Vintage Star System generator
Came across some vintage maps of our solar system and thought it'd be cool to create a generator for such maps.
Vintage Star System Generator © 2022 by Arkimedz is licensed under Attribution 4.0 International 
How to use:
- Click on the tool to generate a new version
- Names of the star, planets, constellation and comets are dynamically updated across the map
- More features coming soon...
Development log
- Custom star name now possible!Jun 01, 2023
- Planets have white moon-like crescents nowMar 05, 2022
- Text Justification - Map looks much better now!Mar 04, 2022
- Random comet names and asteroid dataMar 01, 2022
- Dynamic star and planet names across the mapFeb 26, 2022
- Added dynamic star namesFeb 25, 2022
- Star System GeneratorFeb 24, 2022
Comments
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Ooh, this is really cool. Honestly, I'd prefer if this wasn't a random generator at all and you could just create custom star systems from scratch.
Thank, yeah I've thought about it and have a draft in the works where you can set a custom star name and planet names. I hope to finish that feature soon.
I realized that I did push the change to add a custom star name (gear icon top left). More features coming soon.
Oh, I'd love to see more customization for this, it looks incredible!
This looks incredibly cool.
@Arkimedz can you link this to the star info on https://travellermap.com and corresponding system info on https://travellerworlds.com/ that way can be used in Traveller RPG games TO GENERATE systems in Traveller
Just seconding what's been said, this is amazingly done and beautiful, but the lack of customizability for the names is a sadly a deal-breaker in the only use-case I'd actually have for it outside of a curiosity - TTRPGs.
this is awesome. i wish it had more customization so it could be more effectively used for TTRPGs. the visual of these are perfect. i have a couple of feature requests but some are pie in the sky wishes, you'll know whats doable and whats not.
What a great idea! Wonderful work, thank you for creating this generator.
Is the source code published somewhere? It’d be great for other to learn from your work. In fact I’d probably pay for this tool if it were open source!
The worn paper background is really nice.
Thank you for making this available!
(Honestly I'm just browsing so my opinion doesn't count for much, but is it possible to make the randomness of the 'worn paper' look plugged into to some random noise generator that gives the same look? I'm thinking of something like perlin noise (or some such) which also takes seed number. That way, star charts could be displayed next to eachother without looking like printing on worn paper that looks like clones because of the exact same paper look. A BIG ask, I know!)
Thanks for the comment and your interest in this. Initially I had started with trying out Perlin noise to generate the background. But the main reason I removed it was that it was taking a performance hit and too long to generate a background that looked reasonably well. To make it look realistic, I was having to do several passes of perlin noise with different frequencies. There might be faster ways to achieve the same thing and that's something I could try in the future. If you know about such approaches - would love to learn about them!
I've made a quick mockup in GIMP of a couple of paper samples. Would this kinds of thing be to your quality standards? (artefacts on the image such as corner stains and rust marks really help make it pop, but I'm starting simple first).
If this is indeed the kind of thing you'd find acceptable, I could look into writing up a Script-Fu automated process. I haven't written Script-Fu before, but I might be able to eventually get something working.
My trick is using perlin noise on a transparent layers and with layers shifted with translucent pixels, shifting the hue and opacity of each layer.
Above uses Perlin noise from the website: http://kitfox.com/projects/perlinNoiseMaker/
The above uses Perlin noise generated natively in GIMP
Very cool, but it's worth pointing out the CC BY-ND 4.0 license prohibits derivative works - "feel free to use it in your games/art with attribution" is problematic, since adding or modifying even the smallest thing (even adding a border) and then posting on a website is violating the terms of use, even when attribution is given.
Thanks for the feedback. I have updated it to the Attribution 4.0 International license.
This is great but an edit button would be great too! hope its not dead!
Thanks for your feedback! I've begun implementing customization features, starting with the star's name. Please let me know how it works for you.
is there a way to make a version of this that is editable and not just random generation that would be really good for something im wokring on
Acknowledging your suggestions, I've initiated the first of many personalization features: the ability to tailor the star's name
I didn't know I was missing it until I found it. Awesome!
Loving the way all this looks, really something I haven't seen before and it's great. Have you put any thought into making any part of this customizeable? Number of planets, name changes, maybe changing the number of comets (or whether there's a comet in the first place)?
I love the aesthetic, but it'd be even better if there was a degree of customization as well: Renaming the objects, perhaps even being able to add or remove planets?
Also, for some reason all the comet orbits seem to look the same.
Other than that, it's a very nice generator and I look forward to seeing the new features as they're implemented.
Thanks for the feedback!👍Implemented star's name customization. Let me know how it works for you!😊
Very cool. Any chance of being able to rename the sector and planets?
Customizing the Star's name is now possible!
This is really nice.
I notice that the number of planets in the flavour text is much bigger than shown on the map and table though.
Generally, really like this generator :)
However, there always is a single comet, not 2, 3, or none - and it always comes in from the left.
Tried both Edge and chrome, getting just a 'Loading Screen'
Sorry about that .. thanks for reporting . But I just tried Chrome, Safari and Firefox and it's working on them. What Chrome version are you on?
Version 99.0.4844.51 (Official Build) (64-bit)
I may not have all of java set up, I am on windows 11.
wow this generator is awesome! thanks!
You should also incorporate Nasa's Exoplanet Catalog to create vintage maps of actual known solar systems: https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/discovery/exoplanet-catalog/
This is awesome! Is there any way I could link this externally? as in have it run and display outside of itch?
Glad you liked it.
About sharing externally: Not at the moment sorry.
I do plan to publish this as a standalone app with the option of adding the seed in the URL so you can either use the main URL for a randomly generated map, or use a URL with seed so it'll always return the map specific to that seed.
It's in my TODO list and will ping you once I publish a standalone app
Also, I'm curious... what's your use case of sharing it externally outside of Itch? Users don't have to be logged into Itch to see the map
Will help me prioritize my TODO list :-)
Ah I am working on a virtual tabletop with a bunch of built in tools especially for solo and gm-less games. Thought it would be a great add on if possible. Looking forward to how this develops and will be following closely.
This is pretty badass.
Thanks