T5 Web Apps
- Thread starter thalassogen
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thalassogen
SOC-12
Yes, that's reasonable. Currently the old SEC format is available for download and its usability with TravellerMap has been proved (it is the same file that gets send to TravellerMap when requesting a Map via the TravellerMap button). The new extended format of TravellerMap is on my TODO list.
I chose CSV as my own format as I desired a file format that also supports system data beyond the mainworld and the stars, i.e. orbits, other worlds, etc. XML would have been more structural but more difficult to read by a human and ditto for JSON. But in the end, CSV seems to pose a problem for some people, too - at least when used with specific spreadsheet software. Hm, maybe I just realize an online-editor...
I chose CSV as my own format as I desired a file format that also supports system data beyond the mainworld and the stars, i.e. orbits, other worlds, etc. XML would have been more structural but more difficult to read by a human and ditto for JSON. But in the end, CSV seems to pose a problem for some people, too - at least when used with specific spreadsheet software. Hm, maybe I just realize an online-editor...
Oh, the .csv is definitely useful. For the T5SS project I use csv a lot, but when trying to make decisions I find myself throwing data at the travellermap.com APIs a lot.
And if you've found more errata by developing these tools, and haven't posted them in the errata threads, drop me a note at don.mckinney@gmail.com with the details and I'll make sure they get reviewed.
And if you've found more errata by developing these tools, and haven't posted them in the errata threads, drop me a note at don.mckinney@gmail.com with the details and I'll make sure they get reviewed.
I found out what I was doing wrong. Open Office wants to interpret the .csv file, and it had both the Semicolon and the Space checked as default delimiters. It split data lines along columns if either occurred. So even phrases like (WORLD NAME) were split along two columns. If I uncheck "Space", then only Semicolon is used as a delimiter and the columns are aligned correctly with the headings.
I must also open and save the file so that it interprets all entries as "Text". If I leave it to Standard it will format the numbers, so hex format 0101 becomes 101 and that will cause an error if I try to load back the file.
So it works, it can all be edited and fed back to the SectorMaker display.
But here's a strange thing. If I edit (WORLD NAME) in a line to give a non-mainworld a name, it won't appear on the system orbit list if you click the name of the mainworld. Do you type in a world name with the parentheses, or without, or did you just omit having non-mainworld names print out? I'll have to test this out some more.
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thalassogen
SOC-12
Good to know!
Yes, I omitted all names from the system listing, but that's easy to change. Just give me some time.
thalassogen
SOC-12
Thanks a lot! I am trying to post all errata I find to the errata thread.
Indeed, these tools are my way of learning T5
thalassogen
SOC-12
Yes, I omitted all names from the system listing, but that's easy to change. Just give me some time.
OK, here they are. I changed the system details display from preformatted text to table layout and inserted the world names.
EDIT: BTW, I started a phonetic analysis of the English language, but I am just about 5% into it, so be warned if you select "English" as a name source.
That's good for me, even if it's only the locals who name the non-mainworlds and the locals only call it, "That damn ball of gas that blots out the Sun half the time." Thanks!
thalassogen
SOC-12
You are welcome!
I just updated the website with a fix for a bug Marchand found while importing CSV files.
I just updated the website with a fix for a bug Marchand found while importing CSV files.
thalassogen
SOC-12
And a little update: I added cargo ids to world listings to get the trading started...
And a little update: I added cargo ids to world listings to get the trading started...
That's good.
Here are a few suggestions, not for now but the future:
--Capitalize generated names of any planet with a billion or more people (Population code >= 9).
--I found that if I wanted to tweak the UWP code on a planet in the generated spreadsheet, I had to calculate all the extensions again. Would it be possible to add an extensions calculator, for those who want to bring in the basic stats of a Classic Traveller world into the game? Type the code XAAAAAA-A, generate the appropriate extensions { } ( ) and [ ].
thalassogen
SOC-12
These are good suggestions - starting work on them right now ��
thalassogen
SOC-12
Thanks! You are way too fast. Are you employed in the computer sciences?
I found to my dismay that a planet could end up with an E starport code and an F population code. That makes no sense, unless the planet filled up quickly and they went immediately to a whole series of Highports. I have trouble seeing how a planet can have a population in the quadrillions as well, unless it's very, very tiny sophonts.
So, if I need to tweak the basic UWP code, the extensions calculator will be very useful with that. Thanks.
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thalassogen
SOC-12
You are welcome! And yes, I'm a software engineer working in the management consulting business as a freelancer.
I am planning for letting people create user accounts. Maybe it would be good to allow custom settings for the world creation process, like upper limits for pop, tech, etc.
I am planning for letting people create user accounts. Maybe it would be good to allow custom settings for the world creation process, like upper limits for pop, tech, etc.
I may indeed want to tame those high-population rolls, but I'll try to plan my campaign sector with the "straight" T5 rules and see how it goes!
esampson
SOC-13
Planetary systems are no different from NPCs in a Traveller game. A referee who is in a hurry uses some random dice rolls to generate a new system but if the stats come out oddly (hmm....Maybe High Admiral Bearington should have an Edu higher than 3....) then the referee is free to reroll or even just arbitrarily change a stat as they see fit.
I mean you always could decide to do everything purely by rolls and there's so much work involved that I wouldn't recommend building every single system 'by hand', but you'll probably generate a much more interesting setting if you, as referee, don't make yourself a complete slave to the dice rolls and put special features (significant shipyards, subsector capital, etc.) in by hand and sanity check rolls so you don't have things like systems where billions of people live on a Hellworld while the Garden Planet in the same system is completely uninhabited (which yes, can be explained, but if you generate too many of those then the explanations start wearing thin).
thalassogen
SOC-12
I just updated the website with new language generators for English and German. At least the German words are funny sounding to me - mostly they sound old and "dialect-ish". But they are far better than my first manual tries.
I will print sub-sector maps for my players' reference, but a live interactive map would be a cool touch. What might be cool are game-master accounts to your SectorMaker page, storing sector information, and if the game-master gives the link, players can access the information for a certain sector, zoom into the sub-sector maps, hover over a planet for the UWP and extensions, or click on a table-entry to get the full star-system configuration (some are coming up as 34 worlds apart from mainworld, sheesh!) I could give the players my stored sector file .csv, and the link to your page, but for the players that's multiple steps to set up.
May I ask where you post the key to understanding the UWP? I am confused about what's represented past the UWP {} () and []. I can't keep the information straight, and I want to know in case I want to add an entire new dice-generated star-system in a hex.
