Re: [FT] Should all Beams fire at fighters/ordinance?

On 14-Jun-01 at 08:58, David Griffin (carbon_dragon@yahoo.com) wrote:
> 
> --- Roger Books <books@mail.state.fl.us> wrote:
> ...
> > Actually, "my" fighters auto-jink _all_ of the time.
> >  If I'm using
> > missiles they are held on with heavy duty magnetic
> > grapples once
> > I start jinking.  When I turn off the grapples they
> > fly away.
> > My beam weapons know what the jink is so they
> > compensate.  As far
> > as whisker communications, all that info stays in
> > the data stream
> > and the jink sequence uses chaotic formulas so you
> > have to not
> > only know the formula you have to know initial
> > settings and exactly
> > where in the progression you are right now.  Since
> > all my fighters
> > know they can keep that whisker beam tight on
> > target.
> > 
> 
> Assuming you could get this to work and maintain
> communications and actually release weapons on
> target, that much radical maneuvering would still
> be hard on the equipment. Surely, the parts of
> high energy lasers are delicate enough so that
> continual jinking would at minimum shorten the
> design life of the parts.

Nope, all solid state, including beam focusing
by generating gravity lenses in a very small area.
You have to swap the generator out every 10K shots,
but it's an FRU.

> Of course this is all *under the skin* as it were
> and as long as they operate like normal fighters
> you're entitled to envision them any way you want.

I just assume this is why you don't destroy them
all with 1 PDS every time.  This is below the level
of granularity in FT.

> The point is don't worry
> if other people think your idea is plausible or
> not, as long as you enjoy playing it.

I don't worry, until their ideas cause them to
want to change to rule to fit the way they think
it should be.  For example wanting all beam weapons
to be able to fire at fighters or no beam weapons
to be able to fire at fighters because it doesn't
fit their reality.  It balances nicely now, that
section doesn't need tweaking.