Buying a piece of felt shouldn't cost too much.  And if there was a fold up sheet in the set, it would probably folded paper, probably even more than one sheet.  It wouldn't led itself to a very good play surface.

 have just sent an email to hotz artworks asking about the cost to make a playmat for the game and i am awaiting a response

wormiespice said:

They don't tend to rush things, so don't expect an answer too soon

 i got an answer from hotz artworks 

    1 deep space playmat    36x36 inches   = USD 17.00

  postage ( to uk ) ( not sure of cost to usa )  = USD 12.00

                                      total                                    USD 29.00

I'm planning on picking up a 3' x 3' piece of black felt from the local Michael's, and then creating my own star field on it. The plan is to take a toothbrush (unused) and put a little bit of white paint on the tips of the bristles. Then, face the bristles down towards the felt and run my finger over the bristles from top to bottom, creating a mini-splatter of white specks on the black felt. Let it dry, and there ya go!

This looks like a good topic to post my gaming mat project. I've got it documented in a photo gallery at Picasa.

After reading throught the various posts on this topic I tried a number of difference surfaces, tabletop, paper, paper laminated with Con-Tact,  felt and others. On a whim I tried out a yoga mat and found it was far superior to all the other materials I had tried. The ship bases grip when you hold them to attach the template during Activation phase and the ships don't slide around if the table is bumped. The material is also much more durable rolled up than felt. And, as you can see in the photos, it's paintable.

The problem, however, is finding a mat that is 36" wide. I really only found 1 viable option during my search as the standard size for yoga mats is 24". Here is the link at Amazon for reference.

Had a lot of fun putting it together. Hope this info helps.

Cheers,

there is a company called gale force 9 that supply 3 foot square game mats.

I simply took a piece of black laminate adhered to a piece of MDF. Stand it up against a wall.  I mixed some colors on a paper plate, grabbed an old toothbrush.  Dip the bristles in the paint, then repeatedly run your thumb or fingers back across the bristles and it creates a perfect star pattern especially if you change the distance you are from the board.  This works on a black painted surface too.  I used purple, orange, white, silver, two different blues and a green.  Took about 30-45 minutes, then spray it down with a clear coat.  Hopefully the pic will show up, it's linked through my facebook.  Sorry about the glare.

Just got my play matt and I love it, I got a 3x3 Gale force matt.Love this game can't wait for the upgrades.