Re: Vector movement

On Fri, 21 Mar 1997, Mikko Kurki-Suonio wrote:

> On Thu, 20 Mar 1997, Oerjan Ohlson wrote:
> 
> > It is far more difficult to figure out where you're going to end up
with 
> > the "old" FT rules, and (at least for me :/ ) neigh on impossible to
get 
> > to where I want to be <g>
> 
> Not really. Your turning radius is roughly r = 2v/p, where v is your 
> velocity and p is the points you put into turning.

Which still means that you have a fairly limited set of points to go to,

and going at higher speeds those points will be pretty far apart. With 
the vector movement system you also have a limited set of points to go 
to, but they will be gathered in a smaller area giving you better
"local" 
maneuver control.

> Correcting mistakes under FT system is easier: You can always "slam 
> brakes and hard turn"

Sure. You never fly your thrust 2 SDs at speeds over 4, I can tell...

Using the normal movement system, I usually fly my ships at speeds of
5-8
times their thrust rating. (...no, I've not flown any escorts at speed
64.
Yet. My capitals often fly at speed 15-16, though.) That's the number of
turns it'll take to "slam brakes" to a full stop to allow me to do a
hard
turn. 

Using vector movement, I rarely fly faster than 4 times the main thrust 
rating; I allow escorts to turn up to 6 clock facings, cruisers up to 
four and (most) capitals up to 2. This is enough. With the smaller
ships, 
it's easy to get back on the intended vector if you want to; with the 
capitals, you can't go too far astray.

Oerjan Ohlson

"Life is like a sewer.
 What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
 -Hen3ry