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I fell down the 3d universe rabbit hole briefly...

infojunky

infojunky

SOC-14 1K
Peer of the Realm
Yesterday I started pondering mapping for a 3d Traveller universe. Consider this, packing spheres of equal size gives 12 one Parsec spheres touching the central one.

Mapping and display is the issue, I mean it could be done.

The easiest mapping convention would to use the multiple standard hex maps, with each layer offset to the vertices of the layer below....
 
infojunky said:
The easiest mapping convention would to use the multiple standard hex maps, with each layer offset to the vertices of the layer below....
Click to expand...
The easiest mapping convention would be to throw away the hexes entirely, since those are 2D symmetry not 3D.
Instead, you go back to the old wargamer convention of "strings and rulers" because you're mapping in 3D.

Just measure the number of light-years between locations, convert to parsecs and round off to nearest integer or drop fractions as desired.
infojunky said:
Mapping and display is the issue, I mean it could be done.
Click to expand...
You just 3D map it inside of a computer and work out a UI that lets you move the camera around.
Could use Space Engine for that purpose (among others) if you want, even though it is not "purpose built" to be a Traveller-esque mapping software system.
 
Right here, I used Cartesian coordinates, I might have posted a map here about 15 years ago where I used hexes, however it got way too crowded at about 4 parsecs out. Incidentally, that 4 parsec sphere is pretty common in star maps to maintain some sort of resolution.

Old Earth Main small.png
 
Dragoner said:
Right here, I used Cartesian coordinates,
Click to expand...
The area around Sol looks like spinward is “top”, coreward is “right”, &c. Are the mainworld UWPs based on a particular edition of Traveller?

For a future revision of your map, the stellar type “R” should be “M”. “Epsiloni Indi” should be “Epsilon Indi”. “Epsilon Eridani” now has an IAU proper name, “Ran” (named for Rán, a Norse goddess). “Gliese & Jahreiss 1023” could be expressed more concisely as “GJ 1023” (like the other stars in the Gliese–Jahreiß catalog, for which you’d used “GJ”).
 
Kakistocrat said:
The area around Sol looks like spinward is “top”, coreward is “right”, &c. Are the mainworld UWPs based on a particular edition of Traveller?

For a future revision of your map, the stellar type “R” should be “M”. “Epsiloni Indi” should be “Epsilon Indi”. “Epsilon Eridani” now has an IAU proper name, “Ran” (named for Rán, a Norse goddess). “Gliese & Jahreiss 1023” could be expressed more concisely as “GJ 1023” (like the other stars in the Gliese–Jahreiß catalog, for which you’d used “GJ”).
Click to expand...
Yes, looks like some typos. It is indeed rotated with the NASA pov. I have gone back from some of the IAU names, as people don't always get them. The UWP's are individually created for "Solis People of the Sun". Many have expanded system generation with exoplanets translated into UWP's. Some detailed in SPOTS, and others in Andromeda Dragons, named for the brightest stars in those zones Upsilon Andromedae, and X Draconis.
 
Spinward Flow said:
You just 3D map it inside of a computer and work out a UI that lets you move the camera around.
Could use Space Engine for that purpose (among others) if you want, even though it is not "purpose built" to be a Traveller-esque mapping software system.
Click to expand...
This is the issue I mostly run up against...
 
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