Re: FT: FB2 Preview - Obi Wan Tuffley

Thomas Anderson wrote:

> > It is simple and reasonably realistic. It can be made more
realistic,
but
> > then it's not simple any more :-/
> 
> the trouble is, a ship's turning ability is not proportional to its
linear
> acceleration ability; longer (ie bigger) ships turn more slowly. i
think a
> ship twice as long turns one quarter as fast (ie, takes 4 times
longer)
> but don't quote me on that. thus, a linear scale between angular and
> linear acceleration is somewhat incorrect. still, as has been noted,
this
> is a game.

Unless my brain is off-line (my books are at work, so I can't
double-check :-( ):

For a ship with the same Mass and the same thrusters but longer, the
improved torque should pretty much cancel the increased (Hm. Angular
inertia? Usually denoted "J" in the formulas <g> Don't remember the
English term for it :-( ), so the turn-around time shouldn't be that
different. 

If the ship is twice as heavy but with the same thrusters, it would of
course turn slower - but in this case we're comparing ships with
different thrust ratings, since FB thrusters are proportional to the
Mass
of the ship.

Later,

Oerjan Ohlson
oerjan.ohlson@telia.com

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