Mapping 2300 (2320)

[drkem99]

Long-time lurker, first-time poster. Hi, everyone.

I need help finding the most current version of the Near Star List used to generate maps for 2300 and 2320. I am using a freeware program called yED to generate a 'subway-style' map. The program works very well, but my data set is John McClure's 1997 nearstar.xls list which lacks data on the star locations and (more importantly) links and distances in the 61 Cygni, Wolf, and Beta Aquilae clusters. I plan to transform the resulting map for a variant 2300 universe, but i would be happy to share the unmodified map with anyone who wants a copy once I have added the updated data set. I have searched the web, but much of 2300 online AD lore has been lost in the fog of absent sites and broken links. Can anyone help?

Thanks,
Kem

 

[Anthony]

If all you're looking for is accurate stellar positions and classes, try the RECONS database.
http://www.chara.gsu.edu/RECONS/TOP100.htm

 

[drkem99]

Thanks, Anthony; that's a very helpful reference I was unaware of. One of the things I am waiting to see with 2320AD is whether or not they incorporate all of the corrections in the list of stars within 50 ly or use the old 2300AD canon star list. You can see from the RECONS data how many changes stellar observations in the last two decades have made in the Near Star List, and the new data may significatly change the look-and-feel of the game depending on the location of the stars and the resulting changes in the map. I'll be curious to see what option Colin has chosen.

Thanks again,

Kem

 

[ElHombre]

IIRC, 2320 is still going to use the old star positions. updating to a new list would cause more headaches as far as canon is concerned (i'm sure you can imagine the problem retconning the two lists ). there have been some new additions involving brown dwarfs.

BTW, welcome aboard.

 

[drkem99]

The Beta Aquilae cluster I mentioned earlier depends on a brown dwarf to open the stutterwarp link into the cluster; adding a select few brown dwarf links would allow other clusters to be opened up as well without the limiting factor of tug use (a concept I was never very fond of.)

Appreciate the welcome, ElHombre.

Kem

 

[foxx]

Last fall, I decided to expand the 2300AD Near Star List. The end result was a listing expanded to 60 light years, based on the Gliese 2 data set. You can find the write-up and files on my website at www.foxx-industries.com

 

[Malenfant]

I've got a list of stars out to about 100 lightyears using Hipparcos data (which is much more accurate than Gliese). I think we tried doing something with this for the 2320 playtest, but the new positions of the stars kinda broke the setting a bit.

 

[aramis]

Kem: 'taint nice to tease us with a program name and not give us a link....

 

[Colin]

Using new star lists pretty much breaks the setting, and it was beyond my mandate to rewrite it. (though I did offer...) For one thing, you lose the structure of the Arms, and everything becomes much more wide-open. No vital choke-points drastically changes the strategic side of all the conflicts, most especially the Kafer War.

 

[foxx]

I used the Gliese 2 data set because that is what GDW based their map on. I plotted new maps by hand in Excel because I could not find a suitable software product. The link to the maps on my website is at http://www.foxx-industries.com/2300ad/maps.htm. I did find several stars within 50 ly that had been clearly omitted and some that were plotted incorrectly (- and + coordinate signs reversed).

There is a listing of all stars on my maps and a listing of all 7.7ly routes on my website at http://www.foxx-industries.com/2300ad/circular.htm.

I do agree with Colin that the addition of more stars can have drastic impact on the structure of the Arms. I found that the American and Chinese Arms have no changes, but the French Arm has some major changes - namely the addition of a finger originating from Augereau and total destruction of the Kafer Sphere area which was all ficticious stars to begin with. I ended up using a modified set of stars for my 2300AD universe.

 

[foxx]

I discovered that you shouldn't end a sentence with a URL followed by a period. The correct URLs are...

Maps: http://www.foxx-industries.com/2300ad/maps.htm

Star and Route Listings: http://www.foxx-industries.com/2300ad/circular.htm

 

[Granpafishy]

Originally posted by Aramis:
Kem: 'taint nice to tease us with a program name and not give us a link....

Here ya go:
yED - Java Graph Editor