Re: Mines (small rant)

In a message dated 7/9/99 1:10:06 PM EST, Noam.Izenberg@jhuapl.edu
writes:

<< I _hate_ mines as a space combat concept. I understand we're
abstracting 
3-D
 down to 2, but mines blow that abstraction away and assume we're
playing 2D
 from the get go. Might as well play Wet Thrust. Mines in open space are
 nonsensical unless you plant them right infront of a ship, in which
case you
 should be playing with SMLs. The only other place they might be
passable is
 in a concentrated field around a fixed object, but the farther out you
go
 outward in inches, the worse the abstraction gets - pi*r^2 vs.
4/3*pi*r^3 is
 coverage of a circle vs coverage of a sphere. Unless you pay that much
more
 for increasing radius of coverage, you're taking advantage of the
 abstraction. That bugs the carbon out of me.
 </rant>
  >>
 That's why you want the mine to represent a focused beam weapon not a 
firecracker. 

P>S> Space is full of silicon creatures, but we do not want you to
become one.