How would I go about hand drawing an entire planet? (Want to map NMS planet!)

[Bakesauce]

So, I want to map the entire planet I spawn on in No Mans Sky. If you have never heard of this game, basically I will be on a planet that has ~~~ 43km squared of playing area. It could be a planet like mars where there are no oceans and it is just sand, or I could spawn on a planet like earth that has continents and stuff. I have never done anything like this before but I really only need help on where to start. Aka, what kind of paper should I use and how would I layout an entire planet on paper? After that, I can struggle through the process of actually drawing it, I think.

Thanks!

[Josiah VE]

Hey! Welcome to the guild!

I don't know what style you'd like it in but here's a planet map done for a challenge a while ago by one of the great artists (J.Edward) here. https://www.cartographersguild.com/a...6&d=1457645632 It's done digitally. Hope you find what you're looking for!

P.S. Just looked No Man's Sky up and it looks really cool.

[Azélor]

Start by deciding what map projection you want to use. If you just want to represent the planet as it is seen at a distance, go with the example given by Joshia. The orthographic projection looks good but it's not really practical. As you move away from the centre, the elements become hard to identify.

Otherwise, I don't know. You should try to use a projection according to what you plan to do with the map. Most people usually pick an equirectangular projection if they have no idea. It does the job. You can re-project it in almost any other projection later.