Maps

A galaxy is a huge gravitationally bound system of stars, interstellar gas and dust, plasma, and (possibly) unseen dark matter. Stars in the galaxy all orbit a common center of gravity.
Representing a galaxy as it should be would be of course very difficult to read as distances between objects are huge compared to the size of the objects. Moreover galaxies aren't exact planes and distances between objects vary from object to object.

For ease of reading and understanding the galaxy in which the game takes place is represented inside a grid, which consists in a distorted view of reality.
Two objects are in adjacent grid squares because they are relatively close to one another in reality. But it doesn't mean the distances aren't tremendous.

Each square in the galaxy grid contains 6 objects. Those objects may be planets, planetary remains or parts of a nebula.
Within a planetary system, planets orbit the central star in elliptical orbits. Eah object orbits the star at a different distance. Thus each object is said to be located on a different orbit. Orbits are ordered according to the distance to the star. The first orbit is the closest while the 6th is the furthest.
Even if no planetary system exists inside a nebula the same orbit system is applied in the game galaxy. As a consequence nebula squares are also split in 6 orbits, representing each one region of the nebula square.
In the grid representation of LegacyWorlds galaxy, the object located on the first orbit is the first one in the list of items in the stellar system grid square and so on.

The LegacyWorlds galaxy is also an expanding galaxy. It's still young and contains enough dense molecular clouds to produce new generations of stars, thus increasing its size. The in game universe expansion is triggered by new players joining the game in order to provide them with enough room to settle in.

As mentionned earlier various stellar objects are present in the galaxy:

planets
planetary remains
nebula

All those objects are discussed in mode details in the Types of stellar objects section of the individual planet page manual page.

In order to help you navigate your ships in LegacyWorlds galaxy three kinds of maps are available:

Planets Map: this map displays planet names for each planet
Alliance Map: this map displays alliances tag for each planet
Listing: this presents the planets in the galaxy as a list

Common features are also available for all kinds of maps.

All maps present two features that work the same in all cases:

Maps controls: these controls allow you to customise the display of the maps
Maps caption: the caption explains the various colour codes used on the map

The next paragraphs explain both topics more precisely.

The common controls at the top of the page allow you to choose the map to display and its parameters. More precisely those features include:

Display: the drop down menu allows you to select the type of map you want to see among the three available modes
Grid size: the drop don menu allows you to change the size of the grid to diplay, from 1 system to 7x7 systems
Center on: selecting the corresponding radio button or typing something on the same line as a radio button allows you to chose to center the map either on:
- coordinates: you have to type the X and Y coordinates to center the map on in the two provided textfields
- own planet: the drop down list allows you to select the name of a planet you own on which you want the map to be centered
- planet: type the name of a planet in the provided textfield allows you to center the map on this planet

The Update Diplay button allows to take into account the modifications you might have made on the map parameters.

A caption is also presented. the map colours include:

Green: your own planets
Blue: planets belonging to members of your alliance
White: other planets, that is to say planets belonging to non alliance members, neutral planets and so on
Yellow: planetary remains
Shades of red: those aren't planets but nebula squares. Each level of red represent an opacity level or opacity class for the corresponding nebula sector. You can't own nebula squares but can travel through them and station fleets on them but the speed of your ships is reduced depending on the opacity of the nebula square

This is the standard display. It includes a grid of the requested size presenting X and Y coordinates.
On the borders of the grid clicking on arrows allows you to move the focus of the displayed grid on the complete map. Left and right arrows allow you to move along the X axis whereas top and bottom arrows allow you to move along the Y axis.

In stellar systems are presented for each planet:

a planet image
a planet name: the name is a link to an individual planet page. The contents of the individual planet page depends on the level of information you have on the planet, that is to say whether it's yours, belongs to your alliance, you have fleets on it and so on

In nebula squares are displayed:

in shades of red the names of the different nebula sectors
the background image depends on the average opacity of the nebula square

This display is a specialised one that allow you to grasp where various alliances are settled in. It includes a grid of the requested size presenting X and Y coordinates.
On the borders of the grid clicking on arrows allows you to move the focus of the displayed grid on the complete map. Left and right arrows allow you to move along the X axis whereas top and bottom arrows allow you to move along the Y axis.

In stellar systems are presented for each planet:

a planet image
an alliance tag. Untagged planets, that is to say planets which don't belong to any alliance, are presented with empty brackets

In nebula squares are displayed:

in shades of red the text N/A for all different nebula sectors
the background image depends on the average opacity of the nebula square

In listing mode planets in the selected area are presented as a list which includes for each planet:

Coordinates: coordinates of the planet
Planet: planet image and name. The planet name is a link to an individual planet page. The contents of this page depends on the level of information you have on the planet, that is to say whether it's yours, belongs to your alliance, you have fleets on it and so on.
Tag: tag of the alliance to which the planet belongs. Empty brackets are displayed for untagged planets, that is to say planets which don't belong to any alliance. A - is displayed for nebula sectors
Opacity: it represents the density of matter in the area which influences ships speed. The opacity is mostly interesting for nebula sectors where it represents the class of the nebula. It's 0 for viable planets and 1 for planetary remains, that is to say planets which have been destroyed.

As in all lists clicking on the title of one column allows you to order the items in the list according to the values of that field, either in descending or ascending order. Clicking again on the same title allows to switch between descending and ascending order.