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From: owner-traveller-digest@mpgn.com (Traveller-digest)
To: traveller-digest@Phaser.ShowCase.MPGN.COM
Subject: Traveller-digest V1996 #749
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Traveller-digest      Friday, December 13 1996      Volume 1996 : Number 749



(R)1996. Traveller is a registered trademark of FarFuture Enterprises.
All rights reserved.

The following topics are covered in this digest:

RE: Imperial Democracy
Re: Strength of Aslans and Domain of Deneb
Future look & feel of T4 products
Re: Holy Bandwidth, Batman!  (Was: Mechs in Traveller)
RE: T Plates
Re: Ship design and redundancy
Re: T Plates
Re: Future look & feel of T4 products
Re: Constructive Criticism for Starships
Re: Imperium Games, Starships, future products
RE: Imperium Games, Starships, future products
Re: Representation
RE: T Plates
Starships..
Re: I've changed my mind...
Re: Imperium Games, Starships, future products
Re: T-Plates and HEPlaR - The Need For Speed
Re: Refueling from Cometary bodies (OPINION)
Re:LONG-- Imperium Games, Starships, future products 
Re: Holy Bandwidth, Batman!  (Was: Mechs in Traveller)
Re: SSDS and Drives [...and Life Support]
Re: Roller Coasters in the 57th Century

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 19:59:49 -0800
From: "Peter J. Miller" <PeterMiller@youngmerlin.com>
Subject: RE: Imperial Democracy

At 21:35 12/12/96 -0600, you wrote:
> K.C. Komosky wrote:
>>Well in the real world, many countries have gotten around the problem you 
>>raise by having 2 houses of government, one rep by pop, one rep by area 
>>(e.g. the US Senate).
>>
>>Unfortunately, Canada is not among them :-(
>
>Wooaoahhhh! Slow down there K.C. Your statement is not entirely true. In 
>Canada we *do* have 2 houses of government: The House of Commons (Rep. by 
>pop, 1 per about 50,000 IIRC) and the Senate (Rep. by area)
>
>Our system is unlike the U.S. system in that our senators are appointed 
>by the Prime Minister. What generally happens is the provinces recommend 
>a list of senators to the PM, who then chooses a senator.

Also, just to add on, our PM is directly elected as a member, not singly.
For instance, in my area, I vote for my MP (member of parliament) and party,
not necessarily the PM, who must run in his own riding.  Unlike the uS
System where you all, throughout the country for the President.

About the US system, that's to the best of my knowledge, and I'l pleade
ignorance if I have it wrong.  I'm taking a US hisotry course next semester,
but until then, my US politics knowledge is through the newspaper and media.

Thanks

_______________________________Peter John Miller
"I'll sit around and stay a little longer...if they don't want me, I'll stay
at home and watch them" - Jays manager Cito Gaston on his future with the
team (12/12/96)
- ------------------------------------------------
Traveller, Prime Directive, AD&D, and the home of the Imperium Games FAQ!
       http://www.dragonfire.net/~pm/

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 20:24:40 -0800 (PST)
From: Wes Payne <n9548326@cc.wwu.edu>
Subject: Re: Strength of Aslans and Domain of Deneb

Thus spake Hans Rancke-Madsen <rancke@diku.dk>:

[snip]
<nitpick>
 
> OH, and just how great a chance do you think he has of convincing Duchess
> Delphine and the other dukes (his peers) to back him? Anything less than 
> total cooperation of all the Domain and the Corridor fleet could propably 
> settle his hash on its own (unless the Zhodani bails him out). After all, 
> the Corridor Fleet really isn't necessary to guard against the Vargr; the 
> reserve forces should be more than enough to hold Corridor against them.

But they weren't, hence Corridor Sector's new, Vargr name:  The Devoured 
Sector.
</nitpick>

- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Wes Payne, known to you as:  n9548326@cc.wwu.edu
Western Washington University -- Bellingham, WA -- The Great Northwet!  
"What is FUN?  Why is it usually colored BRIGHT PINK, and where does
 it go when JESSE HELMS comes around?" 
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 20:32:18 -0800 (PST)
From: Trent Smith <TFSMITH@POMONA.EDU>
Subject: Future look & feel of T4 products

     People have been complaining bitterly about "Starships" (which,
admittedly, I haven't yet seen) and a lot of that complaint seems to revolve
around the artwork and the general "look & feel."  People apparently want
a reworking of the "Starship Operator's Manual," including the type of info it
had, the type of layout, and the type of artwork.
     Now, while I'll admit that SOM was loaded with good anecdotal info and
that really nice 'tour of the ship" section, it was woefully short on
"gameable" info, and, at this point, I DON'T think it would have been a good
idea for IG to release something like this.  What players of the game need at
this point is ship stats and a design system, not hand-waving technobabble
about how the various systems work and anecdotes.  Another thing to keep in
mind is that SOM was originally published by a lisencee, and thus (presumably)
had a lower expectation of sales; this book wasn't supposed to keep the line
afloat, it was a bonus for hard-core fans who really want the extra background
stuff.  I think that's a more important distinction than some folks are taking
into account.
     As for the artwork, I've avoided this topic in the past, and plan to
mostly avoid it now, except to say that, when you look at it on the shelf, the
T4 rulebook looks very nice.  When you get it home to read it and notice all
the errors and take a closer look at the artwork, you'll become less 
impressed, but that's a lesser concern (since hopefully those problems will
become less severe with time).  TNE didn't have this immediate visual appeal
even with the main rulebook, and artwork and presentation went even further
downhill pretty fast.  This is the era of color and glossiness, for better or
worse.  I'm glad that IG at least recognizes that.  Hopefull, they'll also
learn to execute their knowledge better...

Trent Smith
P.S.  Don't bother to respond directly to this, 'cause I'm about to unsub from
the list as I leave for a month of XMas vacation, so I won't see your response
until mid-january, if ever.  Feel free to discuss what I've said amongst
yourselves, though (as if I have any say over that).

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 20:42:11 -0800 (PST)
From: Wes Payne <n9548326@cc.wwu.edu>
Subject: Re: Holy Bandwidth, Batman!  (Was: Mechs in Traveller)

Thus spake: Rich Ostorero <stormhvn@inreach.com>:

[stuff on 'mechs a-la FF&S snipped]

> If there is a demand for this material, I'll post it to the list . . . 
> else, I'll find it a home on the Trav Fan-Web(tm).
> 
> In the interest of saving the most sacred and holy Bandwidth, please advise me.

At this point, a bunch of monks stroll in chantin:

pie Jesu domine
dona eis ... Hey, what's Latin for 'bandwidth?'

- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Wes Payne, known to you as:  n9548326@cc.wwu.edu
Western Washington University -- Bellingham, WA -- The Great Northwet!  
"What is FUN?  Why is it usually colored BRIGHT PINK, and where does
 it go when JESSE HELMS comes around?" 
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 22:40:41 -0600
From: "K.C. Komosky" <kc@mb.sympatico.ca>
Subject: RE: T Plates

>Can't explain it. But, it does violate some very trivial references in 
some
>of the traveller games (Imperium and Dark Nebula) about sub-light long 
term
>thrust potential and crossing parsecs in a year or two... without jump
>drives. [note to tech-heads: I DID mention this during the discussions 
last
>spring, and was either ignored or dismissed... B-P ]

Now I don't have these products, but these references are just impossible. 
One parsec is 3.26 light years. So in order to transverse this distance in 
only 1 or two years using sub-light drives just doesn't compute.

There are some reference to sub-light interplanetary travel, but I always 
gathered that it took a lot longer than 1 or 2 years to travel even one 
parsec.

K.C. Komosky
kc@mb.sympatico.ca

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 05:02:20 GMT
From: jaffo@onramp.net (Jaffo)
Subject: Re: Ship design and redundancy

Hi.  I'm sorry to bug everybody.  How do I unsubscribe from this list?  I
lost the majordomo address.

Thanks

Jaffo

- -- 
Jaffo's Home Page - http://rampages.onramp.net/~jaffo/
Net.Legends Mirror - http://rampages.onramp.net/~jaffo/nl/
Kibology Posting Archives - http://rampages.onramp.net/~jaffo/archives.html

Join Jaffo's AOL Invasion Force!  Email jaffo@onramp.net for details!

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 22:38:46 -0700 (MST)
From: Merrick Burkhardt <merrick@Rt66.com>
Subject: Re: T Plates

 
> >I can't accept the idea that T-plates only work within a 1000 diam. limit
> >of a planetary or stellar mass. It only makes sense when thrusting away
> >from the mass; I don't understand how T-plates "push against" a gravity
> >field when they are thrusting *towards* it. Can someone explain how this is
> >supposed to work?
> 
> Can't explain it. But, it does violate some very trivial references in some
> of the traveller games (Imperium and Dark Nebula) about sub-light long term
> thrust potential and crossing parsecs in a year or two... without jump
> drives. [note to tech-heads: I DID mention this during the discussions last
> spring, and was either ignored or dismissed... B-P ]

Nah, you get a decent velocity in-system, then accelerate more
slowly from there to midpoint, it's still possible, it'll just take
longer.  BTW, if any published stuff said you could cross 3.26 light
years in less than 3.26 years, then it was just plain stupid
(assuming it wasn't a jump ;-) and should be ignored.

- -Merrick

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 23:54:27 +0000
From: "Kenneth Bearden" <dreamer@brokersys.com>
Subject: Re: Future look & feel of T4 products

On 12 Dec 96 at 20:32, Trent Smith wrote:


>      Now, while I'll admit that SOM was loaded with good anecdotal info and
> that really nice 'tour of the ship" section, it was woefully short on
> "gameable" info, 

I thought the SOM was an incredible game aid.

Kenneth.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 23:54:27 +0000
From: "Kenneth Bearden" <dreamer@brokersys.com>
Subject: Re: Constructive Criticism for Starships

On 12 Dec 96 at 10:33, John Kovalic wrote:

> "Kenneth Bearden" <dreamer@brokersys.com> wrote:
> >
> >(Lots of GREAT observations snipped)
> >I sure didn't want this to happen.  Massive dissappointment set in.
> >The posts are correct.
> >(Lots MORE great observations snipped)

> Good LORD, I can't believe how strongly I agree with your entire post!

Thank you very much.


> While I still Believe in Traveller, I think Imperium would do well to slow
> down with their release schedule until they get some of the basics
> straightened out (yes, I know delays have slowed it down plenty as is - but
> I'd rather see them concentrate on one GOOD release every two or three
> months than running around trying to rush out one mediocre/poor release
> everyone or two months). 

I agree 100%


> I love Traveller, and so I hope this is not taken as an indictment of Marc
> or his vision. 

Me too.

But between the stupid typos in T4 and the out-and-out
> ugliness of Starships, I'm starting to worry. We who all love the game may
> pick them up, but what about the newbie, who is going to compare them to
> GURPS and GURPS SPACE?

Yes.  You are right again.

Kenneth.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 23:54:28 +0000
From: "Kenneth Bearden" <dreamer@brokersys.com>
Subject: Re: Imperium Games, Starships, future products

On 12 Dec 96 at 12:41, Joseph E. Walsh wrote:


> Anyway, here's my outline.  Feel free to add items to it.  I'll compile 
> all the *reasonable* suggestions, and send it along to Courtney (again, 
> with explanatory text).

Good job Joe.

>     B)  Task System
>         1)  Number of dice rolled at each level (esp. upper end)
>         2)  Figuring target numbers (overemphasis on attributes)

I'd be happy to show him my easy fix.

>
>      B)  Deck Plans
>          1)  Blank space - all interior hull space should be used
>          2)  Interior structures should be drawn according to the design
>              system's specifications
>          3)  Use grid lines

Also, increase the detail of the plans.  Use the DGP plans, 
especially the Beowulf in the SOM, for example.

Kenneth.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 23:54:28 +0000
From: "Kenneth Bearden" <dreamer@brokersys.com>
Subject: RE: Imperium Games, Starships, future products

On 12 Dec 96 at 12:55, K.C. Komosky wrote:


> I can't disagree with this more. I've stayed out of the whole Foss art 
> debate (mostly cause Starships hasn't made it to Flin Flon), but TRAVELLER 
> NEEDS ART!

I agree with KC.  Traveller does need art, but it needs good, 
Traveller-like art.

Kenneth.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 23:54:27 +0000
From: "Kenneth Bearden" <dreamer@brokersys.com>
Subject: Re: Representation

On 11 Dec 96 at 17:05, Talisman wrote:

> What exactly is the "Grand Adventure"?

The Grand Adventure is the campaign that I am running.  In it, I am 
linking together all of the major adventures produced for Traveller.

I've been tinkering with it for 3 years, and we started playing about 
a year ago.  Consequently, I have a lot of Traveller stuff (NPCs, 
detailed star systems, planetary info, adventure ideas, home grown 
rules and equipment, short stories, etc) that I am sharing with all 
who are interested.

Look for continuted posts about the Grand Adventure.

Kenneth.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 00:04:08 +0000
From: "Kenneth Bearden" <dreamer@brokersys.com>
Subject: RE: T Plates

On 12 Dec 96 at 22:40, K.C. Komosky wrote:

> 
> >Can't explain it. But, it does violate some very trivial references in 
> some
> >of the traveller games (Imperium and Dark Nebula) about sub-light long 
> term
> >thrust potential and crossing parsecs in a year or two... without jump
> >drives. [note to tech-heads: I DID mention this during the discussions 
> last
> >spring, and was either ignored or dismissed... B-P ]
> 
> Now I don't have these products, but these references are just impossible. 
> One parsec is 3.26 light years. So in order to transverse this distance in 
> only 1 or two years using sub-light drives just doesn't compute.
> 
> There are some reference to sub-light interplanetary travel, but I always 
> gathered that it took a lot longer than 1 or 2 years to travel even one 
> parsec.

Remember that the hexes in Dark Nebula are not the standard parsec 
hexes used in most of Traveller.  They are one half parsec 
hexes--1.63 light years.

Does that compute?

Also, maybe they were using some other type of drive besides 
T-plates.  Heplar or some other type?  I don't know.  Dark Nebula 
says sublight.  It could be anything.

Kenneth.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 13 Dec 96 06:01:00 GMT 
From: e.gutierrez3@genie.com
Subject: Starships..

To all the Anti-foss crowd, you guys are
missing the point..

Think CHROME, Tailfins, Bluelight taillights
V8's roaring with testosterone...

Yes, Brothers and Sisters I'm talking the
dream of Detroit Steel thundering with life!!!

Well, at least somting on that vein. M0 has that
post war 50's feel, optimism, work hard for a
greater america (feel free to insert the country
of your choice)

As for the book I liked it, the art was diferent
the deck plans do have some quirks. But the
pictures Hot rod mags all the way..

The 5000dt top end is more than cool by me.
The feel of the orignial system does shine
through..

One thing I would like to see is another
book of ships, a'la the name escapes now
but it was produced in the UK mid eighties
Many of those ships where very useful.
Hell, I would contribute some of my finished
designs for a cause like this..

Any of y'all intrested?

MacDude
or
e.gutierrez3@genie.com

signing off (mubbling somthing about a land
called Honalee.....)

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 01:26:44 -0500
From: "Harold D. Hale" <hdhale@siscom.net>
Subject: Re: I've changed my mind...

Michael Barry writes:

>     ...yet again. I think an 8-legged 'spider' walker could be an 
>     effective war machine. Just rig 'em up so that they have loudspeakers 
>     that cry "ULLA! ULLA! ULLA!", and a heat ray, then let them loose on 
>     London. 

   So much for creepy spider noises.... :-)
     
>     Seriously though, an 8-legged walker would be *less* vulnerable to a 
>     mobility hit than an MBT. Mind you, I don't think I'd trust anything 
>     less than a TL9 or 10 robot brain with moving those legs. 

   Absolutely, and will TL 12 controls or better be sufficent?
     
>     So, as combat walkers are coming into usefulness, grav vehicles almost 
>     immediately supplant them. They might be prevalent in races that have 
>     achieved TL10+ but *not* anti-grav technology! 

   That's my theory.  And on Terra in the mid-1100s, a *lot* of combat
walkers get built for the reasons I mentioned previously.  With
gravitics being re-introduced, it is only natural that many of the
combat walkers would get retrofitted with contrgrav generators.

   "Haw! those walkers can't cross that river, we're safe now!"

   "Uh, sir, you'd better take a look at this."

   "What's wrong, private?"

   "The walkers appear to be crossing the river, sir."

   "But how?!  They don't have any boats or bridging equipment!"

   "They don't appear to need it...."
     
>     BTW, for a nice combat scene between walkers and MBTs, take a look at 
>     the opening scenes in the _Patlabor_ movie! 

   I don't suppose that would be available on video in the US?

Regards,

Harold

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 01:24:51 -0500
From: Constant Hazard <hazard@potomac.net>
Subject: Re: Imperium Games, Starships, future products

> II)  Starships
..
>      B)  Deck Plans
>          1)  Blank space - all interior hull space should be used
>          2)  Interior structures should be drawn according to the
>              design system's specifications
>          3)  Use grid lines

Another few things I would like to add to the list:
           4)  Don't fill the area surrounding the deck plan in with
               black.
           5)  Label every room on the plan.  Otherwise, people won't
               know what the rooms are for (duh!).
           6)  Show more details on the plans (chairs, beds, etc...)
           7)  Put a lot more thought into the plan itself.  Many of
               the deck plans in starships are as badly designed as
               they are badly illustrated.
           8)  Don't forget essential parts of the design (like
               AIRLOCKS!)

The Starships book for T4 was a big step backward for Traveller.  The
Traders & Gunboats book for CT is much better... and it was published 17
years ago.
- -- 
                          David  Kent  
                             -aka-
                        Constant Hazard
                    \----------------------/
                     \ hazard@potomac.net /
                      \------------------/

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 01:31:43 -0500
From: TPeterAZ@aol.com
Subject: Re: T-Plates and HEPlaR - The Need For Speed

In a message dated 96-12-12 18:53:23 EST, you write:

<snip of info re: ganged compensators>

> I thought that the rules
>  state that you can't compensate more than a given number of G's at a given
>  TL...

Yeah, but you're not.  The perceived internal acceleration *IS* only 3 Gs, or
whatever.  I know the big joke is "perception is reality," but you know what?
 It is.  If the human body only perceives 3 Gs, the same should be true of
the machinery.  Put another way, how does the IC know how much to compensate?
 It must measure acceleration, and compensate accordingly.  The first
compensator does the best it can, and brings our 8 Gs down to, say, 5.  The
second one is attached to the first, sees it is engaged, senses forces
greater than 1 G, and kicks in, bringing the perceived acceleration down to
(the much more manageable) 2 Gs.  If one works, there is no reason why more
can't work.  It would have to be set up serially, of course, but it's going
to measure acceleration and apply it's compensation accordingly, if
necessary.  I don't see this as any more problematic than, let's see, HEPlaR
and T-Plates used together, jump drives, and any grav comp at all.  The
physics is "clearly" stated; this is how these things work.  And if the tech
level is sufficient to build the things in the first place, ganging them
should be a breeze.  Hell, that part we could do today, if we had machines
that negated acceleration effects currently. Just MHO, of course.  Fire at
will.

Tim Peter
<TPeterAZ@aol.com>
"There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, Ignorance."--- Socrates

P.S. - there is no "s" on my last name; it is simply Peter.  Thanks.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 01:01:06 -0600
From: bolie@io.com (Bolie Williams IV)
Subject: Re: Refueling from Cometary bodies (OPINION)

At 8:26 PM 12/12/96, William F. Hostman wrote:
>1: Gas giants contain fluids (gasses and liquids) whic are easy to shove
>through scoops. Cometary bodies in the outer system do not; they are solid.
>Solids will require shovelling, or specially designed "Crusher Scoops"
>which can chop up the cometary mass into small, meltable pieces.

Seems like one hunk of ice would have as much hydrogen as you'd be able
to scoop out of the atmosphere of a gas giant in one swoop.  I've always
been a little suspicious of the whole scooping thing.  Either these
ships go hurtling through the top of the atmosphere where the gasses
are relatively thin (and composed of who knows what), thus not scooping
much at a tope, or they fly deep into the atmosphere and have to thrust
like crazy (or go through at meteoric speeds) to keep from losing so
much speed that they spiral into the gas giant crash.  Seems like no
matter how you do it, it's going to be hell on your ship and having an
open scoop is really going to play merry hell with your maneuverability.
I wonder if anyone has done any kind of reasonable first pass feasibility
study on this kind of thing...

>2: They are beyond the jump vs thrust threshold; any refuelling that far
>out is likely to use micro-jumps to get in. Unless the Ref is AR enough to
>figure the 100 diameter limits of the star.

Even Jupiter and Saturn are far enough out that you're going to have to
thrust for a long time to get from them to Earth.  I'm assuming (given
that I have no data) that other star systems will be laid out similarly.

>3: they are HUGE ammounts of volume (even if you assume a roughly 0.1AU
>mean thickness, ~40 +-0.5 AU, you get 25 CUBIC AU! for the Kuiper belt.)
>You couldn't STOP someone from using them if you wanted to... but would
>they want to? (See #1, above)
>
>4: They may or may not exist in the same relative location in other systems.
>
>5: Gas Giants have many other exploitable resources besides fuel, and are
>thus more vital assets than cometary belts

All I can think of is that they have all kinds of gasses in their atmosphere.
Of course, that's the problem... they're all mixed up.  I wonder if you
could even scoop anything since hull friction may be igniting all the
gasses around the ship...

>As stated in the Subject line, the above is my OPINION, put out for the
>edification of those not yet able to avail themselves of it.

This is my opinion, too.  :)  Though I'm curious if anyone really knows
or has done any modelling of a ship scooping hydrogen.  How fast would it
have to be going?  How thick are the gasses?  What is the composition of
a gas giant's atmosphere?

>As for the 1000 diameter thrust limit on T-plates, it makes the Kuiper and
>OOrt belts nigh on unpatrolable, as well as the outer gas giants, unless
>one micro-jumps there, and/or uses a reaction thruster (HEPlaR or Ion come
>immediately to mind). It does eliminate some of the concerns about 0.1C +
>speed attacks upon worlds, but also makes the outer systems far more likely
>(IMNSHO) to be pirate havens.

If you want to attack a world with large rocks, there are a number of ways
of doing it without launching rocks at .1C.  Jump in to the system and have
special ships that are mostly engine and fuel.  Strap these onto asteroids
and send them on their way.  Strap a sensor pack on the front of the asteroid
and you have yourself a nice guided missile.  If it's big enough, shooting
it down would just cause a large number of smaller impacts...

Bolie IV

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bolie Williams IV
bolie@io.com
http://www.io.com/~bolie/

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 22:58:28 -0800
From: "Rich Ostorero" <stormhvn@inreach.com>
Subject: Re:LONG-- Imperium Games, Starships, future products 

<<snippage rampant throughout the post>>

>You see, Courtney realizes he doesn't know much 
> about the RPG industry, so he's asked for our help to bring him up to 
> speed on what Traveller fans want.

This may explain much, Joe. Let's educate this guy!

<<detaily snippage, main heads left . . .apologies in advance for
annoyance>>

> 
> 
> I)  T4 Main Rulebook
> 
>     A)  Editing
 MAJOR probs here. I saw mistakes in T4 and Starships that even a typical
California public HS grad would be embarassed to see in print under his
name . . . and if you know California public schools, you know this is BAD.
> 
>     B)  Task System
I disagree that this is a problem . . . but that's just me.
>    
>     C)  Art
Define "Travelleresque" to someone who is _not_ a fanatic (admittedly, the
TML is the home of the fanatics). To me, the cover is _Travelleresque_, but
a lot of the Foss interior illos aren't. The Elmore b&w illos _are_
Travellersque; I only wish that more effort was made to tell a coherent
story with the Elmore illos.
> II)  Starships
>      B)  Deck Plans
I agree 100000000000% here.
> 
>      C)  Ship Designs
            Ships intended as PC party ships NEED a crew position rooster;
this is less essential for military warships.
> 
>      E)  Background
	Why not some "class names" and hull numbering conventions for military
vessels as well as operational routines, and not just MM's operational
outlines from various MT products. Roleplaying is _detail_!!!!!	
> 
>      F)  Personalities 
How about career paths for the Personalities? I'd like to use them as
examples of how to generate T4 characters.

<<shipping stuff deleted because I have a ghodlike FLGS>>
> 
> V)   Future Products
> 
Since the previous products established the fan expectation level, looking
at precursor products is a no-brainer.
>          3)  Keep the useful content (i.e., not the art) high,
sacrificing
>              art if necessary.

Sacrifice the art. On a sanctified altar. Please!

Just my ImpCr0.02 worth . . .

- --Rich Ostorero
stormhvn@inreach.com

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 22:20:57 -0800
From: "Rich Ostorero" <stormhvn@inreach.com>
Subject: Re: Holy Bandwidth, Batman!  (Was: Mechs in Traveller)

> 
> At this point, a bunch of monks stroll in chantin:
> 
> pie Jesu domine
> dona eis ... Hey, what's Latin for 'bandwidth?'

I take it these monks are engaging in ritual flagellation with empty Win95
boxes (or copies of T4 Starships . . . can't tell) :)

- --Rich 
stormhvn@inreach.com


 

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 23:19:40 -0800 (PST)
From: "John R. Snead" <jsnead@netcom.com>
Subject: Re: SSDS and Drives [...and Life Support]

Steven Bonneville <bonnevil@itlabs.umn.edu> wrote:

>On another note, "John R. Snead" <jsnead@netcom.com> wrote:

>> Standard Life Support only take up
>> 1.6 m^3 for a 200 ton hull?  That's several weeks food (minimum) + Air and
>> water purfication.  The value for FF&S would be 22.4 m^3 which sounds a

>Hm.  1.6 displacement tons == 22.4 m^3....  Sure you read the units right?
>Or is it a typo?

Interesting, I think you hit on the problem.  The units on the SSDS
Standard Life Support Table are in m^3, but it looks like the actual
numbers are in displacement tons.  OK, that makes sense now.  A relatively
minor error is explained. 


- -John Snead jsnead@netcom.com

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 02:33:38 -0500
From: CardSharks@aol.com
Subject: Re: Roller Coasters in the 57th Century

In a message dated 96-12-10 20:02:42 EST, you write:

> What would be the proper number for "X" in "X Flags Over Sylea?"

I'll cast my bet for "Eight Flags over Sylea":

> 	Pre-Contact "United Nations" -type flag  (Assuming the Sylean race, like
the Solomani, tended towards balkanization in their early, pre-starflight
history)
>    Sylean multi-world government (After jump drive acquired from Vilani
traders)
>  	Vilani Ziru Sirka
>  	Solomani Rule of Man            (-2204 to -1776 or so)
>  	Independent world in Long Night (-1776 to - 650 or so)
>  	Sylean Federation                (-650 thru   0)
>  	Third Imperium                      (0 and on)

      Ancient Banner... Syleans are a minor race, presumably put there by the
Ancients.


Marc Miller

------------------------------

End of Traveller-digest V1996 #749
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