SystemMaker

This is the guide to using the Spelljammer SystemMaker tool. It includes notes, descriptions, and whatever other information I think you might need to use the tool. As users ask questions, I will try to refine this document.

File Menu

Load, Save

These menus allow you to load or save an XML file that describes your system. Examples (using the spheres of the Gatespace cluster) are included in the data directory. Note: the tool maintains only one system in memory at a time.

Random

Generate a random sphere. This uses the random sphere generation tables in the SJ books, with a few additions or modifications where they made sense. Here are a few of the differences (or unimplemented features):

• The tool only handles standard circular orbits (or fixed location planets). It will not handle random wandering planets, or planets that orbit on square or elliptical paths, for instance.
• The tool adds a bit of randomization to the orbital distances. It also generates orbital distances for moons around planets.
• It will not do anything with a sphere filled with a debris field. However, it does handle large-area asteroid fields. See Shamblespace for an example.

Add Planet

Adds a new random planet to the system. The new planet will have random attributes, and its orbital distance will be greater the current set of planets. If the system has not been created, it will create the first planet as the primary. Once it creates the planet, it will also automatically display the planet editor pane with the new planet's parameters.

Properties

This menu brings up a popup pane allowing you to edit properties used by the tool. The current properties are:

• Map Size: The (square) size of maps, aside from sidebar images
• Sidebar Width/Height: The width and height of sidebar images
• Sidebar Margin: The margin for sidebar images. This determines the inset of the primary location from the upper left corner, and the space between the outermost planet and the bottom of the image.
• Days From Zero: This long number is the number of days from the "zero time" of the system. The zero time is when all the planets (and moons) lined up. By default, this number is set to the system time when you start the tool; you can set a specific time to generate system maps with consistent locations. You will want to use a pretty big number though.

View Menu

Full System Map

Generates a map with all planets displayed. The map is to scale.

Inner System Map

Generates a map with only the inner planets displayed The map is to scale.

Outer System Map

Generates a map with only the outer planets (and the primary) displayed. The map is to scale.

Planet Moon Map

Generates a display of a planet-moon system. Not currently working (I'm getting there!).

Sidebar Image

Generates a sidebar images suitable for including on web pages.

Planet Display Panes

Each planet, including the primary, will appear in orbital order in the center of the tool. Each pane will include the basic information about the planet, and whatever descriptive text is available for that planet. Moons initially will not be displayed - hit the Show Moons toggle to view the moons of a planet. To add a moon, hit the Add Moon button; the moon's initial values will be random. Hitting the Edit button will bring up the Planet Edit pane in a popup window.

Planet Edit Pane

The Planet Edit Pane allows you to edit the various values of each planet (and moon, primary, or other astronomical). You can edit the various fields and the description. Once you hit Save, the information will be saved, and the edit pane will close. Reset will reset the information to its current value, and let you keep editing. Note: do not include commas in your text entry.

Image Displays

When the SystemMaker creates an image, it allows you to save the image to a PNG file. Currently PNG is the only format supported. Other formats will be added in the future.

XML Format

You can hand-edit the XML files that the SystemMaker uses to save planetary systems. Some advanced parameters are only editable if you hand-edit the XML file. Look at the examples in the data directory.

The root element is system. The system element can contain one primary node, and as many planet and astronomical nodes as you want. Each of these can contain one or more description elements. Planets can also contain one or more moon elements. Note that XML is case-sensitive.

The system element has two attributes. The first is name, which sets the name of the system. The second optional element is motion. The motion attribute specifies the direction of motion for all planets in the system. Valid values are clockwise, counterclockwise, random (moves at random within an orbit), mixed (planets move either clockwise or counterclockwise), or special (something else weird). I may add other values in the future.

Each of the primary, planet, moon, and astronomical elements has several attributes. Some of these have default values. The attributes, and their descriptions or roles, are the following:

• name: name of the body. This must be specified.
• shape: shape of the body. Valid values are amorphous, belt, cluster, flat, elliptical, sphere, regular, irregular, and portal. If not set, the SystemMaker will generate a random value.
• type: type of the body. Valid values are earth, air, fire, water, live, void, positive, negative. Use void to indicate when you might have moons circling around an empty point. The values positive and negative are used for portals (the odd primary). If not set, the default value is earth.
• size: This can either be a number (size in miles), or a single capital letter (size code). If not set, the SystemMaker will generate a random value. If you specify a letter, it will randomly determine a size in miles in the appropriate range.
• distance: Distance from the center of the sphere (for planets and astronomicals) or the moon's planet (for moons). For planets only, if the value is less than 1000000 (one million), it will be automatically multiplied by 1000000. This value must be specified for planets and astronomicals. It is ignored for the primary.
• year: The time it takes for the body to make a full orbit around its primary. For moons, this is the time it takes to complete one complete cycle of phases (from full to full), not just a revolution of 360 degrees.
• motion: direction or type of motion. Valid values are all of the values for motion under system except mixed. If the value is not specified, the SystemMaker will use the motion specified for the entire system. The value for a planet's motion, if set, overrides the motion for the entire system.
• symbol: Unicode character representing the planet. If not set, the standard symbol representing the planet shape will be used. Use this when you have a peculiar planet or astronomical that you want to denote with a special symbol.
• inclination: for moving planets, this is the angle the planet makes with the ecliptic (the equator of the crystal sphere) as it crosses the ecliptic. For stationary bodies, this is the angle above (or below, for negative values) the ecliptic where the body is located. The default value is zero.
• ascension: angle from the zero location where the body crosses the ecliptic going up (for moving bodies), or angle from zero where the body is located (for fixed bodies). It can also be used to specify the offset of a planet from the zero position when two planets occupy the same orbit (see the example data file for Chromaspace).

Note: All attribute names are lower-case.