Classic Sector LBB's now available!

[Maladominus]

Thank you mickazoid. These are wonderful, professionally-done, and appreciated.

 

[Mickazoid]

Maladominus (and everyone else) - thank you so much for the kind words.

Any feedback is welcome (yes, even color gripes!)

- bear in mind that these pdfs are ENTIRELY computer-driven, and I don't format them in any way, so I can make changes to the script to change the visual presentation and it will carry across to all subsequent LBB's.

If you'd like to see a sector rendered, or would like a random sector of your very own, give me a holler!

 

[Border Reiver]

Well your PM box is full but I'm sure Gruffty & co would appreciate a render of Spica. I love these pdf's. Very nice.

 

[Supplement Four]

Great work, Mick.

I might have missed it, but did you date these? I looked at the Spinward Marches pdf, since that's where my campaign takes place, and I could tell these were Rebellion era maps. Now, I might have missed it, but if they're not dated anywhere, you might consider placing the current Traveller year on those maps.

But, yeah, great stuff.

(And, I love your cover.)

 

[Supplement Four]

Hey, and one more thing...

Where are those incredible world pictures you had? I was expecting to see those nifty, full-color pictures of planets I saw you present before.

I know it'd boost up the size of the pdf's something fierce, but it sure would be a nice touch to have a visual representation for wach world located next to the text description.

Oh...and any "Classic" era maps done? Spinward Marches and Deneb (maybe even Gvourrdon) set in 1105 or so?

 

[Mickazoid]

Hmm - perhaps that's a good distinction - I'll charge cash money for the version with a World Map page per world (Iso and round world). Will add between 300 - 500 pages, and I'll have to keep the images to a tidy size to keep the pdf from kerpoofing to biblical proportions...

gimme circa 1105 sec and msec info and I'll jam those in there - as a classic Traveller devotee, 1105 is just my kinda era...

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by mickazoid:
Will add between 300 - 500 pages, and I'll have to keep the images to a tidy size to keep the pdf from kerpoofing to biblical proportions...

If it were me, I'd change the scope of the books. I'd make each one detail a subsector rather than an entire sector.

I'd have the intro material and a sector map. Then, I'd have the subsector map (focus of the book) and maybe maps of the 8 adjacent subsectors around the focus subsector--but just the maps (no other info about those subsectors).

The meat of the book would include (1) those nifty world pics you have of each world in the subsector; (2) subsector world data; and (3) the encounter charts.

Most Traveller games spend A LOT of time in a single subsector anyway. GMs could get the books that pertain to the subsectors in their campaigns. For example, I'd get the Aramis subsector (of the Spinward Marches) and maybe the adjacent subsector in the Gvurrdon sector just coreward of Aramis.

My thought is: Focussing on a single subsector would make the book a lot less bulky (just the 20-30 worlds in that subsector) by cutting down on the size of the book.

Also, what would be helpful (I'm not sure if you did this in the books already) would be to have the extended world data for each world (from Grand Census and Grand Survey). Each world would have some specific info about it detailing strange customs and showing TL charts for the various tech categories, etc.

That's how I'd do it--focus on a smaller area with the subsector.

 

[Mickazoid]

Interesting ideas to do a subsector focus book!

Since these are totally randomly generated books, putting in 'specific info about strange customs, etc.' would be possible - but a bit far afield from the randomizable data the rest of the book presents. It'd be best suited by using a standing 'canon' db (which is something other folks are already doing wonderfully. It is well-suited for a 'for-pay' set of LBB's, though...

And bear in mind I'm Classic Traveller only - I've never played any of the other Travellers, so I'm not up on the 'Grand Census' stuff...

 

[aramis]

Grand Census and Grand Survey were DGP materials for CT, Mick. If you can find the MT version (World Builder's Handbook), get it, and automate it.

 

[Mickazoid]

I'm just a li'l ol LBB gal I suppose, but (hypothetically speaking, of course), how much are those books goin' fer on ebay?

 

[Jame]

Originally posted by mickazoid:
I'm just a li'l ol LBB gal I suppose, but (hypothetically speaking, of course), how much are those books goin' fer on ebay?

However much the previous owner wants you to part with, of course! (No, I don't know.)

Micki, if I were to wish to have a few of my subsectors translated into this, how would I?

 

[Mickazoid]

Jame - gimme a .sec file and an .msec file, as well as a list of polities for each two-letter code in the UPP.

The formatting of the msec file (containing the desired trade routes, borders, regions and labels) should be sec2pdf compatible, and should match the others I posted. If you'd prefer random routes and/or borders, the software can provide 'em.

The .sec file should likewise match the format of the others I posted, but I've got lots of sec file format translation scripts so I can make use of whatever you've got.

Also - choose a quote, or you'll get one of my (admittedly on-topic) random ones for the back page.

I'm looking forward to it!

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by mickazoid:
And bear in mind I'm Classic Traveller only - I've never played any of the other Travellers, so I'm not up on the 'Grand Census' stuff...

As William said, GC and GS are both CT books. And, there's A LOT of great stuff in both of them that would compliment the work you're doing with these sector/subsector books.

Grand Survey brings a lot more "detail" to the world detail you're creating in your books: Stuff like mean surface gravity, rotation period, detailed atmosphere composition (just what kind of taint is it?), hydrographic terraforming, temperatures based on latitude, various world mapping aids, number of cities (and population modifiers for those cities), how many ports the planet has (both space ports and star ports).

This data (and more contained in the book) are used for "creating" that planet. You can place volcanoes and mountain ranges due to the info contained it. Maps of the world will come with Surface Movement Rates for GMs to use in specific terrain. Charts can be made for weather effects and temperature (which would greatly compliment your encounter charts you're already putting in the books).

Stuff like that.

Grand Census has more data that would be good for the type of book you're making: Stuff like varying a world's TL based on different tech categories (a desert world probably won't have a high TL for watercraft); Social Outlook of the various peoples on the planet (measures different aspects of the culture of the beings found on the world--very useful for roleplaying); more detail is put into the planet's system of government; indications of native intelligent life (maybe non-human); religion is looked at..etc.

I think that both of these books, and the output they would bring to your project, would be a boon for your subsector books, taking them to the next level.

A GM could open one of these books of yours and have an entire worlds fully described, at his fingertips.

You might consider tracking them down. But, be warned: They're not cheap. And, they're hard to find.

I have both GS and GC, and I have the MT version of both of these books (called the MegaTraveller World Builders Handbook).

I'm actually more partial to the GS/GC editions, although the MTWBHB is a fantastic book in its own right.

Many people will tell you that the MT version is just the re-printed stuff from GS/GC. Although much of the MT book IS taken from GS/GC, I disagree that they're the same work. There's definitely stuff that one has that the other doesn't.

If I had to choose, being a CT guy, I'd go with GS/GC over the MT book (but the MT book is 100% useable with a CT game--and provides much of the same "output").

You should consider getting them. They're examples of some of the best stuff ever printed for Classic Traveller.

 

[Jame]

Originally posted by mickazoid:
Jame - gimme a .sec file and an .msec file, as well as a list of polities for each two-letter code in the UPP.

I, ah, don't have any .sec files... Everything that I'd do is up here on CotI, in UBB format.

 

[Mickazoid]

I'll be glad to do my darndest with whatever you've got - the software can create random (though somewhat fractal) trade routes, and can generate appropriate borders based on each world's affiliation code.

I'm looking forward to Jame Sector!

And I'd love to see those super-extendorama world stat generation systems, SuppFour. Perhaps I'll fall in love with them as you have!

 

[FlightCommanderSolitude]

Micky, I've got WBH. If you want to collaborate, I could take a stab at automating the whole thing in Perl. The amount of data entry involved makes me a little queasy, but it could be a cool project. It's been a while since I looked at it, but as I recall it's essentially Book 6, plus a bunch of extra details about law, technology, government and society.

 

[Mickazoid]

I think I'll be digging up a copy soon (I have a friend doing some scrounging), but is the system totally random or is there some 'make stuff up' step in there that'll tinkle in the cornflakes?

(to use a well-loved family metaphor)

 

[Jame]

How do you want these subsectors (which are essentially unrelated) sent to you?

 

[FlightCommanderSolitude]

LOL! I just dug it out, and it would actually be a huge amount of work to automate the entire process. I think it's all pretty table- and forumula-driven. There are rules for system generation (like Bk6), then world generation (like Bk3/6), then some crazy society generation stuff. (Like "Dressing habits: unusual toenails.") Here there would be a lot of further input required; for example, "Miscellaneous customs: Bodily abuse required" would require further explication by the referee, if they had the stomach for it. Also introduced are a Law profile and a Technology profile, both of which subdivide the base Law Level and Tech Level attributes.

In the end, I think system generation would be most useful; world generation is dead simple anyway, and while some of the extra details provided by WBH could be interesting to have, I'm not sure automating the entire process would be worth the pain.

 

[Supplement Four]

FYI, the Heaven & Earth program does ALL of the WBH stuff--does all the calculations, dice rolls, and is available to print out.

Maybe you can steal some of H&E's functionality?