Non OTU: LBB S3 Spinward Marches (re)mapping in 1105

[Spinward Flow]

Imgur LINK depicting new v2 world colors from Qrerien through Vilis, Lanth and Rhylanor subsectors.

Really starting to see the benefit of the thicker ring on the world icons.

It's so much easier to see the difference between Desert, Vacuum and Water Worlds. Even the Ice Capped icon is easier to read at a glance (compare Ghandi/Lanth to Rhise/Lanth to the legacy icon that I haven't updated yet for Arba/Lunion to see the difference most clearly). So the "bolder" color iconography visual language shaping with the world icon rings is most definitely an improvement.



Also, anyone who cares to "look ahead" to the Darrian, Sword World, Lunion and Mora subsectors of the map will notice that I've (once again) "tweaked" the Express Network routing through Lunion subsector on up into the Lanth subsector (to make it less STUPID, mainly). Which brought up a fun little question.

On these forums we have previously had discussions about how the Express Network manages communication "flows" and routings along the network.

• Some people believe that the correct answer is that "the lines on the map are RAILS" ... so deviations away from the lines are NOT ALLOWED.
• Some people believe that any other "node" on the Express Network within J4 of worlds on the network can be reached ... regardless of where the lines on the map go. The lines on the map are just a simplification of a far more complex "network web" of connections that would be too obscuring to draw onto the map in their entirety, hence the simplification to allow other information to be visible.

Now, obviously, these two notions cannot be true at the same time (Rails: YES vs Rails: NO) because they're somewhat fundamentally in opposition to each other. However ... what if there was a THIRD WAY of thinking about the question?

• Express Network "nodes" that LACK a Scout Base have Express Boat services going ONLY to the other "nodes" shown as linked on the map.
• Express Network "nodes" that HAVE a Scout Base (and/or Way Station!) have Express Boat services to ALL the other "nodes" on the network that are within J4.

This means that the "Rails: YES vs Rails: NO" interpretation stops being an All Or Nothing™ proposition. It means that SOME nodes on the network have "better communications" than others, because of the presence of a Scout Base within the star system.

Let me give 2 rather explicit examples of what I'm talking about here with the distinctions I'm making here.



Let's start with Risek/Rhylanor.
Naval Base: Yes
Scout Base: No.

If I cut a J4 radius circle out of my map of the Spinward Marches around Risek/Rhylanor, this is what I get:

Since Risek does not have a Scout Base, under the proposed ruling that I've offered above, there are only 2 possible destinations outbound from Risek along the Express Network (Rails: YES).

1. Inthe/Regina
2. Jae Tellona/Rhylanor

However, IF Risek had a Scout Base in system, that number of possible destinations would increase to "every other star system within J4 that is on the Express Network" (Rails: NO) ... which would mean:

1. Paya/Lanth
2. Inthe/Regina
3. Rhylanor/Rhylanor
4. Jae Tellona/Rhylanor
5. Celepina/Rhylanor
6. L'oeul d'Dieu/Aramis
7. Aramis/Aramis

However, since Risek does NOT have a Scout Base in system, outbound Express Network traffic is limited to only 2 destinations.

Everybody with me so far?



Now, contrast that demonstration with Spirelle/Lunion ... which DOES have a Scout Base in system:

Because Spirelle has a Scout Base, outbound Express Boat traffic can be routed directly to:

1. Wardn/Lunion
2. Adabicci/Lunion
3. Lunion/Lunion
4. Persephone/Lunion
5. Strouden/Lunion

So even though there isn't a "line" (explicitly) drawn on the map between Spirelle/Lunion and Lunion/Lunion there doesn't need to be one drawn because both Spirelle and Lunion both have Scout Bases, they're both on the Express Network and they're within J4 of each other. At the same time, although Spirelle can "send" Express Boats to Adabicci and Strouden "directly, without needing to pass through either Wardn or Persephone to reach those destinations ... the reverse is not true. So communications from Strouden would have to be routed through Persephone first before being forwarded on to Spirelle (J2+3), while communications from Spirelle to Strouden can be direct (J4) ... because Spirelle has a Scout Base while Strouden does not.



Such a more ... nuanced ... view of how the Express Network "operates" with regards to the routing (and therefore, speed) of communications relay jumping has some very interesting implications in terms of "how far" different subsector capitals are from each other in terms of jump cadence and routing. At the very least, it makes the Express Network "more interesting" by making Scout Bases "more relevant" to routine daily operations (and thus expectations).

It would also explain certain peculiarities of the routing shown on the map ... such as the Roup <> Feri <> Boughene <> Pixie <> Kinorb link at the coreward end of the Regina subsector. For one thing, it would mean that Express Boats can be dispatched outbound from Boughene or Feri directly to Kinorb, because both Boughene and Feri have Scout Bases in their star systems ... but all outbound Express Boat traffic from Kinorb HAS TO go through Pixie (only) before being forwarded onwards.

Regina to Kinorb:

• Regina
• J3 Roup
• J2 Feri or J4 Boughene
• J4 Kinorb

Kinorb to Regina:

• Kinorb
• J3 Pixie
• J1 Boughene
• J4 Roup
• J3 Regina

That kind of ... asymmetry ... in communications routing by making the Rails: YES vs Rails: NO question into being something that is conditional upon whether or not a star system has a Scout Base (or Waystation) in it means that IISS communications fleet assets are going to be more concentrated into star systems which have Scout Bases, making them "more relevant" to the question of where the Express Network nodes and routing "ought to be laid out" across the sector ... hence the updates to the Lunion/Mora/Rhylanor/Lanth connections in the middle of the map that can be seen in this v2 demo of my interpretation of the Spinward Marches.

 

[mike wightman]

You should submit this to Mongoose to be the new standard for world mapping.

 

[Spinward Flow]

You should submit this to Mongoose to be the new standard for world mapping.

I'm just doing this for my own enjoyment ... rather than out of a desire to become "rich and famous" (or words to that effect).

Does anyone know who I ought to broach the notion of making my refactoring of iconography and world name font scheme as something that Mongoose might be interested in?

 

[Spinward Flow]

Imgur LINK depicting new v2 world colors from Darrian through Sword Worlds, Lunion and Mora subsectors.

Now that most of the map is "more colorful" than it was in v1, due to the thickening of the world icon rings here in v2, the difference is really starting to make itself felt when looking at the sector map @ 100% scale on screen. It's just so much easier to spot the potential hazards to wilderness refueling (desert, fluid ocean, vacuum, ice capped) as well as notice the economic backwaters (Population: 4-) that are important for merchant ships to know about. Additionally, being able to see ALL of the relevant Trade Codes information VISUALLY really makes a huge difference in the ... impression ... the sector makes when thinking about Travelling around in search of adventure (in Zhodani Consulate, adventure searches for YOU!).

I know I've said it before, but I'm REALLY liking how this v2 draft is turning out ... both in the practical "map usability" sense as well as in the "artistic beauty" sense.

Starting to look likely that I'll be able to complete the v2 draft here before the weekend.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Imgur LINK depicting new v2 world colors from Five Sisters through District 268, Glisten and Trin's Veil subsectors ... completing the entire Spinward Marches sector.

It's good to be HOME.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Oh yeah, it might be a good idea to publish the Sector and Metadata files for the v2 Spinward Marches.

These files generate the baseline sector .png image using Travellermap Poster Maker to get the initial image. After that, I custom edit the image (using the Preview app on my iMac) to overlay the new v2 world iconography and world name font updates to generate the finished product. So use of these files will get a third party "about halfway" to the results that I've demonstrated in Post #185 here.