the screen!  LOL!

Thank you - that's much better  :Wink:

----------


## Wired

Finished map available here.

----------


## Wired

Heh, turns out I'll probably do a sector map for the same setting as well. I'll have to rewire my priorities a bit for that. So far I've tried to get ever more detailed. For a sector map I'll have to find a good balance between detail and and overall usefulness.

----------


## William_Oak

Beautiful work, I'm quite impressed. The nebula in particular is very nice.

Myself, I'm not that great at drawing, so my own maps generally use a combination of images & symbols (I like vectorial maps). Still, I'll remember about using a CAD software for improved 3D appearance.

I'm curious about what you end up with for a sector map; I'm working on a couple myself for some TRGP stuff and I'd love to see what someone more experienced can generate.

----------

