"World Generation", by Tyge Sjostrand, is a free generic world creation system for use with Science Fiction Role Playing Games. At present (The version I have is dated, 08/06/2000.) it is incomplete, the first part, Generating Worlds, is complete. However only the climatology section of part two, Planetology, is complete. There is, however a complete reference section. The system is available as a 43 page, 1.01 Megabyte .PDF file from:
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/trisen/sol/2300ad/
WORLD GENERATION, PART ONE: GENERATING WORLDS (Pages: 4 - 36).
This section is the 'meat' of the system, the user is taken through a step by step process, which begins with the generation of the systems star(s) and concludes with the generation of the various worlds that make up the system.
There are five subsections within this part of the generation system, they are:
1. System Data: This covers the creation of stars and worlds and determining if any inhabitable worlds exist in the system generated. Planets created are divided into three types, Chunks (small asteroidal bodies), Terrestrial (Mercury sized and up), Gas Giant (Neptune and larger).
2. Orbital Data: In this section the user determines the year of a particular planet and whether or not it is tide-locked. The orbital periods for moons is also covered in this section.
3. Geophysical Data: This allows the user to determine a terrestrial planets composition, level of volcanic activity and the strength of its magnetic field. It also contains instructions on how determine the same information on asteroids and gas giants.
4. Atmospheric Data: This contains the rules for generating the planets, base (without atmosphere) temperature, water coverage, atmospheric composition, albedo (reflectivness) and surface temperature.
5. Additional Data: This subsection contains a list of rare star types, information on the units of measurement used and advice on coordinate systems.
The generation system is very similar to that presented in "GURPS Traveller: First-In". It mixes dice rolling for basic information (e.g. What type of star?), with the use of various mathematical formulae to determine the details (e.g. Where is the dividing line between the inner and outer system?). The author suggests that whoever uses this material either uses a calculator or a spreadsheet program to handle the various calculations.
Each set of generation rules is followed by a reference section, which provides the user with background on what they are generating and can also provide interesting setting ideas.
WORLD GENERATION, PART TWO: PLANETOLOGY (Pages: 37 - 43).
In the version I have the Planetology section is incomplete, but when it is complete it will consist of:
6. Climatology: In this version, only the climate section, which deals with how to take the atmosphere, planetary rotation and average surface temperature, generated in the previous section and use the data to create climate regions (polar, tropical, tundra) for the entire land area of the planet. The as yet incomplete portion deals with the effect of oceans on weather, how to determine weather patterns and long term climactic variations.
7. Surface Morphology: The subsection will deal with the placement of different landforms on the planets surface, in a realistic/consistent manner.
8. Biology: Which will deal with any lifeforms that may exist on the world created, their chemistry, how they evolved and how they interact to form a complete ecology.
9. Mapping: This subsection will contain instructions and templates to enable users to map the worlds they have created.
10. Specials: This subsection will cover a variety of topics, including colour on the surface of a planet, the effects of various disasters and a glossary.
PART THREE: REFERENCE.
The final portion of the system is a References page, this gives information on the material used to design the system and advice on where to look for more information if so desired.
FINAL VERDICT.
My main objection to "World Generation", in its current form, relates to the fact that the material is at present incomplete and has apparently not been worked on for some time. I have attempted to contact the author with regards to this, but at present have had no response.
My other objections relate firstly, to the amount of mathematics required in some parts of the generation process, this could prove off putting to some users, but purchase of a basic scientific calculator should resolve that problem. Secondly, some terms are not clearly defined, for example in the Orbital Data subsection a 'very long day' is defined as being over 100 1D1000 days in length, but in the Climate subsection, a 'very long day' is defined as being between 51 - 250 hours long.
However, "World Generation", is a solid and well written generic suppliment. It can be used either to substitute for a commerically available product, such as the system generation package in "GURPS Traveller: First-In", or it can be used in conjunction with such a package to provide additional detail to a generated system.
Overall, four out of five for value and four out of five for content.
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