This allows you to intermix and interchange these maps and their data, or use data from these games to expand the others.īuilding Your Own Realistic 2D *and* 3D Starmap From The Same DataĮven better, the 3D star maps described above all build from real astronomical data sources and you can too. 2020 "The Stars of the Middle Heavens" map by Fria Ligan/Free League for the ALIEN RPG.įundamentally, all three of these examples are based on the same core data and presented in the same manner using a standard "+X points to galactic core and Y plane is the plane of the galaxy" layout.2017 Hostile by Zozer Games Free Maps and Other Downloads.In recent years, the availability of high-quality near star data and the computer power to easily manipulate it has led to a number of games which give 2D presentations of 3D star data. In 1993 TSR published Amazing Engine: Bughunters with a map very similar to the map from SPI's universe (possibly because TSR had acquired SPI years before).ĭespite the occasional forays into realistic star maps, many or most games followed Traveller's lead, just including their own 2D maps of space to explore or systems to build 2D maps. Game Design Workshop released a futuristic Twilight 2000 update in 1986 called Traveller: 2300 including a star map based on Gliese's Near Star Catalog. The earliest game based on a 3D map I have is Universe by SPI from 1981. less easy:ĭistance = Square Root of ( (EndingX - StartingX)^2 + (EndingY - StartingY)^2 + (EndingZ - StartingZ)^2 )ĭespite the ease of use and math friction, that did not stop some game companies exploring 3D star maps. With a 2D map, the Distance between two star coordinates equals the Square Root of ( (EndingX - StartingX)^2 + (EndingY - StartingY)^2 )
On a 2D map, you can simply "walk" your fingers from start to end and count along the way. The usual answers are ease of use and simpler math. Since Traveller's earliest days, a recurring question is "why not use 3D star data and make the map 3D?" In the 40+ years since, that humble beginning has lead to a massive sprawling empire of more than 11,000 systems detailed on a random-generated 2D map. In 1977, Traveller by Game Design Workshop started humbly with a simple system of plotting 2D "space sectors" on hex paper. 1976 Metamorphosis Alpha set inside the massive starship Warden.1975 Blackmoor set on the worlds Mystara, Greyhawk, Wilderlands, and Pelinore over the years.1975 Empire of the Petal Throne set on the world of Tékumel.The earliest science-fiction RPGs were set on planets or within starships and did not include much at all regarding the stellar neighborhoods around them:
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