Gaming Glen
SOC-12
I've been working on my own star system generator in Excel and have had a few things come up.
How accurate is the Book 6 data now? I went looking for star data information, specfically Luminosity, but cannot find all the data I want. I have found a few charts specifying data for the general spectral type (i.e., O,B,A,F,K,M) but not for the break down for A1, A2, A3..., etc. Even then, one chart listed G type stars with a luminosity of 0.6 Sols
. Also, I want information on the new T and L classes (brown dwarfs... or do they use "dwarves" for plural form? 
). I generate those, although the chance is low, and they can get placed in planetary orbits. Book6 also uses VI size star classification (subdwarfs) which I believe are no longer in use, and the White Dwarf classifications have changed as well.
I know Titius-Bode's Law does not really work for orbit locations, but taking a look at all the equations for Keplar's Laws or whatever other orbital data there is makes my head hurt (I got through Calculus, barely, but Physics equations throw me.. I'm lucky to barely understand F=MA). So I'm currently using a modified Titius-Bode's Law equation for orbital locations but cannot get down to the 0.05 AU distance for those hot "Jupiters" that astronomers are finding. Minimum AU distance I can get with my equation is about 0.12 for M type stars. Maybe that's good enough for a Traveller campaign, but I'd like it to be better. So, can anyone provide a "simple" and more realistic
equation for orbit locations that I can plop in data, like star type and a (tiny) random factor?
Then comes placing things in those orbits. Are those very large "Jupiters" another classification of a gas giant, or would LGG still work for them? Right now I'm thinking of using XGG, LGG, and SGG for gas giant designations. I'm wondering if my % chances of the various planetary body types is appropiate. Here's my current equation for placing planetary bodies at orbit locations, starting at 0 (after companion stars are placed; DIEROLL = a 1D100 that was generated):
IF (allowed due to primary size and companion stars in near orbits),
DIEROLL < 10 + 10 (if next orbit has a gas giant) : planetoid belt,
DIEROLL < 25 + orbit : XGG,
DIEROLL < 32 + orbit : LGG,
DIEROLL < 35 + orbit*2 : SGG (further out more likely to have SGG than LGG),
DIEROLL < 65 : rocky world,
DIEROLL < 60 + orbit*2 : ice world (note that rocky world will override ice world chance in low orbits),
else: empty orbit.
Right now it leaves quite a few empty orbits so I should up the values some (these values probably won't be the same 15 mins after I post this). But I was wondering if I'm in the ballpark on chances of the various planet types. But then, we only have Sol system to go on and we already know that isn't anything like other systems we've scanned so far. Note: I generate 28 orbit locations, but another roll determines how many actual "bodies" exist in the system.
I just tried out Heaven & Earth, but I'm not all thrilled by it. For one, the random seed is always stated as 1, which may explain why the three systems I generated had a class F star and very similar orbit patterns, but also it uses VI type stars (2 of the 3 stars were VI). Also, I hope to put the data in a preferred printable format in the spreadsheet.
How accurate is the Book 6 data now? I went looking for star data information, specfically Luminosity, but cannot find all the data I want. I have found a few charts specifying data for the general spectral type (i.e., O,B,A,F,K,M) but not for the break down for A1, A2, A3..., etc. Even then, one chart listed G type stars with a luminosity of 0.6 Sols
. Also, I want information on the new T and L classes (brown dwarfs... or do they use "dwarves" for plural form? ). I generate those, although the chance is low, and they can get placed in planetary orbits. Book6 also uses VI size star classification (subdwarfs) which I believe are no longer in use, and the White Dwarf classifications have changed as well.I know Titius-Bode's Law does not really work for orbit locations, but taking a look at all the equations for Keplar's Laws or whatever other orbital data there is makes my head hurt (I got through Calculus, barely, but Physics equations throw me.. I'm lucky to barely understand F=MA). So I'm currently using a modified Titius-Bode's Law equation for orbital locations but cannot get down to the 0.05 AU distance for those hot "Jupiters" that astronomers are finding. Minimum AU distance I can get with my equation is about 0.12 for M type stars. Maybe that's good enough for a Traveller campaign, but I'd like it to be better. So, can anyone provide a "simple" and more realistic
equation for orbit locations that I can plop in data, like star type and a (tiny) random factor?Then comes placing things in those orbits. Are those very large "Jupiters" another classification of a gas giant, or would LGG still work for them? Right now I'm thinking of using XGG, LGG, and SGG for gas giant designations. I'm wondering if my % chances of the various planetary body types is appropiate. Here's my current equation for placing planetary bodies at orbit locations, starting at 0 (after companion stars are placed; DIEROLL = a 1D100 that was generated):
IF (allowed due to primary size and companion stars in near orbits),
DIEROLL < 10 + 10 (if next orbit has a gas giant) : planetoid belt,
DIEROLL < 25 + orbit : XGG,
DIEROLL < 32 + orbit : LGG,
DIEROLL < 35 + orbit*2 : SGG (further out more likely to have SGG than LGG),
DIEROLL < 65 : rocky world,
DIEROLL < 60 + orbit*2 : ice world (note that rocky world will override ice world chance in low orbits),
else: empty orbit.
Right now it leaves quite a few empty orbits so I should up the values some (these values probably won't be the same 15 mins after I post this
). But I was wondering if I'm in the ballpark on chances of the various planet types. But then, we only have Sol system to go on and we already know that isn't anything like other systems we've scanned so far. Note: I generate 28 orbit locations, but another roll determines how many actual "bodies" exist in the system.I just tried out Heaven & Earth, but I'm not all thrilled by it. For one, the random seed is always stated as 1, which may explain why the three systems I generated had a class F star and very similar orbit patterns, but also it uses VI type stars (2 of the 3 stars were VI). Also, I hope to put the data in a preferred printable format in the spreadsheet.
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