Re: Mass for Points Tradeoff

Charles N. Choukalos wrote:

> 2*cost for 1/2* mass

Is this 2*cost per Mass (ie, each item costs the same as normal but
since you can use twice as many you pay twice as much) or 2*cost per
item (ie, 4*cost per Mass)?

> for drives that use up to the full thrust for turns cost*3
 
> Now we further subdivided this as a tech benifit and started to play
with 
> the following tech ideas.
> 
> 1.  Advanced Drives ( 3*cost, up to full thrust for turns)

Cumulative with the 2* for half size, or is it 2* for half size and
1.5* for advanced maneuvering?

> 2.  Advanced Beams  ( 1/2 original mass (keep fractions) 2*original
cost > )

Same question as above. If it is 2*original cost per item it sounds too
expensive (how much depends on the hull/engine configuration of the
ship), but 2*original cost per mass is a bit too cheap instead.

> 3.  Advanced FTL    ( same 1/2 2*cost again deal )

Should be OK if it is 2*original cost per item, ie 4*cost per Mass - in
this case a cost of 8*Mass for the miniature FTL drive.

> 4.  Advanced Hull   ( same 1/2 2*cost again deal )

2 hull boxes per Mass is worth roughly 6*Mass (ie ~3 points per hull
box) IME, but better err on the side of caution. With advanced weapons
the cost should probably go up, too

> we were playing in order with these ideas.  Our group feels that:
> 
> item 1:  The drives are fairly well balanced (The Kravak Web page
uses > the same set of assumptions )

Good.

> item 2:  The beams seem to be fairly well balanced, but note:  that
when 
> we use this rule, we've been by convention going to larger beam 
> classes if possible... aka class-3/4/5's

Depends on which sensor rules you use... if you can't target ships
beyond 54-60 mu or so, weapons larger than Class-5 *really* suck :-/

> item 3:  Doesn't seem to be a big deal..... just buying more space
for 
> wpns

It is a fairly big deal when you start analysing it :-/ 

5 more free % of the total ship Mass usually means 10-20% more weapons
which in turn means 5-10% better combat power and thus *should* mean
5-10% higher cost. Unfortunately simply filling the extra space up with
weapons usually doens't increase the cost enough, but at 8xMass (ie,
2*original item cost) your half-sized FTL should be OK for most ship
configurations.

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