Sunbane

The Sunbane data is a collection of sector data files covering 35 sectors of Charted Space.

• It is also known as the GENII or GEnie data, the GEnie Library.
• However, "Genii" / "GENII" is never correct. Please see - General Electric Network for Information Exchange. It is often misspelled as GENII.
• Sunbane (sunbane.engrg.uwo.ca) is the name of the server used by the TML as a data storage system. Initially created in 1989 by Dan Corrin to store, and make available, the TML archives. It was shut down in 1994.

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Traveller star maps have gone through three overlapping and very generalized time periods of development:

1. Legacy Astrographic Data AKA [Initial Sectors (1977 to 2008)]
2. Sunbane AKA [Generated Data (1985 to 1999)]
3. T5 Second Survey AKA [Internet Era (1997 to Present)]

Description (Specifications)

Joe Fugate uploaded the sector files to the GEnie online service in 1989. This data is know also as the GEnie data (or GENII) for that reason. In 1994 these files were hosted on the Sunbane FTP server (ftp://sunbane.engrg.uwo.ca/, which is no longer available) by the then TML host Dan Corrin. The original files are now collected in the HIWG archives. This data, in many cases, is equivalent to the data in the Atlas of the Imperium.

1. All of the sector data published in Travellers' Digest and MegaTraveller Journal 03 use this data. The data was used as the basis for the dot maps in Solomani & Aslan and Vilani & Vargr.
2. Shortly after being published, HIWG members updated and added to many of these sectors. They added names and stellar data to most of the data (missing in the original), and expanded upon the original 35 sectors.
3. The Sunbane data continues to be used widely by Traveller fans for their projects. The Hinterworlds Sector article in Challenge 39 used the Sunbane 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.
4. The Sunbane data, as updated by HIWG, is distributed with Galactic and Heaven & Earth, two of the most popular Traveller mapping programs. It forms the basis for numerous online maps. Many of the files at the Zhodani Base web site use the data.
5. This data was widely shared by CD-ROM and snail mail meaning that there are many, many variations of it within the greater community.
6. The data eventually ended up on the "Sunbane" and other servers (Missouri Archive, Core, etc.).
7. Various amalgamations of the data set ended up incorporated into Galactic, H&E, and other software programs.
8. It also ended up on numerous internet fan sites including the Interactive Atlas of the Imperium, Map of Traveller Charted Space, TravellerMap, and others.
9. As it was posted on various sites, more variation occurred including a great deal from the Zhodani Base, which still thankfully hosts Galactic files.

History & Background (Dossier)

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. Long live, Traveller!

Generated Data (1985 to 1999)

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 was 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.

1. Around 1987, the HIWG project provided a major source of astrographic data. 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.
2. The existence of the Sunbane server is announced on the TML on October 19, 1889. Network connection, IP address, and domain name were supplied by the The University of Western Ontario. It was to be a backup site for the TML message archives. As an anonymous FTP site, it also allowed the members to upload additional data.
   1. In 1989, the Sunbane data was uploaded to Genii. The files were hosted on Sunbane prior to 1994. Exact details remain unknown and disputed by fans.
   2. 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. Galactic is one of these generators, and the primary one for data generation. The hard work of the HIWG to enhance and extend the Sunbane data has been a true credit to the community.
3. In 1990 and 1991, 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 Sunbane data, this data was never released. Fans reverse-engineered this data.
4. In the 1990s, there were two main software programs used for viewing, generating, and manipulation the astrographic data: Galactic (1996) and Heaven & Earth (1999). These programs are distributed with the Sunbane data as updated by the HIWG team, along with several published data sets (TNE, T4) and fan generated projects. Different releases of the programs have different version of data depending upon what was available to the developers at the time.
   1. The publication of TNE and T4 changed the underlying generation systems. Official publications made significant changes to the legacy data as well.
5. 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.
6. From the 1980's to the present, 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. Most people still had access to data only via the published works.
7. In the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, additional variations on the maps occurred from the MT, TNE, and T4 settings. Some of these changes were chronological ones and others actually changed star positions, world names, or more significant astrophysical adjustments.
8. As the various Traveller publishers during this era would publish books, the data would be transcribed into various online forms and re-distributed. Some of the changes and variations created significantly different maps.
9. On 20th June 1990, Mark Cook announced he had uploaded the whole of the GEnie data for the members to review. In the announcement, Mark indicated that Joe Fugate granted him permission to published the data to the TML.
10. On July 31st, 1991, TML Listmom James Perkins announced the Sunbane server would be the primary TML archive site, keeping both the TML message archives and any and all Traveller material of interest to the TML members. In addition to the GEnie data, the archives held data for other sectors, starship deck plans, maps, vehicle, and starship designs, rules and errata, and various programs of interest to the members of the TML. The site becomes the de facto distribution system for HIWG, as many of the HIWG members are also present on the TML.
11. The Sunbane server was shut down between June 13th and August 9th, 1994, along with the TML as it is moved to MPGN. The files are moved (mostly) to the ftp.mpgn.com site.
    1. As the primary data upload site for the TML, at the time the largest and most active Traveller Community, "Sunbane" became synonymous with the data contained on the server.

References & Contributors (Sources)

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 Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
• Author & Contributor: Joshua Bell
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science