Lit The Essential Atlas and Galactic Cartography: Official Discussion

The old TPM Visual Dictionary said that there was a Republic official on Tatooine, but that nobody really took his office seriously.

Edit: I tried to find that mention, but failed. So don't quote me on that.

 

Yeah, I think that's the crux of it. I understand why people feel that way, but I think it's more the opposite: the infrastructure can be assumed to be the same unless some new tale overwrites it. They're staying away from things that might tie a future storyteller's hands, most notably defining history where they don't have to, but that leaves a whole lot that can generally be assumed to stay constant, with geography at the top of that list.

Obligatory caveat that this is just my two cents, and I haven't worked on much recently to test it. But it's a reasonably informed and recent perspective....

 

I'd argue it even happened in the old EU: I remember the canonicity of Alan Moore's comic stories like "Tilotny Throws a Shape" was in contention for a long time as they hadn't appeared in any other (published) works, which wasn't helped by the disclaimer on the Dark Horse reprints about them having "not stuck to continuity like they do now". That was until the Encyclopedia and Atlas included entries and listings referencing them. And for "Tilotny" specifically, we had Luceno's Plageuis novel give Bedlam an appearance, and it all could've culminated with Joe's epic Supernatural Encounters, had that been published at the time.
God, this is why I love researching Star Wars stuff: It's fun to track the trajectory of something like this, and how different authors pick things up in different ways.

 

This conversation reminds me of the latest video of Corey loses his data pad

 

Okay, I’m a few months late to this, but... wow! Sometimes I’ve wondered, with all the planets and locations in both Legends and Canon which keep getting introduced, that the galaxy might run out of space at a certain point. But your numbers really puts things into perspective, thank you!

 

Hey map nerds, I'm finally getting around to updating the interactive version of my galaxy map and wanted to get some second opinions on the changes. Can you take a look and let me know what you think of the new version. How does it look? Is everything working right? Is it easy to read?

There are still a few technical challenges I'm to working on (like switching canon/legends on and off), so please ignore stuff like that, but if there are any tweaks to the map you think would improve it let me know.

I really appreciate the feedback.

https://hbernberg.carto.com/builder/6650a85d-b115-4680-ab97-721bf8a41a90/embed

 

That's pretty awesome. I'd say having sector names show up would be useful (perhaps at a particular zoom level), and perhaps having the Atlas's grid numbering system on the grid overlay. Hyperspace route names, too.

 

Is it possible to get an offline version of this zoomeable map with layers that can be switched on and off? Or is the programming in it not suited for offline/saving?

So far all looks great!

 

Is it possible to get an offline version of this zoomeable map with layers that can be switched on and off? Or is the programming in it not suited for offline/saving?

Not with the interactive aspects (links, dynamic symbolization, etc). PDF supports layers you can turn on and off, but the labeling would have to be static, so it would essentially be the same as the current downloadable version. I've had some requests to bring back the PDF version, so i might do that it's it's not too much work to keep everything updated.

 

Map looks great. Where did you get sector borders for the Inner Rim, Colonies, Core and Deep Core?

 

Thanks! I have a slightly better version I'm working on but I wanted tog et these updates out.

Somebody emailed me this a while back. I don't remember what the original source was, and it sector borders don't agree that well with the other regions, but I figured it was better than nothing.

I was playing with the idea of trying to develop my own boundaries by gathering all the sector information I can for the planets in the Deep Core, Core, Colonies, and Inner Rim and then calculating veroni polygons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voronoi_diagram) based on planets within the same sectors to get sector boundaries that make sense, I just haven't had the time to get all that information into my database.

 

Aha. Thanks. Unless I missed something really big, those borders are unofficial. Obviously I haven't done the work yet, but I'd expect the sectors in those regions to be smaller and more numerous. The Core is gonna be quite the undertaking.

In case you're curious, the way I did the outlying regions was to go through the systems database and put sector names on any grids where we know they have to be, with a list of sector names off to the side for which no placement can be determined. Then I go system by system to figure out where any borders have to be, and fill in the rest with the unassigned sectors and new sector names, borders, etc.

 

This is a personal opinion but I really don't like the larger sectors, they may not look that large on the map but when it comes to the amount of stars that are in them they are gargantuan, humongously large.

 

Based on what I have seen of SW do the numbers of systems per sector not really drop.

 

Oh yeah, almost certainly, but then again, so is my map .

That actually sounds pretty similar to the method I want to use, except you're allowing for gaps in the map you can fill in with things that don't already exist int he databse.

My methodology assumes a couple things:

1. Every system is in my database
2. I have all the systems in their correct locations
3. I have all the sector names for each system that has one.

Then I can group all the systems together based on their known sectors and calculate the polygon borders using the veroni methodology and then backfill sector names onto system that don't already have one assigned. The big disadvantage to this methodology from a graphic standpoint is it center-weights the sectors so planets are grouped in the middle rather than on the edges. One fo the things i try to do when i add new planets to the map based on just the grid or sector name is to place them more "randomly" distributed. Sometimes in the middle, sometimes on the edges, sometimes right next to others or sometimes in the biggest empty area.

 

So, how many sectors are we up to, by now? More than 1,000? And when some names clash, could some be sub-sectors within a known or post Legends sector? Or have alternative names?
(also, probably too soon to fill in some U.Regions sections, despite the Ascendancy reveals about Chiss neighbours...?)

 

Is it even possible to draw a sector map for the core worlds without enlarging the core worlds map beyond page sizes? While I like sector maps and would love to have a complete set for all regions, evolving storytelling always adds more to the point no retcon with oversector and subsector working anymore down the line. Maybe we should leave some mysterious. Cause authors tend to see a new sector map and pick it up for any era they work in not caring that it only depicted sectors in a specific timeline placement. that happened before with other planets only known in the later eras appearing too early and so on.

But I'd love to get a full set of sector maps if it happens any day.

 

Yeah, the snapshot-in-time thing just doesn't work. Dan and I learned that with the Hydian Way -- storytellers kept using it in eras before it was surveyed, and eventually everybody just gave up.

But I disagree on the subsectors/oversectors no longer working. In fact, talks with LFL led to building that ambiguity in as a safeguard -- a new sector can be a subsector, or the overall sector name can change if the capital moves from one subsector to the other, etc. Worked well enough with Lothal etc.

As for the full set of maps, one day. Just don't ask me which day.

 

Can I introduce you to time-enabled data?

I get a lot of emails about maps of territory control, which is another tricky problem because it's constantly shifting. Another one fo my pipe-dream-eventually-when-I-have-time-outside-of-my-real-job plans is to gather up all reference maps for who controlled where when and put that into a unified dataset. Then it's pretty simple to filter it to get that kind of snapshot.

 

It's weird that that's an insoluble problem, though. Like, it can't take that much effort to check "Can I namedrop the Hydian Way? No, it hasn't been surveyed yet."

 

Regarding subsectors, was it intended that each regional sector was entirely broken down into subsectors? Is that still/now the case?

 

Yes, that was the intention -- pp 8-9 of the Atlas breaks it all down. Out of universe, the subsector/sector system combines the original WEG system of 50 systems = 1 sector with the 1,024 sectors we see in the prequels to create the in-universe subsector/regional sector system. With exceptions for individual planets, functional constituencies, etc. to both reflect what had been introduced and to leave slack to accommodate any weird future storytelling situation/mistakes.

Is that still the case? I would assume so, as LFL generally hasn't messed with the so-called infrastructure EU and uses the same map. But I don't particularly remember that being explicitly stated as such.

BTW, a funny thing: When Dan and I were writing the Atlas all of the above filled me with despair because it seemed so goofy and messy. But then I did a little research into how Parliament worked and found no shortage of bizarre examples of representation. So there's a real-world antecedent for the seeming chaos.

 

Well with the brilliant fanworks and Jason still sticking to future map projects, here is hoping to one day have a fully working Galactic Navigator that can show all possible routes from A to B, selectable by fastest, safest, shortest, etc. up to specifications like including/excluding smuggler routes and nonsafe routes etc. I need a full BoSS app with maps, navigator and more.

Until then I print high res maps and play RISK with the sector maps!

Or wait until I am filchy rich and can transform a bus into a Starspeeder 3000 lookalike and offer shooting location tours to fans...

 

Talking of maps...
Slightly off topic
I'm reading Shadow Fall..
Very good book.
All set in one system near the Core..
Ceberon system I think.
Lots of planets and moons near a black hole..
Action is very hard to follow as it jumps from planet to planet. A map of that system would be really useful!
Dont suppose anyone has done one??