As Above So Below - Yet another Traveller System Generator

[Spinward Flow]

OK thank you. I will give this a shot. Working on v0.10.0 right now but this might be ready for a later v0.10 release next week.

No rush ...

 

[kilemall]

So I understand, more than just auto-mapping a rout for Ni to In but by actual industry?

You know, the Trade Remarks section is totally free form. There is nothing stopping a referee making up a new code for a type of industry. Let me know how you think this might work.

I haven’t really tried to use this. Seems like it needs a seed subsector to start.

Custom routes with their own colors and remarks should suffice.

 

[Bartleby]

I haven’t really tried to use this. Seems like it needs a seed subsector to start.

Custom routes with their own colors and remarks should suffice.

Yes, you need something generated to try the routes.

But if custom colors and remarks works for you then we are good. Let me know if you need any help getting it started.

 

[Bartleby]

A fully updated and custom route system is now complete. Routes and borders are the focus of the v0.10 series releases and I dropped the first release this morning with a brand new fully customizable route system.



I uploaded a video walking through it:

Of course you use the program yourself for free here:

As Above So Below

 

[starship_captain62]

With the dozens of Traveller generators that have been created over the years (including my own) I never found one that had the perfect combination of what I wanted.

I wanted parts of Galactic, parts of Heaven and Earth, parts of @Hemdian's wonderful Universe (this was my favorite). I think the reason people who code keep coding these things despite how many there are is because we want something very specific to our needs at the time.

I have a new one, I call As Above So Below. It is in Alpha and has mistakes so if you try it please note it is not fully tested.

This is was my goal:
1) Web driven - no installs
2) Be able to click a point on a blank subsector and create one system at a time if I want
3) Make the system fully editable or allow me to even enter my own systems
4) Allow me to make a full sector at once
5) Allow me to choose between Book 6, MgT2e, and T5
6) Allow me to mix and match these systems if I want
7) Allow me to upload an OTU sector or my custom sector of Mainworld stats and build out the system using MgT2e, Book 6 or T5 full system calcs
8) Allow me to Export my sector and load it into Travellermap for all the cool things it does

I have an early version released that, while it does all these things above without crashing, it is in the process of extensive testing and likely still has a ton of inaccuracies.

If you want to try it (at your own risk):

Link Here

Full github here for those who want to see the code:
https://github.com/bartlebythecoder/traveller_magnus

Hi there,

Thanks for sharing this with us. I remeber back in the 80's dabbling with this in BASIC. I guess this is a bit of a rite of passage.

I'e just looked at thin on my phone. It seems to be hard to make any sense of it on a phone. Is this just going to eork on a desktop or will it also work on a phone?

The concept looks leally good. I'm looking forward to seeing what you can comebup with.

 

[Bartleby]

Hi there,

Thanks for sharing this with us. I remeber back in the 80's dabbling with this in BASIC. I guess this is a bit of a rite of passage.

I'e just looked at thin on my phone. It seems to be hard to make any sense of it on a phone. Is this just going to eork on a desktop or will it also work on a phone?

The concept looks leally good. I'm looking forward to seeing what you can comebup with.

I too played with these in BASIC in the 80s. One of the JTAS even has the code for a Sector Builder, all you had to do was sit down and type it all up.

Alas this will not work on a phone, you need some sort of desktop.

 

[OjnoTheRed]

That's a beautiful user interface. I am loving the design.

 

[Bartleby]

That's a beautiful user interface. I am loving the design.

Thank you. If you have any suggestions for future updates you can post them here.

 

[KingCairo]

Hello! Just found this absolutely superb generator. I have a question, though. What does 'Min lx' mean in the XBoat Route generator?

Also, just to confirm, Trade Route generation is not yet implemented?

 

[KingCairo]

Also, I'm confused as to what Max Range actually dictates with this map. Changing it often doesn't alter the routes, and then other times it drastically alters them.

 

[Bartleby]

Hello! Just found this absolutely superb generator. I have a question, though. What does 'Min lx' mean in the XBoat Route generator?

Also, just to confirm, Trade Route generation is not yet implemented?

Hey King Cairo.

Thanks for the question and sorry about the lack of help files. They are coming soon.

For the Xboat automatic generator it is going to "link" hub worlds together to make the Xboat routes. The hubs are defined by the Ix (importance) values of each system. These numbers are part of Mongoose and T5 natively. They are calculated in a quick and dirty format for CT or RTT.

The higher this number, the few the hubs, the more disconnected your xboat routes are. The lower the number, the more hubs, the more routes.

 

[Bartleby]

Also, I'm confused as to what Max Range actually dictates with this map. Changing it often doesn't alter the routes, and then other times it drastically alters them.

Most importantly - the system was designed so you don't have to care about these. These are just dials you can change to make the type of route system that "feels right" for your universe. Ideally they work in the background like magic.

But crazy people we are we like to know how it works and what it does so we can change it as we see fit.

When you generate any network routing system the focus is on making paths between hubs. The Max Range is the farthest distance two hubs care about each other. If you keep the number small, say 8 hexes, and you have a hub system more than 8 away from any other hub, it will not be connected to the route. If there range is large then more hubs will see each other and want to be connected, so xboat routes will be built between them.

I hope that helps. Feel free to ask any other questions here.

And yes, the BTN GURPS Far Trader network system is in development being tested right now. It should be available in a few days.


EDIT - Oh and one more thing. You do not HAVE to use automate. You can draw them manually by holding down the number of whatever route you want to edit/create and drag out the route.

 

[Bartleby]

OK this week's update has been promoted. v0.10.0.3. This series of updates is all about routes and borders (and bug fixes as always!). Routes finish (mostly) this week and borders in the next release next week.

Here is a list of this week's improvements:
1. **Routes:** Reintroduced increased jump range limit from 6 to 20 (noted by Terry Mixon at Mongoose Forums)
3. **Mongoose Engine:** Rewrote HZCO deviation formula to use a continuous linear scale (sub-1 orbits scaled ×10) giving physically correct temperature classifications for inner-system worlds (thanks to Dodo98 at Mongoose Forums)
4. **Routes:** Implemented BTN Trade Route generation (GURPS Far Trader inspired) — computes Basic Trade Number for all world pairs within range, draws routes for pairs meeting Min/Max BTN thresholds, promotes partial-success pairs whose BFS paths share a segment, and enforces no-shared-segment priority between competing BTN route slots (this was for me!)
5. **Routes:** Xboat, Network, and BTN route generators now avoid Red travel zones and X starport worlds as intermediate routing hops (endpoints may still be Red)
6. **Routes:** Added Import Metadata (.xml) and Export Metadata (.xml) buttons for TravellerMap-format sector XML files (requested by mavikfelna at Mongoose Forums)
7. **Export:** Fixed Ix, Ex, and Cx not being populated when exporting a Mongoose-generated sector.
8. **Routes:** Added "Allow Empty Hexes" option to Custom Network and Point-to-Point route generators (requested by our own @Spinward Flow. )
9. **All Engines:** Added freeform **Cluster** field to all systems — displayed in the world info panel below Allegiance, editable inline (up to 10 characters), bulk-assignable via right-click context menu, and filterable in the Filter Control window using the same prefix-match OR logic as Allegiance; persists in JSON saves (requested by @Spinward Flow)

I also have a help file for routes:

traveller_magnus/help_routes.md at main · bartlebythecoder/traveller_magnus

Proof of Concept for a new Traveller Map Generation Application - bartlebythecoder/traveller_magnus

github.com

As always the app is free to use and here:

As Above So Below

 

[Bartleby]

Hi All,

A new version was uploaded this morning (v0.10.1.3).

Special thanks to @Spinward Flow for his continuing support and feedback.

Updates include:

1. Routes: Raised Max Empty Jumps cap for Point-to-Point routes from 3 to 10; Custom Network remains capped at 3 (@spinward_flow)
2. Borders: New Border functionality including Border Window, import borders from metadatafiles or add them manually via right-click context menu. (@Terry Mixon Mongoose Forums)
3. Region: Region Data import from TravellerMap metadata XML — parses <Regions> polygon boundaries using the same flood-fill algorithm as borders, assigns region names to each hex's Region (cluster) field, and automatically creates a background-highlight filter rule using the region's defined color (@mavikfelna Mongoose Forums)
4. Mongoose Engine: Fixed missing HZCO deviation log entry for temperate (habitable-zone) planets — deviation and table selection are now recorded in the generation log for every planet regardless of temperature band (@Dodo98 Mongoose Forums)
5. Mongoose Engine: Updated temperature band calculation to match chart on Page 47 (@Dodo98 Mongoose Forums)
6. Mongoose Engine: Updated atmosphere gas mix for exotic atmospheres to limit gases to reasonable amount (@Dodo98 Mongoose Forums)

Executive Summary of changes:
Borders and Regions can be created, deleted or modified in the program. Even borders and regions imported from the OTU can be adjusted.

A note on this version and the Imperium:
I thought I nailed exactly how Travellermap handles borders, but after hammering what i thought was every single loose floorboard, I still found some edge cases in final testing. Some examples include the New Slavic Solidarity and Reformed Dootchen Estates in the Solomani Sphere. Each have some inaccuracies. I decided to let this release go instead of holding the entire thing up for OTU edge cases. Of course these can be corrected in a few seconds by the user as that is the entire point of the program. I don't really know how much time to spend on these going forward (especially as they can be fixed easily). As always feedback is appreciated.

 

[Bartleby]

Here is a video walking through the new features:

 

[Spinward Flow]

As always feedback is appreciated.

Purely a matter of aesthetics, but ...
Even at the enormous scale of the 7x5 sectors shown in that image, the ... colorfulness ... of the stars and borders draws the eye towards a variety of regions of interest. Yes, the color palette is limited in the image shown, but even then, you can still get a sense of "regional-ness" with the inclusion of the border bounding colors.

Is there a programming stability reason for choosing a 7x5 sectors (32*7=224 parsecs spinward/trailing, 40*5=200 parsecs coreward/rimward)?

If you wanted to make a "more square" shape that is closer to an equal number of parsecs in the horizontal + vertical, I'm thinking you'd want to move to a 6x5 sectors format (32*6=192 parsecs spinward/trailing, 40*5=200 parsecs coreward/rimward). Not a "perfect" square, but certainly "close enough" when trying to display everything all at once at that scale. Unfortunately, the Third Imperium "doesn't fit nicely" within a map span of (only) 6x5 parsecs.

 

[Bartleby]

Is there a programming stability reason for choosing a 7x5 sectors (32*7=224 parsecs spinward/trailing, 40*5=200 parsecs coreward/rimward)?

If you wanted to make a "more square" shape that is closer to an equal number of parsecs in the horizontal + vertical, I'm thinking you'd want to move to a 6x5 sectors format (32*6=192 parsecs spinward/trailing, 40*5=200 parsecs coreward/rimward). Not a "perfect" square, but certainly "close enough" when trying to display everything all at once at that scale. Unfortunately, the Third Imperium "doesn't fit nicely" within a map span of (only) 6x5 parsecs.

After a lot of experimentation I decided on the 7x5 sectors for a few non-programming reasons:

1) Most importantly, I wanted a sector smack dab in the middle. So as I host my campaign my players are there in the exact middle of my canvas. I want the ability for referees to have a "middle sector" imported or created for their players to start in.

2) The Imperium fits in nicely. It catches three important sectors, Spinward Marches on the top left, Solomani Rim on the bottom, and the Ley Sector on the far right.

3) It is close to a square (we are not unalike you and I). A quick check from the middle-point of the canvas I think there 100 parsecs to the coreward edge, and 112 parsecs to the spinward edge. So not quite as perfect as 6x5 (as you demonstrated) but close enough for my aesthetic needs and meets #1 and #2 above.

 

[Spinward Flow]

I wanted a sector smack dab in the middle.

Excellent point.

2) The Imperium fits in nicely. It catches three important sectors, Spinward Marches on the top left, Solomani Rim on the bottom, and the Ley Sector on the far right.

An unanticipated side benefit!

If the 7x5 option isn't limited by coding, but by aesthetics and the desire to "get all the important stuff on the same canvas" ... may I offer an alternative?

9 sectors spinward/trailing = 32*9 = 288 parsecs
7 sectors coreward/rimward = 40*7 = 280 parsecs

That would give you +1 sector all the way around your Imperium map above, doing a better job of putting the Third Imperium controlled space into a more fulsome context (showing what's "outside" beyond the boundaries of the Third Imperium).

 

[Bartleby]

I do have an option to import the entire OTU that will automatically expand the canvas and import 16x8.