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Subject: Traveller-digest V1996 #785
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Traveller-digest      Monday, December 23 1996      Volume 1996 : Number 785



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

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Starships & Starports
Sector Data, second try!
Re: Ship Construction
Re: Ship Construction
Aliens Review?
Re: 
Re: Aliens Book
Laundry in the Far Future
Re: Laundry in the Far Future
Re: Toilets in the Far Future
Re: Ship Construction
Re: Toilets in the Far Future
Re: FSGT VDS Ludaccel-20 model grav cycle.
Re: Tech and Starports
Re: Tech and Starports
Re: Central Supply Catalog Review
Re: Central Supply and Aliens Archive in stores
Re: Archivers needed
Re: Sector Data, second try!

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

Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 03:47:30 -0700
From: "David Malanti" <dmalnati@absi.com>
Subject: Starships & Starports

First of all, has there been an answer to the earlier question about the
SSDS armor calculations? If it is the way it's written in starships, it
means some of the ships have ridiculously high FF&S armor values. Such as
the corsair who's T4 armor value of 40 would give it a FF&S armor of
47,000.

Secondly for everyone whose been talking about starports I have found a
couple of excellent articles that were written by J. Andrew Kieth about
Landing on planets & starports for megatraveller. They are called
Planetfall & The Complete Starport, & they were published in the April 1990
issue of a magazine called Far & Away. 

Later
Dave 

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

Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 13:47:21 -0800
From: Harald Budschedl <Harald.Budschedl@mag.linz.at>
Subject: Sector Data, second try!

Hi, out there!!

I've asked this before, but got little response:
Is there any sector data of CORE-Sector (more then the one subsector in 
T4 rulebook)?
I'm trying to start a Milieu 0 - Adventure, starting off at year 50. I'll 
start with "The Long Way Home" from BITS/CORE and continue with other 
things that I've prepared before.
So I'm especially interested in Sector-data from Core to Gushemege (as 
described in TLWH).

BTW, how far has survey gone in the year 50. Where are the imperial 
borders?

Thanx for the answers in advance!

CyA
Buddy
- -- 
# Disclaimer: All opinions stated are only MY OWN.
# Harald.Budschedl@mag.linz.at 
# ADV - Anwendungsentwicklung
# Graphisch Technischer Bereich

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

Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 09:20:52 -0500
From: Michael Nutt <misha@crossrds.com>
Subject: Re: Ship Construction

Thad Coons writes:
>
>Michel Nutt replies:
>
><snippage throughout>

>>>>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.
>
>>>Um... how does this follow? I'd grant it, if it said "the more special
>>>equipment you need", rather than "bigger and more expensive". Cost 
>>>alone doesn't reflect that.
>
>Alright, the more heavy or special equipment you need, the more likely it
>is that it, or something needed to provide it, will be in short supply.
><grin>. I'd say most of the "extras" you trade merchant cargo or passenger
>space for are either heavy or special.

Not necessarily. After all, a great deal of that will be taken up, as you
point out above, by armor and drives, which aren't "special" by any means.
I'm not going to let you sneak in that "heavy" qualifier...   <grin>.

>>The system you're describing for speeding up the construction times is
>>the one detailed in TCS, where every 10% extra you spend on construction
>>gets an extra 10% work done for that week. The TCS rules also allow for
>>speeded-up consruction by doubling the yard space allocated to a
>>particular vessel (+40%), with a bonus for familiarity of the design,
>>too.
>>I've said before, though, and I'll say again... there ought to be *some*
>>sort of break for ships more simply designed. TCS didn't cover it,
>>because it was a military-oriented supplement, but in my game, I'd be
>>willing to give a "civilian ship" an extra 40% bonus on construction
>>time, as a top-of-the-head number. The only flaw there is that it would
>fiddle with the total cost, and I'd want to avoid that.
>
>Gee.. *something* about TCS actually makes economic sense! <grin>. I 
>could just replace your doubled tons of yard space with MCr and get a 50%
>reduction in the time to build a ship. I don't fiddle with ship costs
>either: but construction times are quite flexible. 

Yup, spendng more money on it *does* get it out of the yards faster... but
more efficient scheduling will also get it out the door faster, too, as will
simply assigning more workers.

My comment above about "fiddling with the cost" was meant to reflect on the
fact that, if you get 1.8 weeks worth of  work done in each week, while only
*paying* for 1.0 weeks worth, you're getting a big price break... your total
price paid drops to around 56% of list cost for the ship. *That* big a break
would bother me, as a referee.

>If there is indeed little difference in cost per ton between civilian and
>military ships, then there is not that much difference in the systems. If
>there is, then basing construction rates on tonnage alone is ludicrous.
>By analogy and as an extreme example, assuming that a diesel engine and a
>boxcar are similar size (tonnage): should you be able to build them at
>anywhere near similar rates? I don't think so. What about tanker trucks vs
>battle tanks? I'd say that, other things being equal, the trucks get built
>faster even if they are bigger. The same economics apply to starships.
>
>If MT's military reasoning is flawed, then should TCS's economics be
>sacrosant? I don't see why.

I'll admit that you have a point, to an extent. The TCS rules are designed
with military craft in mind, not civilian. I agree that civilian craft
shouldn't take as long, but then you get into a whole spectrum of
problems... does my J3, 3G armed yacht bristling with lasers count as a
military vessel, or as a civilian one? Still, though, I don't see any way to
make the numbers work out for a cost-based system without some sort of
ruling about "number of applicable workers". I could live with it, I guess,
if that were done... but nothing has been mentioned that seems in any way
*objective*. Tonnage, at least, is easy to figure, and universally consistent.

Michael

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

Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 09:20:51 -0500
From: Michael Nutt <misha@crossrds.com>
Subject: Re: Ship Construction

Thad Coons wrote:

>I wrote in email:

>> Bottlenecks in production will be noted in advance, especially with
>> standardized designs, and will be provided for. Essential components
>> will be procured in advance. 
>
>True. But the very fact that the bottlenecks exist at all (even if planned
>for in advance) will have an overall effect of limiting the manpower you
>can effectively use in the shipyard, and stretching the construction time.

I disagree. It just means you have to *plan* your construction, instead of
ordering a part to be delivered when you are ready to install it. The only
way it will limit you is if you don't do your homework in designing your
construction flowchart.

>>>By buying the laser from instellarms, you are essentially employing 
>>>them to build it for you: so their employees counted as starship
>>>construction industry workers while they were building it.
>
>> <grin> And thus making it even harder for you to come up with a
>> reasonable figure for "starship construction industry workers".
>> Subcontracting and standardization will make any such figure next to
>> worthless.
>
>On the contrary. Subcontracting permits you to effectively employ more
>workers who are already organized to do the work you want done, thus
>shortening the construction time from what it would be if you had to build
>the laser in place.

Um, true, but you're missing my point here. How do you come up with the
number of workers available, and how will this number be affected by
subcontractors? That "number of workers" is so vague that you're essentially
assigning construction rates by referee fiat.

>> Yes, it *ought* to be faster to build a 100-ton freighter than to build >
>>a 100-ton DD. Elaborate construction *ought* to result in somewhat
>> longer times, until a yard gets familiar with what's required. 
>
><grin> And basing construction rates (not necessarily times) on cost moves
>you in the right direction and roughly the right amount. "What's required"
>is extra industrial capacity, which is roughly measured by the cost of the
>ship.

OK, I'm not totally clear on the differentiation you seem to be making here
between construction rates and times. FWIW, I also don't think the numbers
cited previously for cost-based construction (1-2 MCr per hundred workers
per month) are high enough, either.

I'd like to clarify what I meant when I said "a yard gets familiar with
what's required". This means that the initial construction flowchart can be
reviewed afterwards, and optimized based on experience. If installing the
maneuver drive proved troublesome, then it might be made an earlier item, so
that you wouldn't have to dodge as many structural members to get it into
place. Also, the yard supervisor can look at the tasks that were completed
ahead of schedule, and allocate his worker-hours as required. This doesn't
have anything to do with extra industrial capacity, just more efficient
scheduling, and it also reflects the learning curve of the crews associated
with the project.

Michael

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

Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 09:03:00 -0500 (EST)
From: Rob Dean <robdean@access.digex.net>
Subject: Aliens Review?

Can we get a more extensive review of the T4 Aliens book?  It's the first
thing that I might want to buy...(And the next is the Milieu 0 book, if and
when.)

Rob Dean
robdean@access.digex.net

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

Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 09:06:39 -0500 (EST)
From: Ethan Henry <ehenry@mag1.magmacom.com>
Subject: Re: 

> From: "Phillip McGregor" <aspqrz@curie.dialix.com.au>
> Subject: Why the Vilani Lost

<deletia>
Unh?

> Unh? You're no doubt "saying"! Well, consider this, it is my suggestion
> that the Vilani Empire was always run as a business enterprise - which
> makes sense given its organisation under the various Megacorps - and that
> this had a direct effect on the way they expanded and, more importantly,
> the way they fought their wars and organised all branches of their
> military.
> 
> My suggestion is that the Vilani Military was run as a commercial operation
> and that the wars that they fought were run according to strict economic
> principles ... profit was the bottom line. Just think, for example, how
> this would affect their ship design philosophy for warships!

Hmmm... Well, Yes. I'd say that on the whole, that would be a good
explanation from a Terran point of view. The Vilani may or may not
have seen it that way...

The Vilani were, above almost everything else, Empire Builders. You
don't build an empire like the _Empire of the Stars_ just to make a few
bucks. Certainly not in the short term. Even in the looong term,
which the Vilani have a better grasp on than the Terrans, it's a
questionable decision. In modern terms, imagine if the American
civil war had resulted in the North removing the right of self-government
from the South and imposing Northern laws, etc. Total annexation.
That's the First Imperium. It wasn't a happy, friendly economic
coalition, like the modern EC. Then again, the EC doesn't seem that 
happy.

The Vilani conquered more than the Terrans ever did. They must have had
some idea about how to wage war.

> The Terrans, on the other hand, coming from a more voracious (and only in a
> sense) militaristic culture saw the Interstellar Wars *not* as an economic
> conflict (though they recognised that it was that as well) primarily, but
> as a war of survival! The Terrans therefore were building ship types,
> undertaking military operations and utilising tactics that the mercantile
> oriented Vilani military and government leaders could not make any sense
> of. Thus, the Vilani were always (or for a long time) on the "back foot",
> so to speak. This is, of course, supported by the classic pre-Traveller
> boardgame from GDW, "Imperium", where the Vilani Governor has to appeal to
> the emperor for extra finances and support for his "border action" against
> those pesky terrans!

Yes, this does jive with your point and I agree, it does reflect the
Vilani concept of "government as business".

> By the time the Vilani gained a real inkling of what on "earth" was
> *actually* happening, they were (given the glacial slowness with which they
> were able to undertake fundamental change in any aspect of their society)
> unable to do anything effective about it in time (the size of their empire
> and the consultative processes needed to "prove" the case to their ruling
> class would have eaten up much of what time they had anyway!).
> 
> So, ultimately, the Vilani lost because they completely misunderstood what
> the war was about *for the Terrans*.

Hm, yes. Which isn't to say that the stress of assimilating (sp?) dozens
of new cultures into the Vilani over a thousand years wasn't creating
any stresses. I'd say that I agree with you, but if it hadn't been
the Terrans, it would have been someone else. The Vilani had lost the
ability to deal with external threats in a useful manner, as there
wern't any left by the time the Terrans rolled around (well, except for
the Terrans).

> While this idea hadn't actually hit me when I wrote it, you'll note that
> the way that the Dark Star #1 article on "Vilani Noble Ranks" and the DS#2
> article on "Vilani Military Ranks" actually supports this ... quite
> unintentionally, of course :-}
> 
> Any comments?

You've got 'em. The fall of the Vilani, like the fall of the Romans,
is difficult to attribute to any one single factor. barabrians,
lead in the pipes, an overextended empire, corrupt emperors, etc, etc, etc.

Ethan

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

Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 08:29:46 -0800
From: "Stuart L. Dollar" <sdollar@goodnet.com>
Subject: Re: Aliens Book

On 22 Dec 96 at 20:55, Matthew Harelick spewed:

> Hi: 
> 
> Why weren't the major races included in the Alien Book? 
> 

Although you'd have to ask Tim Brown to get an answer, they aren't 
real necessary to Year 0 campaigns.  FWIW, the Vargr will be 
detailed, at least a little bit, in Milieu 0.

The intention is to introduce the Major Races as the Imperium comes 
upon them, in later settings.

Stu
Stuart L. Dollar               sdollar@goodnet.com
Traveller referee since 1978, Official USENet 
spokesperson for Imperium Games
- ---------------------------------------------------
"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." 
- -Thomas Jefferson

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

Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 09:59:15 -0600 (CST)
From: granthh@anubis.network.com (Harley Grantham)
Subject: Laundry in the Far Future

Some people have mentioned the lack of toilets and showers on some of
the deck plans, although the DGP plans do have them and call them
freshers.

However I never see anything that looks remotely like a washing machine
on any of these plans.  Since people could be on a ship for a month or
more in a double hop situation, I was wondering if anyone had given any
thought to this.  It seems to me that either starships would have something
on board that could clean clothes, or there is a big laundromat at every
starport. Somewhere for spacers to meet besides the local bar? 

And of course if begs the question what will the technology of the future
do to change the way laundry is cleaned.  I don't subscribe to the idea
of everything being disposable.

It does bring to mind the picture of PC's at a class D starport on a low
tech world down at the river banging rocks on their clothes.

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

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

Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 10:38:13 -0600 (CST)
From: "Peter  H. Brenton" <pete@cummings.uchicago.edu>
Subject: Re: Laundry in the Far Future

On Mon, 23 Dec 1996, Harley Grantham wrote:

> However I never see anything that looks remotely like a washing machine
> on any of these plans.  Since people could be on a ship for a month or
> more in a double hop situation, I was wondering if anyone had given any
> thought to this.  It seems to me that either starships would have something
> on board that could clean clothes, or there is a big laundromat at every
> starport. Somewhere for spacers to meet besides the local bar? 

My Take; 

Freshers are multifunction devices good for cleaning people, clothes,
dishes, etc. using sonic energy.  

When something or someone is placed into the fresher chamber and the door
is closed, the contents are 'vibrated' at certain precise frequencies such
that the particles of dirt and dried skin (which makes up most of what we
wash away in the shower) are literally 'shaken loose' and fall to the
floor (which is gridwork).

So at the end of the day, you take off that day's clothes and hang them in
the fresher for a few minutes before folding and putting them away, clean 
(which brings up the lack of storage space/dresser space in most deck
plans).  Additional accessories could probably remove wrinkles, soften the
fabric, and provide a pleasant scent.

The energy level used in sonic cleaning chambers is too low to harm
humans (or fine fabrics), but vargr and aslan can be debilitated by a
normal sonic shower at the wrong setting (the circuitry must be altered to
do this).  Humans can be injured and all races can be killed by a shower
with the power level boosted.

When using a fresher, the user experiences a soft tingling sensation.
Often a rough stone or brush is used to exfoliate the skin and remove
patches of dirt and grime.  This activity can be done clothed, but then
the dirt removed will settle in the clothing.

By the way, nothing, not even sonics, can get tomato sauce stains out of a
silk tie.   

Toilets, I believe, are basically unchanged from airplane chemical
toilets.  Although the chemicals are, undoubtedly, more efficient.  I
take pumping the storage tanks to be part of the biweekly maintanence
activity done at starports. (of course, you could always just dump it in
orbit, or the local state park equivalent.  Might get you in trouble
though).

Note that I am not a sonic engineer and this has a real loose basis in
science. 

Sonic showers are considered not the same as real water showers, and TAS
clubs and starports will often rent shower time to spacers passing
through.  The savings in space and weight of the water on board is usually
considered worth it.

Some luxury liners may have a water shower system on board.  These craft
will generally charge 2-3 times the normal high passage rate.  

Pete

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

Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 11:06:14 -0600 (CST)
From: "Joseph E. Walsh" <ransom@connect.iconnect.net>
Subject: Re: Toilets in the Far Future

On Mon, 23 Dec 1996, Peter H. Brenton wrote:

> Toilets, I believe, are basically unchanged from airplane chemical
> toilets.  Although the chemicals are, undoubtedly, more efficient.  I
> take pumping the storage tanks to be part of the biweekly maintanence
> activity done at starports. (of course, you could always just dump it in
> orbit, or the local state park equivalent.  Might get you in trouble
> though).

The text in CSC _seems_ to indicate that starship toilets route the 
wastes to some sort of holding area wherein micro-organisms break down 
the waste.  The discussion of "Glop" seems to further indicate that this 
waste is then fed into a reprocessor, and turned back into food that 
humans can consume.   

At least, that's how I read it.


- -Joe
______________________________________________________________________________
Joseph E. Walsh      |  Atari 8-Bit User and Programmer Since 1982
ransom@iconnect.net  |  Classic Traveller Referee Since 1983
Stuck in the '80s    |  Microsoft-Free and Loving It! :)
       .....Official Reporter of Imperium Games Product Info.....

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

Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 11:32:30 -0600 (CST)
From: Steven Bonneville <bonnevil@cs.umn.edu>
Subject: Re: Ship Construction

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

> Btw. can anyone tell me what kind of planetary army you can get for a yearly
> budget of 14,112 billion credits?

I posted a message a while back in which I gave my figures for the
approximate cost of the Gram Mechanized Infantry battalion, using
prices from MegaTraveller, as portrayed in _Broadsword_.  The price
came out at MCr 530.8 for vehicles, personal armor, and weapons, 
but neglecting consumable supplies.  They're a tech-11 lift infantry
batallion, with 311 troops and 94 vehicles of various types.   We're
talking about paying for equipment for 26500 battalions of this type  
with this sum; that is equipment for eight million lift infantry and
their two and a half million vehicles.  

MCr 530.8 is a bit less than what you'd pay for a 600-ton Vigilante
escort with a naval crew of ten.

However, we're neglecting infrastructure, expenditure of ammunition,
fuel, and rations, supply units, and the fact that other formations
may be more or less expensive.  However, you also have to keep in 
mind that these military units will be keeping all this equipment
around for a long time.  Back when I came up with these figures, to
keep them in sync with published figures in _Rebellion Sourcebook_,
WTH, and Wildstar's _Striker_ estimates, it looked like we needed a
forty year equipment replacement cycle.  (Staggered, of course, so
the average age of army equipment is twenty years, and primary units
get the new hardware, handing their old equipment down to secondary
units, and so on.)

  Steve Bonneville
  <bonnevil@itlabs.umn.edu>

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

Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 12:32:47 -0500 (EST)
From: Tom Ellis <tellis@telerama.lm.com>
Subject: Re: Toilets in the Far Future

On Mon, 23 Dec 1996, Joseph E. Walsh wrote:

> 
> The text in CSC _seems_ to indicate that starship toilets route the 
> wastes to some sort of holding area wherein micro-organisms break down 
> the waste.  The discussion of "Glop" seems to further indicate that this 
> waste is then fed into a reprocessor, and turned back into food that 
> humans can consume.   
> 
> At least, that's how I read it.
> 



Would you pass the salt please? This glop is bland...

> 
> -Joe
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Joseph E. Walsh      |  Atari 8-Bit User and Programmer Since 1982
> ransom@iconnect.net  |  Classic Traveller Referee Since 1983
> Stuck in the '80s    |  Microsoft-Free and Loving It! :)
>        .....Official Reporter of Imperium Games Product Info.....
> 
> 
> 

_______________________________________________________
Tom Ellis
tellis@telerama.lm.com
http://www.lm.com/~tellis/

"No! Do, or do not.  There is not try." Yoda
_______________________________________________________ 

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

Date: Mon, 23 Dec 96 18:02 GMT0
From: aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)
Subject: Re: FSGT VDS Ludaccel-20 model grav cycle.

In-Reply-To: <v01510100aee0c7da5384@[198.168.189.96]>

<< Acceleration (one rider) 20 G's. >>

Does it come with a spatula for getting the pilot off the back of the 
cockpit?

    ---------=========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: Mon, 23 Dec 96 18:02 GMT0
From: aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)
Subject: Re: Tech and Starports

In-Reply-To: <199612221111.WAA04963@curie.dialix.com.au>

<< > It's probably safe to assume that A & B starports have large supplies of
spare 
> parts (probably shipped for free by Imperial ships) - after all, this is
one 
> of their main businesses, and vital to the health of the Imperium. This 
> doesn't mean that the world has stocks of every product at every TL. 

"probably shipped free by Imperial ships" ... er, you *do* have T4? The
rulebook where it states quite plainly and specifically that "Everything is
Driven by Economics" (pg. 7). I would have thought that that makes it quite
plain that is, to put it bluntly, "no such thing as a free lunch" ... nope,
no "Imperial ships" ship one damn ounce of cargo for free. Certainly not on
the scale that we are talking about! Sorry, you have no argument on *this*
basis ... perhaps on others (but you have to come up with them). >>

If the individual worlds have to pay to import the parts, they're only going 
to order the stuff they *know* they can use, and they're going to want their 
money back. This means passing the cost onto the customers (the traders), who 
will in turn charge *their* customers more. In addition, ships that are 
'non-standard' (eg a TL or 2 above/below the norm) will have to have their 
parts ordered specially (or bring them with them), increasing the cost 
further. Merchants are going to be a lot more cautious about where they go - 
they don't want to break down somewhere where they can't get spares. This is 
all bad for trade, and therefore bad for the Imperium. Government subsidy (in 
the form of free shipping) removes all these problems (and gives worlds an 
added benefit to being in the Imperium). 

    ---------=========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: Mon, 23 Dec 96 18:02 GMT0
From: aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)
Subject: Re: Tech and Starports

In-Reply-To: <199612221111.WAA04963@curie.dialix.com.au>

<< > It's probably safe to assume that A & B starports have large supplies of
spare 
> parts (probably shipped for free by Imperial ships) - after all, this is
one 
> of their main businesses, and vital to the health of the Imperium. This 
> doesn't mean that the world has stocks of every product at every TL. 

"probably shipped free by Imperial ships" ... er, you *do* have T4? The
rulebook where it states quite plainly and specifically that "Everything is
Driven by Economics" (pg. 7). I would have thought that that makes it quite
plain that is, to put it bluntly, "no such thing as a free lunch" ... nope,
no "Imperial ships" ship one damn ounce of cargo for free. Certainly not on
the scale that we are talking about! Sorry, you have no argument on *this*
basis ... perhaps on others (but you have to come up with them). >>

If the individual worlds have to pay to import the parts, they're only going 
to order the stuff they *know* they can use, and they're going to want their 
money back. This means passing the cost onto the customers (the traders), who 
will in turn charge *their* customers more. In addition, ships that are 
'non-standard' (eg a TL or 2 above/below the norm) will have to have their 
parts ordered specially (or bring them with them), increasing the cost 
further. Merchants are going to be a lot more cautious about where they go - 
they don't want to break down somewhere where they can't get spares. This is 
all bad for trade, and therefore bad for the Imperium. Government subsidy (in 
the form of free shipping) removes all these problems (and gives worlds an 
added benefit to being in the Imperium). 

    ---------=========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: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 11:05:05 -0800
From: "Stuart L. Dollar" <sdollar@goodnet.com>
Subject: Re: Central Supply Catalog Review

On 22 Dec 96 at 13:50, Thomas Biskup spewed:

> While all this sounds too good to be true (although I really believe
> in Greg's talents :-) I still wonder about one information nobody
> yet managed: how many pages does this supplement have?

Believe in it.  Central Supply Catalog is the best book written yet 
for T4.  In fact, it is probably the best list of equipment produced 
for any version of the game.  It'd be worthwhile even without the 
vehicle design system.

> > Overall, I give this book a 92% (revised down from my initial
> > score of 95%, due to spotting additional, minor editing errors). 
> > I highly recommend it - it will become one of the most-used
> > volumes in your T4 collection.
> 
> Don't take this personally, but your ratings seem to be too high in
> general (at least the ratings for the rulebook and Starships in one
> of your previous postings were not very real).

Huh?  Although he was tactful about it, Joe RIPPED Starships.  
Remember that his review about T4 was posted pretty early on, before 
everybody began spotting all the bugs.  One doesn't have to be vehement to 
write a negative review, in fact it lends credibility to be calmer 
about it.  

Stu
Stuart L. Dollar               sdollar@goodnet.com
Traveller referee since 1978, Official USENet 
spokesperson for Imperium Games
- ---------------------------------------------------
"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." 
- -Thomas Jefferson

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

Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 11:05:05 -0800
From: "Stuart L. Dollar" <sdollar@goodnet.com>
Subject: Re: Central Supply and Aliens Archive in stores

On 19 Dec 96 at 20:53, Peter J. Miller spewed:

> JOhn,
> 
> Sounds like ALiens in better than Starships.  But, it doesn't have
> other major races' stats in it?  We can't play them yet?  I was
> under the impression that major races stats would be in it?

Nope, no majors.  OTOH, the minor races enclosed are great.  Tim did 
a good job with the book.  

Vargr will be enclosed in M0, others in subsequent Milieus, as 
appropriate.

Stu
Stuart L. Dollar               sdollar@goodnet.com
Traveller referee since 1978, Official USENet 
spokesperson for Imperium Games
- ---------------------------------------------------
"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." 
- -Thomas Jefferson

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

Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 11:05:04 -0800
From: "Stuart L. Dollar" <sdollar@goodnet.com>
Subject: Re: Archivers needed

On 20 Dec 96 at 16:11, Susan M. Shock spewed:

> Can anyone direct me to or supply me with programs that can
> uncompress files with the extensions .z, .tar, .lha, or .gz? I have
> some archived Traveller materials that I can't access because I lost
> all this stuff in the big hard drive crash awhile back. Thanks!
>                                 Allen
> 

You have a PC, right?  Get WinZip.  It should do all of the above.

Stu
Stuart L. Dollar               sdollar@goodnet.com
Traveller referee since 1978, Official USENet 
spokesperson for Imperium Games
- ---------------------------------------------------
"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." 
- -Thomas Jefferson

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

Date: Mon, 23 Dec 1996 11:19:08 -0800
From: "Stuart L. Dollar" <sdollar@goodnet.com>
Subject: Re: Sector Data, second try!

On 23 Dec 96 at 13:47, Harald Budschedl spewed:

> Hi, out there!!
> 
> I've asked this before, but got little response:
> Is there any sector data of CORE-Sector (more then the one subsector
> in T4 rulebook)? I'm trying to start a Milieu 0 - Adventure,

Do you mean with world names, Milieu 0 era world data, etc?  No, not 
really, hence the need for 1st Survey.

> So I'm especially interested in Sector-data from Core to Gushemege
> (as described in TLWH).
> 
> BTW, how far has survey gone in the year 50. Where are the imperial
> borders

Again, you're looking for answers that aren't published yet.  

Stu
Stuart L. Dollar               sdollar@goodnet.com
Traveller referee since 1978, Official USENet 
spokesperson for Imperium Games
- ---------------------------------------------------
"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." 
- -Thomas Jefferson

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

End of Traveller-digest V1996 #785
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