Re: Vector Rules -- engines

Status: RO

[Lurker decloaks]
All this talk of the vector rules got me thinking about a couple
questions:

1) Why do engine systems take two hits?  It'd be a lot simpler to
have to engine "boxes" which each take a single hit. (Yeah, I know
the odds are slightly different, but close enough).  And you don't
have to have an exception in the rules for engines, which helps
folks remember.

2) Why is rotational inertia not conserved?  I could apply a 
rotational thruster and attain a speed of two points clockwise
per turn and I'd continue rotating at that speed (with no further
adjustments) until I applied a rotational thust in the opposite
direction.  Is it too much to keep track of?

3) Finally, a while back I had some crazy ideas for different types
and combinations of engines and rotational thrusters, which I'll
attach.  I haven't had a chance to play all these out, but it would
make for some interesting tactics and ship-design tradeoffs if you
have these choices.  I haven't looked at how to translate these back
into the non-vector rules, as I play vector rules exclusively.
Hopefully it'll stir up some good ideas.

Daryl

========================================================================
=======

New Proposal for Engine Types:

GENERAL RULES
1) All engine "boxes" take one hit, like every other FT system.  Engines
are frequently mounted in pairs or banks to reduce the chance of one hit
crippling the ship.  For the purposes of movement, two or more engines
of a particular type work the same as one engine of the sum of their
ratings.

(For those working on point-value systems, a single
engine should be slightly more "efficient" than pairs or banks.)

MAIN DRIVE
----------
Rated 1-8.  Provide thrust up to their rating only in the direction of
the ship's current facing.  Ships cannot fire non-defensive weapons in
the rear arc on turns their main drive is active.
Symbol:
      /\
     /	\ 
     |n |
     ----

REVERSE DRIVE
-------------
Rated 1-8.  Before the invention of the reversible main drive, some
ship designers experimented with separate drives pointing forward.
Provide thrust up to their rating only in the opposite direction of
the ship's current facing.  Ships cannot fire non-defensive weapons
in the front arc on turns their reverse drive is active.
Symbol:
     ----
     |n |
     \	/ 
      \/

REVERSIBLE MAIN DRIVE
---------------------
Rated 1-8.  Provide thrust up to their rating only in the direction of
the ship's current facing *or the opposite direction*.	On turns the
drive is providing forward thrust, ships cannot fire non-defensive
weapons in their rear arc.  On turns it's providing rearward thrust,
ships cannot fire in their forward arc.
      /\
     /	\ 
     |n |
     \	/ 
      \/

DUAL-USE MAIN DRIVE
-------------------
Rated 1-8.  A main drive whose thrust can be "pivoted" and used for both
rotation and/or forward thrust.  The sum of the number of points rotated
and the thrust applied must be less than or equal the engine's rating.
Ships cannot fire non-defensive weapons in the rear arc on turns the
drive is providing thrust.
      /\
  /\ /	\ /\
   \_|n |_/
     ----

REVERSE DUAL-USE MAIN DRIVE
-------------------
Rated 1-8.  A dual-use main drive mounted soas to provide backwards
thrust.  Ships cannot fire non-defensive weapons in the front arc on
turns the drive is providing thrust.
  /\ ____ /\
   \_|n |_/
     \	/
      \/

REVERSIBLE DUAL-USE MAIN DRIVE
------------------------------
Rated 1-8.  A main drive whose thrust can be "pivoted" and used for both
rotation and/or forward or reverse thrust.  The sum of the number of
points rotated and the thrust applied must be less than or equal the
engine's rating.  On turns the drive is providing forward thrust, ships
cannot fire non-defensive weapons in their rear arc.  On turns it's
providing rearward thrust, ships cannot fire in their forward arc.
      /\
  /\ /	\ /\
   \_|n |_/
     \	/
      \/

ROTATION THRUSTERS
------------------
Rated 1-6.  Engines usuable only for rotation -- the ship can be rotated
a number of points up to their rating.
  /\ ____ /\
   \_|n |_/
     ----

MULTIPURPOSE THRUSTERS
----------------------
Rated 1-6.  Engines can be used for rotation like rotation thrusters,
and/or
they can apply thrust in any of the clock-point directions at a 2:1
ratio
(rounded down) -- e.g. a 4-rating multipurpose thruster could apply 2
points
of thrust in any direction.  Can be used for both purpose in one turn as
long
as the sum is less than or equal their rating:	e.g. a 6-point
multipurpose
thruster could apply 2 points of thrust and rotate the ship two clock
points,
as 2*2+2 = 6.  Use of multipurpose thrusters does not affect firing
arcs.

  /\ \|/ /\
   \_|n|_/
     /|\

FLEXDRIVE
---------
Rated 1-8.  The ultimate in high-tech starship drives, can apply thrust
in any direction (clock-point) and/or rotation points, as long as the
sum
is less than or equal the rating.  Thus an 8-rating drive could, say,
apply
4 thrust in direction 10 and turn 4 points left.  When the drive is
providing
thrust, ships cannot fire non-defensive weapons in the arc between the
clock points adjacent to the clock point opposite the thrust; e.g. when
the drive is providing thrust in the 2:00 direction, weapons cannot be
fired
in the arc between 7:00 and 9:00.
      _
     \|/
   |-|n|-|
     /|\
      -

SPECULATIVE DRIVES
==================

QUANTUM DRIVE
-------------
Rated 1-8.  Randomly changes the distance of movement, direction of
movement,
and/or facing after movement, with some level of control for the player.

At the start of order writing each turn, roll a number of
dice equal to the sum of the ratings of all quantum drives on the ship.
For every 5 or 6 rolled, the player gets to control:  facing (+- 6
points of rotation relative to current), distance (up to 12"), and/or
direction (one of the 12 clock points).  Thus, with 3 five or sixes, the
player can write down all three parameters in their orders.

During the execution of orders, for each "unfixed" parameter roll on the
following charts:
   Direction of Movement OR Facing
   2d6 Roll   Direction   Facing
   --------   -------	  ------
      2 	 6	6 points (180 degrees)
     3-5	10	2 points left (counter clockwise)
     6-7	12	no change
     8-9	 2	2 points right (clockwise)	
      10	 4	4 points right
    11-12	 8	4 points left
Distance:   2d6 inches

A ship may mount both quantum drives and normal (Newtonian) drives, but
only one of them can be used on a particular turn.  A ship must come to
a
speed of 1" or less to switch from normal drives to quantum.  It can
switch
back to using normal drives at any time, but its speed is considered
zero
(there is no inertia or momentum).

A ship using quantum drive is not considered to have traversed the space

between its start and ending movement in a turn -- thus it could start
on
one side of an asteriod and end up on the other.

Quantum drive fields have no effect on weapon firing.

     Q/\Q
     /	\
     \n /
     Q\/Q

MICROQUANTUM DRIVE
------------------
Rated 4-12:  The microquantum drive is an advanced refinement of the
quantum drive where, instead of one large "leap", the movement from one
point
to another is done through a series of small, self-correcting jumps. 
The
microquantum drive suffers none of the random disadvantages of the
quantum
drive:	the ship's captain can plot facing, distance (up to the drive
number),
and direction every turn.  The only disadvantage is that the drive must
be
controlled by a large computer system, and if either the computer or the
drive itself is hit the system is useless.

     ____
     |C |
     ----
       |
       |
     Q/\ 
     /	\
     \n /
      \/