Re: FT Thrust question...

Excerpts from FT: 21-Oct-96 Re: FT Thrust question... by Oerjan
 Ohlson@nada.kth.s 
> > I'd institute more of a "% total mass of ship" rather  than a
> > straight-up mass number, even though it would play hell with the
> > numbers.
>  
> Not necessarily - or rather, not at all, as long as you round all 
> fractions up. A basic 5% of mass (FRU) fits well - escort system is
mass 
> 1, cruiser (and mass 40 Battlecruisers) are mass 2, and larger are...
more.

Well, I had more in mind a number like 20% or more for the mass... I
mean, this is something that's generating light & radiation reflections
& distortions in a vacuum at a distance from the main ship.  Pretty
impressive stuff, I'd say.  (Standard ECM holofields ain't.)

> > And keep in mind that the small stuff (ie, your missile boats)
> > are not all that likely to have the holofields in the first place. 
> > IMO,the Wraithship should have holofields, and the Shadowhunter is
> > nearing the smallest size ship to put the things on.
>  
> Remember the Revenant - it is even smaller than a starship! (...in my 
> DSII conversion it is a size 5 Walker, which should fit nicely even
into a 
> mass 4 starship (aka a Windjammer :)) I use the Shadowhunters as heavy

> cruisers...

Yes, but the Rev & Phantom/Warlocks already have an atmosphere to help
them.  See above.

> > Either that, or make the effectiveness based on *change* in
> > velocity/speed, not the speed itself.  Ie, if a ship just coasts,
the
> > 'fields flicker in a more predicatable pattern... maybe lvl-1
shields
> > equivalent, but no more.
>  
> Ouch. Not the level of protection, but figuring out the level of 
> protection depending on the orders of the ship.

Not so tough, IMO.  A straight addition would be a little too simple,
IMO, so you should probably do something with squares... maybe ((dS)^2 +
(dH)^2)^(1/3) or something, where dS is change in speed and dH is change
in heading.  The cube root is pretty arbitrary; it might be easier to
just take the square root and then apply it to a table of modifiers.
<shrug>

> > Keep the EPIC Titan fields in mind: if a Titan
> > isn't moving, the fields don't do much, where is the Titan charges
they
> > help a lot.  Think of this in terms of the Titan's change in
velocity,
> > and you've got a good conversion to FT.  IMO. ^_^
>  
> Ah, no - even if the Titan charges flat out in a straight line all the
> time, the protection is constant (2+)! 

Yes, but movement of a two-legged walker (or runner ^_- ) will be quite
different from the movement of a spaceship.  The walker will be
constantly shifting the line over which it's center of mass lies,
especially if it's being shot at, and this is something that is quite
easy to do on a planet's surface where things like gravity & friction
help you out.  For a spaceship to do a similar movement pattern would
cost it a lot in terms of fuel.

> I tried two ideas with the holofields; one where the protection level
> varied depending on the relative velocity between shooter and target
> (which was horrible - I've nothing against vector analysis, but not in
the
> middle of a game) 

Ouch.

>and one where it depended on which aspect (front, side,
> rear) the target showed to the firing unit (easier). 

This is actually something I kinda like from GDW's "Star Cruiser" game,
but it means you have to spend a *lot* of time designing your starships.
 But aspect modifiers certainly add a bit more realism to the game...
and your facing to the enemy becomes *very* important all of a sudden.
^_^

>The 'level 3'
> protection would only apply if the target moved at speed 8 or more,
and
> facing the shooter... which they won't do for very long - only 'til
> they've fired once or twice; after that they've passed their target
(and 
> usually get blasted to pieces or at least lose their sails).

Doesn't sound too bad....

> Basing the protection on the total amount of speed and course change 
> could work, if there is an easy formula to use. I haven't had time to 
> work one out (at least not one which places pretty severe penalties on

> the Wraithships (currently BBs)).

Well, I had that Pythagorean Theorm variant above... as long as you have
a calculator handy, it should work out pretty well.  As for converting
to actual modifiers... I dunno, I'd have to think on that a bit more.

		    Aaron Teske
		    Mithramuse+@cmu.edu