Re: Maximizing ship designs

On Tue, 1 Apr 1997, Ground Zero Games wrote:

> Sorry, but I maintain this is even MORE likely to happen under the
original
> construction system; a thrust 8 big ship has the same weapons space
(and
> the same mass) as a thrust 2 one. If costing drives in Mass (as well
as
> points), you have to tradeoff between thrust and weapons space, which
> doesn't happen in the FTII system. Please note that if we are changing
the
> system AT ALL, then we'll probably take the opportunity to juggle ALL
the
> factors (weapon mass, ship sizes etc.) to balance everything as well
as we
> can - so if you want to put everything on your capital ship that it
has
> under the FTII system, you may well find you don't have ROOM left for
more
> than thrust-2 or so. You can go for a zippy high-g tincan with minimal
> weapons, or a hulking ironclad gunbus that steers like an arthritic
hippo.

The only problem is that unless this "thrust as % of mass" relation
changes 
as mass goes up, you'll have exactly the same problem for small ships - 
ie, they too can choose either to be fast or to carry weapons. After
all, 
under the FTII rules all starships spend exactly the same percentage 
(50%) of their mass on useful non-engine systems.

Oerjan Ohlson

"Life is like a sewer.
 What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
 -Hen3ry