A new size scale for stellar systems

[Space Cadet]

Originally posted by Randy Tyler:
The water is for the population to drink not to use as unrefined fuel. Jeeze, sometimes I think you scientists can't see the forest for the trees.

Well as he said, hydrogen gets into things, a hydrogen atmosphere is an insiduous atmosphere, the interiors of aircraft and habitats floating in the atmosphere will have to be continously scrubbed for hydrogen. The best way to get the hydrogen out of the breathable air is to circulate air through scrubbers which heat the air inside causing the trace hydrogen to combust with the surrounding oxygen producing water vapor, best to do that before too much hydrogen accumulates causing an explosion. The amount of water is of course limited by your supply of oxygen so in Jupiter's atmosphere, if you have oxygen to breath, you also have water to drink, its as simple as that.

 

[Space Cadet]

Originally posted by Malenfant:
So don't lose the text then

. It's not like the notes are going to get separated from the UWP anyway.

Think about it - what I'm suggesting keeps the format we have already (UWP + notes) without the need to change anything about that. The problem with what you're suggesting is that it suddenly throws in two-digit codes for one parameter (size), which the UWP is not built for.

I'm talking about something like this:

</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">Jupiter ADC0746F N So (trade codes) radius: 69911km</pre>

[/quote]The text is non-standardized, it includes only the information the author wishes to include, others will think it not important and leave it out. I have a suggestion though, if you are going to use single digit unicode, why don't you use the letters I and O to represent small and large gas giants, as those are the forbidden 2 letters. the Traveller Unicode system goes like this:

0: 0
1: 1
2: 2
3: 3
4: 4
5: 5
6: 6
7: 7
8: 8
9: 9
A: 10
B: 11
C: 12
D: 13
E: 14
F: 15
G: 16
H: 17
J: 18
K: 19
L: 20
M: 21
N: 22
P: 23
Q: 24
R: 25
S: 26
T: 27
U: 28
V: 29
W: 30
X: 31
Y: 32

Notice that I and O are missing, and Z is held in reserve. The trouble with using D and E for small and large gas giants is that people will think in means 13,000 mile and 14,000 mile diameter planets and have to be told otherwise.

Otherwise one can use Hexadecimals but add the extradigits only when needed. For example:

UWP ======== Diameter (km)
X0.023456-7 = 0 km
X0.123456-7 = 100 km
X0.223456-7 = 200 km
X0.323456-7 = 300 km
X0.423456-7 = 400 km
X0.523456-7 = 500 km
X0.623456-7 = 600 km
X0.723456-7 = 700 km
X0.823456-7 = 800 km
X0.923456-7 = 900 km
X0.A23456-7 = 1,000 km
X0.B23456-7 = 1,100 km
X0.C23456-7 = 1,200 km
X0.D23456-7 = 1,300 km
X0.E23456-7 = 1,400 km
X0.F23456-7 = 1,500 km
X123456-7 = 1,600 km
X223456-7 = 3,200 km
X323456-7 = 4,800 km
X423456-7 = 6,400 km
X523456-7 = 8,000 km
X623456-7 = 9,600 km
X723456-7 = 11,200 km
X823456-7 = 12,800 km
X923456-7 = 14,000 km
XA23456-7 = 16,000 km
XB23456-7 = 17,600 km
XC23456-7 = 19,200 km
XD23456-7 = 20,800 km
XE23456-7 = 22,400 km
XF23456-7 = 24,000 km
X10.023456-7 = 25,600 km
X11.023456-7 = 27,200 km
X12.023456-7 = 28,800 km
X13.023456-7 = 30,400 km
X14.023456-7 = 32,000 km
X15.023456-7 = 33,600 km
X16.023456-7 = 35,200 km
X17.023456-7 = 36,800 km
X18.023456-7 = 38,400 km
X19.023456-7 = 40,000 km
X1A.023456-7 = 41,600 km
X1B.023456-7 = 43,200 km
X1C.023456-7 = 44,800 km
X1D.023456-7 = 46,400 km
X1E.023456-7 = 48,000 km
X1F.023456-7 = 49,600 km
X20.023456-7 = 51,200 km
...
You see, if you have to add a digit on the left, you automatically put a point on the right and a 0, and its only after that 0 that you get the atmosphere and hydrographics digit The point tells you somethings up, either the planets larger than standard size, smaller than standard size, or the author wishes to include additional precision. Otherwise if you don't see the "." then you read it as standard traveller UWP.

Just like when you write the number "5" for instance, you can write "5" or "05", leading zeros don't count for anything, generally accepted practice is not to include leading zeros and you add digits to the left only if you need them to express the number, the same would apply to this new revised UWP code, the "." would tell you not only that there was a fraction, but also that the digits between the Starport letter and the "." are part of the same number and represent a single value, and you'd know that the number immediately after the "." is how many hundreds of kilometer the planet is greater than the nearest whole size, and the number after that is Atmosphere.

 

[far-trader]

Originally posted by Space Cadet:
...I have a suggestion though, if you are going to use single digit unicode, why don't you use the letters I and O to represent small and large gas giants, as those are the forbidden 2 letters.

The reason I and O are not used is because they are too easily confused with the numbers 1 and 0. Using them in a unicode won't work very well.

 

[Space Cadet]

Only if you draw them by hand. Otherwise its
1I 0O, can you tell the difference? If you like you can use lower case i and o then it will be
1i and 0o, no mistaking those two.

 

[Space Cadet]

As for rolling out the sizes in kilometers you can make a virtual 16-sided die with two 4-sided dice like this

- 1 2 3 4
1 1 2 3 4
2 5 6 7 8
3 9 A B C
4 D E F 0

Now for planetary sizes
roll 1d20
- ==== Result
1 to 6 (1d16) 0 km to 1,500 km (0.1 to 0.F Hex)
7 to 17 (1d16) 1,600 km to 24,000 km (1 to F Hex) + above
18 to 20 (1d6) 25,600 km to 153,600 km (10 to 60 Hex) + above.

 

[Malenfant]

Are you just setting out to make the most arcane system you can possibly make here or something? I mean, you're wanting people to roll two d4s now?! In a system that is d6 based? And using a two-digit hexadecimal code?!!

Yah. You know what, I'll just leave you to it. It's clear that you just want to ramble on about your hex and d4 tables and not listen to anyone else anyway (as usual).

 

[Space Cadet]

Those dice are awfully heavy aren't they? T20 is not d6 based, the Classic Traveller RPG is. I think what matters most is data compression and the ability to store the data in a readily indetifiable fashion, if that takes a few more die rolls, so be it.

Lets try it out. I'll do a Subsector and we'll look at the result.

These are the numbers generated:

0102 Aberath ------- A0.A
0104 Gorheim ------- B48.F
0106 Ventriculus --- A0.E
0107 Wendle -------- A0.A
0108 Carl's World -- B3.0
0109 Haradine ------ EA.9
0110 Penelope ------ CF.C
0203 Dreesle ------- A0.0
0204 Nefgot -------- BF.5
0205 ⌧ythe ------ C3B.0
0206 Yar Yar ------- A0.F
0208 Zendar -------- B1E.4
0209 Trohoof ------- BE.0
0210 Quaren -------- E1C.0
0301 Nupteen ------- EF.C
0302 Xezzal -------- C3A.1
0303 Japitar ------- C0.E
0305 Loreoff ------- C4.8
0309 Octavia ------- EF.2
0310 Illoite ------- C0.3
0403 Frendale ------ D2.1
0409 Rothmar ------- CF.C
0501 Senduaine ----- B50.3
0502 Korack -------- E3.3
0505 Neddlepump ---- BF.7
0506 Moreithia ----- CC.5
0507 Dobblehart ---- A0.3
0509 Twaine -------- B0.9
0601 Cetius -------- B14.9
0606 Sallow -------- E7.4
0607 Bothspeir ----- D17.B
0609 Einswain ------ A0.3
0702 Bucketar ------ AE.9
0704 Optimoss ------ C67.A
0707 Dornswain ----- E3.1
0709 Harhardigan --- E0.3
0803 Yotulesta ----- X51.C
0806 Rockmar ------- C2.E
0809 Wrenhoff ------ E9.D
0810 Beetops ------- AB.7

Now we round them off and continue:
0102 Aberath ------- A100631-F (1,600 km)
0104 Gorheim ------- B48.FCA69C-E (116,700 km)
0106 Ventriculus --- A1009AB-F (1,600 km)
0107 Wendle -------- A100476-F (1,600 km
0108 Carl's World -- B352663-E (4,800 km)
0109 Haradine ------ EBCA521-E (17,600 km)
0110 Penelope ------ CF.CCA45A-E (25,200 km)
0203 Dreesle ------- A0.000442-F (Space Station)
0204 Nefgot -------- BFCA887-E (24,000 km)
0205 ⌧ythe ------ C3B.0CA230-E (94,000 km)
0206 Yar Yar ------- A100627-F (1,600 km)
0208 Zendar -------- B1E.4CAA85-E (48,400 km)
0209 Trohoof ------- BECC998-E (22,400 km)
0210 Quaren -------- E1C.0CA965-E (44,800 km)
0301 Nupteen ------- EF.CCA67B-E (25,200 km)
0302 Xezzal -------- C3A.1CA9A9-E (92,900 km)
0303 Japitar ------- C100100-E (1,600 km)
0305 Loreoff ------- C510534-E (8,000 km)
0309 Octavia ------- EFCA775-E (24,000 km)
0310 Illoite ------- C0.300887-E (
0403 Frendale ------ D200000-E
0409 Rothmar ------- CF.CCA8A6-E
0501 Senduaine ----- B50.3CA6AB-E
0502 Korack -------- E342265-E
0505 Neddlepump ---- BFCA465-E
0506 Moreithia ----- CCCA000-E
0507 Dobblehart ---- A0.300384-F
0509 Twaine -------- B100ACC-E
0601 Cetius -------- B14.9CA44-E1
0606 Sallow -------- E79A565-E
0607 Bothspeir ----- D17.BCA211-E
0609 Einswain ------ A0.300698-F
0702 Bucketar ------ AFCA562-F
0704 Optimoss ------ C67.ACA310-E
0707 Dornswain ----- E367440-E
0709 Harhardigan --- E0.300465-E
0803 Yotulesta ----- X51.CCA38B-E
0806 Rockmar ------- C311433-E
0809 Wrenhoff ------ EACA679-E
0810 Beetops ------- ABCA676-F