Ancient Star Map

I had the idea of making a star map from the distant past that recorded the positions of the planets. This map was made using Cosmographer and a parchment PNG for the background.

Comments

  • That looks great!
  • That looks really good Modric. Great Idea!
  • Where did you get that font from? I am looking for something "alien" for my Far Realm campaign. That map looks really nice.
  • DogtagDogtag Moderator, Betatester Traveler
    It does look really nice! I like how the colors you chose help sell the age of the map.

    My only criticism is that it looks too nice. Is there any way to "age" the line art on the map, to maybe look faded in places or something.

    Great job! Cool solar system map + cool "alien" fonts = a map that's... out of this world!

    ~Dogtag
  • pvernonpvernon Betatester 🖼️ 34 images Traveler
    Dogtag, would putting a transparency effect on the text sheet do, or help do, what you were thinking of?
  • DogtagDogtag Moderator, Betatester Traveler
    edited May 2014
    Honestly, I don't know. A transparency effect would probably help sell the idea of ink on parchment, though. What I meant earlier was more like "selective fading" where some lines would be partly faded or something, as if old and worn.

    ~Dogtag
  • I really like that map!

    If i were to try to "age" the line art, I think I would try using a cloud layer with a very high transparency in order to slightly distort and partially obscure portions of the lines. Maybe export the line art to PS to merge with the cloud layer so that it only affects the line art and not the parchment image below.

    As others have said, that is a wonderful font, and I love the colors.
  • RalfRalf Administrator, ProFantasy 🖼️ 18 images Mapmaker
    It is indeed a very nice map, I love it. With a rock/stone background and grey colors it could also be a great inscription in an ancient alien pyramid.
  • ModricModric Traveler
    Thanks for the comments. I plan on running it through some filters I have on a cheap iOS app called Flare. I think I already included a transparency affect to the underlying parchment PNG. The original overpowered the drawing.

    The font is a free fantasy font. I'll try and post the name.

    The stone background is a great idea!
  • GatharGathar Traveler
    I really like that map too. It is really mysterious, it raises many questions.

    I have a small suggestion. I think that it might be even better if the planet had slightly different sizes.
  • I'm thinking that this is like something that is mildly "Lovecraftian" in a way. Maybe you could incorporate this into a new game setting or a fictional backstory around the "Nibiru" / "Reptilian" / Ancient Astronaut mythology? This might even be good for a "Call Of Cthulu" type of DIY game module.
  • illuminatispyilluminatispy Traveler
    edited May 2014
    Very nice, and your have inspired me to try something similar but on a larger star-map scale. :-) Thank you for the inspiration.
  • ModricModric Traveler
    That's great! It has a very alien feel to it.
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