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Title

HercNav's True Global World (TGW)

Author

HercNav

Submitted / Updated

10-10-2004 / 11-22-2006

Category

Area

Expansions

Works on all versions

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Update 1.0 - Includes support for TGWs greater than 6x12(72) and some general
effeciency issues.
//::///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//:: File Name: university
//:: Created By: HercNav
//:: Created On: 10/10/2004
//::///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
_______________________________________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever wanted to make a world that was round... where if you travel due
east or due west you would arrive at your point of origin?  How many worlds are
out there that have a north and south pole that you can cross and be on the
other side of the world?  If such a world existed, wouldn't the sun need to rise and set earlier as you moved east?  What if the seasons changed all on their own (days get longer and shorter depending on the day, month, and distance from the equator).  It sounds complicated, but I've created a system that does exactly that. Can a module be made where game time, seasons, sunrise, and sunset emulate what's going on in the real world throughout the year?  Find the answer below....

The goal of a module builder is to convince you that he/she has created a world where areas are realistically linked.  Area Edge Transitions take this idea to the next level by allowing areas to be linked in such a way,that it feels like the areas are pasted together, edge to edge.  Why not go the distance and give the player the feeling that the world IS round, spins on a tilted axis, and revolves around the sun....?

Consider the following a "True Global World University."  It will teach you
everything you need to know about making a "True Global World" or TGW.
_______________________________________________________________________________
THE DEMO
 You should start off by running any one direction to see that it really does
give you the feeling that you are on a globe.  It takes me about 5-6 minutes to
make it around.  You may also travel diagonally from area to area.  You should
also note, that if you wanted to travel long distances east or west, it is
faster to first go towards the nearest pole, then towards your destination (just like in real life).  Remember that latitude and longitudinal values increase as you travel the respective cardinal direction (i.e. if you are in n30e090 and move northeast, the resulting area will be n60e120).

 I have included a "Magic Sundial" in each of the areas in the demo.  Each area
will fall in a certain time zone.  If you click on the sundial, it can tell you
almanac information like the local time, when the sun will rise and set, etc.
Because this is a demo, and I wanted the player to experience the sunrise/sunset and seasons changing without having to wait long hours to make sure it happens, the magic sundial can advance time by one hour, day, or month increments.  The demo begins on 01/01/1372 at 1500 zulu (time at the Prime Meridian), but you can change that as well.

 Each area in the demo is considerably smaller than what I would use in my PW.
However, it can take a long time to get from one hemisphere to another.  For
that reason, I have included a "Summoning Globe."  It allows you to jump from
the center of one area to another almost instantaneously (where you'll encounter both another summoning globe and another sundial).  All area edge transitions, however, are installed and fully functional so feel free to run, and run, and...
_______________________________________________________________________________
CREATING THE WORLD
The real key to building a module using my TGW system is planning!
There are many factors to consider:
  The number of areas north/south (rows) should be even.
  The number of areas east/west (columns) should be twice the number of rows.
  The number of degrees that separate each area is 360 divided by the number
of columns in your world.
  The degree between (nDegBtwn) must be an integer.
  Multiply rows times columns to determine how many areas your world will have.
  The following diagram illustrates the previous considerations.
Rows (Even)   Columns (R x 2)     Total Areas (R x C)     nDegBtwn (360 / C)
 2               4                      8                 90
 4               8                      16                45
 6               12                     72                30 (first reasonable)
 10              20                     200               18 (weird number)
 12              24                     288               15(last reasonable)
 18              36                     648               10
 20              40                     800               9
 30              60                     1800              6
 36              72                     2592              5
 45              90                     4050              4
 60              120                    7200              3
 90              180                    16200             2
 180             360                    64800             1

 After choosing the appropriate array, it's time to talk about area sizes.
 Every area will have the same height; choose that number, keeping in mind that
the width will be the same in areas near the Equator, but will be reduced as
you build areas approaching the poles.  "Why?" you might ask.  In a real
coordinate system, lines of longitude converge at the poles.  Remember that
the edges of your areas represent lines of latitude and longitude.

IF YOU FEEL LOST, JUST KEEP READING, IT GETS EASIER TO UNDERSTAND AS YOU GO....
 To really get a realistic TGW, use the height times the cosine of the mid-
latitude found in each area--rounded up.  The following diagram illustrates this
concept.  Let's use example three in the previous illustration (a 6 x 12 world-
72 total areas separated by 30 degrees)

I've chosen 12 to be the height of every area in this hypothetical world.
Windows comes with a calculator.  You'll find it in "Accessories" and you can
switch it to "Scientific."  Enter the information like this: 15 cos * 12 =
You can see the answer is 11.5911.... which I rounded up to 12

        AREA                         HEIGHT x COSINE of MID-LONGITUDE = WIDTH
Areas near the Equator                 12   x    cos    15            = 12
Areas between the Equator and poles    12   x    cos    45            = 8
Areas near the poles                   12   x    cos    75            = 3

 Now it's time to draw the array.  Label each box (area) according to its tag.
 The following illustrates this concept.
 _____________________________________________________________________________
+            |            |            ?            |            |           +
+ n60w060a00 | n60w030a00 | n60w000a00 ? n60e000a00 | n60e030a00 | n60e060a00+
+____________|____________|____________?____________|____________|___________+
+            |            |            ?            |            |           +
+ n30w060a00 | n30w030a00 | n30w000a00 ? n30e000a00 | n30e030a00 | n30e060a00+
+____________|____________|____________?____________|____________|___________+
+            |            |            ?            |            |           +
+ n00w060a00 | n00w030a00 | n00w000a00 ? n00e000a00 | n00e030a00 | n00e060a00+
+            |            |            ?            |            |           +
<**************************************0*************************************>
+            |            |            ?            |            |           +
+ s00w060a00 | s00w030a00 | s00w000a00 ? s00e000a00 | s00e030a00 | s00e060a00+
+____________|____________|____________?____________|____________|___________+
+            |            |            ?            |            |           +
+ s30w060a00 | s30w030a00 | s30w000a00 ? s30e000a00 | s30e030a00 | s30e060a00+
+____________|____________|____________?____________|____________|___________+
+            |            |            ?            |            |           +
+ s60w060a00 | s60w030a00 | s60w000a00 ? s60e000a00 | s60e030a00 | s60e060a00+
+____________|____________|____________?____________|____________|___________+
With three more columns on each side, this would be the array for example three
above (a 6 x 12 world-72 total areas separated by 30 degrees).  I just happened
to have run out of space....

  Note: The line that splits the middle of the rows is the Equator.
  Note: The line that splits the middle of the columns is the Prime Meridian.
  Note: The lines that run on the left and right of this array, represent the
International Dateline
  Note: The lines that run at the top and bottom of this array, represent the
North and South Poles.

 Note that areas near the Equator and Prime Meridian have the 00 and 000 value
respectively.

 Keep in mind that your area is tagged for the lowest degree of longitude and
latitude found in that area.  For example, n30w120a00 is the area whose bottom
edge is 30 degrees north of the Equator and right edge is 120 degrees west of
the Prime Meridian.  The left edge falls just short of the next area's 60
degrees of longitude (you could say the left edge is 59 degrees west and the top
is 149 degrees north).

 The a00 at the end means that the area is the first plane above ground.  For
each plane underground, you should use b00, b01, b02, etc.  No, you do not have
to separate b00, and b01 by the same "nDegBtwn" that n00 and n30 are.

 Now you can decide what area type each box will be.  I suggest making the poles
either Rural Winter, Frozen Wastes or combinations thereof, but it's your call.

 When you make your first area, install all the Area Edge Transitions and
scripts.  See "HercNav's Area Edge Transitions" for directions.  Continue making
areas.

 Note: Areas lining the International Dateline (like n60w150a00 and s60e150a00)
of the same area type, are EXACTLY the same--except 180 degrees of each other.
n30w120a00 and s30e120a00 are 180 degree copies of each other (again, IF they
are the same area type).  Areas like n60w00a00 and n60e00a00 are identical to
each other WITHOUT rotating (...if they are the same area type).  By copying and
retagging areas that you've made, you will be able to make a TGW in half the
time.
_______________________________________________________________________________
THE SUNRISE/SUNSET SYSTEM
 Don't forget to put TGW_SRSS_AREA in the "OnEnter" slot of each area.
Something in the module has to have the TGW_SRSS_PC_HB in its "OnHeartbeat"
slot.  This "something" can be anything from the module itself (which is my
recommendation) to an invisible object in the starting area.

 Under the "Advanced" tab, in "Module Properties," change Sunrise and Sunset to
zero.  The script will "reteach" the module how to conduct these events.

 The Sunrise Sunset routine, or SRSS, takes the TGW to the next level.  As a
character moves east, he/she will notice that the sun rises and sets earlier.
Between the 5th and 7th month (inclusive), the PC will notice that the days get
longer as he/she moves north.  At the North Pole, it's daytime almost 24/7.  The
opposite is true for the South Pole.  As you'd expect, between the 11th and 1st
month, the days SHORTEN as you move north.

The Equator and Prime Meridian cross at a hypothetical point (meaning you can
never be exactly at this point (just like you can't stand exactly AT the north
or south pole).  Each area east or west will have a calculated time zone.  The
magic sundial helps clarify this idea.  It will be up to you to name each time
zone through storyline as well as months of the year, etc.

You'll notice that, for the most part, I have prefaced all files that have the
variable nDegBtwn with "TGW_..."  Likewise, all files that have the variable
nMinPerHour are prefaced with "TGW_SRSS_...  If ever you feel the need to change
the number of minutes in an hour (Module Properties, Advanced Tab), you should
change nMinPerHour in each of those (only five or six) scripts.  The default
value is 2 minutes per hour (because you'd want the sun to rise and set several
times while you played for a few hours).  If you were to change nMinPerHour to
60, you would notice that sunrise and sunset occur at about the same time as the real world (for that given day of the year and your geographic coordinates). One other factor increases the accuracy of sunrise and sunset: an increased number of areas in your TGW.  Because there are a maximum of 28 days in a month, these events will never be exact.

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Description

Have you ever wanted to make a world that was round... where if you travel due east or due west you would arrive at your point of origin? How many worlds are out there that have a north and south pole that you can cross and be on the other side of the world? If such a world existed, wouldn't the sun need to rise and set earlier as you moved east? What if the seasons changed all on their own (days get longer and shorter depending on the day, month, and distance from the equator). It sounds complicated, but I've created a system that does exactly that. Can a module be made where game time, seasons, sunrise, and sunset emulate what's going on in the real world throughout the year? Find the answer below.... And as always, check out my work all you want, but if you use it in your module, please take a few seconds to vote.

Files

Name	Type	Size	Downloads
DEMO_HercNavs_True_Global_World.zipDEMO_HercNavs_True_Global_World.zip Submitted: 10-10-2004 / Last Updated: 10-15-2004	zip	230.11Kb	318
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9.5
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Comments (10):

Posted by stacy_19201325 at 2005-12-31 19:54:37 Voted 9.75 on 12/31/05

This is simply magnificent. While I am not just beginning a module from scratch per se... (I have a tendancy to work on bits and pieces at a time and combine them all after I'm done) I haven't yet done much with the exterior areas of my module and provided I'm smart enough to figure this out completely, I absolutely want to implement it.

I am VERY into realism-adding systems that don't inconvenience the players but rather add to the ambiance of the world.
_________________________
My Submissions:<br> [Starship Interiors] [Sci-Fi Loadscreens] [80-Color Palette Overrides] [Mil_Tailor Update for 1.67]

Posted by HercNav at 2005-02-11 15:25:00

If you'd like to see this concept in action, sort module names and look for "HercNav's True Global World" under PW Action. I took my demo world, added my persistent housing system, a free-trade economy system, and more.

Posted by the builder ( 81.228.xxx.xxx ) at 2004-12-07 11:11:00

To bad I am half way trough my pw. cause this really sounds interesting. I´ll be sure to use it if I ever make another one.

Posted by MacLir at 2004-11-13 04:37:18 Voted 9.50 on 11/13/04

Good system, semi-difficult to understand/set-up. Then again, I'm not a navigator of -any- sort. ; )

Posted by caesarbear at 2004-11-08 10:31:45 Voted 9.75 on 11/08/04

Excellent script that opens up some great possibilities that were clumsy and difficult before. A full and large implementation of this script may be an ambitious task, but it is quality stuff with many lesser uses.

Posted by HercNav at 2004-10-19 03:39:00

Let me also add (clarify) that you do NOT have to have a True Global World to utilize the Sunrise/Sunset (SRSS) system.

If you are tagging your areas in accordance with "HercNav's Area Edge Transitions," you can implement the SRSS in your module. (the nXX or sXX values do not exceed 89, and the eYYY or wYYY values do not exceed 179)

"HercNav's Area Edge Transitions" allow for seamless transitions for areas (even areas of DIFFERENT size/shape!) Look for the title in NWVault for script and demo.

Posted by HercNav at 2004-10-18 20:33:00

Let me also add that the sunrise/sunset (SRSS) system will work for any module where

Posted by HercNav at 2004-10-15 10:24:00

I published this system knowing full well that no one would be interested unless starting from scratch, but hopefully there are some people out there that meet this description.

My brother (the storyteller) and I (the engineer) ARE building a TGW from scratch. It will be a very innovative and exciting new world for players to explore. It should be available this spring--if not sooner.

Posted by Makzimia_De_Graf at 2004-10-15 08:17:16 Voted 9.00 on 10/15/04

I gave it an 9 because I think it is very complex for some to use. But, I love the idea.

Posted by Makzimia_De_Graf at 2004-10-15 08:15:00 Voted 9.00 on 10/15/04

Great idea Herc, had a little play with it, if I was building something from scratch, this would be wonderful.Makzimia De Graf
DM/Creator
Island of Fredian a PW
Home of ATS/Salandra's crafting

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