Re: [FT universe] was [URL] New Star and Campaign Maps

At 10:31 AM 9/13/98 -0400, Tom wrote:
>> This is something I've been giving some thought about.. how big is 
>> the (human) explored area?
[snippity]
>thus, the vast majority of stars can be ignored. only inhabited 
>systems are important (where 'inhabited' includes mining camps and 
>naval outposts). this should simplify the problem somewhat.

Sorry, Tom, I'll have to disagree here.  Any system with resources or
planetary bodies -- even asteroids -- needs to be considered, depending
on
how detailed of a campaign you want.  Secret/forward military bases, a
system that a retreating/routed fleet can try to hide in, maybe a hidden
cache of SM reloads or spare fighters (a la Wing Commander 3?), all
could
be established over a campaign game.  One excellent example of a hidden
forward base would be from 2300AD, where the Kafers (stop reading if you
don't want spoilers ^_- ) set up a hidden base *inside* an iceball,
which
stored spare missiles and refined the ice for fuel.  It was off the
usual
path of commerce for the French Arm, so the base just had to button up a
little when scouts came through.  IIRC, the base was never discovered,
though it's existance was susupected.

Later,
					Aaron Teske
					ateske@HICom.net