Settings: Near Earth or in a Galaxy Far, Far Away?

[Jame]

Oh yes. For me, the "disadvantage" of having to explain away STL colonization doesn't exist - all of the ATUs I'd make would involve the locals recovering from a collapse of a previous, FTL-using civilization. STL doesn't factor in because (a.) the locals had FTL all along, (b.) the precursor civilization also did and (c.) the STL period would have been loooong over by the time the region was settled, if there ever was an STL period to begin with.

 

[Jame]

There is one. I voted that way... :devil:

There wasn't when I voted...

 

[aramis]

Also, how did you plot the locations of these stars on the map? I did it by hand with a ruler and an angle-ruler (or whatever that round ruler with degrees on it is called), and it was a messy and inaccurate chore. Is there any free computer program capable of doing this?

Protractor.

 

[Golan2072]

Protractor.

Thanks, edited

 

[mondokhan]

Usually, But

Usually I prefer to have earth around even if I don't use it. Ie on the map. However I was thinking I might try something different in my next campaign. I am thinking on using a stellar map (current) and putting it into game. A hex is close to a parsec so I can adjust and see what I get. I am liking the idea more and more but generally I play (ref) elsewhere.

Mondo

 

[Plankowner]

I tried doing something similar and ran into the same problem. I like your solution of "thinning out" the stars and ignoring some of the nameless Type-M's; however some of them seem to have potential for habitable planets look here or here).

Also, how did you plot the locations of these stars on the map? I did it by hand with a ruler and a protractor and it was a messy and inaccurate chore. Is there any free computer program capable of doing this?

I tried to keep every system that had an Exoplanet (a moving target I know) to preserve the feel. I used SolStation.com and the NASA Exoplanet Websites and the RECONS data for the nearest stars and systems. Brown Dwarfs are STARS by my definition, not planets, so that reduced the need to planet tracking somewhat. I go back every 6 months or so and update the systems as necessary but at some point you have to give up and just go with what you have.

I have AutoCAD that lets me plot using angle and distance (hence my use of THETA and Distance). I'm sure there are free programs, but I don't know of any off hand. At a scale of one unit = 1 parsec, I plotted the locations then overlayed the HEX map and moved the stars into the nearest hex. If multiple stars were in one hex, I picked one and dropped the others, figuring it had the planetary system. If 2 planetary systems occupied the same hex, I moved one of them to an adjacent hex.

Once you get beyond about 10 parsecs, distance errors make it easy to move things a hex or 2 if necessary.

 

[aramis]

Thanks, edited

Most welcome.

 

[Golan2072]

I DID make a 2D map of near space that I like, but I had to make several assumptions that others may not agree with that could make it work or not work for someone else.

I used the HYG star list, converted everything to galactic XYZ coordinates and distance. I then used the X and Y values to calculate an angle called THETA (for lack of a better term). Where 0 degrees Theta was Coreward. I then plotted all the stars using Theta and the true distance.

Hmmm... Could you just use the X and Y coordinates and ignore the Z? Distance would be inaccurate, but relative locations on the X and Y axis would be accurate.

MAJOR DISADVANTAGE: Actual number of stars goes up with the cube of the distance from Earth, but in a 2D map, it only goes up with the square of the distance. That means that the farther from Earth you go, the denser the stars get and you end up with many stars in every hex. To fix that, you can drop a lot of those dim M stars, or stars without names (just numbers). Things really fall apart after about 40-50 light-years and beyond that you might as well make things random and just keep a few of the brighter stars for reference.

Another option I'm thinking about would be to ignore most flare stars - which are unlikely to have life or even be colonizable due to massive solar flares occurring from time to time. Am I correct?

 

[Kyle Aaron]

There's a good page about starmaps here.

There's a useful dataset there, the HabHYG one. It gives X,Y,Z co-ordinates for them and their distance from Sol, both in parsecs. It notes if the system is capable of having a habitable planet, excluding stars whose luminosity varies by more than 3%, X-ray stars, stars low in metals, and so on. There are 17 other than Sol within 6 parsecs, 117 within 12 parsecs, and 3,149 of these within 50 parsecs, which should be enough to keep any GM busy.

I don't feel myself confined to two dimensions. If Marc Miller had had a laptop with a spreadsheet on it he probably wouldn't have, either

 

[JAFARR]

I like to know that there is an Earth on the map somewhere, but so far away as to be the stuff of myth and legends. Generally I play in or near the Marches. Sometimes in MTU it's just made up, but that takes a lot of time I haven't had for years. The reason for the 2D map was ease of play, not accuracy in the first place. If you like near earth, try the AD2300 map. It used 2D with Earth at 0,0 and used a color and size chart for distance above or below the plane of the map. However, it has been many years since I even looked at that map.

 

[Merxiless]

Nothing like Earth, it's own Galaxy, history, etc.

Kind of a Galaxy Far, Far away, but no Sith nor people like that.

 

[soloprobe]

In My current universe ,The Imperium is the TERRAN EMPIRE....Need I say more?

 

[savage]

Where is Earth Dad?

"Didn't we look for it last month? Well, son it would be in that star group over there... very faint but here you should see it through the scope. Don't really know what's happening there now but after the last Solamani war it was better off as a park. Virus broke out and that was the last we heard about it".:smirk:

 

[Thoth-Amon]

Keep Earth in the star charts but never use it... make it too far off to do so.

Thoth-Amon