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guide:creating_a_star_system

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Creating a Star System

This page is place to keep common links and information helpful to creating star systems

FAQ

The following is a FAQ for Star System Creation in General:

Are there actually any special rules for creating Star Systems?
No. To be more specific, the rules you obey in Star System Creation are the same rules for other technology in SARP. In general though it is your best interest to have an idea of where you star system is in relation to other planets and contact the SARP's Game Master when you want the local neighborhood star map updated with your system included.

So is their even like a preferred format in SARP from making a Star System or Planet?
Actually yes! Even though their are no rules exclusive to making systems, over the years the community has evolved a general preference toward how star systems have looked. This format is best seen though by looking at examples like those shown below. By using these general examples, one should notice the following:

  1. 99% of approved star systems have wikipages listed under the id=system: section of the StarWiki or under the faction section they belong to.
  2. Stars Systems have a purpose such as being a faction homeworld, strategic base for some faction, or a place where something important has occurred. Many of the famous ones even have short descriptions and historical information about each planet
  3. Many of the most actively used star systems have or have a had some kind of artwork done for them whether it is a map or a picture of the planet.
  4. In the first one or two lines of the wikipage, a star's location is always given in light years relative to another famous approved object in SARP. Typically one choose Yamatai as the reference point. This is to help the game master figure out where to put them on the map
  5. The star's color and/or Star's Type is typically included.
  6. Star systems have list of properties of about planets in the system in table format. Typically the planet's the planet's name; type, semi-Major axis (orbital radius); orbital period, and rotation (length of the day) are considered mandatory information. Including the planet's mass, radius, circumference, gravitational acceleration, temperature, and escape velocity is consider optional information. For each planet one should also list any major cities, orbiting stations, or nearby orbiting fleets found on the planet.

Please add additional questions here

Question about Star System's History (for Wes to answer)

  • What is like the basic history of Star System Creation that you remember, Wes? Any interesting highlights or events?
  • Was Yamatai the only planet when SARP first started?
  • What was the first planet/star system made after Yamatai and the original planets? In other words when Starwiki came about, when did people star making systems?
  • When was the starmap created in SARP? Who have been the major contributors to the starmap?
  • Did people ever use Celestia for Star System creation?
  • Optional (if Wes doesn't mind): What is SARP take on the use of Supernova: for pre-SARP systems like Kohana?, for post-SARP systems, for the environmental effects of supernovas?

Great Star System Examples

For beginners the following examples may be helpful to look at. They are separated into class 1, with pictures, and class 2, without pictures:

Great Examples with Art

Great Examples without Art

Basics 101

Intro

When making a star, everyone should ask themselves the following questions:

Star Questions

  • What is the color do I want my sun? Do I want a light blue (A), white (F), yellow (G), orange (K), or red (M) sun?
  • What is the order of my planets?
  • What is the name of my system? Where is my system located? Who is the system for?
  • Does my solar system have a asteroid belt?

Gas Giant Questions

  • Is my gas giant a Chthonian, a Traditional Gas Giant, or a Hot_Jupiter?
  • What are the primary colors of my gas giant? Does my gas giant have bands and storms or is it completely opaque and placid?
  • Does my gas giant have moons or rings? If so are they does my Gas giant have prominent Saturn rings or tiny Jupiter rings? (Number of rings is about equal to or less than the number of moons)

Small Planet Questions

  • Is my planet a Super Earth, the size of earth, or smaller?
  • Is my planet habitable?
  • What kind of type of planet do I have? Is it a type of Ocean Planet or Rock Planet? It is surface mainly icy, desert, forest, volcanic, ice rock, or water?
  • Does my planet have a breathable, trace, or lethally toxic atmosphere?
  • Does my planet have moons?

Figuring out Planet Type

Planet Type is basically what is the general characteristic and features of planet. In science fiction, this typically mean like is a water world, a earth-like world, a forest world, a cold snow world, a volcanic world, a ring world, a gas gaint/cloud world, etc. In real life though astronomers have a very specific way of classifying extrasolar planets that is a bit broader in variety and realistic than typical hardcore scifi planets. As shown by the Wikipedia's Exoplanet Classification section or the Wikipedia's Exoplanet Category, most planet are classified by their temperature and mass allowing for possibilities such as super-lava Chitonians, oceanic worlds under a layers of rock, Hot Jupiter Gas Giants the undergo active nuclear fusion, and much much more.

Thus one can either define the each planet type by normal scifi classification of what the planets major features are or use a more realistic exosolar planet classification.

Star System Calculator

Wes don't forget to mention exoplanet.eu and permission we got from its founder Current Calculator links:
Excel 2007 Template Calculator Excel 2007 Ver. Calculator Excel 2003 Ver.

Calculator Questions

please add any question/comments about the calculator

Determining Planet Composition

When figuring out what a planet should be made of their are two methods. The first is to include any minerals/alloys your enemy needs to make weapons/armor, and then include one of the minerals you need to make weapons/armor. The second method is to use actual planets as a basis and basically copy and paste. Below are the compostions of various famous real planets.

Small Planet, Dwarf Planet, and Moon Examples

Planet Type Ver. 1 Type Ver. 2 Temp Planet's Atmosphere Planet's Surface Interior Composition
GJ 1214 b Ocean Ocean Super-Earth 396 K H2O, H, He, CO2 โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€” โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”
Venus Lava Coreless Terrestrial 735 K Venus's Atmos. โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€” โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”
Io Lava Silicate Terrestrial 110 K Io's Atmos. Io's Surf. S, Si, Fe
Mars Desert Silicate Terrestrial 210 K Mar's Atmos. Martian Soil, Dry Ice Martian Interior
Moon Desert Silicate Terrestrial 220 K very trace Lunar Soil Moon Interior
Europa Ice; Ocean Iron Terrestrial 396 K very trace Ice, Unknown Comp. Ice, H2O, Si, Fe
Mercury Desert; Rock Iron Terrestrial 442.5 K very trace Ca, He, OH, Mg, O, K, Si, Na Mercury Interior
Earth Forest; Ocean Ocean Terrestrial 287.2 K Earth's Atmos. Earth's Soil , Water Granite, Basalt, Si, Fe
Titan Ocean Ocean Terrestrial 93.7 K Titan's Atmos. Titan's Lakes, Organic Comp. โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”
Callisto Ice Rock Terrestrial 396 K H2O, H, He CO2 โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€” โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”
Ganyamede Ice Rock; Ocean Terrestrial 396 K H2O, H, He CO2 โ€”โ€”โ€”- โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”
Rhea Rock Terrestrial 396 K H2O, H, He CO2 โ€”โ€”โ€”- โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”
Titania Ice Rock Terrestrial 396 K H2O, H, He CO2 โ€”โ€”โ€”- โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”
Triton Ice Rock; Lava Terrestrial 396 K H2O, H, He CO2 โ€”โ€”โ€”- โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”

Gas Giants and Chitonian Examples


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guide/creating_a_star_system.1500386280.txt.gz ยท Last modified: 2023/12/20 15:49 (external edit)