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

[Spinward Flow]

Is Poor Stats Atmosphere 2-5 Hydrographics 3-?

Yes.

If so , you won't have any Poor Water Worlds.

Water WORLDS are Atmosphere: 2-9, Hydrographics: A ... so there are no Water World (blue ring) + Poor (magenta) combinations.
Water OCEANS are Atmosphere: 2-9, Hydrographics: 1-9 ... so there are Water Ocean (cyan ring) + Poor (magenta) combinations.

A subtle but important distinction.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Thirty-fifth step revision: Imgur Link (3602 × 5209 png image) (recommend opening in new tab)

This step updates the world icons for the Jewell subsector using my New Colors icon set that I am proposing be rolled out more broadly on Travellermap as an alternative option feature.

See posts #133, #134 and #137 to review world icon color scheme guide.
Italics as well as Underlined Italics for are used for mainworld names as markers for Population: 5-6 (Non-industrialized) as well as Population: 4- (Low Population, Non-Industrialized) UWPs, respectively.

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Interesting things to note here in the Jewell subsector:

• Ao'dia/Jewell gets a Vacuum, Non-agricultural world icon ... which I never would have known about before just looking at Travellermap.
• Pequan/Jewell is Agricultural+Rich on Travellermap (under T5), but according to LBB3.81 is "disqualified" from being a Rich world due to Government: B ... so the world icon replacement is Water Ocean, Agricultural to be LBB (rather than T5) compliant.
• Folen/Jewell and Fiarrich/Jewell demonstrate the difference between Water Ocean, No Trade Colors (Folen) and Vacuum, No Trade Colors (Fiarrich) ... making for a very useful proof case as to how much contrast is easily visible between these two world icons.
• Louzy/Jewell lives up to its name ... receiving world icon that means Water Ocean, Industrial, Non-agricultural, Poor. There is only 1 other world (in the Rhylanor subsector) that is a Desert, Industrial, Non-agricultural, Poor world ... so technically even worse off than Louzy (albeit with +2TL over Louzy, so it can't be As Bad™)!

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Going to need to take that pause before editing the Regina subsector so as to sort out my scheme for color coding Asteroid Belts (which will be relevant to Shionthy/Regina).

 

[bookwyrm]

Ahhh, I saw the different WORLDS & OCEANS but didn't extrapolate enough. It actually makes for a good graphic for identifying worlds with water, but I was used to just knowing there IS water if it ISN'T De, Va, As, Ic, or Atmo. A-C.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Ahhh, I saw the different WORLDS & OCEANS but didn't extrapolate enough. It actually makes for a good graphic for identifying worlds with water, but I was used to just knowing there IS water if it ISN'T De, Va, As, Ic, or Atmo. A-C.

I just haven't reached a Hydrographics: A world yet in the Qronor and Jewell subsectors, but it'll come up eventually so you'll be able to see it. Equus/Lanth is the most memorable one for me that I know off the top of my head, but I know there are others in the Spinward Marches sector (I just don't recall their names off the top without looking them up).

However, I want to commend you for asking the question ... because among other things it's these kinds of questions that "keep me on my toes" in addition to being "honest" about what I'm doing. It's good peer review validation that I haven't overlooked something or made an error that will be laborious to correct and go back and fix.

Edit: and now that I look at the map again, looks like Roup/Regina is going to be the first Water World (blue ring) world icon on the map when I move into editing the Regina subsector.

 

[Spinward Flow]

D'oh!
Just noticed that Jewell/Jewell was not labeled in red font properly as a subsector capital on my sector map.

This error has been corrected, both on the image file and in the Sector data file, and will appear in the next step iteration displaying the edit of the Regina subsector (after I finish making my own version of the Asteroid Belt icon complete with possible trade code color combinations built in).

 

[Spinward Flow]

Okay, I think I've got my replacement Asteroid Belts with trade code colors implemented.

Asteroid Belt, Industrial, Non-agricultural

Asteroid Belt, Non-agricultural

Asteroid Belt, No Trade Colors

---

And with that sorted out, I think I can resume editing the sector map image.
Next up Regina subsector ... including Water World Roup and Asteroid Belt Shionthy.

 

[Kakistocrat]

The

Water World, No Trade Codes image is extremely hard to see the blue colored outer ring in the black when viewed on a white background here in the forums (assuming you have the bright style here) due to the brightness drowning out the contrast between a circle of blue and black.

Perhaps my old eyes are to blame, but against the white background, I also find the

Fluid Ocean, Atmosphere A–C;

Water Ocean, Agricultural;

Water World, Industrial; and

Water World, Rich patterns hard to discern. I’d originally wondered if reducing the solid center to 23×23 might help, but I think that what might be clearer would be to apply the old heraldry guideline: to separate two colors of similar intensity with (in this case, as thin a ring as possible of) a color of an entirely different intensity. Heraldry used “metals” (yellow [“or”, gold], white [“argent”, silver]) to separate colors of similar intensity; in this case, I think that a dark dividing ring would help with the Fluid Ocean, Atmosphere A–C and Water Ocean, Agricultural patterns, and a light dividing ring would help with the three Water World patterns. In the case of striped centers, only the portion with hard-to-discern patterns would need a corresponding portion of a dividing ring; the other portions wouldn’t need to be divided.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Thirty-sixth step revision: Imgur Link (3602 × 5209 png image) (recommend opening in new tab)

This step updates the world icons for the Regina subsector using my New Colors icon set that I am proposing be rolled out more broadly on Travellermap as an alternative option feature.

See posts #133, #134, #137 and #146 to review world icon color scheme guide.
Italics as well as Underlined Italics for are used for mainworld names as markers for Population: 5-6 (Non-industrialized) as well as Population: 4- (Low Population, Non-Industrialized) UWPs, respectively.

---

Journey of the Sorcerer ​

This project just keeps getting better and better looking the longer I pursue it.

• The Jewell/Jewell captial name in red text is implemented in this update (as alluded to previously).
• Efate/Regina is an Industrialized world with a Water Ocean.
• Roup/Regina is also an Industrialized world that is also a Water World. Note the color contrast of cyan vs blue on the black background.
• Another example of the difference between cyan and blue in the outer ring can be seen between Keng/Regina and Moughas/Regina along the trailing edge of the subsector.
• Menorb/Regina is has a Poor trade code!
• Yori/Regina is a Desert, Rich world. Contrast Yori's world icon with that of Regina/Regina.
• Enope/Regina is Ice Capped, Industrialized and Non-agricultural! Who knew?
  
• Rethe/Regina is Desert, High Population, Non-agricultural and Poor ... yikes!

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Perhaps my old eyes are to blame, but against the white background, I also find the

Fluid Ocean, Atmosphere A–C;

Water Ocean, Agricultural;

Water World, Industrial; and

Water World, Rich patterns hard to discern.

The stark white/black contrast really hurts for being able to see those outer rings against a white (or bright grey) background. However, against the black background of the sector image that I'm editing, they work just fine (see Imgur Link and zoom to Actual Size). This is one of those "proof is in the pudding" kinds of deals.

However, I am sure that with other background color schemes (such as white for paper printing, for example) the color scheme I'm using would almost certainly be sub-optimal. The rings are likely not thick enough to be printed at high enough quality (ink/toner blurring on print) and various other potential quality control problems. Right now, I'm simply focused on demonstrating the difference with the tools I have at my disposal, rather than trying to solve every possible permutation of print/display setup simultaneously. Start with what is manageable and then build your way out from there, making discoveries about limitations along the way.

A *LOT* of what I'm doing "only makes sense" because I'm doing it on a computer with the results intended to be displayed (using light) via a color monitor.

Water Ocean, Agricultural

I actually went back and forth on this combination for a bit, because the cyan ring (which IS THERE) blends so easily into the green solid center. But then I realized that Agricultural trade codes REQUIRE water oceans, specifically:

• Atmosphere: 4-9
• Hydrographic: 4-8
• Population: 5-7

Therefore, even if the cyan ring is difficult to see (except when zoomed WAY IN), it can "safely be assumed" to be there for all Agricultural coded worlds. It just becomes one of those "if this, then that" associations that you pick up (almost automatically) as a Well Traveled Traveller™ and it kind of becomes "background knowledge" when using map with this color scheme.

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I may or may not get around to editing in the New Colors for the Aramis subsector later today. If I don't, you'll probably see that happen sometime tomorrow. Depends on how much Free Time™ I can steal allocate to the project without getting burnt out on it by trying to do too much too quickly.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Thirty-seventh step revision: Imgur Link (3602 × 5209 png image) (recommend opening in new tab)

This step updates the world icons for the Aramis subsector using my New Colors icon set that I am proposing be rolled out more broadly on Travellermap as an alternative option feature.

See posts #133, #134, #137 and #146 to review world icon color scheme guide.
Italics as well as Underlined Italics for are used for mainworld names as markers for Population: 5-6 (Non-industrialized) as well as Population: 4- (Low Population, Non-Industrialized) UWPs, respectively.

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Journey of the Sorcerer ​

• Three more Hydrographics: A (Water Worlds) at Heguz, Nasemin and L'oeul d'Dieu (which I never knew about before this)!
• Feneteman is a Poor world.
• Dhian, Yebab, Rugbird and Reacher all have Atmosphere: A-C and Fluid Oceans.
• Aramis has Atmosphere: A-C (actually B) but is a Desert (Hydrographics: 0).
• Patinir is an Asteroid Belt with a Non-agricultural trade code.

Aramis subsector may have 6 Agricultural worlds, but 2 of them are Red Zones (Corfu and Zykoca). Problem is that the 3 most accessible ones (Focaline, Zila, Pysadi) are clustered together and need a 2 parsec range to reach them, while Lablon is so far out along the border that any meaningful access requires 3 parsecs of range to reach it from the Towers Cluster or even the Kinorb Cluster (bypassing Corfu).

I've said it before, but I'll say it again.
An A2 Far Trader (or an A1 Free Trader with a collapsible fuel tank to extend range) is perfectly capable of navigating around the Aramis subsector ... but making a profit while doing so is definitely going to be playing (wannabe) merchant prince on HARD MODE.

---

Just as a personal aside for anyone still reading my blatherings and drivel ... seeing the brighter and more varied colors take up residence on the sector map is really starting to have a very subtle impact and shift for me on how I think about the worlds scattered across the map. Much like how the addition of Italics and Underlined Italics for world names gave the map additional "texture" by making it more apparent which worlds were Population: 7+ (and 9+) along with which ones were Population: 6- (and 4-), being able to see all of the trade codes represented between the world icons and word names, combined with the brighter colors ... it's making the sector map feel more ... meaningful.

I'm not sure I can adequately describe the phenomenon.

All of the worlds on my (re)mapping of the Spinward Marches aren't just "dots on a hex grid" anymore.
They aren't just jumbles of UWP numbers either.

All of these worlds are PLACES.
DIFFERENT PLACES ... each unique.
And the "immediacy" of that realization is borne out by seeing the sheer VARIETY of world icons and mainworld names in different typeface ... all of which combines to convey the sense that NONE of these places are exactly alike.

The More Colors option on Travellermap gives you a little bit of sense of that ... but it doesn't quite go far enough (in my opinion).

I guess the only thing I can say is that what this project is demonstrating to me is how moving towards my New Colors formulation is yielding a subtly transformative experience ... just from looking at a familiar "old is renewed" sector map, which contains enough visual detail to make the setting come alive in vibrant living color for me in a way that it never has before.

It's as if up until now I've always thought of the sector map in black & white (ala LBB S3) ... and now I'm painting and seeing it with a full set of colors for the first time.

The details were always there, going all the way back to LBB S3 ... they were just ... hidden ... by a presentation format that made everywhere look the same.

---

Next update will be the Qrerien subsector.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Thirty-eighth step revision: Imgur Link (3602 × 5209 png image) (recommend opening in new tab)

This step updates the world icons for the Qrerien subsector using my New Colors icon set that I am proposing be rolled out more broadly on Travellermap as an alternative option feature.

See posts #133, #134, #137 and #146 to review world icon color scheme guide.
Italics as well as Underlined Italics for are used for mainworld names as markers for Population: 5-6 (Non-industrialized) as well as Population: 4- (Low Population, Non-Industrialized) UWPs, respectively.

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Journey of the Sorcerer ​

• Retinae/Qrerien is not an Industrial world due to the Atmosphere: C (with Fluid Oceans!).
• Dekalb//Qrerien is a Water World, Rich world. Compare this world icon to other Rich world icons in the Regina subsector!
• Thanber/Qrerien is actually a Poor world (who knew? )

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Fun side note for anyone who thinks playing with a SIE Clipper might be a lot of fun, being able to set up a J2(+2) trade route between (either subsidized or private):

1. Dekalb/Qrerien (Rich)
2. Thanber/Qrerien (Non-industrial, Poor)
3. Vilis/Vilis (Industrial)
4. Saurus/Vilis (Agricultural, Non-industrial)

Could potentially yield a rather lucrative route for speculative goods trading, allowing a savvy operator with a wily crew to start raking in some pretty decent profits over the longer haul, simply due to the variety of trade codes available within 1-3 jumps from Vilis/Vilis. So if anyone is looking for a fun campaign set "along the fringes" where TL=A-C is going to be "as good as it gets" then this locale might very well be the place you're looking for.

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Next time, Vilis subsector!

 

[bookwyrm]

I guess the only thing I can say is that what this project is demonstrating to me is how moving towards my New Colors formulation is yielding a subtly transformative experience ... just from looking at a familiar "old is renewed" sector map, which contains enough visual detail to make the setting come alive in vibrant living color for me in a way that it never has before.

1. I was thinking of how I would have to look at the System UWP's in my neck of space a few times to get the information you can see in a glance with this setup. Very refreshing and innovative!

2. I also thought of how something like this is shown in Sci-Fi shows with 3D video or holograms, which would make this a lower tech 2D version of the same information. May I say 'Pretty Cool!'?

 

[Spinward Flow]

Thirty-ninth step revision: Imgur Link (3602 × 5209 png image) (recommend opening in new tab)

This step updates the world icons for the Vilis subsector using my New Colors icon set that I am proposing be rolled out more broadly on Travellermap as an alternative option feature.

See posts #133, #134, #137 and #146 to review world icon color scheme guide.
Italics as well as Underlined Italics for are used for mainworld names as markers for Population: 5-6 (Non-industrialized) as well as Population: 4- (Low Population, Non-Industrialized) UWPs, respectively.

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Journey of the Sorcerer ​

• Kind of interesting seeing yet more Ice Capped worlds showing up on the sector map.
• Zeta 2 is a Desert world with a Hostile Atmosphere.
• Stellatio has Fluid Oceans with a Hostile Atmosphere.
• Rangent is a Water World (who knew? ).
• Asgard has a Poor trade code (I didn't realize that before...).
• Phlume is Agricultural, but not Rich, due to Government: 2.

The thing that strikes me about the Vilis subsector after implementing this visual symbology update is just how few trade codes other than Non-industrial run through the central region of the subsector.

• 26 worlds total
• 4 Agricultural worlds
• 1 Industrialized world
• 1 Poor world (Red Zone)

... and that's basically it. Everything else is either Non-industrial or no additional trade codes (that matter for speculative goods trading).

1. I was thinking of how I would have to look at the System UWP's in my neck of space a few times to get the information you can see in a glance with this setup. Very refreshing and innovative!

Best part is that the formulation is something that can be backported into Travellermap as an option. I've very deliberately set things up to follow RULES for the presentation. The rules to follow are relatively easy, from a programming point of view. The challenge is the implementation.

But yes, being able to glean so much information visually at a glance is making a HUGE difference in how I view all kinds of details throughout the sector as I progressively edit the map to show all of those details using a revised visual language for doing so. It's a subtle thing making a wealth of information so much more accessible and readily available all in one place, so you aren't having to constantly cross-reference between pages (like in LBB S3, for example) to reconcile all the bits and pieces together into a coherent whole understanding.

2. I also thought of how something like this is shown in Sci-Fi shows with 3D video or holograms, which would make this a lower tech 2D version of the same information.

I'm primarily benefiting from the advancements in technology over the past 45+ years.
We've gone from black & white print on paper to high resolution color screens that can display high fidelity images. Furthermore, the desktop publishing revolution has made it possible to create this kind of "information dense" imagery as a hobbyist with a home computer and a simplified set of application tools.

May I say 'Pretty Cool!'?

"Without objection, so ordered."

 

[Spinward Flow]

Fortieth step revision: Imgur Link (3602 × 5209 png image) (recommend opening in new tab)

This step updates the world icons for the Lanth subsector using my New Colors icon set that I am proposing be rolled out more broadly on Travellermap as an alternative option feature.

See posts #133, #134, #137 and #146 to review world icon color scheme guide.
Italics as well as Underlined Italics for are used for mainworld names as markers for Population: 5-6 (Non-industrialized) as well as Population: 4- (Low Population, Non-Industrialized) UWPs, respectively.

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Journey of the Sorcerer ​

• Ghandi is Ice Capped!
• D'Ganzio and Quopist are Poor!
• Wypoc and K'kirka have hostile atmospheres and fluid oceans.
• Treece and Skull are both Non-Agricultural and Poor.
• Echiste, Equus and Cogri are Water Worlds.
• Cogri is a Rich world (on top of being a Water World)!

Previously, I would look at the (trailing) "Lanth Wall" branch of the Spinward Main and think that while it might be navigable by a J1 Free Trader, it might not be all that bad to try and turn a profit there.



Just look at the revenue opportunities between Equus/Lanth and Inthe/Regina if you're flying a J1 Free Trader.

• 10 worlds
• 2 worlds are Population: 7-8 (Equus and Inthe on the ends)
• 2 worlds are Population: 5-6 (Vreibefger and Tureded)
• 6 worlds are Population: 1-4 ... with FIVE IN A ROW between Tureded and Inthe.
• 4 starport type A-B and 6 starport C-E

Can you say bankruptcy?

The route between Equus/Lanth and Regina/Regina isn't much better.

• 13 worlds
• 3 worlds are Population: 7-8 (Equus, Rech, Regina)
• 6 worlds are Population: 5-6
• 4 worlds are Population: 1-4
• 3 starport type A-B, 10 starport C-E

Pretty much the entire stretch of the Spinward Main through Lanth subsector is a backwater money pit, where even Free Traders and Far Traders would seem to have an excessive manifest capacity that they might struggle to fill. You pretty much have to "pre-plot" your way across this branch of the Spinward Main in order to sell enough tickets to multiple destinations in order to fill up the manifest capacity, rather than operating on a "single jump" basis for all ticket sales. If you can "stack" your passengers and cargo for multiple destinations along your route, you MIGHT be able to make the transit profitably ... but there are no guarantees.

Which then brings up the opportunity for supremely low operational overhead starship designs that can turn a profit on X-Mail revenues alone after paying for all overhead expenses. Due to the revenue cap on X-Mail revenues, this puts an extremely HARD upper limit on expenses, leaving you with little more than something of an "armed stage coach" type of penny ante operator business model for making runs through these economic backwaters. The risk of hostile encounters (specifically, pirates) along the either route (Regina to Equus or Inthe to Equus) is fairly high, so powerful maneuver drives in a Fast Courier styled starship starts becoming something of a design imperative ... because the "X-Mail must get through!" to all of these economic basket case backwater systems all in row.

So if anyone wants to set up a campaign that involves a lot of travel along a frontier, doing what no one else can (or is willing to) do ... the Lanth subsector stretch of the Spinward Main can definitely feel like a "miles and miles of nothing in between but miles and miles of nothing in between" journey up and down the main, getting to know the locals in every system and becoming their version of an interstellar Postman. The kinds of rumor mill opportunities that kind of backdrop for a campaign can create is the sort of thing where you never really know what could happen next. Default mode is sheer boredom and monotony ... punctuated by brief bursts of sheer terror alternating with opportunities for GREED.

Might be fun for someone to pick up, if they're so inclined.

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Next time ... Rhylanor subsector!

 

[MichaelSTee]

Hi there! I haven't been following this thread as much as I'd have liked; I've been travelling for the past 1.5 weeks and just now getting settled for the winter. This is interesting work you're doing, and I like a lot of it. Not quite used to the colors yet, but I need to sit down and zoom in close to the subsectors for a longer look. One thing I thought I'd mention: I understand why you're using italics for smaller pop worlds, but when I see underlined words, I see them as more important than non-underlined words. Have you considered using a gray color for the smaller pop world names? (I considered a smaller font in white color, but my eyes are halfway thru their 12th 4-year term!)

 

[Spinward Flow]

Hi there! I haven't been following this thread as much as I'd have liked; I've been travelling for the past 1.5 weeks and just now getting settled for the winter.

No worries. If I can find the time, I might be finished sometime next week.

This is interesting work you're doing, and I like a lot of it.

We make every pretense of competency around here.

Not quite used to the colors yet

It IS a paradigm shift, so there's going to be a period of "mental retraining" involved to be able to more easily and immediately recognize the colors. The really major colors to note (in the center) are going to be:

• (green) Agricultural / Non-agricultural (brown)
• (purple) Rich / Poor (magenta)
• (grey) Industrialized / Non-industrial (italicized world name)
• (orange) Hostile Atmosphere (A-C)
• (black) No Additional Trade Code colors

The outer rings of color pertain to environmental factors relevant to wilderness refueling opportunities:

• Desert (yellow)
• Fluid Ocean (red)
• Ice Capped (white + horizontal bands)
• Ocean (cyan)
• Vacuum (white)
• Water World (blue)

I need to sit down and zoom in close to the subsectors for a longer look.

It's relatively straightforward once you learn the color scheme. Additionally, since the UWPs are all visible (at this resolution scale) it becomes a lot easier to start recognizing the patterns of which colors below to which UWP specs and then a lot of things just naturally fall into place. I'm already finding it easier to "read" the new color scheme than the legacy one that I'm systematically replacing, simply because the trade code combinations show up in the colors themselves for the icons.

One thing I thought I'd mention: I understand why you're using italics for smaller pop worlds, but when I see underlined words, I see them as more important than non-underlined words.

The thing is, you want to be thinking in terms of a spectrum.
Let me give you an example to demonstrate why I chose the arrangement that I did.

Population: 0-4​	Population: 5-6​	Population: 7-8​	Population: 9-A​
Mainworld​	Mainworld​	Mainworld​	MAINWORLD​

Compare and contrast that with:

Population: 0-4​	Population: 5-6​	Population: 7-8​	Population: 9-A​
Mainworld​	Mainworld​	Mainworld​	MAINWORLD​

The thing that I want to bring to your attention, from a Layout and Visual Language perspective is that in a former vs latter comparison, it is the extremes of the population (Low and Hi) that receive the greatest amount of "emphasis" ... underlining for low population and all caps for high population. It also makes clearer that the the Low Population (4-) are "even more Non-industrial" than the Population: 5-6 worlds, so as to bring added emphasis and attention to the fact that from a mercantile perspective the Low Population (4-) worlds are the ones with the slimmest pickings for passengers and freight services demand, so they're less likely to be profitable destinations. In that respect, the underline serves as a "warning marker" of -DMs on the availability of passengers and freight, the same way that the all caps serves as a "positive marker" of +DMs on availability of passengers and freight.

In my own head, purely as a matter of convenience, I think of Population: 4- as being "Extra/Really Non-industrial" ... hence why the underlining makes more sense (to me, anyway) than the alternative formulation like you postulated.

Which is a long winded way of saying that I thought about the problem before settling on the solution that I chose and which you can see in my sector map.

Have you considered using a gray color for the smaller pop world names?

Yes, and immediately discarded it.
The grey color for world names gets problematic in a hurry, because it reduces legibility.

World names need to have sharp contrast with the background while also being easily readable without much (preferably no) effort. Switching to a white or grey mix on black color scheme fails that criteria. Furthermore, the grey color is all too easily associated with Industrial trade code color coding, which would rather effectively defeat the purpose by confusing things visually.

 

[MichaelSTee]

Well, that all makes sense. It may not be the way I would have gone, but it IS well-thought-out. Thanks for the explanation behind the curtain!

 

[Spinward Flow]

Well, that all makes sense. It may not be the way I would have gone, but it IS well-thought-out. Thanks for the explanation behind the curtain!

We make every pretense of competency around here.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Forty-first step revision: Imgur Link (3602 × 5209 png image) (recommend opening in new tab)

This step updates the world icons for the Rhylanor subsector using my New Colors icon set that I am proposing be rolled out more broadly on Travellermap as an alternative option feature.

See posts #133, #134, #137 and #146 to review world icon color scheme guide.
Italics as well as Underlined Italics for are used for mainworld names as markers for Population: 5-6 (Non-industrialized) as well as Population: 4- (Low Population, Non-Industrialized) UWPs, respectively.

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Journey of the Sorcerer ​

Things I never really realized about the Rhylanor subsector before:

• Look at all those star systems near the Aramis subsector with No Additional Trade Colors to them. The lone exception is Henoz, an Agricultural world.
• Zivijie is NOT an Industrial world, due to Atmosphere: B.
• Garrincski has a Poor trade code.
• Loneseda is a Water World.
• Rimward/Trailing of Rhylanor, there is a very interesting mix of trade codes in a kind of "low tech cluster" around Vanejen. Despite appearances, I can easily imagine a "well connected" (and well armed) J2 Far Trader being able to exploit the speculative goods trading opportunities in this backwater corner of the Rhylanor subsector for some serious profit potential. The low tech levels of the worlds in the region would make any battle damage potentially crippling, so perhaps a (better defended) SIE Clipper would make for a superior and more secure choice of merchant ship to ply the speculative trade routes in this region of space.
  
• Gitosy is in a really bad location for merchant traffic that depends on wilderness refueling to keep expenses low. However, as a Non-agricultural asteroid belt, bringing in agricultural speculative goods ought to be lucrative enough to make the trip worth it.
• Bevey is the other Industrial, Non-agricultural, Poor world in the sector (aside from Louzy/Jewell), but it's also a Desert into the bargain. Fortunately, there's a gas giant in the system, but that could be a "long haul" for wilderness refueling by starships with low end maneuver acceleration capacities. Depending on the details, when "time is money" it might be "cheaper" to simply buy fuel at the starport than to delay departure from the star system long enough to make a fuel skimming run at the gas giant.
• Heroni/Rhylanor must be a miserable place to live since almost all merchants will actively want to avoid it. Good luck finding fuel for your starship in the system (type E starport, no gas giant, desert world, hostile atmosphere)! Recommend a 2J1 fuel reserve (minimum) before setting course for Heroni!

The Rhylanor subsector is kind of peculiar, because there's this sort of "diagonal separator" running through the subsector, where everything coreward is high(er) tech and lots of type A starports, while conversely everything rimward is low(er) tech and only 4 type B starports to be found. Very much an "other side of the parsecs gap" type of vibe in this subsector.

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Next time ... Darrian subsector!

 

[Spinward Flow]

Forty-second step revision: Imgur Link (3602 × 5209 png image) (recommend opening in new tab)

This step updates the world icons for the Darrian subsector using my New Colors icon set that I am proposing be rolled out more broadly on Travellermap as an alternative option feature.

See posts #133, #134, #137 and #146 to review world icon color scheme guide.
Italics as well as Underlined Italics for are used for mainworld names as markers for Population: 5-6 (Non-industrialized) as well as Population: 4- (Low Population, Non-Industrialized) UWPs, respectively.

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Journey of the Sorcerer ​

I wasn't expecting to SEE THAT happen!

• The Darrian subsector contains 29 worlds, of which 18 are members of the Darrian Confederation and 11 non-members.
• The Darrian Confederation member worlds include:
  • 1 Industrial world (Zamine)
  • 3 High Population (9-A) worlds ... Zamine, Mire, Darrian
  • 3 Population: 7-8 worlds ... Engrange, Ilium, Roget
  • 8 Non-industrial worlds ... Stern-Stern, Ektron, Rorre, Terant 340, Jacent, Trifuge, Nosea, Cunnonic
  • 4 Low Population (4-) worlds ... Laberv, 494-908, Torment, Spume
  • 7 worlds with a Poor trade code (magenta) ... Stern-Stern, Ektron, Terant 340, Jacent, Torment, Nosea, Spume.
  • 2 worlds with a Rich trade code (purple) ... Roget, Rorre.
  • 5 worlds with an Agricultural trade code (green) ... Engrange, Roget, Rorre, Trifuge, Cunnonic.
  • 3 worlds with a Non-agricultural trade code (brown) ... Ektron, Jacent, Nosea.
• Independent worlds include:
  • 4 worlds with a Poor trade code (magenta) ... Junction, Nonym, Kardin, Dorannia.
  • 0 worlds with a Rich trade code (purple).
  • 1 world with an Agricultural trade code (green) ... Bularia.
  • 2 worlds with a Non-agricultural trade code (brown) ... Garoo, Nonym.

If I was a colonial fleet looking for a place to settle, I'd want to avoid the Darrian subsector as a location to try and build out from. 11 of 29 worlds are Poor trade code, indicating that habitability of worlds in this subsector is quite suboptimal! But then 4 of those worlds are both Non-agricultural AND Poor ... so the only way to sustain such worlds is with planetary scale imports of agricultural products from exporting worlds. That means that there needs to be a LOT of interstellar lift capacity in order to keep populations inhabiting "less than optimal" environments supplied and sustained. Consequently, I'm thinking that the Darrian Confederation is going to be far more dependent upon interstellar trade flows and merchant traffic than it would otherwise seem, just by looking at the sector map.

A side effect of this environmental/trade code factor is that the Darrian Confederation is NOT occupying "prime real estate" that a competing pocket empire (such as the Sword Worlds) would be in a tremendous hurry to conquer. Why? Because of the logistical support needed to maintain control over conquests! Places such as Terant 340, Jacent, Torment and Nosea could potentially BANKRUPT the Sword Worlds intent on taking them over, simply due to the fact that these worlds would require some pretty heavy import logistics if the Sword Worlds wanted to "keep" them after conquering them, since entirely new trading transport capacity would be needed to secure those gains. In other words, conquest of Darrian territory beyond the Entropic Worlds could very easily be "more trouble than the campaign (and aftermath) is worth" for the Sword Worlds if hostilities were to break out. Conquests that bankrupt your own treasury aren't a good strategic move (or so I'm told).

This then creates a very curious "detente" posture between the Darrian Confederation and the neighboring Sword Worlds. The Darrian Confederation effectively has a "buffer zone" of worlds that would be "more trouble than they're worth" in conquest, creating a kind of "economic barrier" to invasion. VERY INTERESTINK.

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Next time ... the Sword Worlds!

 

[Spinward Flow]

Forty-third step revision: Imgur Link (3602 × 5209 png image) (recommend opening in new tab)

This step updates the world icons for the Sword Worlds subsector using my New Colors icon set that I am proposing be rolled out more broadly on Travellermap as an alternative option feature.

See posts #133, #134, #137 and #146 to review world icon color scheme guide.
Italics as well as Underlined Italics for are used for mainworld names as markers for Population: 5-6 (Non-industrialized) as well as Population: 4- (Low Population, Non-Industrialized) UWPs, respectively.

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Journey of the Sorcerer ​

Well well well ... isn't this interesting ...
The Sword Worlds, as a collective group, are looking like some of the best and most favorable collection of habitable living conditions clustered up nice and neatly within the entire sector.

• 6 of the 7 worlds with an Agricultural trade code belong to the Sword Worlds.
• 6 of the 7 worlds with a Rich trade code belong to the Sword Worlds.
• 3 Industrial world belong to the Sword Worlds.
• Steel could potentially become yet another Agricultural world with sufficient population.
• Mithril could potentially become yet another Agricultural, Rich world with sufficient population and a suitable world government.
• Durendal could potentially also become yet another Agricultural, Rich world with an increase in population and change of government.
• Mjolnir and Enos are both Desert, Poor worlds (who knew? ).
• The major problem with Enos is that it's a Desert world with no gas giant and a type E starport, meaning that even unrefined fuel can be difficult to come by within this star system if visited by interstellar merchant ships.
  
• It hadn't registered previously that Flammarion has a Poor trade code.
• Caladbolg is truly a major prize of a world, both strategically and in terms of resources. If the Imperium were to establish a subsector capital within the Sword Worlds subsector, the honor should undoubtedly go to Caladbolg, not Flammarion.

Perhaps the most interesting thing to note when looking at this image edit update is just how "unnecessary" it seems for the Sword Worlds to adopt an expansionist policy (in 1105). Indeed, if the Sword Worlds (as a confederation) were able to "tweak" a few things, such as relocating some of the population of Tizon and Anduril to the underpopulated worlds of Winston/Qrerion, Dyrnwyn/Sword Worlds, Durendal/Sword Worlds, Steel/Sword Worlds and Mithril/Sword Worlds ... as a collective group the Sword Worlds would be able to increase the number of Agricultural, Rich and Agricultural+Rich worlds within their confederation and thus increase their collective power when unified.

Guess it's a good thing then that the Sword Worlders are "too fractious" amongst themselves to ever allow such collective advancement to occur.

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Next time ... Lunion subsector!