SDNW5 Map Discussion Thread

[KlavoHunter]

Anywhere possibly close to the Chamarrans anyone wouldn't mind seeing Klavostan and our co-stars the Orks? Maybe more Evil Japs In Space too, so I can have one killed by garrote in the first IC post...

[Fenreer]

Anywhere possibly close to the Chamarrans anyone wouldn't mind seeing Klavostan and our co-stars the Orks? Maybe more Evil Japs In Space too, so I can have one killed by garrote in the first IC post...

Oh, heck, you already did join up. I'm blind!



The Dwarven Conclave's position on the map isn't a major concern to me. Just set their six sectors in a cross... Home in the middle, the other four to each side of it, and the extra one stuck up against two others and I'll be happy.

[OmegaChief]

Okay so, if we move the Capellan sector that's currently at M-25 to N-23 and move the rest of the sectors with it, I think that'd be a slightly better position for the Authority, just a little nudge and nothing major.

Well unless anyone objects I guess.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Well, I'm actually a little concerned about the total number of nations and how sparse things are, but I may just be a worrywart.

I hope to have some time to put together another map draft this weekend. Things are kinda messy on my end.

Told you it was getting crowded. I may suck at reading the map (somehow getting the idea Umeria was closer to the SPACE VIKINGS than Shinn...) but I can tell that at least. Incidentally I like Shinn's latest version of Arcadia. Right where it should be, and a good color too. And I didn't even think that the VIKINGS would have such a good position for raiding...but they do!

[Akhlut]

Just as a reminder: I'm thinking of P7, Q7, P8, Q8 for the coordinates of the Kritarchy.

[KhorneFlakes]

Never got to saying this, but Shinn - you put me in the wrong place: I said BB2, not B2, AKA near the Grand Dominion and Cerna.

[Shinn Langley Soryu]

Duly noted.

Latest draft can now be found HERE, with the Qiirsan Meritocracy now in its proper place, the Capellan Authority shifted to its new location, and the Grays finally in place.

[Simon_Jester]

I want to see how Lonestar feels about that- he's got a certain investment in being at "Stars' End" himself. KF, would you be open to being moved a bit to antispinward-left?

[KhorneFlakes]

Well, what direction was antispinward-left again? I wouldn't mind being bumped a bit from my current location, so long as I'm close to the Cernans, and somewhere near you as a general indicator, so that I'm close to other people, but not overly close.

[Esquire]

At a guess? Left, called antispinward in-character.

[Imperial528]

Interesting, the Grays are quite close to me. I can see how first contact went right now: "Hm, grays... Not expected, but not surprising..."

<Helm, get us out of here fast when we're done with formalities. Preferably before they abduct anyone.>

[Simon_Jester]

Cernans, if you wish to move you may. No one would object if you choose other neighbors.

At a guess? Left, called antispinward in-character.

The Grecian one is correct. If you look at the stuff I've been saying in here (which is advisable), "spinward" is the direction in the galaxy that represents "to the right" on the map. Therefore "antispinward" is to the left.

Also, "coreward" is up and "rimward" is down.

[Imperial528]

Oh no, the Grays will present quite an interesting array of opportunities, I believe. So I'm happy where I am.

[Esquire]

Just to clarify - the map doesn't show anything remotely near the actual galactic core, right? So we're towards the 'bottom' edge of a galaxy that's rotating vaguely clockwise? I say 'a galaxy' because I've got no understanding of astronomy more advanced than Ptolemy's and this doesn't seem like the sort of game that would stick to reality with regards to such things, anyway.

[Imperial528]

IIRC the galaxy rotates counterclockwise from a conventional north-south perspective, actually, like most things in space do.

And looking at a map of the galaxy, Sol is just about in the middle between the edge and the core.

[Simon_Jester]

Just to clarify - the map doesn't show anything remotely near the actual galactic core, right? So we're towards the 'bottom' edge of a galaxy that's rotating vaguely clockwise? I say 'a galaxy' because I've got no understanding of astronomy more advanced than Ptolemy's and this doesn't seem like the sort of game that would stick to reality with regards to such things, anyway.

It was sort of arbitrary, but:

It all started in SDNW4; this was before I was even thinking about being one of the moderators for that. We knew the game was taking place in the Milky Way galaxy, but that the scope of the game did not encompass the entire galaxy; there was a meaningful "off the edge of the map." Me, I was just arbitrarily looking for words I could use to describe directions on the map in in-character terms, since it would feel (to me) stupid to have Umerians talking about "up" on the map as "north." That might be good enough for Hellenes, mind you...

So anyway, I needed directions.

Being a Star Control II fan, the directions that occured to me immediately were "coreward" and "spinward." Honestly, my choice to start calling right on the SDNW4 map "spinward" so that I could talk about "the Spinward Expanse" and up as "coreward" to talk about the "Grand Coreward Trunk" was totally arbitrary. Steve, who was modding that game, approved the idea. No one came forward with a serious alternative for naming directions, although it wasn't binding. Neither I nor anyone with actual authority insisted on anyone using mine.

Me, I just liked having something I could use to describe directions on the map that made more sense than up/down/left/right or north/south/east/west.


Now, purely coincidentally (this was totally not part of the planning for SDNW4) that actually made the map match up vaguely right with real astronomical features. We'd already settled on the approximate size of a sector, and the map was the same size for 4 as it is for 5. So the map, by doing a bit of multiplication, was... say... 2000 to 3000 light years across. Which roughly matches up with the width of the Orion Spur, the arm of the Milky Way our own sun occupies.

If we simply port those directions and scale from SDNW4, the core is about... oh, call it 250-350 sector-widths "up" from our region of the map. The outer edge of the galaxy is in turn about 200-300 sector-widths "down" from the edge of the map, depending on how you define width. Both those numbers contain fudge factors due to both astrographic vagueness and the fact that we do not and will not have an exact width for a sector beyond "less but not much less than 100 light years."


None of this is actually important or really needs to affect anyone's gameplay. The map scale and map directions are optional, there for flavor and so we have some kind of common frame of reference that allows us to talk to each other. Otherwise, you get one guy who thinks that Sol and Alpha Centauri belong in different sectors, while another guy thinks that the map covers the entire galaxy. It can be difficult for those two to resolve how they're going to describe the things they intend to do.

But it's not important, and if we want to change it we can. Any suggestions?

[The Romulan Republic]

I would like Sector B-15, and would prefer the colour green. Purple would be acceptable as well.

[cadbrowser]

OMNI is still not on the map? Red, orange, or whatever color doesn't really matter to me.

Thanks

[Simon_Jester]

OMNI is still on the map, I'm sorry, I'll get to it. I should have a bit of a grace period in the gap between the end of classes and finals week in which I have the freedom to do things and the lack of stress that allows me to remember to do things.

[cadbrowser]

HAHA...no worries...just wanted to peep up and make sure I wasn't forgotten. No rush.

[Zor]

Location of the Unified Imperium

Zor

[Simon_Jester]

That space might be spoken for, but when I finalize I'll try.

I think I'm going to have to delegate map drafts to Shinn, I'm just too damn busy and I never seem to find the proper time to sit down with Paint. I'll certainly make a final copy, but repeated drafts are just beyond me this week and next week.

[cadbrowser]

Yeah, it was. It would've helped me maintain some level of isolation to help with the OMNI backstory a bit. But no matter, I am flexible...I can be moved down some.

[Simon_Jester]

There's no obvious reason one of you should have to move and the other not have to move. Why don't you work it out between yourselves?

[cadbrowser]

Sorry I was looking at it wrong.

I was originally further west.

B2, C2, D2
B3, C3, D3
B4, C4, D4

So nobody has to move