Re: [GZG] FT vector movement systems

[Ground Zero Games <jon@xxxxxxx>]

> [snip]
> FT only wins hands down for fleet engagements if your fleets are 
> large numbers of single ships, instead of a small number of 
> formations [For what it is worth, I should mention that I have only 
> ever managed to play FT twice, once in vector and once with 
> cinematic movement.  I just have alot of time to think about the 
> sorts of things that might be interesting to try-- is there anything 
> worse than an armchair gamer?].  Formations speed things up because 
> there is one set of orders for the whole formation.


Formation movement in Cinematic FT is quite simple to implement, as 
long as all players involved agree to accept the ramifications of it; 
basically, just write move orders for the one ship in the formation, 
and then move the others to maintain the formation pattern. The 
problems with this are, of course, that whichever ship you choose to 
plot for, some of the others will be exceeding the limits of the 
normal movement system - say you have a line-abreast formation and 
you plot on the middle ship, then if the formation turns, the "outer" 
ones are getting a free velocity boost, while the "inner" ones are 
possibly exceeding normal turning limits. However, this really need 
not be a problem if everyone agrees and is happy with it - the FT 
rules are flexible enough that if it "feels" right, then use it. We 
wouldn't recommend it for any kind of competition play, because 
obviously it's open to misuse by munchkins, but if you're playing a 
"friendly" game with reasonable people, then why not?

In theory, there is no reason why you shouldn't also do the same in 
FT Vector, though the odd artifacts of bending the rules may be a 
little more obvious here; in the end it's up to you and your 
opponents just how much flexibility you want to allow in your games.

Jon (GZG)

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