Re: 3D traveller

Mapping traveller maps into 3-d isn't that bad.  I did it back in HS
(circa 1983).  But what you have to do is drop the damn hex grid.  You
map all the stars into spherical coordinates.

[Note: Spherical Coordinates are an ordered triple of (theta1, theta2,
r) where theta1 is the angle from the X-axis in the X-Y Plain; theta2
is the angle from the X-axis in the Y-Z plain; and r is the distance
from the origin.]

There are mapping functions between this and Cartesian Coordinates.
And yes you need a computer to do all this, I've had a good
programmable calculator since HS.  So it was no problem.  You also
need a computer/good calculator to do the jump calculations.

I wrote a program either in Basic or Turbo pascal, I don't remember if
it was on an apple or an IBM-PC, to convert subsectors for me.  And a
second which took the output and printed an Epson map of the sector.
The map was flat X-Y plain with elevations on it so we could figure
out where we where headed and the coordinates of the world.

Today with the new HP-48xx which has 3-d display primitives built in
you could put the whole sector into it and display it in 3-d (much the
same way your characters are, yes they have cool holo-systems but...)

Finaly don't ask me for the code.  It wasn't that hard to write (I did
it from a good geometry book.)  And you try and find some code you
wrote in HS!

If I had a current Traveller campain I would rewrite the software.

johno