A few notes from one Traveller player to many

[DaltonCalford]

But, given the X-Y-Z coordinates of every system, a simple program could generate a table of distances, once calculated, it wouldn't need to be regenerated...

In that case, you would not need the map, as the coordinates and stats would give you all the information you need.

Maps are designed as a symbolic way to convey information for those who are visually orientated.

You can give someone directions by describing a series distances and turns, others require land mark descriptions or street names. Others still prefer to see a graphical representation of the route. Some maps are specific, while other maps are general information.

Overall, a map is designed to cater to those that need it.

When I approached my system, I was considering it from a trader or military point of view.

The only thing that matters for those individuals is how to get from A to B as fast and as economically as possible. They would rather take three weeks jumping to get to a destination than spend 40 years in normal space to travel the direct route.

About the only time that real space coordinates are needed is when you are running a space campaign that allows for direct travel - star trek comes to mind.

As long as you have some limit as to the distance you can go feasibly, then you can substitute a x,y,z system with a subway map or 2.5D style route map.

Some people have expressed interest in this project, should I start a new thread going into the same sort of detail that EDG did with regards to his system?

 

[EDG]

Some people have expressed interest in this project, should I start a new thread going into the same sort of detail that EDG did with regards to his system?

I wouldn't mind seeing a detailed thread, but if you include everything out to 10,000ly then you'll be here forever. I hate to say it, but I'm afraid the only really useful part of that data is the part within 6 pc of Sol (ie the RECONS data), because most of the stars that exist within that volume have been catalogued - most of the stars that exist beyond that distance haven't been catalogued or observed because they're too dim to be detected. So if you extend the map much beyond about 30-50 lightyears it rapidly drops off in accuracy.

The only thing a bigger map is really useful for is to point out the relative positions of the brightest stars in Sol's sky (e.g. Betelgeuse, Deneb, Antares, etc). I was going to do a bigger scale map for my own mapping project showing those stars (and other objects like star clusters and nebulae) but never got round to it.

 

[DaltonCalford]

Some people have expressed interest in this project, should I start a new thread going into the same sort of detail that EDG did with regards to his system?

I wouldn't mind seeing a detailed thread, but if you include everything out to 10,000ly then you'll be here forever. I hate to say it, but I'm afraid the only really useful part of that data is the part within 6 pc of Sol (ie the RECONS data), because most of the stars that exist within that volume have been catalogued - most of the stars that exist beyond that distance haven't been catalogued or observed because they're too dim to be detected. So if you extend the map much beyond about 30-50 lightyears it rapidly drops off in accuracy.

The only thing a bigger map is really useful for is to point out the relative positions of the brightest stars in Sol's sky (e.g. Betelgeuse, Deneb, Antares, etc). I was going to do a bigger scale map for my own mapping project showing those stars (and other objects like star clusters and nebulae) but never got round to it.

I would use the latest data - local 50pc radius, as I do not feel like redoing all the work I did for my original project.

I would start from scratch and do a step by step howto, but I would never post the whole dataset, just example results and let others do what they want with the info.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

That sounds cool to me! 8)

 

[DaltonCalford]

That sounds cool to me! 8)

Well, I would like at least one Mongoose forum admin to tell me it is ok, since this is very offtopic for the playtest but is very on topic for anyone wanting to use real world data/stars in their game.

 

[Mongoose Gar]

This isn't just the playtest forum, it's for all Traveller topics.

 

[DaltonCalford]

This isn't just the playtest forum, it's for all Traveller topics.

Well, with that vote of confidence, I will start a new thread called "Real Universe Traveller"

Who knows, this may get used in one of Mongooses projects

 

[EDG]

Who knows, this may get used in one of Mongooses projects

Well, they are releasing the rules under OGL, presumably other people will be able to add to that if they want...