Off-World Galaxy Map

Continuing on from yesterday, the map is looking great and going really well.

World Borders

I created a circle, filled it, indented it, removed the centre, copied and sized down the second circle to make this shape, then removed centre pieces to make it look interesting.

Highlighting Worlds

I turned it into a brush, set the size to 250 pixels, and went around the map dropping the borders on each world.

After that, I sized the brush down to 125 pixels and highlighted the smaller points of interest, signifying space stations, bases, notable objects, etc.

Place Names

I went through the map, marking out certain worlds that have appeared in the stories.

My main focus was the major worlds, and my secondary focus was the existing smaller locations.

I also named each of the territories. It is clear that The Confederation hasn't had too much world-building, and that's something I would like to rectify.

Post-war Free Space is my main interest, and I like the idea of The Confederation being an ominous presence in the galaxy, without being the main focus of my stories.

I have left a lot of room to create throughout Free Space and The Outer Worlds, as there are plenty more races and worlds to come.

Also, I like having a large portion of space Uncharted, because there could be entire empires unknown to the galaxy.

Jump Lanes

Jump Lanes are fast transit areas between worlds, but hold the risk of ambushes due to the rings that are used to form these lanes.

I wanted to show the difference between post-war Confederation territory and post-war Free Space, and I think it is pretty clear.

Broken links between worlds, as opposed to a network of fast transit, which makes it far easier and faster to exchange goods and travel.

Map Export

I couldn't upload the original, so I had to resize it to upload it here.

I am so happy with how it turned out, and I have the file within Photoshop, so I can update it with new worlds as needed in the future.

Not having a physical map stopped me from creating or doing any more world building, because I was finding it hard to keep track of it all. But with this, I will easily be able to look at it and know where everything is.

I am hoping this will also help to inspire future stories.