Isolating a Subsector

[BlindGuy]

Hi ALl,

In my quest to get started with Solo Traveller, and detailed in this thread, I've run into the problem of .sec files. They're quite comprehensive, but one area I find them frustrating involves getting a picture of a sub sector on its own. For instance, I read that the Regina sub sector is a good location for a trading campaign, but the hex values are from the pov of the top left of Spinward Marches sector, and thus kind of fiddly to deal with.

So I'm wondering if anybody could supply me with just Regina to make things a little easier? Obviously, the whole process of Traveller accessibility is kind of ongoing, but something like this would be greatly helpful. Thanks!

Best regards,
Zack.

 

[BeRKA]

Here is one version of Regina Subsector. I hope it helps you.

 

[inexorabletash]

The travellermap.com API lets you request the data for one subsector at a time. An example URL is http://travellermap.com/data/spin/c/sec?header=0&sscoords=1 but the forum is truncating it, so I recommend opening it and analyzing the full URL in your browser.

The format starts with: http://travellermap.com/data/
then the sector name or abbreviation, example: spin
then /
then the subsector index, example: c
then to leave out the T5 data: /sec
then to begin the options: ?
then the option to remove the field definitions: header=0
then to separate options: &
then the option to make coordinates relative to the subsector: sscoords=1

 

[BlindGuy]

Thank you both

These are a good start. I guess I'm also looking for a way to conceptualize the locations of worlds relative to one another—the Braille map format being discussed in my previously linked thread is a way to do that. It's hard for me to think of the worlds as connected entities when I only have the hex numbers to go on—poor visual imagination, I guess?.

Thanks much for the links, though. I'm sure they'll be useful to me somehow.

 

[SpaceBadger]

These are a good start. I guess I'm also looking for a way to conceptualize the locations of worlds relative to one another—the Braille map format being discussed in my previously linked thread is a way to do that. It's hard for me to think of the worlds as connected entities when I only have the hex numbers to go on—poor visual imagination, I guess?.

Thanks much for the links, though. I'm sure they'll be useful to me somehow.

Zack, you just name me a subsector you would like to start in and I will make you a map right now like those I made for my SBRD campaign, which I believe you thought would be useable for you via touch screen.

I can't promise (due to health issues of my own) but am pretty sure it would take me less than 24 hours to have it ready for you to use.

 

[BlindGuy]

Regina would be Ideal

Zack, you just name me a subsector you would like to start in and I will make you a map right now like those I made for my SBRD campaign, which I believe you thought would be useable for you via touch screen.

I can't promise (due to health issues of my own) but am pretty sure it would take me less than 24 hours to have it ready for you to use.

Thanks, SpaceBadger! I definitely appreciate your offer. I'd love to start off with Regina, as mentioned, just because it's one I've heard was interesting in terms of world variety, etc.

 

[SpaceBadger]

Hey, Zack. I've been working on your Regina Subsector map, and am at the stage to start making the image-map text that would be read aloud by your reader software, and would like some feedback from you on what info you would like to see on the map.

What I have in mind is one of these options:

- Blank hexes will have only the hex number.

- Hexes with systems will have two image-mapped squares that you can touch. The top square will have the hex number, system name, starport class, and trade classifications. The bottom square will have the full extended UWP for the system.

OR (alternate layout)

- Blank hexes have only hex number.

- Hexes with systems have two image-mapped squares. Top square has hex number and system name, bottom square has starport and trade classifications, and if you want UWP etc you can get that from the regular Wiki page for that system.

Which do you think would work better for you? Or do you have some alternative to suggest? I want this map to provide the info that you need, but not an information overload.

Links from the map will let you tap any system hex to go to that system page, or tap marked areas along the borders to go to adjacent subsectors.

EDIT: If we don't have the extended UWP info included on the system hex, then we should probably include some note on whether a gas giant is present - standard subsector maps show this with a dot in the hex, so we will want to include that info as text for your reader.


*

 

[BlindGuy]

Option Two, definitely

Hey, Zack. I've been working on your Regina Subsector map, and am at the stage to start making the image-map text that would be read aloud by your reader software, and would like some feedback from you on what info you would like to see on the map.

What I have in mind is one of these options:

- Blank hexes will have only the hex number.

- Hexes with systems will have two image-mapped squares that you can touch. The top square will have the hex number, system name, starport class, and trade classifications. The bottom square will have the full extended UWP for the system.

OR (alternate layout)

- Blank hexes have only hex number.

- Hexes with systems have two image-mapped squares. Top square has hex number and system name, bottom square has starport and trade classifications, and if you want UWP etc you can get that from the regular Wiki page for that system.

Which do you think would work better for you? Or do you have some alternative to suggest? I want this map to provide the info that you need, but not an information overload.

Hi, there. You caught me just as I was about to head to bed. I definitely like option two, it seems more compact and a little more manageable. I'll just have to remember that occupied hexes will have two squares, and that should be perfect. I'm particularly intrigued by the border links idea—call it virtual exploration, I guess.
Looking forward to the map whenever you can finalize it.
Warmest regards, and thanks so much for your help!
Best,
Zack.

 

[SpaceBadger]

Hi, there. You caught me just as I was about to head to bed. I definitely like option two, it seems more compact and a little more manageable. I'll just have to remember that occupied hexes will have two squares, and that should be perfect.

I was just trying to imagine how I'd want to have it if I was reading a map by tracing my finger over it and having software read some info out loud.

I hope that this will be pretty easy to get used to once you have tried it. I'm making the map fairly large (well, that is a relative thing, depending on your browser and display settings) so that you have room to explore it by touch. The way the squares will work, the upper part of an occupied hex will have hex number and system name, then if you want more info you just move your finger down a bit and it will read out that part.

Once you have tried out Regina Subsector and we have everything working just the way you want it, I can do the rest of the Spinward Marches as well. I am one of those guys who, when faced with tedious data entry, muses as to whether there is any way I can automate this to take existing data from another source and reformat it the way I want. This usually takes as long as (or longer than) the original task would have taken, but then I have the procedure ready if I ever need to do that task again. So once we have it all worked out for one subsector, it won't take long (thanks to SEC files from Travellermap.com!) to do the rest.

 

[inexorabletash]

BlindGuy - please give this a try with your iPad and VoiceOver:

http://calormen.com/tmp/vo.html

This is just a demo page for a single subsector, although it is pulling live data from the travellermap site so with a little work it could be used to explore charted space. I used Jewell subsector instead of Regina since it has multiple allegiances.

 

[BlindGuy]

Wonderful, works like a charm

BlindGuy - please give this a try with your iPad and VoiceOver:

http://calormen.com/tmp/vo.html

This is just a demo page for a single subsector, although it is pulling live data from the travellermap site so with a little work it could be used to explore charted space. I used Jewell subsector instead of Regina since it has multiple allegiances.

This is great. The iPad is the perfect platform for browsing the map, and I can get a definite feel for the layout. If i may ask, how did you code it? My former CS major self is intrigued.

Thanks much for the very accessible demo!
Best,
Zack.

 

[inexorabletash]

If i may ask, how did you code it?

The map site has web APIs to fetch all of the data. The demo page uses JavaScript to request the data for the sector in tab-delimited format then parses it into a simple data structure - a property bag mapping hex to world, and each world is a property bag of fields like UWP and Name.

It then selects a subsector and "draws" each hex in HTML by positioning a box on the page. The text inside the box is composed by string concatenation of interesting fields from the world data - the same fields that are given visual representations.

I had to experiment a bit to find a good text format. It works best with one long sentence for each hex so that a single touch will read the entire description without having to make precise taps. Certain fields needed splitting to match how they're typically read, like hex numbers as 12 02 instead of 1202.

The obvious next step is to add navigation links around the perimeter of the page to move to adjacent subsectors. It may be a while before I get to it, so I encourage any other web developers here on the board to take a stab at it.

 

[BlindGuy]

I need to get into web programming sometime… At any rate, it works flawlessly on the touch screen. I'd love to be able to get access to trade codes and so on without needing to pull up another list of worlds, but I hope that kind of thing could be added in time by anybody willing. This is a great step.

 

[SpaceBadger]

Hey, Zack. Just wanted to let you know I have not forgotten about putting touch-maps into the Traveller Wiki, just that my household has been extremely chaotic the past few days as we have moved my sick mother into the house, and while getting settled into some new household routines I have not had many of the quiet periods that I need for concentration on this kind of work. Getting things figured out in my head, but not turned into working queries to create the pages.

 

[BlindGuy]

Take your Time

Hi there,

I can sympathize. I've had my own household upheavals lately, and so understand how demanding they can be. I'm eager for the touch maps, of course, but Traveller isn't anybody's full time job—with the possible exception of marc miller. Don't worry about it, it'll happen when it happens.
Yours warmly,
Zack.

 

[inexorabletash]

I haven't had a chance to hook up navigation, but if you're willing to play with URL parameters you can select the sector (by X Y coordinates) and subsector (by index)

Here's Solomani Rim: Sol Subsector:

http://www.calormen.com/tmp/vo.html?sx=0&sy=3&ss=10

sx param is sector x (core is 0, positive is trailing)

sy param is sector y (core is 0, positive is rimward)

ss is subsector index (0 is A, 15 is P)

 

[BlindGuy]

WOrks Great

This looks good. Funny to see Terra up there with almost nobody else around. I'll do searches for sectors and look forward to proper navigation.
Thanks,
Zack.

 

[thalassogen]

Thalassogen - check out this thread:

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=31211

Perhaps you have cycles to take the touch/screen-reader demo page I produced and make it properly interactive?

I guess, I missed this thread, so much going on here!
I'll take up work immediately and hope to produce an interactive first version today.

 

[thalassogen]

OK, first version done: http://heldenhaufen.de/T5/InteractiveVO.html?sx=-4&sy=-1&ss=2

I put the "bars" for navigating to adjacent subsectors around the sides of the current subsector. Please let me know if you encounter any problems using them.


EDIT: BTW, I tested with IE, Firefox and Chrome. Currently I don't have Safari installed. Please let me know if you encounter any problems browsing/using that page with Safari.

 

[BlindGuy]

FYI, the intent behind this is to be useful with a touchscreen… Maybe the two projects tackling this could merge? ;-) Id hate for duplicated effort to become a problem.

Anyway, one thing I noticed in this first version is the touch targets for moving around the map are a bit small. Granted, the map itself takes up a lot of room, but hunting for a single letter on the edges was a little bit frustrating. I found my finger moving around the same places quite often, searching for the link. That being said, mechanically it worked just fine once I found them. i'm pleased up and grateful that progress on this has happened so quickly… I only wish similar efforts could be devoted to making the text of the rules themselves accessible. Thanks, guys.