Star Maps and SPI

Alan Brain and Jon Davis mentioned the StarForce quasi-3D star map,
which
gives all the stars within 20 LY from Sol. I believe that the map from
SPI's SF
RPG "Universe" does something similar out to 40 or 50 LY. SPI (well,
probably
Redmond Simonsen) had a thing about "accurate" space maps -- as well as
the
star maps, there was the Battlefleet Mars map of the Solar System, which
plotted the relative positions of the planets and certain major
asteroids, out as
far as Jupiter, as they moved around the sun -- of course, _that_ map
didn't
need to be 3D.

Not that BFM didn't include 3D movement; it's just that it was 3D
_tactical_
movement, which used two "maps", showing the X-Y and X-Z planes. A ship
was represented by two counters (one on each map) and movement was
vector-based, with fuel expenditure (and not much fuel, either). It
worked pretty
well, as I recall, but it had the usual problem of 3D movement systems
of
all-around firing arcs.

This is the real difficulty with any space combat game: either you go
for 2D
movement, and incorporate firing arcs (like FT, SFB, B5W -- I think --
and a
zillion others) or you can use 3D movement, but limiting the fire of
weapons to
specific arcs becomes very complex. 3D movement and arcs has been done
in
air games, but generally only for fixed weapons. Turret-mounted guns are
usually kept to the arcs that they would have in level flight on the
grounds that
those aircraft which have them (e.g., bombers) don't manoeuvre too
violently
anyway. It becomes much more difficult for starships with weapons with
complex 3D firing arcs. If I have to choose, I'll stick to 2D + arcs,
because that
gives more of a feel of having to manoeuvre to bring weapons to bear.

Oh, and yes, the StarForce map _did_ include a 3D distance table on the
map
for those people who didn't have calculators (remember, it came out in
1975)
and/or couldn't do Pythagorean triangles in their heads. There was a
bigger table
in the rulebook, too.

Phil, who wishes he could find his copy of BFM (I know where the _map_
is...) --
and Outreach, for that matter.
-------------------------------------------------------------
"I think... I think I am!	     |	  I think _I_ am:
 Therefore I am... I think..?"	     |	   Phil Atcliffe  
   -- The Moody Blues		     |	(p-atclif@uwe.ac.uk)