Vector movement

Hi everyone,

Just thought I'd throw in a few thoughts re: the current talk on vector
(newtonian) movement systems, with particular reference to FT/B5 (ie the
Babylon Project ship rules).

First off, we've done several sessions of testing on the "true vector"
system for FT itself that we posted to this list some time ago (I think
they are still out there on some of the web pages); most of the players
liked it a lot, and one got so good at it by just the second game that
he
managed to slide his cruiser round, just grazing the table edge, then
pouring on the thrust to bring him back into a lovely tactical position
right behind the enemy....
Nearly all the testing group (I was observing, not playing) felt that
the
system worked well, was easy to use after just a couple of practice
sessions and gave a whole new feel to the game; we will be using it as
an
ALTERNATIVE to the "normal" FT movement, NOT as a replacement. The key
thing is that you DON'T need to do any calculations at all (unless you
consider measuring one distance and rounding it to the nearest inch to
be a
"calculation"...!), nor do you have to refer to any tables or charts;
you
also don't need to measure angles at all.

I'm sure the guys at Wireframe/Chamaeleon won't object to me telling you
that the FT/B5 rules are using BOTH movement systems; the EA and other
"young" races get to use newtonian vectors, while the Minbari etc. use a
development of the original FT movement to simulate their "grav" drives.
The Centauri use the vector system but with some tweaks of their own, as
they retain some of the more advanced technology from their imperial
heyday.

While I agree that the vector movement does require some degree of
forward
planning in order to put your ship where you want it, surely that is
part
of the fun (as well as the "realism", which IMHO in SF terms means being
as
close and faithful as possible to your source material). In any case,
I've
seen a few players make some awful mistakes in navigation using the
regular
FT rules...:)

Jon Tuffley, GZG (jon@gzero.dungeon.com)