Re: Vector Rules

On Oct 7, 1997 at 11:53:21 AM, Rick Rutherford <rickr@ss4.digex.net>
wrote:

> On Tue, 7 Oct 1997, Imre A. Szabo wrote: 
Status: RO

> > Rotating should cost ZERO thrust.  The little guys will still be
able 
> > to out manuever the big guys because they have more (often much
more) 
> > thrust. 
>  
> I disagree -- it would take too much effort to rotate a battleship at
the 
> same speed as a corvette. The key question is "how far can you rotate
the 
> ship in a single game turn?" I can't see how a 60-ton capital ship
could 
> possibly maneuver/rotate at with the same degree of "agility" as a
6-ton 
> escort ship. Of course, given enough time, a single retro-rocket can
spin 
> a battleship like a top, but it would take forever to get up to speed. 

And there are a couple of other things to remember:

1) You have a force of acceleration in the direction of rotation,
meaning that 
if the thrusters are firing to rotate to the left, everyone is being
pushed up 
against the right-hand bulkheads. This lasts as long as the thrusters
are 
firing.

2) In addition, you have inertia (i.e., centrifugal force) effects
pushing you 
out away from the axis of spin.  This effect continues as long as the
shio is 
*rotating*.

This subject came up one of the Traveller lists.  I forget the details
of the 
specific conversation, but the final calculation was that the people in
the 
nose and tail of the ship were pulling a LOT of gees.

Peoiple aren't the only concern -- these things affect the ship, too. 
Firing 
engines on the back pushes the back into the front, i.e., compresses it
-- a *
lot* different than the type of stress you get when you want to rotate a
long 
ship.

This is not to say that you can't rotate large ships, but it is to say
that 
you can't assume that doing so is easy.

-- Chris Weuve	 [My opinions, not my employer's.]
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