Re: DSII Vehicle creation page

On Sun, 26 Nov 2000 devans@uneb.edu wrote:

>
> ***
> If there's no change, but you feel obliged to pay more for AI then I'd
> suggest just buying superior systems.
> ***
>
> Sensible, of course, but Tuffleyverse seems to use flesh-and-blood
troops,
> even if in tanks, almost exclusively. I'd think that political reasons
> would argue for 'bloodless' battles if AI were capable, even if
expensive.
>
> Game balance and fairness argues you can call a tank an AI or crewed
as you
> wish, of course, but war is just more grim if it's not reruns of Robot
> Wars(or whatever that new show is called).
>
> Instead of a point cost, can you think of a different mechanic to make
the
> tanks FEEL non-human? Some inflexibility of action, or spoofing by
novel
> situations? Dependency on central control? EMP-vulnerability is a
little
> oversold, and a relatively good reason for NO AI.
>
> As with aliens, I want more than different weapons and systems. I want
a
> different species. Given my limited imagination, I hope for rules that
> force me to be an alien or robot, not a man.
>
> As always, I'm speaking from the position of an airless, er, vacuum
head.

I seem to recall a system by which automated machinery is given a
flowchart 'program' to follow depending on its function.  This would
severely restrict the actions available to an 'automated' tank.  But it
would make for silly situations - a 'feature' of your flowchart causes
it
to fire at an enemy that is out of range, whilst a 2 man team pops the
top
with an anti-tank weapon. :)

If I remember correctly it actually got printed in a 'White Dwarf' some
time ago.

-- 
Colin Plummer (colinp@imhotep.org.uk)