MekHQ - Planetary Data

[Jayof9s]

Update March 7, 2012: please email all submission to jayof9s at gmail.com

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Update Sept 25, 2012: you can access the latest planets.xml & factions.xml: Click Here

Please keep in mind that the Spreadsheet (Planet Tracking Spreadsheet) is more up to date than the SVN!

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The time has finally come to fill in the planetary data for MekHQ. Anyone is welcome to help submit planetary data here on this thread and I will make sure it all gets submitted to the SVN. Below is an example using the current system:

Edit: Please note, partial submissions are better than nothing. Submit what data you are able to find and I can compile the rest. To make it easier on me, only include the fields you have data for.

<planet>
   <name>El Dorado</name>
   <xcood>268.88</xcood>
   <ycood>-146.31</ycood>
   <faction>FS</faction>
   <factionChange>
      <date>3040-01-01</date>
      <faction>FC</faction>
   </factionChange>
   <factionChange>
      <date>3067-01-01</date>
      <faction>FS</faction>
   </factionChange>
        <spectralClass>G</spectralClass>
        <subtype>0</subtype>
        <luminosity>V</luminosity>
        <sysPos>2</sysPos>
        <gravity>1.25</gravity>
        <pressure>3</pressure>
        <temperature>27</temperature>
        <percentWater>77</percentWater>
        <zenithCharge>true</zenithCharge>
        <nadirCharge>true</nadirCharge>
        <hpg>A</hpg>
        <lifeForm>7</lifeForm>
        <satellite>Boulder</satellite>
        <landMass>San Diego</landMass>
        <landMass>Los Angeles</landMass>
        <landMass>Las Vegas</landMass>
        <landMass>Santa Fe</landMass>
        <landMass>Monterrey</landMass>
        <landMass>Durango</landMass>     
        <socioIndustrial>A-A-A-A-A</socioIndustrial>
        <desc>El Dorado is an Earth-like planet with 6 major continents and large tracts of arable land. This is due to the massive bodies of fresh water, know as The Super Lakes, which are located on the largest continents of San Diego and Los Angeles.

El Dorado is slightly warmer than Earth and has increased tectonic activity. Over the centuries of colonization populations centers have settled in locations that avoided the most geologically active sites.

El Dorado has a single moon named Boulder. It appears silver and sapphire and has a thick nitrogen-carbon dioxide atmosphere.

For much of its early history El Dorado was known for its JumShip yards. This ended during the 1st Succession War when the Draconis Combine left the Ship Yards in ruins after a raid. The planet itself still remains heavily industrialized and is home to many renowned universities known as the "Guilded Halls". These universities have allowed El Dorado to remain a front runner in technology and manufacturing throughout the Succession Wars.</desc>
</planet>

An explanation for each of the fields:

name - This field should be fairly obvious.

xcood - The x-coordinates, these shouldnt change - you do not need to submit this field

ycood - The y-coordinates, these shouldn't change - you do not need to submit this field

faction - This is the default (original) faction owner. Faction owner can be changed by the factionChange tag explained below, but in the absence of factionChanges this is the default. The most common faction codes are:

MERC - Mercenary
CC - Capellan Confederation
DC - Draconis Combine
FS - Federated Suns
FWL - FWL
LA - Lyran Alliance/Commonwealth
FC - Federated COmmonwealth
ROS - Republic of the Sphere
CS - Comstar
WOB - Word of Blake
FRR - Free Rassalhague Republic
SIC - St. Ives Compact
MOC - Magistracy of Canopus
OA - Outworlds Alliance
TC - Tauran Concordate
MH - Marian Hegemony
IND - Chaos March
ARDC - Arc Royal Defense Cordon
TH - Terran Hegemony
RWR - Rim Worlds Republic
PIND - Periphery (other)
CW - Clan Wolf
CJF - Clan Jade Falcon
CGB - Clan Ghost Bear
CSJ - Clan Smoke Jaguar
CNC - Clan Nova Cat
CDS - Clan Diamond Shark
CSV - Clan Steel Viper
CHH - Clan Hells Horses

We have added many factions since then (covering almost all factions that exist or have existed in battletech) download this updated factions.xml file for the full listing: Factions.xml

pressure - Atmospheric pressure
0 - Vacuum
1 - Trace
2 - Thin
3 - Standard
4 - High
5 - Very High

gravity - This should be a number with decimal places (e.g. 1.1, 1.0, 0.95, etc.)

nadirCharge - If there is a nadir charging station, this should be "true". If there is none then this tag can be left out.

zenithCharge - same as nadirCharge.

lifeForm - Highest life form.
0 - None
1 - Microbe
2 - Plant
3 - Fish
4 - Amphibian
5 - Reptile
6 - Bird
7 - Mammal
8 - Insects

climate - Climate type
0 - Arctic
1 - Boreal
2- Cool temperate
3 - Warm temperate
4 - Arid
5 - Tropical

percentWater - This should be a number between 0 and 100.

temperature - Equatorial temperature. This should be a number.

spectralClass - Star's spectral class. This should be a letter O, B, A, F, G, M, or K.

subtype - Star's spectral class subtype. This should be a number.

luminosity - Star's luminosity. This should be "Ia", "Ib","II","III","IV","V", "VI", or "VII".

sysPos - The position of the planet in the system. A number goes here.

socioIndustrial - This is the five item socio-industrial index which should be reported using the standard lettering system separated by "-" (e.g. A-B-A-C-F)

satellite - Used to name satellites for the planet. This tag can be used multiple times, once for each satellite.

landMass - Used to name landmasses on the planet. This tag can be used multiple times, once for each landmass.

hpg - The letter corresponding to the HPG rating on planet should go here.

desc - This is for the fluff description of the planet.

factionChange - This is the only dynamic element at the moment. Each time the planet experiences a faction change you can put in a factionChange element, which should have two sub-tags
    date - the date in YYYY-MM-DD format that the change occurred.
    faction - the new faction
When determining the current faction of the planet, the program will look for the last faction change for the planet by the current date and if none is found, it will default to the base faction.

Additionally I have a list of planets here: Planet Tracking Spreadsheet

I will update the list to show which planets have data entered and ask that you check the list to ensure that any planet you are working on has not already been submitted. Currently planets with full info will be marked as green, any with partial info will be marked as yellow and any with no info will have no highlighting.

Update: Also, please keep in mind that we will be following the same 2-month moratorium for adding data from newly released source books that sarna.net and Megamek both follow.

[mancub72]

Happy Dance!!!!

Beginning to enter Data.

[McSlayer]

Hey,

I would suggest looking up some of this data on Sarna.net... I figure some of it would be there...

Otherwise I'd used some data base from the mekwars guys... sure there's plenty of that.

-Mek

[Kojak]

I would actually avoid Sarna, as they have known issues with the accuracy of their data. I would probably restrict this to citable sourcebook material. I will start mining the Objectives pdfs and House Handbooks ASAP.

[John_Hawk]

What about transit times and recharge times?  That's in a lot of the planetary descriptions, but not on this list.  Will it be derived from star type and system position, or will it have to be entered later?

[John_Hawk]

New Avalon

<planet>
   <name>New Avalon</name>
   <xcood>268.88</xcood>
   <ycood>-146.31</ycood>
   <faction>3</faction>
   <factionChange>
        <date>3040-01-01</date>
        <faction>6</faction>
        <date>3067-04-20</date>
        <faction>3</faction>
    </factionChange>
        <spectralClass>G</spectralClass>
        <subtype>5</subtype>
        <luminosity>V</luminosity>
        <sysPos>4</sysPos>
        <gravity>1.0</gravity>
        <pressure>3</pressure>
        <temperature>30</temperature>
        <percentWater>60</percentWater>
        <zenithCharge>true</zenithCharge>
        <nadirCharge>true</nadirCharge>
        <hpg>A</hpg>
        <lifeForm>7</lifeForm>
        <satellite>Avatar</satellite>
        <satellite>Galahad</satellite>
        <satellite>Valiant</satellite>
        <landMass>Albion</landMass>
        <landMass>New Hebrides</landMass>
        <landMass>New Scotland</landMass>
        <landMass>Rostock</landMass>
        <landMass>Brunswick</landMass>
        <socioIndustrial>A-A-C-A-A</socioIndustrial>
        <desc>Discovered in 2205 by the Aptly named TAS Camelot, this lush planet quickly attracted colonists, where the native life was genetically altered to yield more terran-like foodstuffs.  New Avalon grew to become the breadbasket for worlds around it.  This important role assisted Lucien Davion's rise to power, one that would result in the Davion family ruling the Federated Suns from this agricultural world.
     New Avalon boasts five continents.  Albion is the largest, with prairies and forests interspersed between its mountain ranges.  Brunswick is next in line, boasting most of the planet's petrochemical production and heavy industry, along with two major spaceports.  Rostock is primarily a ranching continent, though some land is lost to the planet's only significant desert.  Up north, the smallest continent, New Scotland, covered with snow most of the year, primarily exports raw materials to other parts of the world, mainly hard woods, metals, and rare furs. The New Hebrides island chain is located near the equator, making it a good location for citrus crops and vacation spots.
     Shining in the center of three rivers is Avalon City, home of the ruling Davion family.  First constructed as a medieval theme park, the Davions continued to use the romantic side of medieval imagery to bolster morale, ruling from atop Mt. Davion to the east of Avalon City.  The fighting during the Blakist occupation has left the once proud city in ruins.
     Surrounding Avalon City is a mixture of forests, mountains, plains and population centers.  The New Avalon Institute of Science combines a top-of-the-line university, research and development center, and a premier military school.  Hidden in the forests are advanced weapon study facilities as well as a command-and-control complex deep in the mountains.  Large natural boundaries separate civilian nature preserves from testing areas.
     The planet suffered much damage from both the civil war and the buildup prior to it.  Under Katherine's rule, people frequently were arrested and then imprisoned, tortured, or executed in a search for insurgents and supporters of her brother.  These dark ays led to economic troubles which further impacted the world.  When the liberation of New Avalaon finally came, Victor's forces had to fight for every square inch, resulting in damage to cities, farms and nature preserves.  Rebuilding followed, and it had barely begun in earnest when the Word of Blake invaded.</desc>
</planet>

I've highlighted the X/Y coordinates because none of the sources I have access to -- JTP; New Avalaon, Fed-Com Civil War, HB: House Davion, the original House Davion sourcebook, and even MekHQ itself don't seem to have a listing for the coordinates.  I checked ISCS and didn't find anything easily there; if someone can point me in the correct direction, I'm happy to update this info.

Edited for landmasses and fluff text and faction change information.

[Kovax]

The "Planets.xml(?)" file included with MekHQ has the coordinate data and faction number for all of the included planets already entered, which I assume is used to position the planets on the map and give them the proper color.  The rest of the info isn't there, so I assume that any missing field is simply replaced by the default settings.

Unless somebody else has a claim on it, I'll start working from the letter "K" and see how far I get over the weekend.  Jayof9s can merge or copy/paste the edited files afterwards, if that would be acceptable, otherwise this is going to become a REALLY long thread in short order.

[Taharqa]

What about transit times and recharge times?  That's in a lot of the planetary descriptions, but not on this list.  Will it be derived from star type and system position, or will it have to be entered later?

Those numbers are calculated from the stellar type and subtype.

The X, Y coordinates and base faction are already in the current planets.xml file for MHQ. They are based on the Pryde Rock Stellar Cartography data files which are in turn based on the ISCS files. The current xml also has some very "lumpy" faction change codes that are associated with major time points (3029, 3050, 3052, 3057, 3062, etc) but it would be better to identify exactly (at least the month) when a given planet changed hands in say the 4SW or the clan invasion.

[John_Hawk]

Okay.  I was planning on going the the Turning Points books, Fed-Com Civil War, and the handbooks to enter what data I have.  The Fed-Com Civil War Book alone is going to be a pretty large chunk of worlds.

[Jayof9s]

I will be updating the googledoc with the planet list as often as possible, so make sure to check before working on any planets. I also plan to list any missing details for a planet in the spreadsheet so they can be updated at a later date if new information is found.

Also, if anyone is willing to make specific 'reservations' for planets that they plan to work on I will mark those in blue so we don't have multiple people compiling the same several planets. However, I do ask that if you reserve any planets to make sure you can do them within a few days. My main concern is someone will reserve a bunch of planets and then real life will interfere and they disappear, so anything that isn't filled in a week will be unreserved just for the sake of timeliness especially if I don't hear anything.

[John_Hawk]

A thought-- I just copied the fluff text from JHS- New Avalaon verbatim.  Are we okay to do that, or do we need to come up with descriptions that are not plagiarism of published products?  I can easily remove that text.

[Kovax]

Much to my surprise and annoyance, the Objective Raids sourcebook only lists the units stationed on-planet and the time to/from the jump point, plus some "fluff" about the local economy or conditions; absolutely none of the info that's needed here.  Somewhere buried in the attic I've got a Periphery sourcebook, otherwise I'm stuck for data.  Sorry.

[nckestrel]

A thought-- I just copied the fluff text from JHS- New Avalaon verbatim.  Are we okay to do that, or do we need to come up with descriptions that are not plagiarism of published products?  I can easily remove that text.

Generally cut/pasting somebody else's text is a bad idea.  Sarna, SSW and MegaMek don't have the 'mech fluff (?) for this reason?

[Taharqa]

A thought-- I just copied the fluff text from JHS- New Avalaon verbatim.  Are we okay to do that, or do we need to come up with descriptions that are not plagiarism of published products?  I can easily remove that text.

We need to come up with our own descriptions.

[krazzyharry]

Let me catch up on college (books came in late) and I will try to knock a couple out a week. 

[John_Hawk]

I've got raw data entered for the following worlds, but not fluff yet.  I'm also working on possession history and coordinates, and I'll hopefully upload them this weekend.  Still working on the rest of the FedCom civil war book.  :)

Addicks
Algol
Breed
Bromhead
Caph
Cassias
Dahar IV
Demeter
Kathil
Kesai IV
New Aragon
New Syrtis
Robinson

[Hammer]

I've started working on the Objective:]Draconis Combine Worlds.
            Abiy Adi
            Agematsu
            Aix-la-Chapelle
            Albiero
            Algedi
            Ashio
            Avon
            Bjarred
            Buckminster
            Chatham
            Dieron
            Dover
            Galtor III
            Hanover
            Hun Ho
            Irece
            Irurzun
            Jeanette
            Kagoshima
            Kajikazawa
            Kaznejoy
            Kirei Na Niwa
            Lapida II
            Loysville
            Luthien
            Marduk
            Matsuida
            Midway
            New Samarkand
            Ningxia
            Nykvarn
            Oshika
            Pesht
            Proserpina
            Qandahar
            Savinsville
            Schuyler
            Shimonita
            Soul
            Tabayama
            Tiflis
            Togura
            Tok Do
            Unity
            Xinyang

Should have them all done sometime next week.

[Jayof9s]

Thanks Hammer and John_Hawk, I will update the spreadsheet to reflect that those planets are in progress.

[Hammer]

I'm working through the Objectives Kurita book and I have a request.  Could we get a couple of extra atmosphere types added:

Standard(Tainted) and High(Tainted) to reflect those atmosphere types.

Thanks

[John_Hawk]

I'm running into a problem with some worlds -- they have a highest life native life form of insect; that doesn't appear on the options we have, so I've been using plants.  Any suggestions?

[Grantwhy]

I'm running into a problem with some worlds -- they have a highest life native life form of insect; that doesn't appear on the options we have, so I've been using plants.  Any suggestions?

Then it would appear [imagine a .gif of Horatio Caine putting on sunglasses here] you have indeed found a bug regarding bugs



yes, yes I do feel bad about making that joke .... not bad enough to not post it though  :P

[Jayof9s]

Bumping post - we are still looking for assistance on the MekHQ planetary project. We haven't received many submissions so far. Also, please pay attention to the first post, there are some changes to the data required (specifically the factions). The planet spreadsheet is up to date with submissions - any of the 'in progress' planets are from November / early December. If you would like to work on those planets, let me know and feel free to.

Edit: Please note, partial submissions are better than nothing. Submit what data you are able to, a lot of the planets will not have full inputs. To make it easier on me, only include the fields you have data for.

[Downslide]

Jay,

Cleaning out my basement last week, I stumbled on my original 5 House source books, circa 1987. They literally "crack" open - the glue has deteriorated from the binding, and the pages are falling out in clumps! :(  But, the good news is I have  a few planets I can add.

I will start with the Steiner Book, since others are already piping up about Kurita.

[Hammer]

I'm still working on the Objectives Kurita book. But moving derailed the progress.  I hoping to get back at it in the coming couple of weeks.

But did we have get an answer about using the Wiki descriptions rather than writing our own?

[Jayof9s]

I'm still working on the Objectives Kurita book. But moving derailed the progress.  I hoping to get back at it in the coming couple of weeks.

But did we have get an answer about using the Wiki descriptions rather than writing our own?

I need to get in touch with them and see if they'd be okay with their work going right into MHQ. For now I'd say to just re-write any fluff to avoid pulling descriptions word for word from any source.

[Hammer]

No problem.  Been doing that has it.  I do need to go back and change to the string system in the SVN however.

[Battleclad]

Didn't BattleTech Engineer generate a lot of the data? Pretty sure a chunk of it has the planet data based on canon with the populations figures fluffed for realism.

[Styker]

I'm using the latest svn and trying to enter a contested world.  I saw in the change notes that thtis should now be possible.  However, when I enter two factions in the same faction change I receive an NPE.  I've tried / , and- as separators.  Could you give me the proper way to do this?

Thanks

[Jayof9s]

I am bumping this post once again. I have so far only received 7 submissions for planets. If you would like to contribute to the MHQ project this is probably the simplest way (aside from bug reports)! Please submit any data you can find - complete submissions are not necessary - to me either here in this post or to me in a PM or an email (jayof9s at gmail.com). Now that I'm no longer busy with work related extracurriculars this project will be making a lot more progress.

I would like to note that all previous 'reservations' / 'in progress' planets have been cleared.

The spreadsheet on the first post is up to date. The only planets I have data for so far are below:

El Dorado
Galatea
Mallory's World
New Avalon
Outreach
Sian
Trell I

[TS_Hawk]

could this be added to the planet file itself directly from the document?