World Map Forms

[robject]

An early JTAS article suggested that alternate world maps could be made by creating smaller maps for smaller worlds and larger maps for larger worlds.

I'll try to explain a different way. The standard world map for Traveller has 20 'triangles' -- you can see an example in the fLibrary under forms (IS Forms 8 and 9) -- with each 'side' of a triangle being 7 hexes in length.

The suggestion was to set this map as being for a size 7 world. Smaller worlds had smaller triangles; i.e. a size 5 world's triangles had a length of 5 hexes, while a size 10 world had 10 hexes on a side.

I'm wondering if anyone has created forms for these variant world maps? I think the idea is excellent. Maybe I can figure out a way to do this programmatically...

 

[Malenfant]

Um, wouldn't it just be a hell of a lot easier to use one map and change the scale that each hex represents? Otherwise you'd need 10 maps - one for each world size - it'd be a nightmare.

 

[BeRKA]

A long time ago I did some calculations of the hex sizes for worlds of different size.

The result is found here.
http://zho.berka.com/rules/mappo.html

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Changing the scale is the simplest way (especially since few size n worlds are exactly n*1000 miles across, so even with different maps you'll *still* have to change the scale).

 

[robject]

Changing the scale is the way it's been done, being done, will be done. It's just not as visually helpful. Regardless of the scale, every world "looks like" it has the same size.

Actually, I want ten maps -- and I don't think ten maps is a nightmare, since there's only one map per world that I might detail. (In reality, there is no true size 1 'map', a size '2' map would probably look ridiculous, and one-off maps are still very useful -- i.e. use one map for size 3 and 4, one for 5-6, one for 7-8, one for 9-A or something like that.

It's nice to see how small Rhylanor really is, in comparison with a size 8 world, for instance. It's a good visual aid.

 

[far-trader]

I recall starting just such a project and collection years ago. I found that at a reasonable scale to allow folding for the size 1 world the size 10 world was huge. And then too, nice as it was to do a world (in color no less) with all the land and water masses and major sights, it's near heartbreaking after the first couple of "cool"s from the gang and then they jump outsystem without even landing

 

[aramis]

Not all games out there use fixed size maps with variable scale....

Attack Vector uses fixed scale maps. Dunno about hexes. I may get on making you a set of maps, tho...

 

[Andrew Boulton]

On computer, you can do it either way. Once you need hard copies, though, variable scale is the only practical way.

 

[robject]

"Once you need hard copies, though, variable scale is the only practical way."

If you mean variable-scale hexes on worldmaps, then I say, poo.

On the other hand, your point that real worlds are never an exact size is well made -- but I'm perfectly willing in this case to assume one significant digit for world sizes.

Actually, about X years ago (X>5) I sat down with scissors (!!) and white-out, and pieced together maps for size 4 and size 8 worlds, then photocopied them and used them for Twilight's Peak. Worked so well that I kept the world maps. Well, the templates were a little off-center, a little tilted, and there were only 3 sizes, but it worked.

But I was hoping someone has already done the hard work. Otherwise, I'll be cutting and pasting bits of JPEGs together.

And as for the painfully-crafted worlds not getting visited, well I have them still, in one of the most adventured part of Traveller space. If the framework were a bit higher quality, I'd scan them in and put them on Landgrab, but they're not good enough for random public consumption. Having them in the first place is somewhat of a reward in itself.

Now, having them on the top half of a page, with the solar system map from MT on the bottom half, would be really nice. Someday, in my copious free time...

 

[robject]

OK, well I guess I do have some free time once in a while. Here's the kind of thing I'm thinking of.

The major problem here is that the hexes are too small. I'll have to rearrange things some.

If a system has a lot of detail, I'd use multiple pages instead, maybe with a full-page world map, and a system-level page, where half the page is text and the other half is the system-travel map shown in these forms.

Size 4 map (say, world sizes 3-4):

Size 6 map (maybe world sizes 5-7):

Size 8 map (maybe world sizes 8+):

 

[Lord Iron Wolf]

This is beginning to remind me of the type of mapping triangles used in 2300 AD. I believe you can find the form at www.mad-irishman.com

It basically kept the hexes the same amount of miles and varied the size of the triangles.

Lord Iron Wolf

 

[far-trader]

That'd be www.mad-irishman.net actually

Lots of great stuff but I'm not seeing any hexes

I have a vague recollection of a perl or such script somewhere allowing custom World Hex style maps but I don't recall where. It's not in the obvious place, www.zho.berka.com so maybe I imagined it.

 

[Golan2072]

I'd prefer to use a fixed-scale planetary map, with the number of hexes (but not their size!) changing according to planetary size. This would allow for travel/encounters to be simplified to "roll once per hex" or to "crossing one hex takes 16 hours in your ATV's 100km/h road speed". JTAS #16 pp.6-8 suggests such a scale, with 1,000km per hex.

Oh, by the way, does Heaven & Earth (which I've just downloaded a minute ago) support such fixed-hex-scale, different-hex-number maps?

 

[aramis]

Side note: 2300 used this approach!

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

Do you mean the scale of the hex is dependent on the world size? That Concept? It makes sense. The geometry of a sphere should have some constant. Otherwise, wouldn't a big world have a bazillion hexes all over it?

 

[Golan2072]

Originally posted by Baron Saarthuran von Gushiddan:
Do you mean the scale of the hex is dependent on the world size? That Concept? It makes sense. The geometry of a sphere should have some constant. Otherwise, wouldn't a big world have a bazillion hexes all over it?

Not a bazillion; if each hex is 1,000km in width, a size-A world with 16,000km diamater will have a map of 16 hexes in width and 8 hexes in height, that's 128 hexes at most (remember that, as the map describes a sphere, some hexes are ommited). A size-1 world would be the problem with only two hexes on its map.

The problem with variable-size hexes is that you'll have to calculate travel times and encounters by individual KMs rather than by hex, which adds some complexity.

 

[robject]

Originally posted by Employee 2-4601:
I'd prefer to use a fixed-scale planetary map, with the number of hexes (but not their size!) changing according to planetary size. This would allow for travel/encounters to be simplified to "roll once per hex" or to "crossing one hex takes 16 hours in your ATV's 100km/h road speed". JTAS #16 pp.6-8 suggests such a scale, with 1,000km per hex.

You've said it much better than I have. This is what I'm thinking of, and in I read about the idea in one of the "Best of JTAS" issues.

Here's a very primitive idea of what I'm thinking of: forms for world sizes 4, 6, and 8.

Does the solar system map appears too big for the amount of data it probably holds? (It can have UWPs for system objects, and I suppose it could have some way of relating current date to orbital position for each).

 

[jrients]

Originally posted by Employee 2-4601:
[QB]A size-1 world would be the problem with only two hexes on its map.

Actually, I'd be fine with a 2-hex size 1 world. It would look weird, but I could explain it to players as two hemispheres represented by flat hexes. For that small of a planet, I don't think I really need to map out a whole lot of surface detail and for that sacrifice I gain a lot of simplicity in reffing operations on planetary surfaces. Heck, by fixing hex sizes you open the door to gaming planetary invasions on any world with the same scale units. Just blow up the maps to fit standard counters and you're good to go.

 

[aramis]

No, baron, that the size of the hex is fixed, and the number per triangle on the isocohedral projection is variable.

2300 simply didn't print the isocohedrons with hexes; the mid-level maps indicate where to "cut" to form the triangles.

 

[Golan2072]

Originally posted by robject:

Here's a very primitive idea of what I'm thinking of: forms for world sizes 4, 6, and 8.

Does the solar system map appears too big for the amount of data it probably holds? (It can have UWPs for system objects, and I suppose it could have some way of relating current date to orbital position for each).

I'd put the system map in a different form but add a table/list with planetary features (UWP, trade codes, notes and so on; mabe some space for encounter tables for those who like them). And we should have one form per planetary size.

Which scale of hexes do you use? 1,000km seems good as it works with all world sizes and most vehicles will cross one or two hexes per day. 500km is more detailed, but will create HUGE maps for large-size planets.

The only problem is that Heaven and Earth uses variable-hex-scale maps...