Re: Safe speeds

Magic" <rmako@coqui.net> wrote:

> Again a good post.  I think I poorly stated my reply.  To aviod an
obsticle
> you need to be able to turn your vector to be 90 degrees from your
current
> course.  In Cinematic no problem but in Vector it takes a few turns to
do
> (each turn still heading for the solid point of contact).
> 
> As for Vmax for a fleet I also feel it would be lower than Rsensor. 
You
> don't want to outfly your eyes.  Additionally this adds another reason
for
> scouts to lead a fleet.  They can send back information about possible
> obsticles before your big folks have to worry about them.  They also
tend to
> be more manuverable and definitly not so costly to run into the side
of a
> planet <G>.

   A few comments of my own, all IMHO.	First, a ship will be able to
detect
a planet or moon (or DeathStar :-) a lot farther off than detecting
another
ship.  I can see Jupiter at night without any instrumentation at all.  I
think
the sensor ranges in the game are for detecting smaller objects such as
ships
and asteriods.

   Second, you don't need to make a 90 degree turn to avoid a collision.
Depending on how close to the  obsticle and how fast your going a turn
of
only a couple degree may be needed.  Planets  will be detected at
extremely
long ranges, so even with them only a small turn is needed.

   Say there is an obsticle 36 inches away.  In vector movement, a ship
going
at a speed of 20 making a push to the side of 1 will miss it by 1.8
inches.
In cinematic movement a turn of 1 at a speed of 20 will miss it by 10
inches.
How big is your obsticle?  In Full Thrust we don't have a distance
scale, so
there is no definite answer to the size of an object.  I feel that at
any
speed under 100 there is little chance of not being able to avoid an
obsticle smaller than the larger asteriods.  Of course you can adjust
the
size/distance scale to give any effect you want.  If I were doing Star
Wars,
then I probably would want it much harder to avoid asteriods (as shown
in the
chase of the Milleniun Falcon in episode 5).

> Your final point is definitly worth thinking about.  It would be very
rare
> for a Thrust 2 fleet to come screaming in at anything near Rsensor. 
Unless
> they were led by scouts that could report back.

   BTW, I like the idea of a reason for scouts to lead a fleet.
   
Enjoy,
Tom Granvold				       
<thomas.granvold@eng.sun.com>