Re: FT3 DEVELOPMENT QUESTION: Movement system(s)? was: Re: [FT] Quiet in here, isn't it.

I haven't played Full Thrust (or another space ship game) for a long
time. I have a bunch of ships, and hope I will again. I think that I
just play a minis game occasionally, and my interest is elsewhere at the
moment. 

When I played, we used the cinematic movement system, because the
inspiration (if not the game setting) was movies. You don't see Imperial
Star Destroyers moving sideways through space, pointed in a different
direction than they were moving. We didn't find it difficult, though
hex-shaped bases really help. You always keep a hex edge parallel to a
table edge. 

I don't remember a problem with high speeds. We did get the impression
that games were samey, where we went at each other and then around in
circles. Colonial Battlefleet promised to address that, give better
strategy, more fun, but I found it too limiting. It also put the role of
ships into the rules more. The GZG fleets (which I love) have lots of
ships of different sizes, but I've usually thought of them as different
sizes of the same thing, rather than ships filling different roles, and
I'd like to get out of that rut a bit. Tried a bit of Starmada in
different iterations, but those seemed to be about ship design more than
play. Full Thrust seemed to me to have the best balance of what a game
needs and what I want. 

andy 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Jon Tuffley" <jon@gzg.com> 
To: gzg@firedrake.org 
Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2015 9:13:46 AM 
Subject: Re: FT3 DEVELOPMENT QUESTION: Movement system(s)? was: Re: [FT]
Quiet in here, isn't it. 

Supplementary question arising out of this discussion….. 

How many people here have found very high speeds in play to be a REAL
problem in actual games, rather than a theoretical one? 

I'm VERY wary of introducing maximum speeds if it can be avoided. What
are folks' real in-game experiences? 

Moving very fast has its own difficulties, not least of which is the
high risk of overshooting your target unless you judge things EXACTLY
right (which is a large reason why I've never worried too much about the
"problem" of passing ships not being able to shoot at each other - yes,
it may be a very big abstraction and seem odd, but it does have the
effect of making players keep their speeds down if they want to avoid
this happening). 

Please discuss……? ;-) 

Jon (GZG) 

On 22 Oct 2015, at 13:45, Indy < indy.kochte@gmail.com > wrote: 

Unless you are defending an area or region, then it is easier to
justify. :-) Often, though, that usually involves some sort of 'space
terrain' (depending on scale being used, could be a base, an asteroid, a
moon, or a planet), or maybe a disabled ship. 

Mk 

On Thu, Oct 22, 2015 at 3:54 AM, Roger Bell_West < roger@firedrake.org >
wrote: 

<blockquote>
On Wed, Oct 21, 2015 at 08:46:11PM -0400, Damond wrote: 
>I'd think the size of the table would limit practical speeds. 

Because space is finite? :-) 

(Seriously, a non-floating table is a game-ish solution, which is 
perhaps hard to justify.) 

</blockquote>