If you select Zork, you will get a subsector with planet names that are inspired by an intrepid space explorer in a very small ship (that usually crashes.)
I have used 1:st order Markov Chains to create the new names. (Higher order create too few names since we start with so few planets.)
From the comic, I also guess that the planets should be quite small and that the tech level is high. So without creating illegal values, I have added a small bias for this.
On this day (19 October 1979) , 40 years ago, the albums One Step Beyond… by Madness and the album The Specials by the Specials were released. (Read more here.) This is an ATU subsector map I made to celebrate this:
#--------1---------2---------3---------4---------5-------
#PlanetName Loc. UPP Code B Notes Z PBG Al
#---------- ---- --------- - --------------- - --- --
Bedders 0913 B788130-9 Lo Ni 134 Ll
Buster 1015 B562595-6 S Ni 401 Na
Dekker 0915 C472579-6 S Ni 120 Na
Barso 1012 C642574-5 Ni Po 602 Ll
Jerry 1017 A620463-9 2 De Ni Po 510 Ck
Kix 1113 E566583-7 Ag Ni 205 Ll
Roddy 1118 E320651-8 De Na Po 110 Ck
Suggs 1414 A542134-8 N Lo Ni Po 403 Ll
Chas 1214 E575200-3 Lo Ni A 102 Ll
Neville 1218 C764567-8 Ag Ni 200 Ck
Woody 1312 B986347-7 N Lo Ni 414 Ll
Terry 1416 A366200-E N Lo Ni 110 Ck
Lynval 1317 D568574-2 S Ag Ni 103 Ck
Brad 1320 B588233-9 N Lo Ni 124 Ck
Chrissy 1512 B542433-7 N Ni Po 602 Ll
Horace 1517 B49A78A-D N Wa 704 Ck
Dread 1615 X59A888-1 Wa R 804 Na
A Message to You, Rudy
Do the Dog
It's Up to You
Nite Klub
Doesn't Make It Alright
Concrete Jungle
Too Hot
Monkey Man
(Dawning of A) New Era
Blank Expression
Stupid Marriage
Too Much Too Young
Little Bitch
You're Wondering Now
One Step Beyond
My Girl
Night Boat to Cairo
Believe Me
Land of Hope and Glory
The Prince
Tarzan's Nuts
In The Middle of The Night
Bed and Breakfast Man
Razor Blade Alley
Swan Lake
Rockin' in A?
Mummy's Boy
Madness
Chipmunks Are Go!
One of the more popular pages at the Zhodani Base is the Random Subsector Generator. With the help of the generator, some text editing and the post function at Traveller Maps and some editing using Gimp, I created this subsector.
I made this subsector to try out the region xml-tag that is used at TravellerMap for nebulas. But then I liked the subsector that I have made, so I decided to make it prettier using an image of a real nebula.
The Florensa Nebula is in the center of the subsector. This nebula is a navigational hazard. (Add +2 for misjump to/from Florensa and +1 for misjump to/from any of the six surrounding hexes.)
Three interstellar powers are present in the subsector. The Portuna Federation, the Caponiana Free State, and the Elekto Zardom.
All three interstellar powers have signed an agreement that have defined the Florensa Nebula as a space preserve. No ships are allowed to go there except for scientific missions.
Short Write-Ups:
SILESTINA B6889BC-B
Silestina is the local capital of the Portuna Federation. Trade in illegal gems from the Florensa system has attracted lots of settlers. The planet is ruled by Duke Ostretto who is not very popular and that have risen the law-level to C to protect himself.
Florensa X000000-0
At Florensa there is a thin asteroid belt orbiting a neutron star at 80 AU. There are a few research stations in the belt. These stations observe the neutron star and the nebula. The stations are usually unmanned.
In some areas of the Nebula, there are lots of valuable minerals. It is possible to find gems like Diamonds or Sapphires. There are also noble metals like Platinum, Gold, Iridium, and Osmium. Some radioactive can also be found.
In a few locations in the nebula, 2000-year-old (non-human) mining equipment have been found. Due to micrometeorites and radiation, these doesn’t work anymore, but they seem to have been more advance than what any of the current interstellar powers can produce.
PALERIA B500964-B
Paleria is the local capital of the Caponiana Free State. Trade in illegal gold from the Florensa system has attracted lots of settlers. Paleria is controlled directly from Caponiana.
ARMIONA B000979-B
Armiona is working as some kind of local capital of the Elekto Zardom. Armiona is a huge asteroid belt and each asteroid have its own government. There is no central control. Trade in illegal radioactives from the Florensa system has attracted lots of settlers.
@SUB-SECTOR: Florensa SECTOR: Sadobi
#
#--------1---------2---------3---------4---------5-------
#PlanetName Loc. UPP Code B Notes Z PBG Al
#---------- ---- --------- - --------------- - --- --
Seelio 0107 E654564-6 Ag Ni 321 Pf
Signes-3 0205 D100277-5 S Lo Ni Va 323 Pf
Silestina 0206 B6889BC-B N Hi Cp 224 Pf
Alkmesis 0208 C454775-8 S Ag A 122 Na
Salora 0210 X000000-0 As Na R 325 Na
Ekardina 0306 C878244-4 S Lo Ni 223 Pf
Roxandory 0307 D510210-5 S Lo Ni 723 Pf
Herlina 0310 X667000-0 Lo Ni R 324 Na
Ornalda 0402 C100355-8 S Lo Ni Va 800 Ez
Armenete 0408 D520646-2 De Na Po 513 Cf
Irisek 0409 E634424-3 Ni 123 Cf
Yurstea 0410 D797235-7 S Lo Ni 302 Cf
Isaraston 0501 C000776-6 As Na 503 Ez
Koronia 0503 C424110-A S Lo Ni 903 Ez
Florensa 0505 X000000-0 As Ba Lo Ni R 000 Na
Paleria 0508 B500964-B N Hi In Na Va Cp 132 Cf
Ludoran 0510 E542425-2 Ni Po 723 Cf
Frington 0601 X9B4000-0 Ba Fl Lo Ni R 024 Ez
Annelope 0602 C110125-7 Lo Ni 124 Ez
Armiona 0703 B000979-B As Hi In Na Cp 314 Ez
Bavardina 0706 E524200-9 Lo Ni 813 Cf
Euphelene 0707 B10065A-9 Na Va 223 Cf
Restriam 0708 E69A665-8 Wa 624 Cf
Rhodica 0709 X679000-0 Ba Lo Ni R 034 Cf
Ullacin 0801 D210132-4 Lo Ni 122 Ez
Harmula 0804 C649420-7 Ni 103 Ez
Clorian 0809 D695330-3 S Lo Ni 811 Cf
I have been asked how I made the maps of Lancaster and Chambersburg Subsectors. In this post I will describe how I did it.
(I have also done the same for Ireland. I work on a version of Denmark and south Sweden.)
First I find the area I want to map on Google Maps (or any other map). I zoom to the level I like. 10-20 towns (or places) in the area is about right. Make a screenshot of this.
I use a transparent subsector map that I have made using quickhex.
I use a good image editor that can handle layers. (I use GIMP, which is free.) Then I open my screenshot and place the transparent map on top of it as a layer. (I can move it a bit until I am happy where the towns are in the subsector.) This is what it could look like. Continue reading Subsector from a Map→
When sending the results from the Random Subsector Generator to TravellerMap (to render the maps as pretty images instead of ascii or java) you can now chose Draft and FASA style for your generated map.
The Draft style is similar to the draft of the original Spinward Marches.
One of the more popular pages at the Zhodani Base is the Random Subsector Generator. With the help of the generator, some text editing and the post function at Traveller Maps I created this subsector. I was inspired by Point Central from the Valérian Comic, Ambassador of the Shadows (and others). I thought it was an interesting idea with a place where different cultures could meet. Babylon-5 is a similar place. I was also inspired by the planet Rubanis from the Valérian comic Les Spectres d’Inverloch (and others). It was because of Rubanis that I decided to make Origo Point a planet.
I have updated my Random Subsector Generator with a new “race“.
