AstroSynthesis

[athonian]

WHERE DO I GET THIS SOFTWARE???? *Drool*

[EternusIV]

http://www.nbos.com/products/astro/astro.htm

 

Enjoy!

 

 

I created a stock CSV file that can import up to 200 systems at once. What it does is imports a basic star style with your system name for you near the origin of your Astrosynth map.

 

For those of you who have emailed me about it: I have to tweak the file to make all 200 systems show up (if you don't have 200 systems [i don't - for 1 empire anyway] simply delete the 'extra' lines of data.) Expect it next week sometime. PM me with addy and I'll send it to you no prob.

 

All you have to do is type in the System names yourself and delete any Star slots not used.

 

From there, you can drag your systems around as you see fit and connect them with the 'trade route' feature in the game.

 

The CSV file saves you the time of creating a new star and naming it each time (as it creates the star near the last star you were working on)

 

I thought of a cool suggestion for Pete that I will run by him later this week:

 

Namely - a CSV file that we can use that will have our systems, 'connected'...without the ACTUAL coordinates...nor proper scale...making it impossible for us to 'crack' the map through reverse analysis. This can be done with a simple trigonomic operator that should be easy to code.

 

Of course - I'm not sure how time intensive it would be for Pete as I'm not sure how easily he can move data from his database to a nice CSV file...but I have faith in his ingenuity. Imagine how much easier it would be to map this game if all we had to do was import a map into Astrosynth!

 

I dare say, I'd pay a little extra for such a service.

 

Especially - if we can figure out how to import actual warp points/labels.

 

Oh - for those of you labeling WPs, I find it easy to create an 'in-system' object listing the WP number/info AND labeling the Trade Route [Alpha System - Beta System: D-C] (designates which warp class belongs with which system)

 

Not having sharper warp point utilities does not interfere with the visual of having all your systems connected...and USING the map in a practical way to make plans.

 

Oh - for FLEETS - I simply create Red Stars, label them in CAPS, and drag them to the locations

 

 

Happy mapping to you and yours

[athonian]

i love you. have my babies.

[athonian]

it would be so cool if pete could work with the astrosynth guys and get us free copies of the full program. i'd be willing to pay an extra buck a turn or so....

[hobknob]

Nobody works for free. I believe Pete mentioned that he was working with those guys and was also looking into some sort of discounted rate for us at the same time.

 

[Hughestrog]

But what about the folks who've already bought a copy?

 

A free downloadable patch?

 

Or would the modifications to the software be embedded in the code?

[Griffon Corporation]

Let me know when everything gets set up and working so we can do all this. I do not have the time to set this all up free hand.

[RTGPete]

Good news!

 

Astrosynthesis has been updated to allow for warp point import, and I've written some code on this end to export empire star and warp point information. It needs some more work - labeling/coloring one-way warp points (which might not be one-way later, when you survey the return trip) comes to mind.

 

It doesn't export true XYZ coordinates - instead, all stars are assigned to 0.0.0. You would then edit those values to match your map, or simply import and start dragging stars around. Warp lines require no editing and move automatically as you drag stars, stretching like rubber bands no matter where you drag your stars.

 

A sample (tiny) file would look like this:

 

Star,1,Able,0,0,0,1,1,1,,#FF4500,R (Orange-Red)

Star,2,Baker,0,0,0,1,1.1,1,,#FFD700,G (Yellow)

Star,3,Charlie,0,0,0,1,1,0.8,,#FFA500,K (Orange)

Route,Able,Baker,Warp Point,,#FFFFFF,2,1,,,,

Route,Baker,Charlie,Warp Point,,#FFFFFF,2,1,,,,

Route,Able,Charlie,Warp Point,,#FFFFFF,2,1,,,,

 

This text file, in csv format, can be loaded into Excel and everything lines up nice and neat - you'd then edit the 0,0,0 parts to be the coordinates you want for your stars. Save it as a csv or text file, load Astrosynthesis, File - Import Data and that's it. Since you've probably laid out your maps as if they were on graph paper, with effective XYZ's just by the locations of your stars, you'd translate your existing star coordinates, save, and import. Warp points need no adjustment, representing the largest part of the export.

 

For those of you who already have Astrosynthesis, you can download the free update to allow for warp point import at

 

http://www.nbos.com/download/Astro110UPD.exe

 

You can cut-and-paste the above sample, save it in text format (in Notepad works great) and then import into your Astrosynthesis to see what it looks like.

 

I'll finish off the export routine in the next couple of days - I have to say, with a large map the stars and warp lines do look pretty cool in Astrosynthesis

[Palladium Regency]

Great! Thanks for the update Pete!

[EternusIV]

The Warp Import feature is AWESOME

 

Great job PEte in getting this feature added and taking the extra effort to create an importabel CSV file....this saves us quite a bit of time.

[PhaseDragon]

Truly Awesome!

[RTGPete]

We need to be able to drag-and-drop the star positions.  (I think this has already been verified.)

 

Can the import be set to only bring in new data, or will it overwrite existing data?  I.E. after I drag-and-drop the stars into a nice geometrically balanced pattern, will the import destroy the positioning and set the stars back to randomly generated xyz positions?

 

We need to be able to import all the data:

Star System Name

etc

Planet Atmosphere

Population Groups on each planet

 

It would be REALLY nice if it imported the fleet positions!  Although overwriting the fleet positions without overwriting the star coordinates may be a problem.

 

The warp point class needs to be displayed at each end of the warp connection.  Shoehorning this into a Trade Route may prove troublesome.  Can the trade route distance or “cost” be made dependant on the direction of travel?

You can add new stars and warp points from within Astrosynthesis, and move them as desired.

 

I could store the stars already exported to you on this end, so the next time you wanted an export only new stars (not already exported) would be sent to you. They'd be at 0.0.0 and you could then just add them to your edited (with your XYZ's) file, edit them to some new place and go from there. New warp lines is the real key to this, as it would free you from adding newly surveyed warp points. However, if you had labels on what used to be one-way warp points (because you hadn't surveyed the way back yet) and that connection is now two-way (because you just surveyed the way back), that old label would still be there. You'd have to kill that old warp connection or otherwise update your map to be accurate with the new information.

 

Dragging stars from within Astrosynthesis works fine - but you'd want to update your export csv file with any moved stars' new locations if you ever wanted to merge your star file with another player's.

 

Right now I only export star and warp point information as there is no way to import planet and fleet data fom within Astrosynthesis.

 

The warp lines overlap (two-way warp lines within Astrosynthesis go right over each other), so placing labels and/or warp point classes is a bit tricky. There would have to be labels for one-way lines, or some sort of combined label for two-way lines. That can really clutter up the map, though. An alternative would be to use the pathfinding program created by one player for your movements. Though we can't officially sanction player created programs as being absolutely bulletproof/secure, it is very cool, providing shortest-routes and lowest-fuel-routes between any set of stars that you've surveyed. In conjunction with the cool-looking Astrosynthesis maps, it's a powerful combination for turn planning.

 

I'd like to say presto! Here's a current export with fully accurate XYZ and warp point lines. Survey some new stars or warp points? No problem! Toss out your old map and here's a new one! But....giving out exact, correct, guaranteed-to-be-accurate maps from this end has some very serious downsides.

 

Now, if I knew what XYZ's you had assigned to your stars, I could store that on this end and on any new export I'd assign your XYZ's to your known stars, and 0.0.0. to all new stars. Actually, I'd probably assign then random X and Y cooredinates, with a large Z coordinate to make them stand out on your new map. They'd be connected as usual by a warp point, and you could drag as desired. Warp points are no issue, as they always rubber-band between stars, not caring about locations. You'd have to issue some kind of a new order to update star locations (an LC type of thing that had lots of entry boxes as you might well have a ton of stars), but that would mean you'd have to enter some new orders to fix those XYZ's...not sure if people would want to do that or not. In this case updates from here would be a snap.

 

I'd say this last solution would be ideal, as it eliminates a lot of tedium when you survey new stars. It does, however, have the drawback that you'd need to issue some orders to initially set those XYZ's, and another order now and then to update them if you ever wanted the master database (here) to know that you moved some stars. Otherwise the next time you got a star map, your stars would snap back to whatever XYZ's you had initially assigned to them.

 

Thoughts? Does anybody already have Astrosynthesis, updated to allow for warp point import?

[SargonKingOfSlith]

Fantastic!!!

 

If it doesn't rain this weekend, I should be able to get the software and start learning the interface.

 

I don't think that RTG should be responsible for keeping track of player-assigned x.y.z coordinates for their star systems. I would rather keep that myself. Then if I want to change coordinates, it doesn't require sending in a bunch of orders and waiting a turn.

 

I think I would prefer for RTG to send us a complete list each turn, with all coordinates set at zero. I should be able to keep my own list of stars systems with my own coordinate assignments. I can just cut out the new listings myself and add them to the bottom of my spreadsheet, then sort the spreadsheet any way I want.

 

I'm not 100% set on this. If other players want only an update of new systems, then I could deal with that too.

 

Also, I think I need to see the software before I can have a real opinion on what kind of data I would like to receive from RTG.

 

Thanks again for following up on this and getting them to add the modifications!

[Hughestrog]

Wow- so cool!

 

[EternusIV]

Pete/Astrosynth Users-

 

Bravo on the Warp Import.

 

Will we expect regular CSV files with out turns?

 

Man we could use an Export CSV feature...I can see where entering in coords to the CSV file from Astroynth can be a pain. I have a map with 200 combined systems.

 

Also - I've been toying with an interesting - and very ambitious project.

 

I'm trying to code a spreadsheet where all you do is enter in/parse your Warp Points Surveyed page and it generates the most logical coordinates FOR YOU in 3d space(without zigzags!)

 

My Physics professor and I sat down for about a half an hour last week discussing how to go about it (as the process resembles the plotting of charged particles in spherical space) Molecule simulators employ a similar process.

 

I have a good start - but it might get trickier. I encourage anyone with math ambitions to PM me and maybe we can work on it together. Programmers welcome!