From owner-traveller@Phaser.ShowCase.MPGN.COM  Sat Dec 21 01:32:04 1996
Return-Path: owner-traveller@Phaser.ShowCase.MPGN.COM
Received: from phaser.Showcase.MPGN.COM (Phaser.Showcase.MPGN.COM [206.66.87.5]) by emin31.mail.aol.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) with ESMTP id BAA25522; Sat, 21 Dec 1996 01:32:00 -0500
Received: from localhost (daemon@localhost) by phaser.Showcase.MPGN.COM (8.7.3/8.6.9) with SMTP id BAA12878; Sat, 21 Dec 1996 01:33:14 -0500
Received: by phaser.Showcase.MPGN.COM (bulk_mailer v1.5); Sat, 21 Dec 1996 01:32:16 -0500
Received: (from majordom@localhost) by phaser.Showcase.MPGN.COM (8.7.3/8.6.9) id BAA12692 for traveller-digest-outgoing; Sat, 21 Dec 1996 01:32:14 -0500
Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 01:32:14 -0500
Message-Id: <199612210632.BAA12692@phaser.Showcase.MPGN.COM>
From: owner-traveller-digest@mpgn.com (Traveller-digest)
To: traveller-digest@Phaser.ShowCase.MPGN.COM
Subject: Traveller-digest V1996 #780
Reply-To: traveller@mpgn.com
Sender: owner-traveller-digest@mpgn.com


Traveller-digest     Saturday, December 21 1996     Volume 1996 : Number 780



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

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Re: [T96#772] GoldRush ships
Re: Rudolph Class Sleigh
Elliott must be STOPPED for the good of Traveller!
Elliott must be STOPPED for the good of Traveller!
Re: SSDS
Re: Rudolph class Sleigh
101 plots, Tank Girl (was Re: My own stupidity)
Re: Rudolph class Sleigh
(Fwd) Re: Traveller Night on IRC
Re: (Fwd) Re: Traveller Night on IRC
FSGT VDS Ludaccel-20 model grav cycle.
Re: Jumpspace and Psionics
Re: Traveller-digest V1996 #777
Re: Starship Construction
Re: TSR lays off 24 employees TODAY!
Re: FF&S Programs

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

Date: Fri, 20 Dec 96 19:03:00 -0500
From: jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (JEFF ZEITLIN)
Subject: Re: [T96#772] GoldRush ships

"John R. Snead" <jsnead@netcom.com> hath scriven...

T::>I'm writing a T4 supplement for GoldRush Games.  The supplement is about
 ::>a small confederation of worlds, and in it will be two deckplans for
 ::>small, locally-made ships.

T::>I'm checking opinions here to see if the following format would be
 ::>acceptable:

T::>1) The USP

T::>2) A brief description of the ship (300-400 words)

T::>3) Crew rooster (usual and minimum)

 Crew _rooster_?  They keep male chickens aboard in this
 confederation?

T::>4) Deckplans on the order of those in Traders and Gunboats, but 1.5 m squares,
 ::>and numbered rooms.

 I haven't seen the T&G plans - but:  Drawings should have as
 much detail as can be reasonably managed.  Locate and orient
 fixtures clearly, indicate sliding door panels, manual hatches,
 and iris valves clearly and distinctly, in all orientations.
 Ideally, load-bearing (or perhaps "stress-bearing") walls/
 members should be visually distinct on the plans; this will
 facilitate a reader "gutting" the ship and doing his own
 deckplan (for a custom job).

T::>5) Descriptions of each number room


T::>I could do 1 or 2 m squares, but 1.5 is the closest thing to standard
 ::>Traveller has and 0.5 m squares give too many lines for my taste.

 0.5 would actually be best, given previous discussion.  A
 reasonable way of handling this might be for the 1.0 or 1.5 m
 lines to be at "standard" darkness (say about 40% grey), while
 the 0.5 m lines are lighter (say about 15-25% grey) - the
 latter should be visible but not obtrusive, so that they can be
 ignored if desired.  This IMO would be a reasonable compromise
 for all users.

==========================================================================
Jeff Zeitlin                                      jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com
- ---
  OLXWin 1.00b  Out of the mouth of babes comes .. *yuck*

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

Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 22:47:24 +0000
From: "Shadowcat" <kwalsh@cube.ice.net>
Subject: Re: Rudolph Class Sleigh

For anyone who has read "More Adventures of Samurai Cat" 
theres the uprated and armed variant

2 7mm LMG in an elf manned chin turret
2 7mm LMG on Pintle Mounts

treat as a stealth configuration

kevlar equivilant armor for cockpit
Reindeers treated as cloth, with steel helmets
The Cat of Knights and Shadows
Keeper of the Alt.Callahans WWW archives
Wargamer, Weird Herald, ADHD Advocate
http://www.ice.net/~kwalsh/callahan.html

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

Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 20:46:48 -0500
From: Ross Coburn <ross@ican.net>
Subject: Elliott must be STOPPED for the good of Traveller!

OK, someone posted something to this effect:

>I just wanted to express my appreciation to Roderick Elliott for the SSDS
>ships designs he's been posting here. I have enjoyed (and saved) every one
>of them, and that bit about the Moonshine ships cracked me up. Please
>continue to post these wonderful designs! Makes the list worth reading :)

I want you all to know that the mr. Elliott in question is a dangerous
menace, and I sincerely regret the day I introduced him to the list.  (I am
presently considering seriously regretting ever introducing him to
Traveller, but I haven't made up my mind on that one yet.)

This is the same guy that I posted could the list PLEASE not make mention
of fusion or plasma weapons around him (before he hit the list) because I'd
be reffing him and, given his past performances in other games, was deathly
afraid of what would happen if he found out they existed.

Some fink on this list ratted me out.  Fortunately, he managed to talk an
otherwise sensible engineer into blowing the M-drive on their Frontier
Trader (a design I aboured over lovingly, only to see it burn up in an
atmosphere during session 3 of what was to be a long-running chronicle)
before he got to a world with sufficient tech to buy one.

Also, note the following:  His character, a Belter, was named SPOFULAM
Populok Indifar Ferengapar Fan (Ferengapar for shoort, but take our
Spaceman and compile the first letter of each of his names as an acronym
and see what I had to deal with).

So the Famille Spofulam Yards come from a VERY dubious pedigree, I assure you.

_I_ for one wouldn't fly one if a gun (probably a PGMP) weren't pointed at
my head now that HE is planning on running ME through a game for a change
(and the one and only other time that happened I was the game's main
whipping boy so he could get his jollies for all the supposed wrongs that
I, innocent as I am, supposedly inflicted on him and other players in
various games.  The ignominity of it all!).

Ask him to post said Ferengapar's background to this list.  If you think
the ship's are funny. . . .


[sigh]

Off to create ANOTHER monster. . . .

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

Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 20:46:48 -0500
From: Ross Coburn <ross@ican.net>
Subject: Elliott must be STOPPED for the good of Traveller!

OK, someone posted something to this effect:

>I just wanted to express my appreciation to Roderick Elliott for the SSDS
>ships designs he's been posting here. I have enjoyed (and saved) every one
>of them, and that bit about the Moonshine ships cracked me up. Please
>continue to post these wonderful designs! Makes the list worth reading :)

I want you all to know that the mr. Elliott in question is a dangerous
menace, and I sincerely regret the day I introduced him to the list.  (I am
presently considering seriously regretting ever introducing him to
Traveller, but I haven't made up my mind on that one yet.)

This is the same guy that I posted could the list PLEASE not make mention
of fusion or plasma weapons around him (before he hit the list) because I'd
be reffing him and, given his past performances in other games, was deathly
afraid of what would happen if he found out they existed.

Some fink on this list ratted me out.  Fortunately, he managed to talk an
otherwise sensible engineer into blowing the M-drive on their Frontier
Trader (a design I aboured over lovingly, only to see it burn up in an
atmosphere during session 3 of what was to be a long-running chronicle)
before he got to a world with sufficient tech to buy one.

Also, note the following:  His character, a Belter, was named SPOFULAM
Populok Indifar Ferengapar Fan (Ferengapar for shoort, but take our
Spaceman and compile the first letter of each of his names as an acronym
and see what I had to deal with).

So the Famille Spofulam Yards come from a VERY dubious pedigree, I assure you.

_I_ for one wouldn't fly one if a gun (probably a PGMP) weren't pointed at
my head now that HE is planning on running ME through a game for a change
(and the one and only other time that happened I was the game's main
whipping boy so he could get his jollies for all the supposed wrongs that
I, innocent as I am, supposedly inflicted on him and other players in
various games.  The ignominity of it all!).

Ask him to post said Ferengapar's background to this list.  If you think
the ship's are funny. . . .


[sigh]

Off to create ANOTHER monster. . . .

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

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 21:48:56 +0100 (MET)
From: Thomas Biskup <tb@saranxis.ruhr.de>
Subject: Re: SSDS

On Wed, 18 Dec 1996, John Macpherson wrote:
> Thomas Biskup said:
> ) I decided to
> > rewrite the SSDS for more clarity and a little more brevity.  Since I'm
> > coming from a mathematical background I'll also junk tables whenever
> > possible and will replace them by nice and short formulae. 
> 	Congratulations Thomas, you have just recreated FF&S.

I already feared so :-)  Maybe I should have taken more time to read
through everything in FF&S when I got it.  Sadly I started with the weapon
design rules and they really put me off (weapons always seemed to be a
little underpowered in TNE IMHO).  Oh well :-)

[...]
> 	For those who are less than satisfied with SSDS, let me just
> point out that the system was designed by a group of volunteers taking
> time out of their _personal_ lives and that Don Perrin gave us only a
> week to give him the completed product. 

I knew that it was done by volunteers (and I applaud them for doing it...
I remember how much time such things cost from when I helped to proofread
the german version of the GURPS rules).

Given that you had but a week the results are excellent.  Now I wonder why
they gave you but one week (Starships was late several months... what
*did* Don Perrin [and the others involved] do with Starships during all
that time).

> 	Yes, there should be more detailed text and descriptions of what
> everything does, yes, there should be a good design example, and if we
> had had more than a week all those things would have been included.  As
> it was, we delivered an almost errata free product on time. 

For but one week of work (in your spare time) the results really *are*
excellent.  I just wish that IG somehoe would manage to coordinate their
schedule a little better (and thus would be able to give more time to the
obviously very capable people on GDW-Beta to do even better and more
complete work).

> > I never liked Fire, Fusion & Steel
> > (maybe that's my basic problem) since all the math never did seem to yield
> > any realistic results and thus for me was not worth the trouble -- maybe
> > that's my basic problem :_)
> 	If so, then you might as well make up your own rules because the ship design 
> system for T4 is based on FF&S.

I don't know why but I find SSDS to be somewhat more usable than FF&S.
Maybe because the required rules are not spread out through a huge book,
maybe even because of the tables (although I still want to have formulae),
I don't know.  I'll think about this a little more.

> 	The combat system should tell you what the effects of EMM are.  EMM stands for
> Electro-Magnetic Masking, if that is what confused you.

I probably missed it or forgot about it (since I did not want to start
playing before I have more background information the rules are currently
just lying around unused and my mind is busy with my diploma thesis ;-).

Thanks again for your extensive comments.  This was very enlightening.

Greetings from Germany,

				Thomas.

- --
Thomas Biskup                               email to: tb@saranxis.ruhr.de
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"Would you choose one life over one thousand?
 I refuse to let arithmetic decide questions like that."
                          -- Data and Picard, "Justice", stardate 41255.6

 

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

Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 21:10:47 -0500
From: rellio@po-box.mcgill.ca (Roderick Darroch Elliott)
Subject: Re: Rudolph class Sleigh

Doug Sinclair wrote:


>Using the beta rules for vehicle design:
>
>Rudolph class Sleigh - 10
[stats snipped]
>Note that the reindeer are external to the vehicle armour.  Treat them
>as being armoured as jack for melee combat.  Due to their voracious
>fuel consumption, nearly continuous wilderness refueling must be
>performed.  Luckily, the abundance of milk and cookies in the
>operational
>environment provides for an extended range.
>
>The full sensor capabilities of this vehicle are still undisclosed.
>Rumor has it that the powerplant incorporates an active near-infrared
>and visible lidar system for poor weather flying.
>

        ROTFL!  Wierd coincidence: I've just been trying to work up a grav
bike capable of something more than just a measly 3G acceleration...  The
vehicle design rules are not as easy to use as the SSDS.  However, I have
high hopes...

*=~----------------------------------------------------------~=*
| Roderick Darroch Elliott...|    rellio@po-box.mcgill.ca      |
|--------------------------------------------------------------|
| Being afraid of monolithic organizations, especially when    |
| they have computers, is like being afraid of really big      |
| gorillas especially when they are on fire.                   |
|                  -Bruce Sterling                             |
*=~----------------------------------------------------------~=*

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

Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 20:45:11 -0600 (CST)
From: "Peter  H. Brenton" <pete@cummings.uchicago.edu>
Subject: 101 plots, Tank Girl (was Re: My own stupidity)

On Fri, 20 Dec 1996 Neveron@aol.com wrote:

> 101 plots-From the gleam in my GM's eye and first-hand knowledge of Mr.
> Grant's devious mind, I'd say this is a keeper. Grav Stabilized Stilletto
> Heels, how do you live without them?

Being the GM with the gleam, and having already reviewed the document in
question, I'll simply agree - definitely a keeper.

> -Pete, If we can't have a wave-motion gun,can we have Tank Girls Tank?- 
> 

No.

(I wonder, though, what tank girl might look like as an NPC...I'd have to
go back to the original comic books...hmmm...)

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

Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 22:17:47 -0500
From: "Harold D. Hale" <hdhale@siscom.net>
Subject: Re: Rudolph class Sleigh

Doug Sinclair writes:

>Options:          Cargo hold, 3.881m3    3.851m3   1.926t   -      -

   You've neglected the portal to the pocket universe where the driver
would store his annual cargo.  Then again, it's possible that it is
carried in a bag, in which case it would not be included in the basic
design.

   Also, the propulsion system doesn't seem quite right.  Given that the
vehicle is meant to travel to dozens of houses per second, I would think
that it would employ some sort of near C drive, allowing the occupant to
cover much more ground than would otherwise be possible in normal
time/space.

   BTW, the nose of the lead beast of burden does indeed constitute a
sensor, and imparts an all-weather capability to the vehicle.

   Good luck with the design.

Regards,

Harold

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

Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 20:40:28 +0000
From: "Suzette C. Dollar" <suzd@goodnet.com>
Subject: (Fwd) Re: Traveller Night on IRC

Hi!

Thought CORE might be interested in this post I got.  Interesting 
comments about "them" (read that IG, I believe) being interested in 
defining nuts and bolts and not giving "color"....  Definitely an 
area to explore!

Not that you don't have anything better to do.... <g>

Suz



- ------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
From:          granthh@anubis.network.com (Harley Grantham)
Subject:       Re: Traveller Night on IRC
To:            suzd@goodnet.com (Suzette C. Dollar)
Date:          Thu, 19 Dec 1996 14:56:03 -0600 (CST)

> Can do, will do!  Also, if you have any specific questions or 
> whatever that you would like asked tomorrow night, forward them to 
> me.  I can be your voice, so to speak!

Well I would be interested in how people do combats both starship and
individual.  It seems to me one of the goals a gamesmaster would have
is to keep it moving without looking like he/she is leading to a pre-
determined solution.  

And a general question about Traveller is the roleplaying aspects of the
game.  I have been running Champions for 14 years or so, and have grown
tired of it, so I'm going back to Traveller.  A primary benefit of Champions
is that you can use the city you live in as a back drop and it's hard to
find a more detailed play aid then that!  In fantasy rpgs you can work
on developing a village or a city and the surrounding terrain.  But in
Traveller you have to define whole worlds!  How can you do that without
having them look like cardboard cut outs?  It seems to me that it would
take an awful lot of work to do it properly.  I had hoped some of the
new T4 offerings would provide that kind of detail but I think now that
will not happen.  They seem to interested in the nuts and bolts of the 
future they are defining to stop and define some of the color.  

But I digress, thanks for your help.  If I cannot get IRC working with
the new provider I will drop you a line.  Sorry this is so late in
coming back, but life's been busy lately. :)  


- -- 
Harley Grantham					granthh@anubis.network.com

suzd@goodnet.com

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

Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1996 20:53:34 +0000
From: "Suzette C. Dollar" <suzd@goodnet.com>
Subject: Re: (Fwd) Re: Traveller Night on IRC

Please ignore the previous... it was intended as a private message.  
Some days it just doesn't pay to get up in the morning.

Suz 
suzd@goodnet.com

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

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 01:12:40 -0500
From: rellio@po-box.mcgill.ca (Roderick Darroch Elliott)
Subject: FSGT VDS Ludaccel-20 model grav cycle.

        Here's my first stab at a vehicle produced using the beta vehicle
design system.  Quite simply, the system is a real beast to use the first
time around; consistent use of the same units would be the way to go, IMHO.
Also, the layout in the .pdf file is appallingly hard to work with;
properly lined up columns would have been nice...  However, it's a beta,
so...

        Another point is that costs should vary with Tech level; I noticed
this when putting the radar in; 80,000 1978 US dollars for a radar witha
30Km range might be an acceptable price if you're the Pentagon, but as in a
previous job incarnation I personally sold several different recreational
marine radar units with roughly comparable ranges for 1,500 to 2,000 1991
Canadian dollars.  I therefore revised the price accordingly on the radar
unit.  As well, there are no tables for sensor weight or other data; just
price and range...

        The inspiration was the grav cycle design included in the beta
.pdf.  I looked at that thing and thought to myself: "Hm... accelerates at
a measly 3Gs, and can't go supersonic because it's only got a front
fairing?  Bah!".  I figure these things would go a long way towards raising
the average IQ among the youth of Sylea...



Famille Spofulam Gravitic Transports TL-12 Ludaccel-20 model improved grav cycle

                              Vol. (m^3)      Mass (kg)         Area
Cost

Displacement: 2.357 m^3 (USP 5? 6?)
Config: Disk Str, with full atmospherically sealed rider canopy.
Dimensions:
Structure: (TL12 str.comp.)
Chassis: (20 G rated)           0.488              488              -
.0195Mcr
Armour: .51 cm str.comp         0.040               40              -
.0016Mcr
Armour rating: 1
Power plant:
- -TL-12 Fusion+ (0.8 Mw)         0.16               332             0.8
.0012Mcr
Fuel consump.: (0.09m^3/100hrs)
- -Fuel volume:   x1 (enriched water)
Fuel carried:                   0.09                 0.09           -
- -
Power plant:TL12 storage bank   0.002                0.004          -
0.00001
Propulsion:                     0.7                850              -
0.007
Crew: Driver:                   0.5                 -               -          -
Crew: Passenger:                0.35                -               -          -

Options:
- -Grav comp: 3Gs                 0.006               13              -
0.000315
- -TL-12 Subcontinental comm:     -                    -              -
0.000500
- -Roadgrid system                0.001                -              -
0.000500
- -glove compartment              0.020                0.01           -          -
- -TL-12 regional radar           -                    -              -
0.005000
- -Siren                          -                    0.1            -          -


Totals:                        2.357               1723.20          0.8
0.034625

Dimensions: 2.& small change m long, a bit less than that high, and a bit
over 1 m wide.  If & when I do a drawing of this, I'll update.  I visualize
it as looking something like one of those funky Japanese sport bikes but  a
little bigger, with more volume aft and with a glass bubble canopy
streamlined aft from where the fairing ends that fully encloses the rider,
to let it operate at high altitudes and at trans-sonic speeds.

Acceleration (one rider) 20 G's.

Top Speed (using megawatts/mass in tons*3000; VDS is unclear as to whether
this is applicable to grav vehicles): 1392.91 km/h.


        The reason I put the siren in is because loud pipes save lives;
pedestrian fatalities are greatly reduced if they can hear things coming.
So, I figured a simple air-powered siren like the things they mounted on
Stukas in WWII would do the job nicely and sound really cool, too.  The
radar is for collision-avoidance purposes; I figure it'd start sounding an
alarm if a collision was imminent.  The long-range comm is a must.

        I also figure that a G-suit with some sort of harness arrangement
with attachments at chest, waist, knees, and wrists would be required to
keep the rider on the bike.




"News item, Sylea, Day 340 Year 1:

        The Sylean Consumer Product Safety Council (SCPSC) and Mothers
Against Grav Cycle Carnage (MAGCC) today released a joint denunciation of
Famille Spofulam Gravitic Transports for releasing their latest sport Grav
cycle, the Ludaccel-20.  Stated MAGCC President Emthiilda Netsooj, "The
Ludaccel is a lethal menace to the public!  How many more of our children
will die before the government acts and bans  all grav vehicles capable of
more than 0.5 G's?"  The SCPSC press release noted that the grav craft in
question was capable of possibly fatal accelerations of up to 20 G's and
that the acceleration safety governor was implemented in software, not
hardware, thereby tempting performance hungry owners to illegally modify
the craft to reach dangerous performance levels.  With regard to its top
speed, the press release notes that "any vehicle with supersonic capability
and non-hardware governing devices poses a grave property damage risk from
sonic booms, especially when operating in urban areas".

        When contacted for comment, FSGT spokesperson Festphal Indifar
stated that the decision to implement the safety governor in software was
made with weight reduction in mind; "The Ludaccel is, after all, built for
speed!".  Noting the Ludaccel's high price tag (34,625 credits), she
stated: "Most if not all of the purchasers of the Ludaccel will be wealthy
citizens and nobles racing them on the amateur circuit or on their own
estates".  She requested that FSGT's contributions to several grav cycle
public safety awareness campaigns be noted, and added "While we have the
greatest sympathy for Mrs. Netsooj's tragic bereavement, we feel that grav
cycles don't kill people, people kill people.  Clearly, education, not
regulation, is the key."

   ----------------------------------------------------------
| Roderick Darroch Elliott...     rellio@po-box.mcgill.ca      |
|--------------------------------------------------------------|
| Being afraid of monolithic organizations, especially when    |
| they have computers, is like being afraid of really big      |
| gorillas especially when they are on fire.                   |
|                  -Bruce Sterling                             |
   ----------------------------------------------------------   

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

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 01:23:17 -0500
From: Thad Coons <104765.503@compuserve.com>
Subject: Re: Jumpspace and Psionics

Douglas Berry wrote:

>At 01:12 AM 12/20/96 +1100, you wrote:

>>  Has anyone given any thought to using Psionics for Intersteller
>>  travel? Or even using telepathy to communicate from star system to
>>  star system?

> I believe it's been stated several times, both in background material
> and the rules themselves that interstellar psionics is impossible.

OTOH, According to TNE Regency sourcebook (p. 82 and 83), it's not
necessarily *impossible*, though in practical terms, it might as well be.

  

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

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 01:23:27 -0500
From: Thad Coons <104765.503@compuserve.com>
Subject: Re: Traveller-digest V1996 #777

Phillip McGregor writes:

<snippage>

> ... there has always been the assumption (in all the published
> Traveller materials that I have read/seen) that local TL = maximum TL
> of whatever is available. In any case, what I am saying is that the
> actual difference in cost will be minimal in actual terms ... your 
> TL15 computer costing (say) 1000 Cr on the world of proiduction might
> cost 1100 Cr on a TL5 world two or three jumps away (the real killer
> will be in the parts and servicing).
> However, the *locals* will not be earning the same average income of a
> TL15 world resident ... say, for example, the equivalent of 20-30k Cr
> pa ... but will be earning a lesser *actual* amount, say 2-3k Cr pa. 
> So the TL15 computer will be 10 times more expensive for them than it
> is for the TL15 resident.

> Actually, this is sort of extreme as an example, but gets the point
> across.
> What does it mean? It means that the local TL5 government and the
> wealthy (and perhaps upper middle class) and probably major industries
> use TL15 components at key points. It means that *travellers* can buy
> what they need at minimal markups. Perhaps there won't be the *range*
> of choice they're used to - so there'll only be a General Products 
> TL15 Computer rather than fifteen assorted (identical for game
> purposes) brands - but the cost will be *minimally* more.

TNE under the heading "Trade and commerce" discusses this very issue.
It gives a table which is used for both currency exchange and for computing
the price of imports.

Your TL-15 computer at Cr 1000, on a world with class A port costs
Cr 2500  on a TL-5 world with a class C port. As an imported good, it would
be available, but quite expensive.

An income of 20 kCr on the first world would have the buying power of 50
kCr on the second: an equivalent income on in real terms on the second
world would be 8 kCr.

So: the computer which would be  5% of the annual income of someone living
on the first world, would cost some 30% of the annual income at someone at
a similar economic level on the second, or 6 times more expensive.

Thad Coons
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Sapience/

 

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

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 01:23:22 -0500
From: Thad Coons <104765.503@compuserve.com>
Subject: Re: Starship Construction

Michael Nutt replies:

<heavy snippage throughout>

>>There are several benefits to measuring the shipbuilding capacity of a
>>world in MCr per thousand people (or whatever) instead of Tons per
>>thousand people. 

> Wellllllllll.... I have a problem with this, actually. To me, the idea
> of measuring shipbuilding capacity in terms of cost seems highly
> suspect. High-cost ships/systems/whatever won't necessarily take longer
> to build/install than their cheaper counterparts. Especially when
> you're considering new construction, tonnage seems to me a much more
> accurate (although, I will concede, imperfect) guide to time required.

> TCS also gives rules for maintaining fleets, and these requirements
> *are* based on cost.  The *only* place tonnage comes into it is in
> allocating yard space for construction, and time to completion for a
> particular vessel. *Everything* else is based on the size of your naval
> budget... initial construction, maintenance costs, you name it.
> However... the assumptions from TCS give a naval budget generally
> sufficient to, in times of serious emergency, (and presuming you're not
> already maintaining a huge fleet), fill your shipyards with new
> construction. 

> However, I have a problem with a yard being able to build a
> significantly higher amount of tonnage in a period of time just because >
they aren't spending as much money on a ship.

> For example, TL 15 laser turrets come in two versions -- one with grav >
focusing, and one without. Yet the non-focused ones use less power
> (10.69 MW versus 4.90 MW, for heavy lasers), mass less (144 tons versus
> 76.89 tons, again for heavy lasers), *and* have less hardware (no grav
> focus), but they cost more (2.2 MCr versus 3.00MCr)!
> Why should they take longer to install, as they would by your
> reasoning?

Warships are expensive precisely because they require armor, weaponry, fire
control, beefy maneuver and jump drives and power plants, which are less or
not necessary in other craft.
Construction of starships (or anything else) cannot proceed faster than the
pace of the slowest subsystem, and there are *hundreds* of potentially
limiting factors. The tonnage of your shipyard is not necessarily even the
most important.  Suppose you can only get so many cubic meters per week of
hull material or lanthanum for the jump drive, or the superconductor plant
can only fully supply one of your subcontracters at a time, or all the
cargo shuttles are busy today...Somebody has to build that @#$&*% laser
turret, and if perchance they can't deliver it on schedule, either your
ship just got cheaper or it held up a berth in your shipyard for x hours.
Same with every other component.
The bigger and more expensive your ship is, the more likely it is that some
costly special equipment you *must* have could be in short supply at the
exact moment *you* need it.
Economically, there is a tradeoff.
On one hand, your more expensive ship of the same tonnage could take longer
to build. The greater burdens of warships on the same industrial base other
ships use, gives slower supply rates and more delays (Ideally foreseen and
included in scheduling).
OTOH, you can spend money (one way or another) to get people and their
resources to leave whatever else they might be doing to get all the
specialized military subsystems in the same time that a less demanding
civilian or auxiliary ship would take.
Most often, you will compromise so that a warship will take only *somewhat*
longer and use *somewhat* more resources than any other kind.
The same factors work in reverse for cheaper ships.
All these factors thus make MCr a better measure than tonnage alone for
ship construction rates and shipbuilding capacity. 

Thad Coons
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/sapience/
  

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

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 01:30:45 -0500
From: "Harold D. Hale" <hdhale@siscom.net>
Subject: Re: TSR lays off 24 employees TODAY!

Ken Whitman writes:

>TSR lays off 24 employees TODAY! Oh my Gauddd.  Traveller 
>still going strong.

   Just how many employees does TSR have left?  I remember that they
went through a series of layoffs earlier this year, and now this. 
Morale can't be very good these days.

Regards,

Harold

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

Date: Sat, 21 Dec 96 17:04:35 
From: jamesd@spirit.com.au (James Dempsey)
Subject: Re: FF&S Programs

Hello Jon, on Wed, 18 Dec, you said

> Has anyone made any programs to use in Fire, Fusion and Steel?  I'm
> mostly looking for something to put ships together with.
>
  Well, not FF&S, but I have done a small Java applet to do Hull 
calculations for SSDS, also Jo Grant has done a program which does full ship
building using QSDS. Both of these are pretty much compatible with FF&S.

James Dempsey
- ---------------------------------------------
 email: jamesd@spirit.com.au
 homepage: http://www.spirit.com.au/~jamesd

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

End of Traveller-digest V1996 #780
**********************************

To unsubscribe to Traveller-Digest, send the command:

unsubscribe traveller-digest

in the body of a message to "traveller-request@MPGN.COM".  If you want
to subscribe something other than the account the mail is coming from,
such as a local redistribution list, then append that address to the
"subscribe" command; for example, to subscribe "local-traveller":

subscribe traveller-digest local-traveller@your.domain.net

A non-digest (direct mail) version of this list is also available; to
subscribe to that instead, replace all instances of "traveller-digest"
in the commands above with "traveller".
