Re: move and fire problem

Wouldn't it be natural to assume that if the squadron commander knew how
to 
turn his ships around and line then up in two dimensions then he could
do 
something similar in the third dimension.

The nearest real life situation (though not identical since gravity is 
involved) is flying.   A pilot attacking a target points his aircraft at
the 
target regardless of where that target is in 3D relation to him.  He
doesn't 
put himself on the same level at the target and then attack.

The problem as I see it is that if hypothetical 3d relationships are the

reason that the attacker can't fire then how come the target CAN return
fire 
if the attacker is unfortunate enough to over run slightly and still be
in 
weapons range of the target.

I naturally assume that even an average attacker could estimate where a 
target will be in relationship to himself (especially if that target is 
static) and would not only point his ship(s) at the target but would
make 
sure that they were rotated on their axis so that the theoretical "top"
of 
the ship where the majority of the weapons are (though this would be a 
pointless design for a space ship since it doesn't have a "bottom" - I
keep 
imagining the "Iowa" in space which not a concept I like much) is on the

same side as the target.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Hugh Fisher" <laranzu@ozemail.com.au>
To: <gzg-l@csua.berkeley.edu>
Sent: Sunday, July 10, 2005 7:06 AM
Subject: Re: move and fire problem

> You have forgotten about the third dimension.
>
> The spaceships in Full Thrust are moving in 3D, but for
> simplicity we project the action onto a 2D table surface.
> You can't assume that the distances and bearings on the
> table are entirely accurate, just as you can't measure
> sizes and angles from a perspective drawing.
>
> Your case can be explained as the squadron having a much
> higher elevation than the target SDN. So they don't fly
> "though" the area around the SDN, but well "over" it
> instead and can't bring weapons to bear.
>
> cheers,
> Hugh
>
>
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