Version 1.0.231 Update

I've made a number of changes since the initial release of Star Systems. Many are small tweaks but here are of the most notable changes.

Changed the way multiple routes are drawn

In the initial release, when multiple routes existed between two systems, they would be compressed into a single brown line. Now it can display two routes side by side, and only if more than two are present does it revert to compressing them into a single brown route.

Worlds with 1B pop or more in caps

To better reflect the way TravellerMap displays the names of system, if the mainworld has a population of at least a billion people, then the name appears in all caps. Additionally, if it's a capital the name is in red.

Labels now have categories so you can turn some off

To enable the option of showing or hiding some labels, they now have a category field. You can choose to display or not each category separately. TravellerMap imports create labels for sector names and subsector names with appropriate categories automatically.

Option to generate missing worlds in TM imports

TravellerMap only provides the main world information. It does provide how many bodies there are in the system, as well as how many are gas giants or asteroid belts. You now have the option to create those additional bodies for every system as you import from TravellerMap.

You can also only create them on a per-system basis after importing if you prefer. To do so you select the system to edit (go into the 'Systems' tab, search for the system you want to edit, click on it, and press 'Edit' in the toolbar).

Once you're in Edit mode for the system, press the star button next to the save button to generate missing worlds. Save to preserve the new bodies.

Travel times

There is a new button in the System Card which opens a Travel Time tool. This shows the travel times at various thrust from the bodies in the system to the 100D jump limit. This will take into account when the star's 100D is the prevalent factor for a safe 100D limit. You can also get travel times for in-system travel, for example between the main world and a gas giant.

Add star reference window

Mostly for personal interest, but also to give some information on habitable zones for different stars, I've added a Star Reference window which shows the mass and radius in multiples of Sol's, and the habitable zone orbit. Note that orbit 0 is not the star itself, it's at 0.2 AU (as indicated in the reference!). For reference, Sol is a G2-V star.

Add option to show/hide route distance

I added the option to hide the route distances, which is more the way TravellerMap displays them.

{anomaly} symbol

Some system imported from TravellerMap have an {Anomaly} comment. These are often space stations installed to provide a point to refuel in space where there are no starports, but there are also other reasons. I've added an additional symbol to represent those, which replaces the 'planet' symbol in the hex.

For systems like this, it may be necessary to add a Refuelling-Stop world tag to allow a route to pass through (see Route Planner below).

Route planner

The Route Planner let's you select two systems and find the best route between them. Best means fewer jumps, then shortest distance. Each stop along the way must provide fuel, but the start and end point don't require refuelling to be valid, although they'll be highlighted in red if they don't provide it. The fuel availability is based on the presence of refuelling starports, gas giants or water for ships with scooping capability, or systems with a Refuelling-Stop world tag.

There an option to create a series of routes corresponding to the result. Since routes need a faction, I suggest creating a specific faction just for these. You can also open the details in a floating window that let's you switch to the star map view and keep the route details visible.

Preserve star map zooming and center

As a quality of life modification, the zoom level and the map center are now preserved between view switch and between relaunches.

Add trade code filter

You can now find all systems that have a specific set of trade codes. Systems not containing these are dimmed on the map but still selectable. If no system have the chosen set of trade codes an error beep is played. For example selecting systems with An, or Ancient Site in this region of space looks like this.

Those are the main changes to the app since its initial release. A complete list of changes is found at the end of the Star Systems page.

Borderland

It's been more than two decades since I've ran a Traveller game, so I decided that Singularity deserved that I run something else first to get back into it properly before committing to that epic campaign. After looking at multiple options, I've finally settled on The Borderland area of the Third Imperium to start my next Traveller campaign. It's situated in a frontier-like area, with a very detailed starting area with lots of possibilities. Close by is where the Pirates of Drinax campaign occurs for example.

I have a lot of reading to do. Until next time!