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So, I’m finally done. I created my own star map, covering Human Space as I will cover it in my science fiction series. This image was scaled down considerably; the original is at 200dpi – 6622×4677 pixel. It’s 72MB in … Continue reading
I worked on space ship design and economics yesterday. Turns out, even the very basics are utterly fascinating: How big would an interstellar spaceship be in my universe?
Continue reading “Starship Sizes” »
The first two space fighters I did were not really sleek. So I built these. I love the long, curved brick, it makes for an awesome flight deck.
These ships are to scale with the previous ones, and my space shuttle, but again I will probably have to set a second scale for capital ships.
Next in my line of micro-spacecraft: Two designs for a fighter. For size comparisons, I’ve built them next to my Space Shuttle orbiter, and a three-brick space capsule.
I personally prefer the outermost of the two designs.
I should probably rethink the scale – imagine if I am to build a carrier with a couple of dozen of these on board…
Boy this is fun! My 2nd design is a Spy Sat.
The Lego Designer can also generate building instructions for the models you design. I am really very, very impressed by that software.
I always wanted to use LEGO Bricks to design space ships and mecha for my worlds. I don’t have enough bricks to do that, but luckily these days Lego actually offers a free Lego model designer. It looks like you can even order boxes of your custom sets!
Anyway, I haven’t played with Legos in decades, and I never used the designer software before, so my first design is a little clumsy. Still, I think it came out quite well.
To assign this ship a scale – it would be a small transport, perhaps used by corporations, governments, and adventurers’ groups to bring a small team to where ever the action is. It wouldn’t be much bigger than, say, a 727 or so.
The Lego designer estimates the price of this model at 18 Euro. I’ll definitely order a custom Lego set sooner or later, I just want to do so with a better design than this…
I’ve been working on a new version of the galactic Voyagers map lately. This is really based on the first Voyagers incarnation, not the current; anyway, just consider this a random galactic empire map…
Galactic Empire Map
Zoom of the Imperial area:
Galactic Empire Map - Zoom
Okay, this is the current version of my Voyagers map. It didn’t really change that much anymore – I’ve optimized some lines here and there, added some star systems, added names… This is probably the last version of this particular map for reasons I’ll detail in a later post.
Voyagers: Human Space
There should be about 300 named systems on that map.
Your ship – one of the many luxurious spaceliners operated by Pan Colonial – emerges from hyperspace a million kilometers from Oceania. From this distance, it has about one and a half times the apparent size of Luna as seen from the surface of Terra. The planet looks like a white and blue marble against the black velvet backdrop of space; even with the aid of the ship’s powerful telescopes you can’t make out any actual surface features – just water and clouds.
By now, the Ship’s Captain has completed all checks required after the re-emergence into Einsteinian space. He announces the arrival and gives information on the last leg of the journey: At a leisurely 1g of acceleration, travel time to the planet will be just over five and a half hours. Even assuming you have a bad spot in the queues for disembarkation you’ll be on the planet in time for dinner. Before and after the meal, the purser uses the ship’s PA system to tell the passengers information about Oceania.
You spend the next hours packing your belongings before having one last meal aboard ship. Finally, you wait in your cabin for the orbital insertion – a routine maneuver, but still one of the few moments in space travel where a grave mistake could spell potential doom. Of course the moment passes without you really noticing: The ship enters its parking orbit and the purser announces the wait times for the shuttles. Ninety minutes later, you are in a small spaceship no larger than an ancient aircraft, and no more comfortable, and the blue sphere is approaching quickly. Within minutes it fills your entire field of view, and your only reference points against the endless ocean are the clouds above it. You spot the first islands only a minute or so before touching down at the planet’s only spaceport. The shuttle’s deceleration presses you against your seat for an awful moment that seems to last forever. But then it’s over – the shuttle has touched down. As the sun shines through the window and warms you, you realize that your vacation has finally begun.
Welcome to the Paradise Planet!
I wanted to add more fluff to this map, but I decided to call it “done”. No need to sit on another map for several months. If I want to make it prettier I can always do that anyway. As for the map itself, adding any more information to it would be too much. If I want to work this out in greater detail, I will have to start creating regional maps.
Oceania
I’ve also posted it to the Cartographer’s Guild.
I’ve already got an update to post for the Oceania map. I changed a few things, but mostly added a backdrop for some flavor.
Map of Oceania
The map is fairly close to what I had imagined. I still need to add some fluff around the edges, but over all this one is almost ready.