So lets start over.

My opinion is we need a digital version from the galaxy map in the CRB there is no way around it.

I would like to see that. I don't know if I classify it as a "need" but it would definitely be a usefuland nice thing to have.

I'd third that.

While I have a map, that's good, its not as pretty.

Although, mine is orientated differently, so I might find myself getting lost a lot.

https://i.warosu.org/data/tg/img/0386/67/1426231576180.png

Thats the one I use. I have it printed in A3 (And its nice and clear and very readable), in an A3 perxpex cover, so I can draw on it and wipe clean.

What I would love is a high def. interractive map where I can enter the name of a system and the program finds it for me, or at least gives me coordinates. With known info on planets / systems, and all. If the program could calculate hyperspace route and time between X and Y, taking hyperdrive class in account, that would be great too. Throw in some randomizer for failed astrogation while we're at it. And since one can dream, add a random celestial phenomenon / hazard on top.

An app for i-pad with all of that would be best, now that I think of it. Basically, I'd like an app that imitates a Star Wars ship's nav computer...

What I would love is a high def. interractive map where I can enter the name of a system and the program finds it for me, or at least gives me coordinates. With known info on planets / systems, and all. If the program could calculate hyperspace route and time between X and Y, taking hyperdrive class in account, that would be great too. Throw in some randomizer for failed astrogation while we're at it. And since one can dream, add a random celestial phenomenon / hazard on top.

An app for i-pad with all of that would be best, now that I think of it. Basically, I'd like an app that imitates a Star Wars ship's nav computer...

Got $10,000?

I think the CRB map is very pretty and I would enjoy having a poster but I don't think it's particularly useful when gaming. I prefer a digital map where I can click on the planets to get more information (yes I've been spoiled by modern map software). A few of them were posted on the previous thread and the one I personally contributed was http://starwarsatlas.uw.hu/map/layer/wookiee.htm .

If you want to purchase a nice hard-copy map your best bet is probably the Star Wars: Essential Atlas .

Finally I'd suggest that there are also dozens or maybe hundreds of lovely maps just on Google Image search, and most Star wars galaxy maps share a universal grid reference system, including the FFG maps (albeit turned 90 degrees) so they all work interchangeably, so until you get your wish you could print out and laminate one of those.

Why do we need the one from the CRBs? There are many fine ones to choose from here.

I guess an app would be nice though, but they have a license to make the games, that does not let them do PDFs I think.

Is it a board game license or something? I think I read that somewhere, but not sure.

Because the FFG map is Preeeeetty!

(Really, im good with the one I have, but Its a nice map, so why not?).

I THINK their Licence does not inlcude "Digital Games" and a PDF would fall (oddly) into that category.

But as someones mentioned... how does that not apply to the Beginner game expansions?

I think Licencing details are incredibly complicated, incredibly fiddly, and probably using very old views on things back when "Online and Digital content" was not something you GOT in RPGs. (Think back to the 80s and 90s, when you just bought the book, and that was it).

Because the FFG map is Preeeeetty!

(Really, im good with the one I have, but Its a nice map, so why not?).

I THINK their Licence does not inlcude "Digital Games" and a PDF would fall (oddly) into that category.

But as someones mentioned... how does that not apply to the Beginner game expansions?

I think Licencing details are incredibly complicated, incredibly fiddly, and probably using very old views on things back when "Online and Digital content" was not something you GOT in RPGs. (Think back to the 80s and 90s, when you just bought the book, and that was it).

Maybe it was the Beginner Boxes that came under the boardgame penumbra and therefore had different rules for digital content than the books that counted purely as RPGs.

I`m really just speculating here, I have no idea. What about the Dice App though?

I THINK their Licence does not inlcude "Digital Games" and a PDF would fall (oddly) into that category.

But as someones mentioned... how does that not apply to the Beginner game expansions?

I think the issue is whether the PDF is being sold or not. If it’s being given away freely, then it’s not a violation of the contract. Of course, FFG can’t afford to give everything away for free.

As for the iPhone dice roller app, I think that’s probably considered to be a game aid and not a game per se, and therefore also is not a violation.

But I’m just guessing. I don’t work for FFG or Disney/Lucasfilm, and I don’t know the specifics of the contract that was negotiated.

Very valid point bradknowles.

However, if the map was made freely available, it surely would come under the same umbrella?

The DiceApp.... is certainly a game aid... its useless for anything unless you own the RPG or Xwing/Armada(?)

Because the FFG map is Preeeeetty!

(Really, im good with the one I have, but Its a nice map, so why not?).

I THINK their Licence does not inlcude "Digital Games" and a PDF would fall (oddly) into that category.

But as someones mentioned... how does that not apply to the Beginner game expansions?

I think Licencing details are incredibly complicated, incredibly fiddly, and probably using very old views on things back when "Online and Digital content" was not something you GOT in RPGs. (Think back to the 80s and 90s, when you just bought the book, and that was it).

No the map would not fall in that category as it iss a game aid along the lines of the dice app.

However, if the map was made freely available, it surely would come under the same umbrella?

I would think so.

However, I would also have some more practical questions. Like, how does FFG produce and release such a map? They have released small maps with some beginner boxed sets, but so far as I know they have never released a large map and they have never released a map that is separate from any other part of the game.

Also, when talking about releasing a map as a freely downloadable PDF, how do you design that so that it can be printed in multiple panels on standard 8.5”x11” or A4 paper, as well as also being able to be printed on larger size devices? Do you release multiple files that are tuned and tweaked for display/printing at different sizes — and resolutions? If so, then how many different multiple files do you release?

I can easily see this project turning into an entire mapbook.

And a mapbook by any other name is an Atlas.

Oh, and they already have an Atlas in this Universe, so maybe there’s licensing problems there?

Dunno. About all I can tell you is that no one who is going to post in this thread is likely to have any real answers they can give you.

The only people who could give you real answers all work for FFG, and they’re only likely to hear about this question if someone contacts them via their official channel.

Even then, their hands (and mouths) are likely to be tied behind their backs on this matter.

I THINK their Licence does not inlcude "Digital Games" and a PDF would fall (oddly) into that category.

But as someones mentioned... how does that not apply to the Beginner game expansions?

I think the issue is whether the PDF is being sold or not. If it’s being given away freely, then it’s not a violation of the contract. Of course, FFG can’t afford to give everything away for free.

As for the iPhone dice roller app, I think that’s probably considered to be a game aid and not a game per se, and therefore also is not a violation.

But I’m just guessing. I don’t work for FFG or Disney/Lucasfilm, and I don’t know the specifics of the contract that was negotiated.

I don`t want them to give anything away for free. I want to spend my money to support the rpg hobby and the products I like so they can survive and thrive.

I want to be able to buy PDFs, not get them for free. The map could be sold in PDF form, that is fine by me. Expecting them to give stuff away for free is unreasenable, but it is a very fine and generous gesture that they choose to give away anything at all, as they do with some PDFs, like free adventures and premade characters.

So yea, guess they are allowed to give out PDFs, but not to sell them. That makes a lot of sense. Still, I want to throw my money at these guys, and I have too many books already!

I love my books and all, but I might be responsible for killing a lot of rainforest by now...

We want the map in English btw!

We want the map in English btw!

I would be surprised if anyone thought otherwise.

However, if the map was made freely available, it surely would come under the same umbrella?

I would think so.

However, I would also have some more practical questions. Like, how does FFG produce and release such a map? They have released small maps with some beginner boxed sets, but so far as I know they have never released a large map and they have never released a map that is separate from any other part of the game.

Also, when talking about releasing a map as a freely downloadable PDF, how do you design that so that it can be printed in multiple panels on standard 8.5”x11” or A4 paper, as well as also being able to be printed on larger size devices? Do you release multiple files that are tuned and tweaked for display/printing at different sizes — and resolutions? If so, then how many different multiple files do you release?

I can easily see this project turning into an entire mapbook.

And a mapbook by any other name is an Atlas.

Oh, and they already have an Atlas in this Universe, so maybe there’s licensing problems there?

Dunno. About all I can tell you is that no one who is going to post in this thread is likely to have any real answers they can give you.

The only people who could give you real answers all work for FFG, and they’re only likely to hear about this question if someone contacts them via their official channel.

Even then, their hands (and mouths) are likely to be tied behind their backs on this matter.

They already made the map and we have already paid for it. I would like that map made available as a PDF so I can get it printed larger and laminated. Which I can already accomplish. But it requires work on my part to scan or locate a scan.

The DiceApp.... is certainly a game aid... its useless for anything unless you own the RPG or Xwing/Armada(?)

It has regular dice on it too, so could be used for any game that uses polyhedral dice, in addition to the Star Wars RPG/X-wing/Armada specific dice.

And yes a galaxy map would be nice.

Interactive map versions-
http://www.swcombine.com/rules/?Galaxy_Map
http://www.swgalaxymap.com/

Or maybe FFG could produce a poster from the map I would pay for it.

It would be a bit time-consuming, but a lot of this could probably be done in Fractal Mapper (the program I use for a lot of my RPG mapping). Use one of the many galaxy maps available (Google image search turns up plenty to choose from), drop that into Fractal Mapper, from there you can use a distance tool along hyperspace routes, tag each planet with information, etc. I may give this a try.

It would be a bit time-consuming, but a lot of this could probably be done in Fractal Mapper (the program I use for a lot of my RPG mapping). Use one of the many galaxy maps available (Google image search turns up plenty to choose from), drop that into Fractal Mapper, from there you can use a distance tool along hyperspace routes, tag each planet with information, etc. I may give this a try.

I like the idea of using something like Fractal Mapper to extract the data from a lower resolution image-based map, and then being able to turn that into a much higher resolution map.

However, Hyperspace isn’t normal space, and the distances between two points aren’t the only factors for travel time between them.

So, I’m not at all convinced that it would be useful to try to use the resulting map to generate Hyperspace map routes & distances.

Thanks for the information! I’ll definitely be interested to learn more about Fractal Mapper!

It would be a bit time-consuming, but a lot of this could probably be done in Fractal Mapper (the program I use for a lot of my RPG mapping). Use one of the many galaxy maps available (Google image search turns up plenty to choose from), drop that into Fractal Mapper, from there you can use a distance tool along hyperspace routes, tag each planet with information, etc. I may give this a try.

I like the idea of using something like Fractal Mapper to extract the data from a lower resolution image-based map, and then being able to turn that into a much higher resolution map.

However, Hyperspace isn’t normal space, and the distances between two points aren’t the only factors for travel time between them.

So, I’m not at all convinced that it would be useful to try to use the resulting map to generate Hyperspace map routes & distances.

Thanks for the information! I’ll definitely be interested to learn more about Fractal Mapper!

I don't think you're ever going to get a 100% accurate tool. However, for travel among known hyperspace lanes, I think distance, hyperdrive class, and astrogation check modifiers are the best you'll be able to do.

There is also this tool but the travel times seem very slow. http://d6holocron.com/astrogation/traveltime.php?System1=coruscant&System2=alderaan&Submit2=Enter&mult=.5

I don't think you're ever going to get a 100% accurate tool. However, for travel among known hyperspace lanes, I think distance, hyperdrive class, and astrogation check modifiers are the best you'll be able to do.

There is also this tool but the travel times seem very slow. http://d6holocron.com/astrogation/traveltime.php?System1=coruscant&System2=alderaan&Submit2=Enter&mult=.5

I would want something that comes closest to the numbers that FFG has come up with, so that we would be more likely to have good internal consistency.

Beyond that, I’d say that everything is gravy!

It would be a bit time-consuming, but a lot of this could probably be done in Fractal Mapper (the program I use for a lot of my RPG mapping). Use one of the many galaxy maps available (Google image search turns up plenty to choose from), drop that into Fractal Mapper, from there you can use a distance tool along hyperspace routes, tag each planet with information, etc. I may give this a try.

(...) Hyperspace isn’t normal space, and the distances between two points aren’t the only factors for travel time between them. So, I’m not at all convinced that it would be useful to try to use the resulting map to generate Hyperspace map routes & distances.

No, but other factors such as known "difficult terrain" and hyperlanes routes (randomness included) could easily be considered by the program.

The book gives us some guidelines already. All the program has to do is find the planets/systems, figure how far they are in relation to sectors/regions/etc, factor in hyperlanes and tricky space, some randomization on the hyperspace travel time. A chance of "hazard" per sector would not be hard to implement. I'm actually considering making an Excel spreadsheet out of it.