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From: owner-traveller-digest@mpgn.com (Traveller-digest)
To: traveller-digest@Phaser.ShowCase.MPGN.COM
Subject: Traveller-digest V1996 #758
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Traveller-digest      Sunday, December 15 1996      Volume 1996 : Number 758



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

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Re: Ship Design Formulas
Re: I'm not anti-Foss...I'm pro-Choice :-)
TDX (was Re: Mech mobility kills)
TCS construction times
Re: Foss Art Questions
TCS construction times - example
Re: Useful Criticism (long) (was Re: Starships)
Last Day to get rumors in
Re: Non-Fusion Plus designs
Re: SSDS Question
Re: [T96#753] Reviewing T4 Products
Re: [T96#753] Make mine Chocolate Chip
Re: Why did the Aslan invade the Domain of Deneb ?
Re: [T96#748] Wierd Place Names
Admin Question
Re:Danforth's art
Re: Yet another Starships review 
RE: Why did the Aslan invade the Domain of Deneb ?
[none]
[none]
Correct connections

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

Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 11:15:50 -0600
From: Ernest N Rowland <erowland@ionet.net>
Subject: Re: Ship Design Formulas

Responses to your responses...

> From: That Computer Guy <darkstar@brahms.udel.edu>

> > see 2 pages of formulas rather than 18 pages of tables.  Maybe with some
> This was done in Fire, Fusion, & Steel.  I think only three or four of

True, but most of the formulas in FF&S were for the gun design, or the
alternate technology.  Besides, I don't see anything in FF&S that even comes
close to the pages and pages of nothing but tables that T4:Starships has.

> The formulas are thought out enough.  The only problem is that all the
> components are integrated to the 5000t limit.  You'd probably be better

If the formulas are thought out well, why not publish them?  For example, a
quick analysis of the SSDS jump drive table shows the following relationships:

   Jump Drives 1 Parsec             Jump Drives 6 Parsecs
      Mass  = 0.84 * Hull Size         Mass  = 1.96 * Hull Size
      Vol   = Mass / 3                 Vol   = Mass / 2
      Area  = Vol / 3                  Area  = Vol / 3
      Price = 10% Mass                 Price = 15% Mass
      Crew  = Mass / 500               Crew  = Mass / 500
   For all sizes, fuel = 1.4 * Hull Size

MUCH CLEARER, IMHO, than the table - and that is just a small table.

And pg 95 is _covered_ with numbers from just 2 tables, which are also
completely defined by the two sets of formulas below:

   TL9 Basic ContraGrav       TL10 Standard ContraGrav
   mass   = 2*thrust/75       mass   = thrust/50
   volume = thrust/30         volume = thrust/50
   area   = thrust/500        area   = thrust/50
   power  = thrust/50         power  = thrust/75
   prices = thrust/750        prices = thrust/600
   crew   = thrust/18000      crew   = thrust/25000 (min 0.1)
      approx; min 0.1

Notice how much easier it is to evaluate the rationale behind the numbers when
the formulas are shown, rather than just lists and lists of digits.

If the formulas are tuned to 'max out' at 5000 tons, then any system published
later will not be consistent with the SSDS!  Personally, I don't have a
problem with justifying to my players why 5000t is the physical limit for jump
drive technology - I just want some insight into how the numbers were
determined.

> > My dream is to have a 1 page starship design system...
> One page?  Hmm, I guess that this page will be very light on
> descriptions?

Touche!  I want a single page of formulas to compute the stats of every major
system - the descriptions and technobabble I consider more as role-playing
material, separate from the number-crunching necessary to have consistent ship
designs. So I would be happy with volumes on how the stuff works (like the
SOM) and how you use it, but I want a fairly simple, consistent mathematical
model to create the ships.

8-)
Ernest N Rowland
erowland@ionet.net
"The flag is solid red, except where a thin ring-shaped hole has been cut
out of it, through which one can see the sky."-DRH

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

Date: Sun, 15 Dec 96 17:50 GMT0
From: aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)
Subject: Re: I'm not anti-Foss...I'm pro-Choice :-)

In-Reply-To: <199612140152.TAA14974@bermuda.io.com>

<< > I disagree, inasmuch as I think Traveller owed far more to Star Wars,
> despite the obvious bows to (primarily) 60's SF.

Unlikely, since, IIRC, the first printing of the Classic Traveller rules
set came out the same summer as (or even shortly before) Star Wars: this
was one reason for its rapid and runaway success.  Loren Wiseman still
lurks around here sometimes, I believe, and I'm sure could regale us with 
tales of assorted inspirations. >>

ISTR Loren(?) saying that it was seeing SW (or maybe just the trailers?) 
that inspired them to make Traveller.

    ---------=========oooooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooo=========---------
Andrew M J Boulton                  http://www.compulink.co.uk/~fubar/
 "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste"

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

Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 12:46:25 -0500
From: jpb@miamisci.org (Joe Block)
Subject: TDX (was Re: Mech mobility kills)

In article <961114415130653@mychelle.other-plane.miamisci.org>, Armand
Suarez <suarez@on.rim.or.jp> wrote:

> Clint Fishback wrote:
> 
> >>Not necessarly true.  Your typical humaniod two legged mech most
> likely.  But if you consider the "spider" type mech that has been
> described, it won't just drop.  Of course if it gets to the point that
> enuff legs were shot out for it to drop, the mech is probably not in
> good shape anyway & would probably "die" soon anyway.
> --
> I really like the idea of the spider mech that's been discussed.  Anybody 
> have the needed design sequence additions for FF&S to make one?
> 
> I think spider mech drivers' worst fear would be a TDX overhead proximity 
> mine.  That could take out all the legs at once!  A cookie to anyone who 
> remembers what TDX is. ;-D

Wasn't that the stuff that released most of it's explosive energy in a
plane perpendicular to the local gravity?

Joe Block <jpb@miamisci.org>

Incoming fire has the right of way.

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

Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 13:49:46 -0500
From: Michael Nutt <misha@crossrds.com>
Subject: TCS construction times

In a message dated 96-12-13 14:25:03 EST, Lewis Roberts wrote:

>> I am guessing that you are basing your numbers on
>>  Trillion Credit Squadron, I don't own this, but is it possible that
>>  this produces inacurrate results. 

>I don't own this, either, but IIRC correctly Frank Chadwick and Dave Nilsen
>wrote in a Challenge "Designer's Notes" article that construction times were
>left out of FFS because they couldn't come up with a system that produced
>results that consistently seemed realistic enough.  And, again IIRC, they
>said TCS and High Guard each had problems with construction times being
>generally too short for most large (over 10Ktons) vessels.  Just adding fuel
>to the fire.

Um, I just checked my copy of Trillion Credit Squadron (and NO, it's not for
sale... <g>). Listed times go from 174 weeks for a 20kton vessel all the way
up to 240 weeks for a million-tonner. True, the times can be shortened with
the "not the first in the class" bonus, or by throwing more money at the
problem, but there's still no way to complete a 20 kton vessel, even with
the most opportune situation imaginable, in less than 20 months. For a
million-tonner, the absolute best possible time is just under 2.5 years.
Most vessels will take significantly longer than those times, too, so *I*
don't see the problem, to be honest with you.

Michael

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

Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 13:50:39 -0500
From: Michael Nutt <misha@crossrds.com>
Subject: Re: Foss Art Questions

Kenneth Bearden wrote:

>30)  Heavy Fighter:  No.  What's the deal with the smiley face 
>         sticking its tongue out in the rear of the craft?

It puzzled me too, until I realized where I'd seen it before... It looks
like the tail gun mount on a B-52.

Michael

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

Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 13:50:40 -0500
From: Michael Nutt <misha@crossrds.com>
Subject: TCS construction times - example

Thad Coons wrote:

> <someone with snipped attribution wrote> :

>> Hans Rancke has been arguing about the strength of the Imperium vs the >
>>Vargr.  

(and damned *well* arguing, if I might add myself... <g>)

>> In one post you mentioned that a planet would be able to produce
>> several hundred 50,000 ton cruisers in rather short time. That seems a
>> bit high to me.  I am guessing that you are basing your numbers on
>> Trillion Credit Squadron, I don't own this, but is it possible that
>> this produces inacurrate results. 

It was 20,000 ton cruisers he mentioned... IMO, not *quite* big enough, but
I have pretty radical ideas in building cruisers, at least using the High
Guard rules.

>Someone at GDW (Challenge No. 75) stated that the ship construction times
>in TCS were far too short, and promised that as soon as they came up with a
>system they liked better, they would publish it. Sigh...

Well, the TCS shipyard capacity numbers were directly proprtional to the
population of the manufacturing world. A TL 15 world with, oh, say, 30
billion inhabitants is going to have some big damned shipyards, especially
if the Imperial Navy orders a "crash construction"/wartime production
program. For example, Mora, with a population of 10 billion and a
Charismatic Oligarchy, has a wartime shipyard capacity of 15 million tons
according to TCS. If absolute crash priority is given to the "Cruiser
Project" (enough money spent to bring construction times to a maximum), and
half of the world's shipyard capacity is given over to it, then Mora alone
completes 150 50-kton cruisers in 22 months. *That* sort of thing is what
Hans was talking about when he talked about the worlds of Corridor just
building themselves new fleets.

>It seems that the rate of ship production depends on the size of the
>shipyard.  In the absence of better data, the economic model of TNE World
>Tamer's Handbook suggests 1 to 2 MCr of starship per hundred line employees
>per month, depending on TL. This does not include the rest of the company
>staff nor any dependents.
>I've done a couple of estimates of rates of production of a few craft, and
>I like the feel of the numbers I get.
>I'd need to guesstimate the percentage of a world's population devoted to
>starship building and the cost of a 50,000 ton Imperial Cruiser to get a
>number, but I'd have a hard time believing any rate greater than about a
>half dozen of those in a year.

So, in essence, you're proposing a rate proportional to population, as well?
That's fine by me... you just have to keep in mind the industrial *might* of
a world with 8-10 billion people on it at TL 14 or 15, and remember just how
many of those there are in the areas we're talking about here. You've got 5
of those in the Spinward Marches alone. If you just don't *like* seeing
large numbers of ships built, well... remember, that's going to affect the
Aslan/Vargr, too. A 50kton  CA is a good sized ship, and a feat of
engineering prowess in and of itself... but it's just not that major a task
for one of these industrial powerhouses. I will concede that basing
construction times *solely* on displacement is probably an
oversimplification... but it seems a reasonable and workable approximation
to me.

Michael

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

Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 13:29:35 -0600 (CST)
From: Joseph "Chepe" Lockett <jlockett@io.com>
Subject: Re: Useful Criticism (long) (was Re: Starships)

Quoth Kenneth Bearden:
> My ramblings on the specific ships were just that--ramblings about 
> why I liked or disliked something.  [They] should have given you a
> little more insight into why I did or did not like something

But they didn't.  And there's the crux of my whole argument.  Your comments
served only to exercise your wit against the Foss art, telling us in more
detail _that_ you didn't like it rather than _why_ you didn't like it.  To
rephrase, your objections were vague and unformed, amounting to more Foss-
bashing rather than an attempt to further pin down what "Travelleresque"
is, other than Allen Shock's caustic but true assessment as "the same
pictures we saw in 1980."

Which is good -- blocky or curved?  all of one piece or with superstructures,
outriggers, and outliers?  "textured" or smooth?  These are the issues to
be addressed, not whether a ship looks like a shoe or a radar detector or
is just something you "can't say why" you don't like.  (In that case, think
more before posting, so you can tell us).

IG, and Foss, have little reason to change, and little help for doing so,
if merely told "it sucks."  Rather, they need "a, b, and c are inappropriate
for the genre because of x.  More of d would be sensible.  How about
showing us what e looks like?"  Where a, b, c, and d are _features_ or
_elements_ of Foss' style, not specific and misinterpretable pictures.
I listed a few trends I disagree with (inexplicable openings, off-center 
engines) -- can you do the same, specifically and dispassionately, to be a
useful critic rather than one more naysayer on the bandwagon?

- ----------------------------*------------------------*------------------------
 Joseph L. "Chepe" Lockett  |"Nullum magnum ingenium | GURPS fan, Amiga user,
http://www.io.com/~jlockett | sine mixtura dementiae | Shakespearean scholar,
  Email: jlockett@io.com    | fuit." -- Seneca       | actor and director.

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

Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 13:40:07 -0500
From: whitman@pensys.com (Tony Lee)
Subject: Last Day to get rumors in

We know all you fans want to be published in an upcoming Imperium Games
product, so get your Rumors into us TODAY!  This is the last day, so post
them here or sent them to Whitman@pensys.com.  Dont be late, and dont
forget...

The future of being published (in an IG game) is around the corner!

Tony Lee

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

Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 12:59:06 -0700
From: "David J. Golden" <goldendj@usa.net>
Subject: Re: Non-Fusion Plus designs

At 08:50 pm 12/11/96 -0600, you wrote:
>A SSDS question:
>
>Does anyone know what needs to be done to the fusion plant stats
>if designing a non-imperial ship, i.e. one that does not benefit from
>"Fusion Plus" technology?

        The fusion plants given in SSDS are all non-Fusion Plus plants, so
you don't need to do anything. Fusion Plus was _intended_ to be unsuitable
for spacecraft (part of Marc Miller's vision for this was that prior to TL12
you just couldn't make small spacecraft). How it's going to actually work
with the values given in Vehicles is anybody's guess.
- --________________________________________________________________
   Dave Golden                           PGP Public Key available 
   goldendj@usa.net     http://www.usa.net/~goldendj/default.html

 "He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his
  enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes
  a precedent that will reach to himself" -- Thomas Paine

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

Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 12:59:45 -0700
From: "David J. Golden" <goldendj@usa.net>
Subject: Re: SSDS Question

At 02:52 am 12/12/96 -0800, you wrote:
>I love the SSDS, but I have one question about a possible flaw.  The life
>support tables simply don't make sense. 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
>lot more reasonable.  Why the drastic reduction? 

        *SIGH* It's wrong, that's why. Looks like I got bit by FF&S's
annoying habit of defining some tables as "per displacement ton of enclosed
volume" and others as "per cubic meter of enclosed volume." Unfortunately, I
guess I had just created a table based on the "per displacement ton" and
thought the life support factors were the same. And nobody caught it during
the review process. So those values should all be multiplied by 14m^3.
*&%#$(^@#. The first erratum. 
- --________________________________________________________________
   Dave Golden                           PGP Public Key available 
   goldendj@usa.net     http://www.usa.net/~goldendj/default.html

 "He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his
  enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes
  a precedent that will reach to himself" -- Thomas Paine

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

Date: Sun, 15 Dec 96 14:59:00 -0500
From: jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (JEFF ZEITLIN)
Subject: Re: [T96#753] Reviewing T4 Products

"Kenneth Bearden" <dreamer@brokersys.com> replies to me...

T::>On 13 Dec 96 at 16:54, JEFF ZEITLIN wrote:

T::>>         Freelance Traveller has a self-imposed responsibility to
 ::>>         _support_ Traveller.  Because of this, Freelance
 ::>>         Traveller can not in good conscience print outright
 ::>>         negative reviews of a product.

T::>Althought we agree on your reasons for doing this, you may want to
 ::>re-think your position.  You are basically saying that Freelance
 ::>Traveller is biased, and people won't trust your reviews in the
 ::>future.

 I had considered this - as I indicated, a very strong concern
 is that I want Traveller's resurrection to be a success -
 especially given that I consider the death of Traveller to have
 begun not with the demise of GDW, but with the _release_ of
 Traveller:The New Era, or perhaps the release of such grotesque
 concepts as _Dangerous_Dimensions_ [sic] and _Cadillacs_and_
 _Dinosaurs_.

 I would like Freelance Traveller to be considered a "reputable"
 source.  What I perceive as a problem is that currently,
 Traveller is not that well established in the marketplace, and
 I want it to be.  I don't want to see a steady stream of
 material of the quality that T4 seems to be, and to the extent
 that lost sales will help IG clear up the quality issues,
 negative reviews are helpful.

 But the question that comes up is whether _at_this_stage_,
 those same lost sales do more harm than good, through reducing
 financial wherewithal and shaking confidence in IG's ability to
 produce.

 I do understand your point, and it is a troubling one.  It _is_
 causing me to constantly rethink the policy.  So far, I have
 not come up with a satisfactory compromise on this.  It would
 be ideal if I could get a review of Starships that makes all of
 the discussed points, without the "emotional" baggage, and
 loaded words and phraseology.  It would be much easier to post
 such a review, even if it was ultimately a "don't buy"
 recommendation.  But Starships _is_ pretty awful, and _well_
 below my expectations - I don't think _I_ could write a review
 of it that I would be willing to publish unless I were
 _anti_-Traveller.

 I'm willing to reconsider.  Always.  It's called "quality
 control" and "goal/progress re-evaluation" and it's an
 essential part of any product.  But in this case I'm going to
 need some hard convincing, and a review that I won't feel
 uneasy about.

 Just as a side note - I have a feeling that the New York Times
 may also have a limit to what they'll publish as restaurant
 reviews - I've read a couple of Ruth Reichl's reviews that
 quite definitely feel like there's an unspoken statement "This
 was my second choice for review this week - my first choice was
 so bad that I couldn't in good conscience write what I
 thought".  At the moment, I sort of feel that way about
 Starships - but I don't have the benefit of another product to
 review, unless I want to review GURPS Vehicles II.  And GURPS
 ain't Traveller, no matter how you slice it.

==========================================================================
Jeff Zeitlin                                      jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com
- ---
  OLXWin 1.00b  "Oh Bother", said Pooh; and deleted his message base.

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

Date: Sun, 15 Dec 96 14:59:00 -0500
From: jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (JEFF ZEITLIN)
Subject: Re: [T96#753] Make mine Chocolate Chip

Armand Suarez <suarez@on.rim.or.jp> writes...

T::>I think spider mech drivers' worst fear would be a TDX overhead proximity
 ::>mine.  That could take out all the legs at once!  A cookie to anyone who
 ::>remembers what TDX is. ;-D

 From "Cities in Flight" by James Blish.  TDX was a
 "gravitationally polarized" explosive whose force was directed
 outward from the detonation point in a plane that was
 perpendicular to the gravitational gradient.

 It was also mentioned in a "Ships Locker" in an old JTAS, but I
 have a copy of Blish.

==========================================================================
Jeff Zeitlin                                      jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com
- ---
  OLXWin 1.00b  Frogs are smart ... they EAT what bugs them.

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

Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 13:42:21 -0600 (CST)
From: Joseph "Chepe" Lockett <jlockett@io.com>
Subject: Re: Why did the Aslan invade the Domain of Deneb ?

Quoth Peter Newman:
> 	Why did the Aslan cross the Great Rift to find new land in the 
> first place when there is lots of unclaimed land to the Rimward & 
> SpinwardRimward portions of the Hierate?

 1) Space in the Domain of Deneb is far better-charted than the more
    unexplored stretches at the fringes of Charted Space: it's nice to
    already know where the pleasant planets and accessible resources
    are instead of having to search and survey (hardly a warrior's task!)

 2) The Fiyfiyalr (Imperials) deserve retribution for their murder of
    the Aslan ambassador at Strephon's Palace.  The rimward Imperium
    is wracked by horrific battles among large fleets and wide-spread
    destruction of the very land the Aslan are searching for.  So the
    more peaceful Domain of Deneb makes an apt target for appropriate
    but productive vengeance.

 3) I was of the opinion that many of the ihatei were already from the
    trans-Rift Aslan colonies, and thus would have had to cross _back_
    over the Reaches to avoid Denebian space.  Nevertheless, as news
    of Imperial disintegration travelled, perhaps some sons in the main
    body of the Hierate were fired to go there themselves rather than
    trek through already-occupied space, negotiating for passage with
    older and stronger clans, to reach the more open areas outside the
    Hierate's rimward and spinward frontiers.

Just a few thoughts, off the cuff.  As many have argued, portions of the
Rebellion are hard to reconcile with logic and sense.  Thank goodness it's
still over a millenium away.  :-)

- ----------------------------*------------------------*------------------------
 Joseph L. "Chepe" Lockett  |"Nullum magnum ingenium | GURPS fan, Amiga user,
http://www.io.com/~jlockett | sine mixtura dementiae | Shakespearean scholar,
  Email: jlockett@io.com    | fuit." -- Seneca       | actor and director.

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

Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 15:25:38 +0000
From: Mused <marz@hotstar.net>
Subject: Re: [T96#748] Wierd Place Names

Eris Reddoch wrote:
> 
> On 12/14/96 at 04:22 PM,  jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (JEFF ZEITLIN) said:
> 
> >  There used to be a "6" in Kentucky (yes, spelled exactly that
> >  way).
> 
> >  There is also a "North Pole" in New York.
> 
> >  "Hoople" can be found in southern North Dakota.
> 
> >  "Tar Heel" is a well-known town in North Carolina.
> 
> How about Two Egg, Florida? <g>

I wish to add Swastika,  Ontario

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

Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 14:24:19 -0600 (CST)
From: Lan Kelly <CyberWere@ConnectI.com>
Subject: Admin Question

Could someone please post the correct address for Majordomo of this list.
Since the address change I haven't been able to get on and I know of one
person trying to get on.  Yes I did save the initial message sent when I
signed on the mail requests are just disappearing.  No bounce, no response.

Also looked for a FAQ and the site ftp.mpgn.com doesn't respond.  Where did
everything go?

Thanks in advance.

LAN


Lan Kelly       CyberWere@ ConnectI.com      San Antonio, Texas
***********
"Good Times, Deeyenda" = verbigeration
 n. the constant or obsessive repetition of meaningless words or phrases, as
in mental illness. 

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

Date: 15 Dec 96 14:15:19 -0500
From: "Jeff Kazmierski" <odysseus@novia.net>
Subject: Re:Danforth's art

	
>>> That Computer Guy wrote:
>>> > That said, I will mention that hands down, bar none, Rob Caswell *is*
>>> > Traveller art.  Everything he did was simply beautiful and well laid
>>> > out.  And his equipment drawings were spectacular to boot!
>>> 
>>> Add Blair Reynolds to the list of artists that ARE Traveller
>>
>>Am I the only one who liked Liz Danforth's work?
>>- -Joe
>
>'Fraid so, Joe. Just like I'm (apparently) the only person who thinks
Donna
>Barr's Traveller Book cartoons were brilliant.
>
>But then, I only went to art school for several years and have worked as a
>commercial illustrator, so what do I know about art? :)
>
>Glenn G.

Um... not entirely.  I've always liked Danforth's art, and I thought Barr's
cartoons were hilarious.  Especially the picture of the starship porthole
with a hammer next to it and a sign saying "In case of fire, break
glass"...

Is anyone else longing to see David Dietrick's line drawings in T4?  Now
/there/ is some good illustration.

I actually like Foss' art.  However, I do think it's been way overused in
T4.  His cover illos are great.  But using his stuff as the baseline for
/all/ starship illustrations, and then trying (IMHO) desperately to make
the deckplans fit the often nonsensical way he draws starships was a
mistake.  The job of doing the ships actually used in Traveller should have
perhaps gone to someone with a more "scientific" approach to ship painting.

I think IG has been relying too much on the work of one artist.  Variety is
the spice of life, after all, and adding two or three more artists (like
Dietrick or Danforth) will only improve the quality of the printing.

Jeff Kazmierski

- ---------------------------------------------------------
                +
                |\      "Anybody got a Q-tip?"  
                | )      /       
                | )       _      
       _        | )      /@
        \ ______|/______/
_________\ @@@@@@@@@@@@/__________
        odysseus@novia.net
  http://www.novia.net/~odysseus/
- ---------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 15:48:28 -0500
From: "Chris Cox" <chriscox@ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Re: Yet another Starships review 

Thomas Biskup wrote:

> They (the deckplans) were obviously drawn with
> some kind of primitive graphics software,. . .

Unfortunately I think they were draw using Adobe Illustrator (IG was
looking for someone with Illustrator experience a while back), a very
nice and professional caliber drawing package.  The problem with the
deckplans is that they seem to have been drawn by someone who didn't
know how to use Illustrator.

Chris Cox
(chriscox@ix.netcom.com)
The Draconis Cluster Traveller pages
(http://users.aol.com/yanbeck/trav.htm)

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

Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 15:00:23 -0600
From: "K.C. Komosky" <kc@mb.sympatico.ca>
Subject: RE: Why did the Aslan invade the Domain of Deneb ?

>	I realize that taking away this argument will leave a hole in
>the list so I would like to propose a NEW subject to argue about.
>	Why did the Aslan cross the Great Rift to find new land in the
>first place when there is lots of unclaimed land to the Rimward &
>SpinwardRimward portions of the Hierate?  If you look at the map of
>Aslan Spacein Solomani & Aslan (pg 50) you will notice that while a good
>portion of the nearby Sectors are Aslan Colonies most of this land is
>unclaimed by a government.  We do not know how many Aslan live there but
>we can assume that these Aslan are weaker than the Third Imperium (if
>they were stronger than the Imperium we would have heard about it).
>Therefore why didn't the ihatei go there instead of crossing the Rift.
>It was not easy or cheap for the Aslan to crosss the rift so why did
>they bother?  Please do not answer honor as Aslan honor is a cultural
>construct but desire for land is a genetic imperative & is therefore
>more fundamental.

	Well, I have another, similar, funny-map question. Why did the Vilani 
expand all the way to the Solomani Rim sector, a full 4 sectors rimward, 
when they only controlled HALF of Corridor, which was right next door to 
Vland sector?

	I'd have to guess this is because very early on in Traveller history, 
someone designed a nifty-looking map, and then later authors and designers 
had to write history around this map.

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

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

Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 12:11:36 -0900
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@lunatic.asylumbbs.com>
Subject: [none]

>        It seems to me that "Travelleresque Art" is really just a euphemism
>for "We want everything to look just like it did in 1980". Never mind that
>this mileau is 1,105 years before the "Classic" Traveller era that so many
>people pine for. We want a Scout/Courier to look the same now and forever.

I don't care if scouts are needle configs or box configs... so long as they
aren't an image I would associate as ASLAN... all the ships in the tw
rulebook look like they were built by aslan on acid.

>        That would seem to me to a BIT hard to accept for anyone with an
>ounce or two of imagination.
>        Do cars today look like cars 50 years ago? For that matter, does a
>newly built aircraft carrier resemble it's World War Two counterpart?

Some do.. look at the soviet ones of the 80's vs the british and american
ones of 1940's.

>        How do you make something look "retro" when it also has to look
>futuristic as well?

the two are, IMNSHO, incompatible. Differences, when explained, will become
the "retro" vs "Mature" imperial looks.

[snip]
>        Sometimes I think that some of the Traveller fans on this list (not
>ALL, not even MOST, but SOME) are, for people who supposedly enjoy
>imaginative pursuits like science fiction and roleplaying games, some of the
>most hidebound people I've ever met.

Also, as some of my players have pointed out, color plates in
"perfect-bound" style bindings are a real weak link... as I found out with
my copy of the "Aliens" RPG, as well as my copies of Shadowrun, Dark
Conspiracy, and several others.

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

Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 12:15:59 -0900
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@lunatic.asylumbbs.com>
Subject: [none]

> I think spider mech drivers' worst fear would be a TDX overhead proximity

> mine.  That could take out all the legs at once!  A cookie to anyone who
> remembers what TDX is. ;-D
>
Stands for "Two Dimensional Explosive". Appeared in an old ship's locker
from JTAS.

Directs 90% of it's explosive force through a 45degree (22.5 off plane)
doughnut, and the other 10% into the remaining.

So I would not want to be lying down under a TDX Bouncing Betty... ;-)

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

Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 12:24:23 -0900
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@lunatic.asylumbbs.com>
Subject: Correct connections

>>         ftp.best.com/pub/jdavies
>>
>> There is a web page telling about this at kttp://www.davtechsys.com/ftp.htm
>>
[snip]
>
>I just tried to download these materials from Davies' webpage, but the
>server couldn't find the address. Does he have the connections right?
>
>Brian A. Howard
>
yes, they work. Don't do ME much good (I drive a MAC).


William F. Hostman
Mailto:Aramis@Asylumbbs.com

Traveller, GURPS, Hero, WFRP, SFB, Star Wars, and Masterbook GM
Star Trek, B5, and Traveller Fan

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

End of Traveller-digest V1996 #758
**********************************

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