Re: Vector movement

On Tue, 25 Mar 1997, Oerjan Ohlson wrote:

> The discussion was about how easy it is both to get where you want and
to
> predict where you're going, in the old movement system compared to the
> vector one. Your reply concerned the second of the to questions.

And you replied to the first point, which I had not commented in that 
particular paragraph. If your reply has nothing to do with what I said, 
please delete the quoted section.

>it usually takes even longer than
> stopping completely and then turning any number of arcs;

Oopsie... I've never played with that rule... guess I forgot about it.

> "Calculate". You usually know if you want to turn left or right; when
you
> write your orders you can see if you have to turn some more - and if
so, 
> how much -  before you light up your main drive. 

But if you can't turn enough in one turn, you have to calculate which 
course of action is best: Make a beeline for the target, or coast along 
until you can turn enough to burn straight for it. Calculating whether 
you can close the spiral or end up in an elliptical course is not 
trivial. 
 
> I know for a fact that it is easier to change the direction of travel
in
> the regular movement system, which means that you can go faster and
still
> be able to stay on the table. My floor is to cluttered to use for
gaming.

Agreed.
  
> It is easier to go in the direction you want in the regular rules -
but
> usually not in the "lateral" position you want. 

True, but general direction is typically more important.

> In both these cases, the vector rules 
> give you better control over your facing than the regular rules.
 
Which I don't necessarily like. Big ships with longer ranged weapons are

not necessarily going anywhere. They're waiting for targets to come
along 
and trying to bring all weapons to bear. I'm not sure I want to see BBs 
hurtling through enemy formations at top speed, spinning 180 and waiting

for the poor suckers to try catch up with it.

OTOH, if they can't turn that nimbly, they have a lot bigger risk flying

off to blue yonder inadvertly. "Due to navigational error, your flagship

just exited the battlefield. Sorry, you can't bring it back, the rules 
say so."

Original FT rules make them IMHO suitably clumsy but still capable of 
controlling their direction of travel.

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