[Space] System Generator - Page 9

Pomphis · 08-03-2007, 04:10 AM

Sorry to hear that. Best wishes. But being The Bartender I hope you found something a small glass of which made the world a bit friendlier again.

Rupert · 08-03-2007, 05:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agemegos

Sorry, it was supposed to be done already, but I've been having a week so bad that it makes you believe in astrology.

Why? You ran over the local astrologer's cat?

Flyndaran · 08-03-2007, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rupert

Why? You ran over the local astrologer's cat?

Well, the moon is in his seventh house. Do you know how much Luna eats to get so full? It's going to put his other houses in foreclosure.

Mgellis · 08-03-2007, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agemegos

I've had four time consuming things to deal with all having to do with family members, and four problems have emerged from concealment, three having to do with my house and one having to do with the incompetence of my tax agent. The last one is really going to sting. The coincidence, and the similar natures of the several problems, might suggest that there is something about the time.

And I'm sure that if I investigated enough astrologers I'd find one suggesting that this last fortnight was a bad one for Virgo Water Dragons with something or other in quadrature.

Sorry to hear you had such a bad week (especially the tax agent thing...yikes!). I hope everything works out okay.

Mark

Rupert · 08-03-2007, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agemegos

I've had four time consuming things to deal with all having to do with family members, and four problems have emerged from concealment, three having to do with my house and one having to do with the incompetence of my tax agent. The last one is really going to sting.

Ouch. And what timing.

Fnordianslip · 08-05-2007, 11:23 PM

I live in the US and I have to say, I'd vastly prefer SI! The US system stinks. For those who are desperately attached to the painful units of miles, inches, and feet, I'd suggest just telling them how to type the conversion in the spreadsheet. That way, you don't have to do any extra work updating two spreadsheets and the like. Mind you, if for some reason you have an abundance of free time, I suppose you could make two different versions, but it probably isn't worth the hassle.

Captain Joy · 08-06-2007, 12:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agemegos

I had been planning to allow the user to specify US units or SI (metric) on the preferences sheet. But it strikes me now that it would be easy to supply a US units version and a separate SI units version. Except that that would be a headache to maintain and update....

Being able to specify units gets my votes.

Pomphis · 08-08-2007, 03:14 AM

Comments:

The uninhabited worlds waste lots of space on Society and Government due to the left/right arrangement, and them not being needed.
How about switching to a top/bottom arrangement with physical description on the top and below that Society and Government so that uninhabited worlds can simply snip this lower part and be much shorter ?

Having a daily temperature variation is nice.

It would also be nice to have seasons. Earlier editions of Space gave a one word description ("severe", "none") largely based on axial tilt. Eccentrity would be another important factor. But I have no idea how complicated this would get, so maybe that´s something to consider for Service Pack 2.

Another interesting thing would be geographical temperature variations, that is Death Valley versus South Pole. But I suspect that this too would be subject to too many variables. Or is there some simple way of saying that if average temperature is X, the average temperature where sunshine comes done at 90° is X times Y, and where sunshine arrives at almost 0° it is X times Z ? In other words, how is "average" calculated ? Is it simply (for no axial tilt) the middle between equator and pole, or does it take the different size of surfaces into account ?

Pomphis · 08-08-2007, 11:32 PM

Not necessarily. I suspect that venus has smaller variations. Presence, composition and density of atmosphere should have a major effect, as should rotation time. I suspect that a slowly rotating vacuum world will have larger variations than a fast rotating world with a dense atmosphere. So if there isn´t an existing formula to be used, I would drop that for the time being.

Do you know Constantine Thomas ? He used to write for JTAS.

http://evildrganymede.net/rpg/rpg_f.htm

Maybe he could be helpful.

Captain Joy · 08-10-2007, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agemegos

a system table

Love that the planet ID's are bold and moon's are not. Love adding the orbital radius of the major moons. Love using green for the garden planet. Have you thought about reporting moons' orbital radii in units of planet diameter? Just an idea, and I'm not sure it's a good one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agemegos

an inhabitable planet

Love the "Sky objects" panel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agemegos

a planet with moons

How did you generate the trace atmospheric components? E.g. NH3, H2S, HCN?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agemegos

a major moon

All good.

08-03-2007, 04:10 AM	#81
Pomphis Join Date: Oct 2004	Re: [Space] System Generator Sorry to hear that. Best wishes. But being The Bartender I hope you found something a small glass of which made the world a bit friendlier again.

08-05-2007, 11:23 PM	#86
Fnordianslip Join Date: Dec 2005	Re: [Space] System Generator I live in the US and I have to say, I'd vastly prefer SI! The US system stinks. For those who are desperately attached to the painful units of miles, inches, and feet, I'd suggest just telling them how to type the conversion in the spreadsheet. That way, you don't have to do any extra work updating two spreadsheets and the like. Mind you, if for some reason you have an abundance of free time, I suppose you could make two different versions, but it probably isn't worth the hassle.

08-08-2007, 03:14 AM	#88
Pomphis Join Date: Oct 2004	Re: [Space] System Generator Comments: The uninhabited worlds waste lots of space on Society and Government due to the left/right arrangement, and them not being needed. How about switching to a top/bottom arrangement with physical description on the top and below that Society and Government so that uninhabited worlds can simply snip this lower part and be much shorter ? Having a daily temperature variation is nice. It would also be nice to have seasons. Earlier editions of Space gave a one word description ("severe", "none") largely based on axial tilt. Eccentrity would be another important factor. But I have no idea how complicated this would get, so maybe that´s something to consider for Service Pack 2. Another interesting thing would be geographical temperature variations, that is Death Valley versus South Pole. But I suspect that this too would be subject to too many variables. Or is there some simple way of saying that if average temperature is X, the average temperature where sunshine comes done at 90° is X times Y, and where sunshine arrives at almost 0° it is X times Z ? In other words, how is "average" calculated ? Is it simply (for no axial tilt) the middle between equator and pole, or does it take the different size of surfaces into account ?

08-08-2007, 11:32 PM	#89
Pomphis Join Date: Oct 2004	Re: [Space] System Generator Not necessarily. I suspect that venus has smaller variations. Presence, composition and density of atmosphere should have a major effect, as should rotation time. I suspect that a slowly rotating vacuum world will have larger variations than a fast rotating world with a dense atmosphere. So if there isn´t an existing formula to be used, I would drop that for the time being. Do you know Constantine Thomas ? He used to write for JTAS. http://evildrganymede.net/rpg/rpg_f.htm Maybe he could be helpful.