History: how did the Vilani spread through charted space on Jump-1?

[sudnadja]

I didn't see the immediate answer to this, my understanding is that the Vilani were limited to Jump-1 for a long time. Were they limited to their local Jump-1-able cluster?

I plotted a connected graph of the Vland subsector with a maximum connected distance of 1 parsec, and you can spot Vland itself near the center. From the Jump-1 perspective, Vland is a member of an island of 11 stars. Were the Vilani limited to those 11 stars until they developed Jump-2, or did they hop to other "islands" by some other mechanism?

 

[Carlobrand]

If this thing is right, Vilani gained Jump 2 about halfway through their spread:

http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Vilani

Still, Jump 1 is not an impediment to getting to stars more than a parsec off. It just means you have to do it in two or three or however many jumps instead of 1. You carry more fuel and plan on it taking longer.

 

[Xerxeskingofking]

what map are you using for that J route map?

I'm looking at the current travellermap map of Vland, and it has a J1 route rimward into Kasear subsector, via kasear itself, onto a large main that then runs both coreward-trailing (into Lishun, and even Core, in Ameios subsector!) and rimward (into the Lancian Cultural region), and even up around the coreward side of vland then back spinward as far as Vhodan subsector).

all of that, on the same J1 main. it'd be a bugger and involves some serious snaking, but It could be done, even without using a multiple-jump ship design.

 

[inexorabletash]

Yeah, Vland is on a huge main. Turn on the Experiments options on the map and enable Mains and click on Vland to see it.

I suspect you’ve got an off-by-one error in your handling of even/odd hexes.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

Part of the answer is larger fuel tanks. In the same manner as the Terrans broke out of the "pocket" and they only had Jump 1 or the CP system in 1248 books.

Two solutions exist. I am not a great ship design guy, but (using HG design rules here):

Solution 1 - More fuel
Jump 1 consumes 2% of a ship's volume.
One Jump-1, uses 10% of the ship for Fuel
4 Jump-1's consume 40% of the ship for a total of 42%
Design the rest of the ship as needed.
This allows a Vilani "Deep Exploration Survey Ship" an effective Jump-2 without the need for refueling.

Solution 2 - Drop Tank resupply system.
Design ships with J-1 and fuel for two Jumps (22% volume) as fuel tankers.
Add a drop tank (10%) and linkages to make them standard size modules.
Add a fuel depot space station to control resupply
This is Calibration Point system used Traveller 1248 Sourcebook 4: The Freedom League

 

[sudnadja]

Yeah, Vland is on a huge main. Turn on the Experiments options on the map and enable Mains and click on Vland to see it.

I suspect you’ve got an off-by-one error in your handling of even/odd hexes.

I was using the API pseudocode - and it was fine, it's just the grapher would sometimes determine that a distance of 1.0 is just *barely* over adjacent hex distances. Changing the distance allowed to 1.005 gives a (probably) more accurate view:



as I select for only systems in Vland, the disconnected graphs are probably an artifact of chopping at the sector borders.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

Considerations:

The biggest ones are these. Vland has no Gas Giants. And the Vilani play it safe. Even during their adventuresome period.

1.Gas Giants are odd exo-planets the Vilani might see as we do other exo-planets, but their economic value as fuel is theoretical at best (Gee would't it be neat if Vland had one? *sigh*). Until they get out into the universe.

2.Their technology and solar system culture requires them to grow and survive without gas giant fuel skimming and reprocessing. Until the Vilani decide to invent NAFAL and/or Jump they work in-system using in-system resources. Ice-asteroids? Maybe. But before that.

Ocean refueling/skimming/reprocessing? Maybe. They may have the scientific knowledge to create fuel scoops and purifiers, but the inventors of hydrogen extraction process would more likely claim patent and force you to pay to refuel.

3.Until they see a Gas Giant up close they wont have experience with one.

4.During the NAFAL years, Gas Giants become available. Since it takes 45/90 years to get travel to nearby and back, there will not be an economic system for refuel like solution 2 between star systems. But Vilani conservatism and safety will allow the hydrogen manufacturers to set up their plants in-system to support and grow the pre-Jump colonies establised.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

Exploration

The NAFAL exploration period will teach them to play it safe. 90 years is long time to take risks, so they learn to take everything they can with them. And they got the after reports once the expeditions came back to learn from their successes and mistakes. Take it with you becomes ingrained because the Vilani examine and keep doing what works. If it worked for your ancestors, it will work for you. During this period, hydrogen producers will grant usage/incorporation of their equipment (after the appropriate royalty is paid).

This very unlike the Terran NAFAL period prior First Contact. The Terrans made long term expeditions like the ESA colony ships to Reft Sector and nearby Prometheus. They never got to culturally ingrain the results of NAFAL though, because the Terrans invent Jump before round trips are made.

 

[sudnadja]

So, with the corrected jump 1 distances, the Jump-1 path from Vland is much more extensive. This is for all Imperial systems connected via Jump-1 from Vland. Vland itself marked on the graph:



There are still many unreachable systems and islands though. Vland can reach 972 systems, the second largest Jump-1 island is 360 systems. (unless there's another precision mistake)

 

[inexorabletash]

That looks about right.

With a single J-2 bridge you can get from the Vilani main in Lishun onto another main that reaches up into Trenchans. Another bridge in Gushemege gets you onto a main reaching into Ilelish and Zarushagaar. With just two J-2 bridges you can get to Sylea in Core and Massilia.... and well, basically everywhere if you're patient enough. There are very few truly isolated worlds if you're patient.

 

[sudnadja]

That looks about right.

With a single J-2 bridge you can get from the Vilani main in Lishun onto another main that reaches up into Trenchans. Another bridge in Gushemege gets you onto a main reaching into Ilelish and Zarushagaar. With just two J-2 bridges you can get to Sylea in Core and Massilia.... and well, basically everywhere if you're patient enough. There are very few truly isolated worlds if you're patient.

With Jump-3 there are a few islands that remain unreachable:
{"Flammarion", "Iderati", "Jone", "Penelope", "Karin", "Gohature", \
"Emape", "Gothe", "Mirriam", "Candory", "Andor", "Wonstar", \
"Quhaiathat", "Raweh", "Froin", "Lakou"} for example.

From IW, Terra's first jump was to Barnard's star via an interstellar jump point (rogue planet or something) in between Terra and Barnard's star, but there was mention that "mathematics seemed to indicate that a jump to empty space was impossible". I presume that later on it gets figured out how to do that, but I had also heard that the Vilani were technologically conservative. I didn't know if the implication was that they lived on Jump-1 and no open space or rogue planet hops for several thousand years of expansion, thus implying the early empire was about 1000 systems that were reachable by Jump-1.

(and I'd imagine that Terra looks like once they developed Jump, they progressed very quickly compared to the Vilani, Jump1 to 3 in much less time than the Vilani accomplished it)

 

[Nathan Brazil]

Canonically, the milestones achieved for the Vilani from DGP Vilani & Vargr

-10011 Vilani achieve space travel
-9800 Vilani launch first sublight (.1c) expedition to Tauri (Vland 1817). (T5 calls it NAFAL). It takes 45 years to make a round trip.
-9502 NAFAL expeditions to Tahaver (Viand 2017) and Khula (Viand 1919) Round trip is 190 years.
-9450 Vilani have a small Vilani network of about six star systems, each boasting its own colonies and scientific stations
-9310 Return from Tahaver finds non-human aquatic sophonts
-9309 Return from Khula finds extinct human civilization
-9235 Jump Drive invented.
-9225 All systems within 20 parsecs explored along the Jump-1 Vilani Main.

That's where it get interesting. Some systems are within 20 parsec of Vland, but are not accessible unless you go beyond this radius and then double back. Or they are doing double jumps using brown dwarfs and such. Either way this is possible as the The network has at least six inhabited systems that have existed for more than 200 years already for infrastructure and supply.

Unknown but in before next event: Vilani encounter over a dozen human races within 60 parsecs. None have Jump Drive. So exploration is out to 60 parsecs? Maybe not perfectly circular because...

-9000 Vilani first encounter the Geeonee in Massilia Sector. They have Jump-1 and their home world is in Massilia (1430). This could mean the homeworld or somewhere in Massilia or merely that the Geonee are from Massilia.

-8900 Vilani economic sphere is (5 parsecs in radius) 10 parsecs in diameter.
-6000 Vilani economic sphere is 60 parsecs in radius (120 parsecs in diameter). Multi-Year expeditions reach 3 times as far (180 parsecs distance). Vega visited. Vegans get Jump but not directly from the Vilani
-5420 Jump-2 invented.
-5400 Consolidation Wars begin.
-4045 Consolidation Wars end. First Imperium formed. Closing of the borders.

 

[sudnadja]

-4045 Consolidation Wars end. First Imperium formed. Closing of the borders.

Excellent, thank you for writing this up. I'm trying to put together a .gif or some kind of video plotting the expansion of the various races and hadn't had any idea really where to start or if there was enough information available at all.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

And now sudnadja, the speed bump from GURPS Traveller. The Geonee Timeline:

-9300 Geonee at TL9, have a space Space Service which explores their solar system
-9270 Geonee find Ancients starship. Research begins.
-9240 Reverse Engineered Jump-1 Ship created. Prindee (Massilia 1330) is the first world to become a colony and becomes a gateway to explore and colonize Stenardee (Massilia 1130).
The major implication here is that the Geonee figure out to some method to Jump empty hexes to make the gap to Stenardee.

During this period (unspecified) the Geonee explore and colonize Lagna (Massilia 1029) finding Ancient relics, Chirper and Geonee remains.

-9100 The Geonee Empire is declared.
-9080 Most of Shiwonee and Shokee subsectors explored.
Worlds stated as explored by this point:
Theradway (Massilia 1534)
Tanny (Massilia 1238)
Llyrn (Massilia 0931)

-9100 Vilani and Geonee make contact. Both groups are finding Massilia empty and ripe for expansion.
-8700, a colony was established as far as Forquee (Massilia 1719), 13 parsecs coreward from Shiwonee. That wording implies that it's the furthest Geonee colony at the time.
-8600 Sharurshid assumes reponsibilities to supervise Vilani holdings in Massilia.
-8300 Geonee Empire overthrown. Colonies are as far as Parahee (Massilia 2940)

Between -8300 and -7100:
In the centuries that followed, the Vilani and Geonee stood as rivals for interstellar power. Both races were involved in the exploration and development of worlds in the Massilia, Zarushagar, Core, Diaspora, and Delphi sectors.

-7100 Geonee at TL 11 (but do not figure out Jump-2)
Nomadic Geonee communities settled as far as the Lishun sector. Ties are maintained, but Geonee Confederation true territory never encompasses more than the equivalent of four subsectors in the Massilia sector.

-5100 Vilani start Consolidation Wars. Initial Geonee successes force the Vilani to retreat central Massilia for "decades". The begin date different for the Vilani timeline. I think the difference is just that -5400 is when the Vilani start and-5100 is they go for the Geonee.
-4900 Geonee defeated. Worlds absorbed into the Ziru Sirka.
-4100 By this time Geonee removed from most of their farther worlds and resettled on other worlds. Colonies repopulated by Vilani. Significant Geonee populations remain on 30 worlds. I guess they go there.