Difference between revisions of "Legacy Astrographic Data"

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The [[Legacy Astrographic Data]] is the chaotic set of sector and subsector data sets that arose during the period of 1977 to 2008. [[Classic Traveller]] didn't arise as a planned science fiction setting. It developed into one.  
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[[File:Comp-Prog-Dav-R-Deitrick-Starter-Trav-Page-16 16-July-2018a.jpg|right]]
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----
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The [[Legacy Astrographic Data]] is the chaotic set of sector and subsector data sets that arose during the period of 1977 to present.
−
The data has gone through three primary iterations over several time periods:
 
−
# [[Legacy Astrographic Data]]
 
−
# [[Sunbane]]
 
−
# [[T5 Second Survey]]
 
  
−
== Description (Specifications) ==
+
== History & Background ==
−
All of the sector data published in [[Travellers' Digest]] and The Megatraveller Journal appear to use this data.  
+
Traveller [[astrography]] is very difficult to document because it has had many overlapping periods about which even the direct eye witnesses and participants sometimes have profound disagreements. The legacy data is the interaction of the official publications, the work of the various Traveller licensees, and the fan works. Because these works fed into each other in various random ways, tracking the exact history of some of the data can be a difficult task. This author can only confess to having reviewed forty years of published materials, spoken with multiple former employees, authors, illustrators, and other participants and tried to piece the best history possible out of the mess. {{Unpublished cite|author=Maksim-Smelchak}}
−
* The Sunbane data appears to be an inexact recreation of the [[Atlas of the Imperium]] data used to undergird many {{CT}} and {{MT}} products
 
−
* The [[Hinterworlds Sector]] article in [[Challenge39|Challenge 39]] used the Sunbane data as its starting point.  
 
−
* The data for the [[Domain of Gateway| Gateway Domain]] sectors was used as the starting point for [[Gateway to Destiny]].  
 
−
* {{HIWG}} members have updated and added to many of these sectors as well.
 
  
−
=== History of Sector Design for the OTU ===
+
=== Initial Sectors (1977 to 1984) ===
−
Astrographic Data has grown and changed many times over the history of [[Traveller]]:
+
Rules for generation of astrographic data was included in [[Worlds and Adventures]] (1977), and could be used to generate map data (See TAS form 6, in the same book). The generation rules were expanded with the publication of [[Scouts (book)|Scouts]] (1983). There are several variations of system generation through each version of Traveller.
 +
 
 +
The first official publication of sector data was [[The Spinward Marches]] (1979) which has a full sector with maps. Several of the adventure books published by [[Games Designer Workshop]] includes excerpts from the The Spinward Marches book. For example [[The Kinunir]] (1979) has a full hex map of [[Regina Subsector]].
 +
 
 +
In 1980, [[Library Data (A-M)]] (1980) has the first full map of charted space (pages 23-24), but with no world locations.
 +
 
 +
In 1981, [[Judges Guild]] published four sectors: [[Ley Sector (book)|Ley Sector]], [[Crucis Margin]], [[Maranantha-Alkahest Sector]], and [[Glimmerdrift Reaches]] which included 22"x34" maps and full data. These sectors have later been overwritten. Also in 1981, [[Paranoia Press]] published maps and data on two sectors: [[Beyond]] and [[Vanguard Reaches]].
 +
 
 +
In 1984, [[Games Designer Workshop]] produced [[Atlas of the Imperium]] incorporating previous data plus computer generated data, producing maps for 35 sectors of the Imperium. These contains system locations, and a few system details. The data behind the AotI has never been published and is presumed lost. [[Vargr (Alien Module)|Vargr]] (1984) published map and full data for the Gvurrdon sector.
 +
 
 +
In 1984, 1985, and 1986, each of the Alien modules ([[Aslan (Alien Module)|Aslan]], [[K'kree (Alien Module)|K'kree]], [[Vargr (Alien Module)|Vargr]], [[Zhodani (Alien Module)|Zhodani]], [[Droyne (Alien Module)|Droyne]], [[Solomani (Alien Module)|Solomani]], and [[Hivers (Alien Module)|Hivers]]) contained more detailed maps including some sector names, but no additional data.
  
−
{| class="wikitable sortable"
+
Source of data was in physically published works. In addition to the many works of [[Game Designers' Workshop]], and the several licensees, there were several fanzines also publishing astrographic data. Access to data required knowledge of the publishers and purchase of the physical media.
−
|+ History of Sector Design for the OTU
 
−
|-
 
−
! #
 
−
! Year/s
 
−
! Design System
 
−
! Remarks
 
−
|-
 
−
| 1.
 
−
| 1977 to 1978
 
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| [[Legacy Astrographic Data]]<br> (No official maps)
 
−
| Traveller started life as an RPG game without a setting or designated star charts.
 
−
* There was, as of that time, no star charts, maps, or [[Charted Space]].
 
−
|-
 
−
| 2.
 
−
| 1979 to 1983
 
−
| [[Legacy Astrographic Data]]<br> (Pre-Sector)
 
−
| The first Traveller star charts were designed as simple dot maps.
 
−
* Many early legacy publishers created a variety of settings, maps, and materials, some of which has never been officially placed within the [[OTU]].
 
−
|-
 
−
| 3.
 
−
| 1984 to 1994
 
−
| [[Sunbane]]<br> (AOTI / MT / Dot Map)
 
−
| As computer programs grew more sophisticated, better data was created including the well-known Sunbane data set.
 
−
* In 1984, the [[Atlas of the Imperium]] was published, which still sought to preserve the legacy data. It developed into [[Sunbane]].
 
−
* In 1989, The data was uploaded to Genii.  
 
−
* In 1994, the files were hosted on the Sunbane FTP server.
 
−
|-
 
−
| 4.
 
−
| 1992 to 2004
 
−
| [[Sunbane]]<br> ([[Galactic]] Datasets)
 
−
| Sunbane was eventually included as a date set for the early [[Galactic]] design software, which could create entire sectors in [[Galactic File Format]].
 
−
* Random generators began to be created in this period. The software is very clunky and dated by today’s standards.
 
−
* For the most part, the legacy data was not overwritten much in this period.
 
−
|-
 
−
| 5.
 
−
| 1998 to Present
 
−
| [[T5 Second Survey]]<br> ([[Heaven & Earth]])
 
−
| [[H&E]] largely superseded Galactic although many still use that venerable software.
 
−
* Many homegrown programs and web sites also exist to create star systems, sectors, and even galaxies.
 
−
* Many publishers overwrote the legacy data in this period, particularly [[T20]] and [[MGT]] products.
 
−
|-
 
−
| 6.
 
−
| 2007 to Present
 
−
| [[T5 Second Survey]]<br> (T5SS Updated Datasets)
 
−
| T5SS was created as an update to the previous data sets including the most common one, the Sunbane set.
 
−
* Several companies including T20 and MGT have slowly been upgrading parts of Charted Space. FFE oversees the entire process.
 
−
* T5SS has updated the [[UWP]]'s of thousands of worlds to be more consistent with current astrophysics knowledge. For instance, full atmospheres cannot be held by very small worlds as they do not possess sufficient gravity. So, many worlds had their size increased along these lines. Many 3's became 5's or larger.
 
−
* A T5SS manual is part of an effort to somewhat standardize the chaotic system.
 
−
* [[FFE]] has re-canon-ized some of the legacy data in this current, ongoing period.  
 
−
|-
 
−
|}
 
  
−
== History & Background (Dossier) ==
+
=== GEnie Data ===
−
''History of the Astographic data:'' The legacy data is the interaction of the official publications, the work of the various Traveller licensees, and the fan works. Because these works fed into each other in various random ways, tracking the exact history of some of the data can be a difficult task.  
+
[[Digest Group Publications]], a Traveller Licensee, with the publication of [[The Travellers' Digest]] (1985) magazine generated several sectors of data. In total they generated 35 sectors of data. They reverse engineered the AotI maps to some success. This data was used in their various of the DGP publications throughout their history. The data was used as the basis for the dot maps in [[Alien - Solomani & Aslan | Solomani & Aslan]] and [[Alien - Vilani & Vargr|Vilani & Vargr]].  
  
−
=== Initial Sectors (1977 to 1984) ===
+
[[Joe Fugate]] uploaded the sector files to the [[wikipedia:GEnie]] online service in 1989. This data is know also as the GEnie data for that reason.
−
The generation of astrographic data was included in [[Worlds and Adventures|Book 3]] (1977), and the ability to map the data (See TAS form 6, in the same book). The generation rules were expanded with the publication of [[Scouts|Book 6]] (1983). There are several variations of system generation through each version of Traveller.  
+
 
−
# The first full sector of data, including full maps, was published in [[The Spinward Marches]] (Supplement 3) (1979). And followed by [[The Solomani Rim]](1981)
+
[[Alien - Vilani & Vargr|Vilani & Vargr]] (1990) and [[Alien - Solomani & Aslan|Solomani & Aslan]] (1991) include detailed dot maps, showing the location of star systems across most of the charted space map. Other than the GEnie Sectors, this data was never released. Fans have reverse-engineered this data.
−
# [[Library Data (A-M)]] (1980) has the first full map of charted space (p23-24), but with no world locations.  
+
 
−
# [[Judges Guild]] published (1981) four sectors: [[Ley Sector (book)|Ley Sector]], [[Crucis Margin]], [[Maranantha-Alkahest Sector]], and [[Glimmerdrift Reaches]] which included 22"x34" maps and full data.
+
=== History of the Imperium Working Group ===
−
# [[Vargr (Alien Module)]] (1984) published map and full data for the Gvurrdon sector. Each of the Alien modules (Zhodani, K'kree, Vargr, Aslan, Solomani, Hiver) contained a more detailed map including sector names, but still without data.
+
The [[History of the Imperium Working Group]], founded in 1987 with the publication of MegaTraveller, had the explicit goal to document the future history of the Third Imperium. This would include all aspects of the Traveller universe. This data was shared via the physically mailing floppy disks containing various documents.
−
# [[Atlas of the Imperium]] (1984) published maps for 35 sectors of the Imperium. These contains system locations, and a few system details. The data behind the AotI has never been published and presumed lost.  
+
 
−
# The only source of data was physically published works. In addition to the many works of [[Game Designers' Workshop]], and the several licenees, there were several fanzines also publishing astrographic data. Access to data required knowledge of the publishers and access to the physical media.
+
HIWG divided [[charted space]] into four quadrants, and several smaller sections. These sections were claimed by members of HIWG for development and detailing.
 +
 
 +
During it's history, HIWG members add data for more than 100 sectors. When the GEnie data was published, this was added to the data set. The members also reverse engineered and generated data for most of the sectors published in V&V and S&A.
 +
 
 +
The GEnie and HIWG expanded data continues to be used widely by Traveller fans for their projects. The [[Hinterworlds Sector]] article in [[Challenge 39]] used the data as its starting point. The data for the [[Domain of Gateway| Gateway Domain]] sectors was used as the starting point for [[Gateway to Destiny]]. It served as the basis for the [[T5 Second Survey]].
 +
 
 +
The data, as updated by {{HIWG}}, is distributed with [[Galactic]] and [[Heaven & Earth]], two of the most popular Traveller mapping programs. Different releases of the programs have different version of data depending upon what was available to the developers at the time. It forms the basis for numerous online maps.  The different versions of the data eventually ended up on [[Sunbane]] and other servers (Missouri Archive, Core, etc.) It also ended up on numerous internet fan sites including the Interactive Atlas of the Imperium, Map of Traveller Charted Space, TravellerMap, and others.
 +
 
 +
=== Early Internet Era ===
 +
From the late 1980's to the early 1990s, access to data during required knowledge of the pre-web internet, including subscribing to the [[TML]] or other mailing lists, knowledge of various FTP sites, and being a member of online services like CompuServe or GEnie. Most people still had access to data only via the published works.
 +
 
 +
From the late 1980s and through the 1990s additional variations on maps and data occurred from the [[MegaTraveller]], [[Traveller The New Era]], and [[Marc Miller's Traveller]] settings. The Traveller fan base also continued to generate, refine, and update parts of the data.
 +
 
 +
From around 2001 to around 2016, there were several additional projects such as [[Clifford Linehan]]'s [[Core Expedition|Core Route project]], generating data and publishing it online. Other projects were generating data for the edges of charted space including the Vargr Extents,
 +
 
 +
=== T5 Second Survey ===
 +
With the publication of the playtest version of the [[Traveller 5th]] edition core rule book (2008), [[Don McKinney]], [[Robert Eaglestone]], along with [[Marc Miller]] engaged in a project to collect and update the known astrographic data. Since the original three members, others have joined and left this ongoing project. The project was to identify and correct consistency errors between Sunbane and AOTI astrographic data.
 +
 
 +
The [[T5 Second Survey]] mandate originally included the 35 sectors of the Imperium. The project completed in 2012 with publication to the Traveller Map site. From there the project as continued with an expanded mandate to support any of the Traveller publishers to produce a consistent astrographic data set.  
  
−
=== Generated Data (1985 to 1999) ===
+
Despite the presence of the T5 Second Survey players continue to enjoy the process of generating worlds and sector data as part of the Traveller Universes publishing their efforts on line.
−
[[Digest Group Publications]], a Traveller Licensee, with the publication of [[The Travellers' Digest]] (1985) magazine generated several sectors of data, reverse engineering the AotI maps to some success. Their generated data for the 35 sectors of the Imperium was uploaded to the GENII online service in 1989. This data is also know as [[Sunbane]] data. The data is also published in The Travellers' Digest, MegaTraveller Journal, and the other DGP works. The data also serves as the basis for many of the later fan based works and some canon publications.
 
−
# [[Alien - Vilani & Vargr|Vilani & Vargr]] (1990) and [[Alien - Solomani & Aslan|Solomani & Aslan]] (1991) include detailed dot maps, showing the location of star systems across most of the charted space map. Other than the Sunbane data, this data is never released. Fans reverse engineered this data.
 
−
# A major source of astrographic data is the [[HIWG]] project. HIWG divided charted space into four quadrants, and several smaller sections. In addition to expanding the original Sunbane data, the members also reverse engineered and generated data for most of the sectors published in V&V and S&A.
 
−
# There are several additional projects like, Clifford Linehan's Core Route project, generating data and publish it online. 
 
−
# There are two main software programs used for viewing and manipulation the astrographic data: [[Galactic]] (1996) and [[Heaven & Earth]] (1999). These programs are distributed with the Sunbane data, as updated by the HIWG teams. Different releases of the programs have different releases of data depending upon what was available to the developers at the time.
 
−
# Access to data during this era required knowledge of the pre-web internet, including subscribing to the [[TML]] or other mailing lists, knowledge of various FTP sites, and being a member of online services like AOL or GENII.
 
−
# As the various Traveller publishers during this era would publish books, the data would be transcribed into various online forms and re-distributed. Most people still had access to data only via the published works.
 
  
−
=== Internet Era (1992 to Present) ===
+
== See also ==
−
The internet era begins in the late 1990s. Traveller Publishers during this era are largely on their own in terms of astrographic data. Some publishers (Imperium Games, QuikLink Interactive) generate their own data from scratch, others (Steve Jackson Games) use the existing published data with minor updates.
+
{{Referral-Tree-Astrography}}
−
# Freelance Traveller (1998), Downport (1999), and The Zhodani Base (1999) are all early sites which contained copies of the previous generated data and make attempts to collect and update the published data.
 
−
# The Traveller Wiki (2006) begins to collect the data from the various sites and starts (2008) to publish the data in a more consistent fashion.
 
−
# With the publication of the playtest version of the [[T5 Core Rules|Traveller 5th edition core rule book]] (2008), [[Don McKinney]], [[Robert Eaglestone]], along with [[Marc Miller]] engaged in the [[T5 Second Survey]] a project to collect and update known astrographic data.
 
  
−
== References and contributors ==
+
== References & Contributors (Sources) ==
−
{{Intermediate}}
+
{{Advanced}}
 
{{Sources
 
{{Sources
−
|S1= [[Traveller Wiki Editorial Team]]
+
| [https://travellermap.com/doc/credits Traveller Map Credits]
−
|S2= Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology [[User:Maksim-Smelchak|Maksim-Smelchak]] of the [[Ministry of Science]]  
+
| [https://travellermap.com/doc/about#related-sites-and-sources Traveler Map Sites & Sources]
 +
| Author & Contributor: [[Joshua Bell]]
 +
| Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology [[User:Maksim-Smelchak|Maksim-Smelchak]] of the [[Ministry of Science]]  
 
}}
 
}}
−
 
  
 
[[Category: Astrographic Dataset]]
 
[[Category: Astrographic Dataset]]
 
[[Category: Fan Projects]]
 
[[Category: Fan Projects]]
−
{{MET|Astrography}}
+
{{MET|Astrography|Community Resource}}

Latest revision as of 03:23, 23 July 2024

Comp-Prog-Dav-R-Deitrick-Starter-Trav-Page-16 16-July-2018a.jpg

The Legacy Astrographic Data is the chaotic set of sector and subsector data sets that arose during the period of 1977 to present.

History & Background[edit]

Traveller astrography is very difficult to document because it has had many overlapping periods about which even the direct eye witnesses and participants sometimes have profound disagreements. The legacy data is the interaction of the official publications, the work of the various Traveller licensees, and the fan works. Because these works fed into each other in various random ways, tracking the exact history of some of the data can be a difficult task. This author can only confess to having reviewed forty years of published materials, spoken with multiple former employees, authors, illustrators, and other participants and tried to piece the best history possible out of the mess. [1]

Initial Sectors (1977 to 1984)[edit]

Rules for generation of astrographic data was included in Worlds and Adventures (1977), and could be used to generate map data (See TAS form 6, in the same book). The generation rules were expanded with the publication of Scouts (1983). There are several variations of system generation through each version of Traveller.

The first official publication of sector data was The Spinward Marches (1979) which has a full sector with maps. Several of the adventure books published by Games Designer Workshop includes excerpts from the The Spinward Marches book. For example The Kinunir (1979) has a full hex map of Regina Subsector.

In 1980, Library Data (A-M) (1980) has the first full map of charted space (pages 23-24), but with no world locations.

In 1981, Judges Guild published four sectors: Ley Sector, Crucis Margin, Maranantha-Alkahest Sector, and Glimmerdrift Reaches which included 22"x34" maps and full data. These sectors have later been overwritten. Also in 1981, Paranoia Press published maps and data on two sectors: Beyond and Vanguard Reaches.

In 1984, Games Designer Workshop produced Atlas of the Imperium incorporating previous data plus computer generated data, producing maps for 35 sectors of the Imperium. These contains system locations, and a few system details. The data behind the AotI has never been published and is presumed lost. Vargr (1984) published map and full data for the Gvurrdon sector.

In 1984, 1985, and 1986, each of the Alien modules (Aslan, K'kree, Vargr, Zhodani, Droyne, Solomani, and Hivers) contained more detailed maps including some sector names, but no additional data.

Source of data was in physically published works. In addition to the many works of Game Designers' Workshop, and the several licensees, there were several fanzines also publishing astrographic data. Access to data required knowledge of the publishers and purchase of the physical media.

GEnie Data[edit]

Digest Group Publications, a Traveller Licensee, with the publication of The Travellers' Digest (1985) magazine generated several sectors of data. In total they generated 35 sectors of data. They reverse engineered the AotI maps to some success. This data was used in their various of the DGP publications throughout their history. The data was used as the basis for the dot maps in Solomani & Aslan and Vilani & Vargr.

Joe Fugate uploaded the sector files to the wikipedia:GEnie online service in 1989. This data is know also as the GEnie data for that reason.

Vilani & Vargr (1990) and Solomani & Aslan (1991) include detailed dot maps, showing the location of star systems across most of the charted space map. Other than the GEnie Sectors, this data was never released. Fans have reverse-engineered this data.

History of the Imperium Working Group[edit]

The History of the Imperium Working Group, founded in 1987 with the publication of MegaTraveller, had the explicit goal to document the future history of the Third Imperium. This would include all aspects of the Traveller universe. This data was shared via the physically mailing floppy disks containing various documents.

HIWG divided charted space into four quadrants, and several smaller sections. These sections were claimed by members of HIWG for development and detailing.

During it's history, HIWG members add data for more than 100 sectors. When the GEnie data was published, this was added to the data set. The members also reverse engineered and generated data for most of the sectors published in V&V and S&A.

The GEnie and HIWG expanded data continues to be used widely by Traveller fans for their projects. The Hinterworlds Sector article in Challenge 39 used the data as its starting point. The data for the Gateway Domain sectors was used as the starting point for Gateway to Destiny. It served as the basis for the T5 Second Survey.

The data, as updated by HIWG, is distributed with Galactic and Heaven & Earth, two of the most popular Traveller mapping programs. Different releases of the programs have different version of data depending upon what was available to the developers at the time. It forms the basis for numerous online maps. The different versions of the data eventually ended up on Sunbane and other servers (Missouri Archive, Core, etc.) It also ended up on numerous internet fan sites including the Interactive Atlas of the Imperium, Map of Traveller Charted Space, TravellerMap, and others.

Early Internet Era[edit]

From the late 1980's to the early 1990s, access to data during required knowledge of the pre-web internet, including subscribing to the TML or other mailing lists, knowledge of various FTP sites, and being a member of online services like CompuServe or GEnie. Most people still had access to data only via the published works.

From the late 1980s and through the 1990s additional variations on maps and data occurred from the MegaTraveller, Traveller The New Era, and Marc Miller's Traveller settings. The Traveller fan base also continued to generate, refine, and update parts of the data.

From around 2001 to around 2016, there were several additional projects such as Clifford Linehan's Core Route project, generating data and publishing it online. Other projects were generating data for the edges of charted space including the Vargr Extents,

T5 Second Survey[edit]

With the publication of the playtest version of the Traveller 5th edition core rule book (2008), Don McKinney, Robert Eaglestone, along with Marc Miller engaged in a project to collect and update the known astrographic data. Since the original three members, others have joined and left this ongoing project. The project was to identify and correct consistency errors between Sunbane and AOTI astrographic data.

The T5 Second Survey mandate originally included the 35 sectors of the Imperium. The project completed in 2012 with publication to the Traveller Map site. From there the project as continued with an expanded mandate to support any of the Traveller publishers to produce a consistent astrographic data set.

Despite the presence of the T5 Second Survey players continue to enjoy the process of generating worlds and sector data as part of the Traveller Universes publishing their efforts on line.

See also[edit]

Astrography Metadata[edit]

§ == ( Please refer to the following AAB Library Data for more information: ) == §

Astrography:

References & Contributors (Sources)[edit]

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.
  1. ↑ Information provided to the library by Maksim-Smelchak
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