This map was made as a commission for the novel Lycaon by author Wes Parker. Here’s the blurb:
Harvey Howlett, Astronaut and Robotics Technician is nearing the end of his six-month rotation on the surface of the moon. What started as a dream mission quickly turned into a nightmare when Harvey finds a woman from a neighboring base covered in blood and wandering the lunar surface. The woman's appearance raises a few questions that are quickly answered when Harvey and his team come face to face with a horrible monstrosity... WEREWOLVES...IN SPACE...
I love drawing science fiction themed maps, and especially retro-futuristic, pulp or horror sci-fi. Illustrating this map was a lot of fun, and I’m really quite pleased with the outcome.
The hardest thing with moonscape maps it that the “palette” is kind of limited to rocks and craters. This goes for any barren landscape map, really. Such maps can easily get a bit monotonous and uninspiring. However, for this map I got the opportunity to play around a bit with the different space stations as points of interest. By not doing them to scale, but rather as map symbols/illustrations, I could add some simple architectural features. I also chose to add curvature and a starry sky to the top of the map. This brings contrast and frames the map quite nicely. These are just a couple of tips and tricks on how to make a barren map more interesting and aesthetically pleasing to look at.
Lycaon is published on 20th of October 2021, just in time for Halloween. You can pre-order it for Amazon Kindle now.
More science fiction maps
I’ve done quite a lot of sci-fi maps, expecially for my Termination Shock setting. Here are a few samples:
