Travellermap.com

[Blue Ghost]

So, I've got some questions about the site;

1) who's maintaining it now
2) I noticed the Rimward expedition isn't posted, but the Zhodani coreward expedition is; was there reason for that?
3) there's some places off of "known space" that I've never heard of; were those from the Judges Guild or FASA publications?

I'm posting this because when I write Adventure Seeds on my blog I reference the map for interesting places to start or visit.

Thanks for any replies.

 

[ffilz]

So, I've got some questions about the site;

1) who's maintaining it now
2) I noticed the Rimward expedition isn't posted, but the Zhodani coreward expedition is; was there reason for that?
3) there's some places off of "known space" that I've never heard of; were those from the Judges Guild or FASA publications?

I'm posting this because when I write Adventure Seeds on my blog I reference the map for interesting places to start or visit.

Thanks for any replies.

The Judges Guild sectors are in there.

I also discovered yesterday the Precipice sub-sector from Grenadier's Disappearance on Aramat is in there.

The Paranoia Press, Gamelords, and FASA sectors and sub-sectors should also all be in there I'm guessing.

BTW, the world search feature is really cool...

 

[whulorigan]

1) who's maintaining it now

Josh Bell, who designed it, still owns and maintains it. (That is inexorabletash here on CotI).

3) there's some places off of "known space" that I've never heard of; were those from the Judges Guild or FASA publications?

Josh uses the term "Faraway Sector" as a generic term for any sector information that he has from a non-canonical source or fan-source that would otherwise conflict with the data of an official sector near Charted Space. The term comes from the fact that he locates and hosts such non-canonical and/or ATU sectors in a place on the TravellerMap that is "Far Away" from the Charted Space regions (since the map area is HUGE).

See: https://travellermap.com/doc/credits

The Judges Guild sectors are in there.

The canonical (Gateway to Destiny / MJD) Gateway Domain Sectors are in their proper canonical spot. The decanonized Judges Guild Gateway Domain Sectors are located in a "Faraway Sector" location, but can be found by typing the Sector name in the "Search for . . . " field.

I also discovered yesterday the Precipice sub-sector from Grenadier's Disappearance on Aramat is in there.

Didn't realize that was there. Cool. Also a "Faraway Sector" location.

The Paranoia Press, Gamelords, and FASA sectors and sub-sectors should also all be in there I'm guessing.

The Gamelords, and FASA sectors form the basis for the In Review and Reviewed (i.e. T5SS data) on the standard TravellerMap. The Paranoia Press data was being extensively reviewed and updated at the time of DonM's untimely passing. I am not sure of the current status of the project, but the current "In Review" version of Sectors are on TravellerMap in their proper locations. Note that while the original Paranoia Press data was used as a basis, some significant updates have been made, and the data has been further informed by and modified in light of the updates Chuck Kallenbach published online concerning these areas in 1991 where necessary and advisable.

I have also made the request that the old Sunbane data for Beyond and Vanguard Reaches also be posted as "Faraway Sectors" like the Judges Guild Sectors at some point.

 

[Blue Ghost]

Well, I see Mintaka and Joyce's Void, but I don't see the rimward expedition. And I see the Zhodani coreward expedition, but I don't recall anything ever published for it.

And I thought K'Keree space was mapped via GT, but the central sectors are empty. So, I'm just a little confused on what gets included and what doesn't.

Currently my "New Worlds" adventure seeds series on my blog may be coming to an end, and I'm trying to get inspired for other areas.

 

[inexorabletash]

1) who's maintaining it now

As noted: that's me!

Per the site: https://travellermap.com/doc/about

2) I noticed the Rimward expedition isn't posted, but the Zhodani coreward expedition is; was there reason for that?

A not-so-brief history:

In the 1990s, Bari Z. Stafford (a.k.a. General Turokan) designed a series of sectors leading from Charted Space trailing-rimward to the rim of the Galaxy, as well as associated library data and "log reports" detailing about the expedition.

Later on, Clifford Linehan charted out the Zhodani Core Route mentioned in the Traveller canon. He interviewed Marc Miller for details and incorporated these into the route. For a time, Clifford hosted both details about his Core Route sectors and Bari's Rim Route sectors on his site.

Bari passed away in 2002. I started up travellermap.com in 2005. As I was populating the site, I came across Clifford's site, and asked for permission to incorporate his Core Route sectors, which was granted. A few years later, Clifford's site host (Geocities) was shut down.

At the time, I had no interest in incorporating Bari's Rim Route data into travellermap.com. Although neither data set was strictly canonical, I was interested in the Core Route because it was well researched and represented a canonical concept.

...

Since then (2016 or so?) I have reached out to Clifford and been granted his permission to incorporate Bari's Rim Route data, and have a copy of the sector data and notes (in GAL format, for those keeping track). However, it's a substantial data set (around 200 sectors). There's cleanup required, border generation required, and I'm worried about the performance impact on the site since it's just plain huge. This hasn't been a high priority for me, but it's on the "to do" list.

Also, and I'll be blunt: I don't feel that Bari's Rim Route data is compatible with the OTU. Along the route are many, many large polities comparable in size and technology with the Imperium. The final sector is an amalgam of science fiction fan references. It's a lot of fun, and I think the data should be preserved as an important contribution to Traveller lore, but... I think it needs to be treated specially.

My plan is to allow access to the route via some option, but it would not be presented by default. The site currently includes experimental "milieu" support (e.g. M990, M1120, M1248, etc), so that's a possibility.

Note that some of the currently presented sectors are designed by Bari as part of his route: Phlask, Drakken, Lorspane, Darret, Ataurre, Muarne, and Lancask. I may remove some of them from the default data set.

See: https://travellermap.com/doc/credits

(To just to be clear: the inclusion or exclusion of data on the site is entirely at my whim -- subject to any limits imposed by the Traveller IP owner, i.e. Marc Miller, and the individual authors. So if you would like to see something included -- or excluded -- talk to me. But there's the possibility we'll disagree. I may also change my whims at any time.)

Well, I see Mintaka and Joyce's Void, but I don't see the rimward expedition.

Those are by COTI member 77topaz who's been charting a cluster of sectors as part of the "Orion Association" setting. Technically non-OTU/Faraway/etc. Since they're not overlapping Charted Space and associated with specific rifts nearby I'm keeping them in place.

And I see the Zhodani coreward expedition, but I don't recall anything ever published for it.

Hopefully covered above. The site is offline now. If you explore the documentation on the site you may be able to find links to the Internet Archive's partial backup of Clifford's site.

And I thought K'Keree space was mapped via GT, but the central sectors are empty. So, I'm just a little confused on what gets included and what doesn't.

The K'kree sectors were never detailed, in GT or otherwise. The GT Aliens modules dropped some details about some adjacent polities and all of the various stabs at alien modules have given some details about worlds here and there, but no-one has published any sectors in K'kree space. COTI's GypsyComet has been working on charting them out recently - some placeholders, but working from the outside in so the central sectors are still blank.

Again, the gruesome detail for everything is captured at:

https://travellermap.com/doc/credits

 

[inexorabletash]

The Gamelords, and FASA sectors form the basis for the In Review and Reviewed (i.e. T5SS data) on the standard TravellerMap. The Paranoia Press data was being extensively reviewed and updated at the time of DonM's untimely passing. I am not sure of the current status of the project

In progress once again, but at a slower pace. There's been a push on some other areas, getting more sectors into review, and some revisions to sectors in review. Limited time, other priorities, etc.

I have also made the request that the old Sunbane data for Beyond and Vanguard Reaches also be posted as "Faraway Sectors" like the Judges Guild Sectors at some point.

Um, yeah. I went looking for the old data I had at one point and failed to find what I thought you were looking for. Ping me online if you have it?

 

[Blue Ghost]

Interesting. Thank you.

I actually did visit Bari's old website when it was pointed out to me a few years back, but I've since lost the link to it.

I don't know how websites operate, but it seemed like given the enormous amount of data that the map already has that it wouldn't be an issue to add more.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Blue Ghost]

I don't get anything other than a single system when I type "Faraway" into the search field.

 

[whulorigan]

I don't get anything other than a single system when I type "Faraway" into the search field.

Don't type "Faraway"; that is just a "slang" term for all of those sectors that are hosted on the map in a "Faraway" location. Type the actual name of the sector you are looking for.

So (for example) if it is the Glimmerdrift Reaches Sector, type Glimmerdrift, and you will see both Glimmerdrift Reaches (Sector), and Glimmerdrift Reaches (Judges Guild) Sector (Apocryphal).

 

[Blue Ghost]

I guess I didn't word myself properly. When you zoom out to a certain point, you can't see anymore sectors, just the red graphic of the old classic "known space map" borders, and maybe the broken line for the coreward expedition.

Are there other areas that have been mapped out that normal fans like me don't know about? Are there ares on the other side of the galaxy, or just off to the known space map that you've mapped?

 

[whulorigan]

I guess I didn't word myself properly. When you zoom out to a certain point, you can't see anymore sectors, just the red graphic of the old classic "known space map" borders, and maybe the broken line for the coreward expedition.

Are there other areas that have been mapped out that normal fans like me don't know about? Are there ares on the other side of the galaxy, or just off to the known space map that you've mapped?

To my knowledge, no (but obviously inexorabletash can answer definitively). The only stuff "out there" are the individual sectors of ATUs hosted by TravellerMap for individual GMs on request, such as the Varan Sector (which if you go to and pan-out from, you will see that it is coincidentally near the Precipice Sector mentioned up-thread).

But I will presume that as more material is released by Marc about those areas via the Galaxiad Setting, they will start to get filled in.

 

[Blue Ghost]

And I guess that's what I was curious about, because I see "Denizens", "Core Sophonts", eccetera, on the map, but I don't see anything in those regions when I zoom up on them. And yet there's something like what you mentioned.

Interesting. I was just curious. I thought maybe future products were being given space for beta-testing material or something.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[whulorigan]

And I guess that's what I was curious about, because I see "Denizens", "Core Sophonts", eccetera, on the map, but I don't see anything in those regions when I zoom up on them. And yet there's something like what you mentioned.

Interesting. I was just curious. I thought maybe future products were being given space for beta-testing material or something.

Those labels you mentioned above are directly from the Secret IISS Second Survey Appendix map included in T5. Any details about them are awaiting Marc's revelation.

You can read what little we know in this thread: The Essaray
and in this Free PDF by Marc Miller concerning the The Galaxiad

 

[Blue Ghost]

Again, interesting. I feel like I should comment, but should stay away and let my thoughts simmer for a while before replying properly.

 

[Blue Ghost]

Okay, here's what I wanted to say; it's a game, so it's not a big deal that someone wants to create races for the thing.

My personal take is that if Traveller wanted to maintain its skewing towards "real science", then maybe the setting has all the aliens it needs.

I think life is rare not because of the chemistry nor even the circumstances on various worlds, but because space, or galactic and stellar space, is like a shooting gallery for worlds that are volatile. Meaning that life can develop if the conditions are right, but the odds of it surviving, and evolving to inteligent life on our level, or higher, are probably slim, but it's also probably a crap shoot in terms of who reaches our level or beyond, and what life stays in the dino / mammal scheme of things.

That's kind of high minded, but it's just my opinion.

Thanks for the replies.