Re: variable hulls

Now that we're on the subject of variable hulls anyway, what about
2-row hulls? I did some calculations on effective hull and system
usage and came up with:
	  hull eff.	system eff.
2 rows	  1		.917
3 rows	  .944		.796
4 rows	  .847		.667
5 rows	  .733		.551
6 rows	  .627		.462

For 4 rows hull efficiency is 1/4*(1+1+5/6+5/6*4/6),
and system efficiency is 1/4*(1+5/6+5/6*4/6+5/6*4/6*3/6).
Efficiency is expected usage before hull/system goes kablooeey.
And yes, the 2-row hull efficiency of 1 means that the hull simply
does 'pling!' until all boxes have gone.

I did some more voodoo in a spreadsheet with hull vs. weapon system
balance, and it seems that a cost of 4 for 2-row hull boxes would be
ok. Anybody do any serious simulation on this?
I suspect finding a balance for bigger ships is easier as the rounding
effects are less severe.

Examples.
The following hull box masses should give the same effective use:
2 rows	      85
3 rows	      90
4 rows	      100
Of course, the ships with less rows are much more expensive. This is
balanced by less need for weapon systems, as these are also more
effectivily used. And necessary drive/shield systems, but these saved
costs are marginal.
The following weapons masses (at 3 points/mass) are equally effective
and result in ships with equal costs, if combined with the above hull
boxes.
3 rows	   75
4 rows	   90
or:
2 rows	   84
4 rows	   115
Using more weapon systems would tip the balance in favor of the hull
with less rows.

Another thing that is hidden somewhere in these numbers is that it is
more attractive for a low-row hull design to trade hull boxes for
weapon systems than it is for a high-row design. This is because you
get more weapon systems for the same costs as your hull boxes, and the
weapons will survive relatively longer. No numbers on this yet though:-)

Frits
P.S. If anyone is interested in the gnumeric spreadsheet to shoot
holes in it, just holler and I'll post it.
P.P.S. If something similar isnt' already somewher on the net, that
is...

-- 
Frits Kuijlman			   F.Kuijlman@{its,cs,twi}.tudelft.nl
Delft University of Technology			      The Netherlands
The next Murphy Mania will be in Spring 2005, and not in Autumn 2004.