ghostwolf Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 Does anyone have a suggestion for how to do a 3d visual star sector map. I've got all the sector coordinates I need, but I'm having trouble representing the Z-axis. If anyone has any recommendations, especially software based, please share. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 Re: 3d grid maps? I've pondered using Google's SketchUp 3D software to make star maps. I think it would be pretty non-hairy, and the tape measure tool can give distances with one mouse maneuver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolgroth Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Re: 3d grid maps? Programs It's Full of Stars http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/7472/ifosweb/index.htm CHView http://members.nova.org/~sol/chview/chvc.htm Astrosynthesis (commercial) http://www.nbos.com/products/astro/astro.htm I tend to use Gimp. If I were doing 3d Coordinates, I'd add a notation to the name of the star with the Z-Axis in it. Sort of like Bluestar (+6.5). I am thinking of redoing my recent Gemini Ascendant map with Z-Coordinates. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireTiger Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Re: 3d grid maps? There might be something useful in here, too: 3D Starmaps in Science Fiction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Re: 3d grid maps? There might be something useful in here, too: 3D Starmaps in Science Fiction Heh. Why don't you just give the direct link to my site? http://www.projectrho.com/smap02.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrath Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Re: 3d grid maps? Does anyone have a suggestion for how to do a 3d visual star sector map. I've got all the sector coordinates I need' date=' but I'm having trouble representing the Z-axis. If anyone has any recommendations, especially software based, please share.[/quote'] I've seen quite a few attempts with a printed map, but none of them really work. Something like the (free) Google Sketchup or the (for money) Astrosynthesis would work, if a computer is handy. In many cases, what your players are really interested in is which stars are next door neighbors to a given star. I've gotten usable results by plotting a map with X and Y coords, labeling each star with the X coord, and drawing lines between each star and its two or three closest neighbors. http://www.projectrho.com/smap12.html#map03 You can take that to an extreme with what I call "2 and 1/2 dimensional star maps." If the main thing of interest is the star's neighbors, the x, y, z coordinates are not really necessary. Instead, you can make a "node" map, with boxes representing the stars and lines representing the neighbor relationships. For instance, go to http://www.projectrho.com/smap12.html#winch and compare (for instance) HabHYG20ly with HabHYG20lyNode Node maps are easy to make using the free software yEd http://www.yworks.com/en/products_yed_about.htm yEd has a wondeful "auto-format" option that will untangle a map for you. It is fairly easy to write a simple program which will ingest your star data and output a file that yEd can import. http://www.projectrho.com/smap13.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrTemp Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 Re: 3d grid maps? I've always done this using two maps: One depicting the x/y plane and one depicting the x/z-plane right next to it. That way, you have each startwice (once on each of the two maps), and as a spectator you can, with a little excercise, imagine the 3D structure of space. I even did nebulae, warp routes, and such larger objects, and they worked quite well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.