Worldbuilding - Links and software
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Worldbuilding - Links and softwareSome links which are useful for the creation of new worlds and for information on real ones.. |
Coming Soon: -
the OA Worldbuilder's Guide!
Hard
Science Fiction Tools - exactly what it says on the tin, with this
section particularly useful
Plan
a planet orbiting a Main Sequence Star, with a number of Input Options
- perhaps the most useful tool for making orbits from scratch around
main sequence stars
Non-Luminary World Classification List - from the OA site, a very useful and comprehensive (fictional) classification of planets into classes and types (adapted by John M Dollan from his Planet Classification List)
Star Tables - really useful descriptions of main sequence stars, their luminosities and lifetimes
Planet Designer - an online calculator which can make quite realistic worlds
Gravity Calculator for Astronomical Bodies Based on Radius and Density - an online calculator that allows you to calculate gravity. Remember that materials become compressed in the centre of planets, so large planets are denser than small ones made of the same materials (see Valencia et al below)
Celestia
- not only a marvellous star display program, but also a good source of
information on stars and planets out to 16000 light years (and galaxies
too) A review
on this site, with information about OA Add-ons
Stargen - A good program for quick and dirty system, even population generation. It isn't a very accurate one in many respects, but a little knowledge found on other world building sites should take care of that fairly easily.
Stargen
(updated version) - Much more accurate than the above, although
there are still some problems, such
as too many worlds in inner solar system regions, as
well as being unable to generate a star system below 0.5 solar masses.
To create a plausible system you might refer to remove every other
planet; Stargen also does not produce enough hot-jupiter type planets,
so such systems need to be generated by hand. (SB)
Stargen
online - you can generate systems online here
Astrosynthesis - A very cool generator, which also uses some good science behind it. However, only a demo is available for free, and is thus limited in functionality. See also Fractal world explorer from this company also.
Planetgen - a usable fractal planet generator; can make some nice worlds, but the fractal look often has to be disguised or eliminated. Useful for inspiration if not for direct use.
The
Worldbuilder's Course
- A university course on creating scientifically plausible worlds. The
instructor has some good formulas here, <not-so-subtle-hint>
which I would love to
see put into a program sometime. </not-so-subtle-hint> (JD)
Epona - The best example of
a
created world available on the 'net. Very useful for ideas and
inspiration.
Furaha: Life on Nu
Phoenicis IV - The
second best created system on the 'net. This one is much more geared
toward the average viewer, and has a very professional look. (SB)
ChView -
The
best 3d star mapping program out there. I really wish they would update
it, but for right now the thing serves my purposes admirably. (JD)
Project Rho - The
uber site for world building resources. Many, if not all of the links
above are available through
here, and a Galaxy of others are available as well.
Astronexus - A good
and quick way to find stats on a few solar type stars.
The Internet Stellar Database
- The best source for
information on stars that I can find, without
needing to know scientific terminology, anyway.
Solstation - One of my
favorite informational sources on stars and solar system planets. (JD)
Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia - the best source for current extrasolar planet discoveries
Extrasolar Visions - a visionary site from the late John Whatmough
Planetary Parameter Generator - this calculator is primarily intended to calculate the energy required to destroy planets; it does give the gravitational binding energy which is useful if you simply want to disassemble them for peaceful purposes. (SB)
Instant Planet Generator - requires Firefox
Terragen - a landscape modelling program useful for making images of the surfaces of worlds; watch out for Terragen 2, a new development which allows planets and 3D objects to be imported into the scenes (preview stage)
Fantasy Worldbuilding questions - things to ask yourself while creating worlds
Kosmogogues website - useful links - especially neat selection of language sites
Worldbuilder Projects - links to WB resources
World Building - a page of links, sorted to category, and some annotated, for RPG World Builders.
Selden's List of Planetbuilding Links - contains some very interesting pages not found elsewhere
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Some links to useful general papers on extrasolar planets
Observed Properties of Exoplanets: Masses, Orbits, and Metallicities (pdf) - Marcy et. al.