StuffOnline (Universe)

Universe

Notes

Traveller Universe is a software aid for for Traveller. The aim was to take the best features of Galactic atlas program and the Heaven & Earth system generator ... and then extend it further. A secondary objective is to provide a standard data platform onto which later projects can be built. (By using database technology these later projects can be programs or spreadsheets.)

Release 1 is the Galactic release: an atlas drilling down to system level.
Release 2 is the Heaven & Earth release: adding system generation features.
Release 3 builds on this with dynamic NPCs.

Currently the Universe GUI runs on Win9x/NT only. In theory any SQL-compliant database technology can be used. In practice the database works with InterBase 6.0 and Firebird 1.0 open source RDBMS technologies on Win9x/NT and Linux via ODBC. (Ports to other technologies are planned but Traveller Universe will not work with MS Access97, or mySQL.)

GUI System Requirements

Operating system: Windows 98 or later, or Windows NT4 with Service Pack 4 or later
Processor: Pentium 100MHz or greater
Memory: 16Mb minimum, 64Mb or greater recommended

Current Status

Traveller Universe is an official BITS product and Release 1.7 is currently available worldwide from Ancient Tomes (eBay shop).

There is a free patch for Release 1.5/1.6 that resolves a number of issues. Click here.

Work has begun on Universe 2.0 …

Attention: Problems with Release 1.5/1.6

Some users have experienced problems with Universe. In most cases they can be resolved by reading the readme.txt file included on the distribution CD. Other problems are listed here:

Some installations of Universe crash when first run, but thereafter the program is stable. The reason is not known and it does not repeat.
There has been a case where Universe kept crashing when the user tried to enter the System screen. The reason has not been identified but it appears to be a problem with the sample database provided. It is very rare but if you experience this problem please contact us for a workaround.

Articles

	subject	last updated
	Consolidated static data A list of all the static data tables and the data populated. [Warning: large page]	11-Dec-2002
	Data Clean On-going project to 'clean' electronic sector data.	27-Oct-2003
	Development History and Progress Development plans, bug reports, change request documents, and version description documents for each release of Universe. [Warning: large page]	29-Jan-2005
	Download Universe Download page for Universe GUI. Registered beta testers only.
	Example J-6 Map Example of Yori J-6 map produced by Universe.	09-Jan-2003
	Example Sector Map Example of Spinward Marches sector map produced by Universe.	na
	Example Sector Map 2 Another example of the Spinward Marches sector map produced by Universe. This time showing a J1 main that includes Regina/Regina. In this example the main is terminated by TAS Red Zones.	06-Feb-2003
	Feedback Use this form to send bug reports and enhancement requests.	01-Jan-2001
	Installation Instructions Instructions on how to install Universe and related software, and issues that may need to be addressed.	19-Jul-2002
	Logical Database Design The basic design from which the database was built. This is a PDF output from ERwin.	19-Nov-2003
	Operating systems List of different versions of Windows and their Microsoft support status.	25-Jun-2008
	Screenshots 10 GIFs showing some of the program.	11-Mar-2003
	Screenshots (TU2) If you thought Universe 2 was vapourware here are some teasers	03-Aug-2008
	Test Machines A list of the machines on which Universe has been formally tested.	14-Mar-2003
	VB Smart homepage Source of some excellent third-party ActiveX components used in Universe.	na
	InterBase components	last updated
	Database scripts SQL scripts to create empty database (109Kb ZIP).	19-Nov-2003
	InterBase homepage Borland's website for InterBase (a powerful open source RDBMS) ... for Win9x/NT and Linux.	na
	InterBase 6 binaries Compiled open source binaries (version 6.0.2.0) ready for install on Win9x/WinNT ... http://mers.com	na
	InterBase 6 binaries Compiled open source binaries (version 6.0.2.0) ready for install on Linux ... http://mers.com	na
	Linux installation notes Someone unconnected with this project posted their experiences and advice on installing the Linux version of InterBase to a Borland newsgroup. (It has been reposted here without permission.)	20-Oct-2002
	Missing Linux library The Linux install binary is missing the correct version of libgds. Here it is.	na
	Test Databases (format version 3.1) Two test databases (one populated, one empty) ... built from HES data ... for use with Universe 1.5 ... 819K Zip.	19-Nov-2003
	Windows IB6 ODBC Driver ODBC driver for InterBase 6 databases (version 1.00.00 beta 15) ... http://www.xtgsystems.com	na
	Windows IB Affinity InterBase may not run correctly on a multiple CPU machine. This WinNT utility should fix that. ... http://www.ait-augsburg.de	na
	Firebird components	last updated
	Database scripts SQL scripts to create empty database (109Kb ZIP).	19-Nov-2003
	Firebird homepage Website for Firebird (a powerful open source RDBMS forked from InterBase) ... for Win9x/NT, Linux, FreeBSD, MacOS, Darwin, Solaris, HP-UX, and even WinCE.	na
	Windows Firebird 1 Binaries Compiled open source binaries (version 1.0) ready for install on Win9x/WinNT ... IBPhoenix Main Downloads	na
	Windows Firebird 1 Binaries Compiled open source binaries (version 1.0) ready for install on FreeBSD (4.4) ... IBPhoenix Main Downloads	na
	Windows Firebird 1 Binaries Compiled open source binaries (version 1.0) ready for install on Linux ... IBPhoenix Main Downloads	na
	Windows Firebird 1 Binaries Compiled open source binaries (version 1.0) ready for install on MacOS X ... IBPhoenix Main Downloads	na
	Test Databases (format version 3.1) Two test databases (one populated, one empty) ... built from HES data ... for use with Universe 1.5 ... 819K Zip.	19-Nov-2003