GURPS: Space - help request, pag.117

[Alessandro]

Hello guys.

My name is Alessandro, from Italy, and I'm studying GURPS-Space in order to create believable star systems for a science-fiction novel.

The manual is very clear and I've already read the "errata corrige", but I am not sure if the third column, page 117, takes into account a situation where the planet is tide-locked to its moon but NOT to its star (Pluto is a great example: it is tide-locked to Caronte - it always shows the same face to Caronte -, but it is not tide-locked to the Sun).

In a Pluto-like situation, I should use the "Rotation Period Table", right? In fact, my "alien Pluto" is tide-locked to its moon but doesn't show always the same face to its star too. Right? But, since, as a rule, any planet tide-locked to something (the moon in this case) would have a Total Tide Effect =or>50, in my planetary Rotation Period calculations I should do: (number=or>50) + 3d + 10 (because the planet is a standard terrestrial) = a number surely >36, which implies the use of the following table, the Special Rotation Table.

Is this procedure correct?

I have doubts only because the way sentences are written in the paragraph make me think that the author hasn't kept this Pluto-like situation into account.

Grazie.

[David Johnston2]

If it is tidelocked to the moon then you don't use that table any further. You just figure out how long it takes the moon to complete it's orbit.

[Alessandro]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

If it is tidelocked to the moon then you don't use that table any further. You just figure out how long it takes the moon to complete it's orbit.

Thanks, David.

The fact is that I would still need to know how many hours is a day on the planet.

Ah, ok: maybe you are telling me that, in a similar situation, the orbital period of the moon would last exactly as the day of the planet. Right?

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Alessandro

Thanks, David.

The fact is that I would still need to know how many hours is a day on the planet.

Ah, ok: maybe you are telling me that, in a similar situation, the orbital period of the moon would last exactly as the day of the planet. Right?

Unless the tidelocking is resonant, yes.

[Alessandro]

Everything makes sense, now. Thanks.

I am only surprised by the fact that the GURPS-Space manual, which is incredibly clear and adressed to the incompetent, doesn't say something like: "if the world is a planet tide-locked to its moon, then the moon's orbital period is equal to the planet's rotation period. So, ignore the Rotation Period Table."

P.S.: David, I've just discovered that a software called Astrosynthesis has implemented some plugins to insert the GURPS-Space rules in its calculations. It is said that they have been created for Astrosynthesis 2, but I have Astrosynthesis 3. Do you know if A3 is compatible with these GURPS plugins?

[Skarg]

It seems the GURPS plugin does seem to work with Astrosynthesis version 3, but the plugin developer has not fully tested it yet.

"I haven't had the chance to fully test it in AS3 but it's good to hear that it does appear to work fine. Once the API for AS3 is released and I can actually make some time to work on it I will see if there are any improvements I can make to it (the search function for example)."

http://www.nbos.com/forums/viewtopic...123d4e98a92241

A couple of people saw no problems, and another person said it was working but then they had some problems.

[Alessandro]

Originally Posted by Skarg

It seems the GURPS plugin does seem to work with Astrosynthesis version 3, but the plugin developer has not fully tested it yet.

"I haven't had the chance to fully test it in AS3 but it's good to hear that it does appear to work fine. Once the API for AS3 is released and I can actually make some time to work on it I will see if there are any improvements I can make to it (the search function for example)."

http://www.nbos.com/forums/viewtopic...123d4e98a92241

A couple of people saw no problems, and another person said it was working but then they had some problems.

Thanks very much, Skarg.

Do you have Astrosynthesis with the GURPS plugins?

If your reply was positive, I'd ask you if it's possible to change all solar systems into GURPS solar systems with just a pair of clicks (it seems to me that you can adjust only one system at a time, manually).

[Skarg]

No I don't have them. I might get them...

From the description notes in the thread I linked above, it sounds like it is possible to have all generation done for GURPS:

GURPS System Builder
The GURPS System Builder is located in the Plugins Menu or as a Right Click Menu Option. This will generate GURPS details for terrestrial bodies, stars, asteroid belts, planetoids, and gas giants. I will give a brief summary of each field that is added, for more details see GURPS 4th Edition Space. You need to deselect the system and reselect it in order to see the changes.

Plugin Menu
When selected from the Plugins Menu the System Builder will run on all selected bodies.

However I'm not sure if that will work for systems that were already generated. However it also says:

GURPS Suite Upgrade
The GURPS Suite Upgrade is located in the Plugins menu. It will run on all selected bodies ...

So if the first doesn't do it, the Upgrade option might (or might not).

But I'm also wondering about issues possibly from a couple of other things it says:

Terrestrial Bodies
If you are going to edit the Mean Temperature, Atmospheric Pressure, or Hydrographic Coverage of a terrestrial body I suggest doing it through the GURPS Body Editor otherwise the Climate, Habitability Value and Affinity Score will not be recalculated to accurately represents the changes. Editing the size does not change the diameter or mass values of the terrestrial body.

and

This plugin does change the values displayed in the system data tree and due to limitation in the scripting interface it will cause other custom fields (if you are displaying any) to not be displayed.