[TML] Noncanonical TU 3D.

[Knapp]

On Jan 1, 2008 6:55 AM, Thad Coons <tocoons at gmail.com> wrote:

>   Just for fun, I've been working up a non-standard version of a
> Travelleresqe universe. Instead of using the usual 3rd Imperium setting,
> I've been playing with a 3-d version set in the vicinity of Earth, at the
> very beginning of system expansion, using the best information about real
> stars and their locations  I can get.
>   I've been using Jim Valassikos old Starmap program, and somewhere I
> found
> a lengthy list of near stars, that I've been plugging in, and plotting
> short
> jump routes. I've found it most interesting to work with fractional jump
> numbers, because a small difference  in jump ability can make  a huge
> difference in the destinations reachable from a given point.
>    One thing I've noted with interest is that the vagaries of interstellar
> distribution can make places that are fairly close in real distance a long
> ways away via jump.  As an an extreme but interesting examile, the third
> closest star to earth, Wolf 359, is just out of jump range at my present
> level. It is also possible to reach it going a long way around of about 20
> jumps). A modest increase in jump ability can create huge changes in jump
> routes, where long routes are bypassed on the one hand, but on the other
> hand, small stars that were uninteresting in their own right can become
> gateways to whole new clusters.
>    At present, I'm working on adding real data on star classifications (So
> far, all I have is location), so I can use these to develop planetary
> systems. Really attractive habitable systems are rather few and far
> between:  There are a lot of  M-class stars that are good for nothing much
> besides places to refuel, but sometimes, that's enough reason for a
> colony.
>   Another thing is that I'm trying to "grow" colonies rather than
> plant them from scratch. Most of  my Traveller stuff is in a box halfway
> across the country and consists of a hodgepodge of TNE and T4 and GT, so
> figuring out a good way of doing it is going to be a challenge.
>    I haven't set up a web page for my TU yet, but I can do it if anyone is
> interested in seeing how I work this out. I think there may be a couple of
> other listmembers doing this kind of thing, too, but I haven't looked them
> up.
>

I would love to here more. I wanted to go this way with my computer game but
gave up do to the amount of work it means to get something real and good so
I went with the creationists route. I would love to see what you come up
with. I might even be fun to add it to my computer universe at some point if
you would like to donate it.
Douglas E Knapp