I thought I'd put this up in case anyone else was looking for a playing surface. The hubble image gallery is a great source of high resolution images of the universe, and I thought they might look pretty cool as a gaming mat, so I had a 3'x3' and a 6'x3' mat printed up. Pretty happy with how they came out considering the price, though the print quality isn't so good on the 6x3.

3'x3' - The 'Mystic Mountain' - a 3 light-year tall column of gas and dust in the Carina Nebula:

6'x3' - Galaxy M106

Very nice indeed

I'd like to have the Pillars of Creation.....

Nice!

Is it just a large photo or is there a texture to stop the ships from being accidentally move?

I've been thinking of doing this also... I have access to research grade telescopes through my degree and thought it would be cool to have my own images on the table...

But I'm a little unsure on how picky I should be with my actual science knowledge vs how cool it looks :-/

I'm a little unsure on how picky I should be with my actual science knowledge vs how cool it looks :-/

Since this is science fiction go with how cool it looks

The pillars of creation are also stunning - they are a similar type of object to the mystic mountain - basically stellar nurseries where stars are born. The fabric has a slight weave to it, so the ships don't slide around much. The ink seems 'grippy' too. The 6'x3' isn't the best - the print quality looks a little grainy close up, but the 3'x3' I'm REALLY happy with.

What's it printed on and where did you get it done? You're a Brit right?

wow. best playmats iv seen! my playgroup has a grphic artist that does something similar. we have a surface of the deathstar one that has the trench complete with turrets stationed along the trench and its really cool - far better than the standrd one in stores

I'm up in Scotland. I used this company:

http://www.vinylbannersprinting.co.uk

They are a vinyl fabric. Heavy duty, and water resistant. You have to specify no hems or eyelets - they are usually for banner printing.

Bomber, I toyed with the idea of a death star one! I may get one done yet.

6'x3' - Galaxy M106

Wow... I really like the way the ships look on that mat...

I'm not really a huge fan of most mats, (heck, I use some cheap fabric from Walmart) but I really like the contrast between ships and "nebula" here.

Yeah, I was pretty uninspired by most of the 'star field' mats out there. I was using a piece of black felt that i'd flecked white paint onto, but the creases were beginning to annoy me. I regularly drool over the hubble gallery, and realised the universe is pretty stunning sometimes, so tried out a couple. The trouble is, there are so many stunning hubble images, I can see myself ordering a whole bunch more!

double sided mats?

The other side has a more textured weave to it. Not sure if they can print on it, but it wouldn't look great if they could. I'll just have to have multiples.

Deep-space mats weird me out a bit.

What are starfighters doing above the galactic plane? Not much in the way of resources to contest...

I dunno. Lots of things could be hidden in deep space from prying eyes.