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Date:	11/25/99 3:08:41 AM Pacific Standard Time<BR>
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Traveller-digest    Thursday, November 25 1999    Volume 1999 : Number 1396<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
(R)1996. Traveller is a registered trademark of FarFuture Enterprises.<BR>
All rights reserved.<BR>
<BR>
The following topics are covered in this digest:<BR>
<BR>
Barbarella<BR>
Re: Barbarella<BR>
Remulak (Was Re: Where Does the Spinward Marches REALLY Begin?)<BR>
Big games<BR>
Re: SEC: UNCLASSIFIED Pax Americana<BR>
Re Automation [long]<BR>
Re Skip Tracing<BR>
RE: YKYBPTMTW<BR>
Re: YKYBPTMTW:<BR>
Re: Imperial culture<BR>
Re: 3d imperium<BR>
Re: 2d maps and galactic thickness (was RE: Traveller-digest V1999 #1391)<BR>
Re: Skipping & ship cost & MTU solution<BR>
Re: GT Streamlining<BR>
Re: X-Files scenarios in Trav (the d'Alemberts)<BR>
Re: YKYBPTMTW:<BR>
Re: 3D jump ranges - A solution<BR>
<BR>
----------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 23:11:08 -0800 (PST)<BR>
From: Kyle Schuant <kyle3054@yahoo.com><BR>
Subject: Barbarella<BR>
<BR>
- ----- Original Message ----- <BR>
From: Eris Reddoch <eris@pcola.gulf.net><BR>
To: <traveller@lists.imagiconline.com><BR>
Sent: Thursday, November 25, 1999 12:35 PM<BR>
Subject: Re: Ming the Merciless<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
> <BR>
> We'll be doing stats for Barbarella before you know<BR>
it. <BR>
> <BR>
<BR>
Yes please :^)<BR>
<BR>
I know them already: 36C-22-36<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
=====<BR>
KA Schuant<BR>
member: Chef's Guild International, Sporting Shooter's Assoc, Amnesty Int, Carlton Soccer Club<BR>
Melbourne<BR>
Australia<BR>
<BR>
"Duct tape is like the Force: it has a light side, a dark side, and it binds the universe together"<BR>
__________________________________________________<BR>
Do You Yahoo!?<BR>
Thousands of Stores.  Millions of Products.  All in one place.<BR>
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<BR>
------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1999 02:22:25 -0500<BR>
From: "Josh W. Spencer" <macmanjws@earthlink.net><BR>
Subject: Re: Barbarella<BR>
<BR>
On 11/24/99 at 01:51 AM,  "Glenn M. Goffin" <gmgoffin@pacbell.net> said:<BR>
> ><BR>
> >You should know that, in my Traveller universe, Ming the Merciless<BR>
> >may properly be addressed as "Your Protuberance."<BR>
<BR>
Then Eris Reddoch wrote in reply:<BR>
> <BR>
> Has a long nose, eh? <g><BR>
> <BR>
> We'll be doing stats for Barbarella before you know it.<BR>
<BR>
Oh yes, I can hear Cheech & Chong now. Actually, just Cheech Marin<BR>
'cause this is his line;<BR>
<BR>
"Whore movie? Wow Man! Where's Jane Fonda?" :) :)<BR>
<BR>
- --<BR>
Josh<BR>
<BR>
------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1999 02:26:31 -0500<BR>
From: "Josh W. Spencer" <macmanjws@earthlink.net><BR>
Subject: Remulak (Was Re: Where Does the Spinward Marches REALLY Begin?)<BR>
<BR>
Robert Eaglestone writes:<BR>
><BR>
> <snipped for and aft><BR>
> >It concerns the potential difference between political<BR>
> >and cultural boundaries, sort of.<BR>
<BR>
Then Dan Roseberry replies:<BR>
> <BR>
> This is probably not what your thinking of, but I'm interested in<BR>
> knowing the star systems which are at the furtherest boundries<BR>
> of the 3I. From the stuff I have avail. to me, 3I's farthest<BR>
> Spinward systems are either Emape or Raweh in the 5 sisters<BR>
> subsector of the Spinward Marches (IMTU its Raweh, since<BR>
> its farther from the core. This assuming that both systems are<BR>
> moving in the same direction. One could argue Emape is the<BR>
> farthest out, but that would take *way* to much gearheading<BR>
> for me to worry about). Rimward we have Remulak and<BR>
> Sarpedon in the Solomani Rim (again IMTU I give it to<BR>
> Remulak). Of course, if the 3I still intends on reclaiming the<BR>
> Solomani Sphere, then the systems would be *alot* more<BR>
> Rimward. I don't have that much to go on for a farthest<BR>
> 3I galactic coreward or trailing system. Anyone with a<BR>
> Atlas of the Imperium?<BR>
<BR>
Oh really? And IYTU, is Remulak the home of the Coneheads and do you<BR>
have racial stats for them? And are they considered a Major Race? Or is<BR>
it an old Terran/Solomani colony whose original colonists came from France?<BR>
<BR>
And I thought having Ming the Merciless was BAD....;) ;)<BR>
<BR>
- --<BR>
Josh<BR>
<BR>
------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 23:46:21 -0800 (PST)<BR>
From: Kyle Schuant <kyle3054@yahoo.com><BR>
Subject: Big games<BR>
<BR>
Leonard wrote:<BR>
> <BR>
> Alternately, you could do World War II (using the<BR>
> _whole_ world!) at<BR>
> battalion/regiment/brigade level (each hex would be<BR>
> about 10 miles<BR>
> across at the equator).<BR>
> <BR>
> Naval actions could be fought at the<BR>
> destroyer-escort-and-up level....<BR>
> <BR>
> *drooling at the possibilities*<BR>
<BR>
Yes, and it'd take longer than the real WWII to game<BR>
out! I'm not kidding! I saw in Sydney a game of World<BR>
in Flames (WWII, for you non-wargamers), with _all_<BR>
the optional rules, six players, it took them six<BR>
months of weekly games... granted, these were not the<BR>
most decisive and rapid acting bunch of players I've<BR>
ever seen, and there was much consulting of rulebooks<BR>
and, um, "discussion" of the rules, but still...<BR>
<BR>
=====<BR>
KA Schuant<BR>
member: Chef's Guild International, Sporting Shooter's Assoc, Amnesty Int, Carlton Soccer Club<BR>
Melbourne<BR>
Australia<BR>
<BR>
"Duct tape is like the Force: it has a light side, a dark side, and it binds the universe together"<BR>
__________________________________________________<BR>
Do You Yahoo!?<BR>
Thousands of Stores.  Millions of Products.  All in one place.<BR>
Yahoo! Shopping: http://shopping.yahoo.com<BR>
<BR>
------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1999 00:20:15 -0800 (PST)<BR>
From: "John R. Snead" <jsnead@netcom.com><BR>
Subject: Re: SEC: UNCLASSIFIED Pax Americana<BR>
<BR>
"Hughes, Michael" <Michael.Hughes@cbr.defence.gov.au> wrote:<BR>
<BR>
>In this vein, I know this might sound dodgy, but let's face it. Pax America<BR>
>is a good thing (IMHO - phew!).<BR>
<BR>
>It has an active bill of rights. Sure this might (and has been) ignored in<BR>
>playing the game of nations (eg during the cold war) but by and large its<BR>
>still a pretty good thing. This in turn influences how it behaves to others<BR>
>and it is more inclined to 'go into bat' for the little people now, more<BR>
>than ever with the demise of the cold war as they don't have to worry about<BR>
>encroaching on Russia's sphere of influence.<BR>
 <BR>
The problem is that the Bill of Rights, as well as labor and environmental<BR>
laws only apply within its borders.  In the 3rd world Pax Americana mostly<BR>
seems to mean freedom for US corporations to screw the locals, with<BR>
practices ranging from killing labor organizers (as has happened in<BR>
several African nations) to actual use of slave labor, or work agreements<BR>
with nations who use slave labor (for example the PRC). <BR>
<BR>
It's great for US consumers, but w/o effective resistance the US is free<BR>
to suck the 3rd world dry.  It actually looks a lot like the earliest<BR>
parts of the 3rd Imperium. <BR>
<BR>
While a US-run world government might end up somewhat more free on average<BR>
(though I'm fairly sure negative economies of scale would make the effort<BR>
a disaster) the Pax American is in part merely a grand neocolonial<BR>
moneymaking endeavor. <BR>
<BR>
Note that Saddam Hussein remains in power despite the atrocities he's<BR>
inflicted on his own people and others. However, the US made sure to keep<BR>
cheap oil coming out of Kuwait and Saudi.  It looks like the motives <BR>
involved have much more to do with money than with anything else.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
- -John Snead jsnead@netcom.com  <BR>
<BR>
------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 23:31:45 -0900<BR>
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@gci.net><BR>
Subject: Re Automation [long]<BR>
<BR>
>At 12:39 AM 11/24/99 -0600, Black ICE wrote:<BR>
>>Seriously, one of the quibbles I have about the various ship design<BR>
>>sequences in Traveller is that one gains no extra benefit from<BR>
>>increasing the number of computers (over the required number) linked<BR>
>>into ship operations.  Perhaps for each additional doubling of computing<BR>
>>power, the crew requirement could be halved.<BR>
>><BR>
>>Feedback, anyone?<BR>
><BR>
>My experience at work shows that an increase in computers in no way allows<BR>
>us to lay off experienced programmers, engineers, or even program managers.<BR>
<BR>
In my line of work, automation HAS reduced the number of people required to<BR>
do the job. I just finished laying out a book, in page maker. The actual<BR>
layout took a mere 100 work hours (counting re-layouts due to editing<BR>
changes). If it had to be done by manually laying out type for the final<BR>
and proof, and retyping the pages for the various (20) drafts.<BR>
<BR>
>We don't have anyone typing up dictation, and we could get rid of the mail<BR>
>room easily enough though.<BR>
><BR>
>Steward is the only job I can think of that could be replaced by a computer.<BR>
<BR>
Steward is the only one I can think of that CAN'T be replaced by<BR>
automation. Since stewards have to handle customers, handle paperwork,<BR>
load/unload/ballance cargo, and provide for the cooking and cleaning<BR>
services... Yes, automation might reduce the efforts in paperwork,<BR>
loading/unloading/ballancing cargo. But not in direct customer service<BR>
areas.<BR>
<BR>
Navigators could be replaced by extensive automation, provided there are no<BR>
legal impediments.<BR>
<BR>
Engineers, under normal conditions, could be automated out of the loop,<BR>
again subject to legal requirements; damage repairs are NOT "Normal<BR>
operations", but routine maintenance could be automated to a large extent,<BR>
especially if one installs robotic manipulators that are close enough to<BR>
work on each other, too.<BR>
<BR>
Pilots can be automated, too. Most piloting tasks would logically be little<BR>
more than triggering the autopilot and setting the correct waypoints; with<BR>
GPS good to 2m (There was a shot of some military engineers useing a GPS<BR>
reciever to set a survey marker, and it was on broadcast TV! Those are<BR>
supposed to be field set to within 10cm... draw your own conclusions), you<BR>
should be able to fly a ship that's 15m + in length on a landing pad fairly<BR>
accurately by using 2 or 3 GPS's. In theory, the GPS system should be<BR>
accurate to 5cm... once outside orbit, there really isn't much in the way<BR>
of piloting that couldn't be done on an apple IIe, with the correct<BR>
parameters and software. Even Jump Piloting can be automated, see also Jump<BR>
Tapes for proof in canon: Jump Tapes require no Pilot/Nav roll, just the<BR>
engineering rolls. In fact, I'm aware that in the simulators, they've been<BR>
able to plot autopilot courses for P-3's that simply reuire the pilot to<BR>
take over to do the flare and lower the gear.<BR>
<BR>
Gunners: Gunners can easily be automated; in any real space combats either<BR>
ranges will be far enough that you're shooting on Probability of Contact<BR>
volley solutions, or close enough that the relative speeds will probably<BR>
make humans useless. Exceptions for orbital ranges. You need someone to<BR>
tell the auto-gunner whom to shoot, and whom not to. And in most cases, if<BR>
a gunner can line it up, a computer can line it up faster. Based upon the<BR>
few canopn descriptions, gunners don't actually fire the weapons anyway,<BR>
but rather select the target, and disengage the safety so the computer can<BR>
fire at the right point. Why have gunners? So you have someone to lay<BR>
liability on, and to perform maintenance on the gun. Maintenance can be<BR>
done by robots, or robitic parts linked into the computers.<BR>
<BR>
Medical: Medicine really has expanded due to automation... but medicine as<BR>
a technology-intensive field is still not bloosoming in the same way office<BR>
work has. Computing power allows better manipulation of medical imaging<BR>
systems. It allows better (and automated) decision tree systems which<BR>
provide the most likely problems. Computer alone, however, are not MUCH of<BR>
an aid to medicine; but more an adjunct to timely decision making and to<BR>
the sensors.<BR>
<BR>
Sensor Operations and Communications Operators: Look at what SETI is doing<BR>
with automation. Yeah, you still need to have someone look at what gets<BR>
through the hasing algorythm, but as the algorythm gets better, that makes<BR>
it much easier to check what is important. In theory, you should have the<BR>
sensors and commo monitored 24/7 when underway... that means you need at<BR>
least three people for reasonable safety, two if you are willing to cut<BR>
corners; on smaller ships, it is a safe assumption the pilot and navigator<BR>
alternate this duty with any dedicated electronics operators.<BR>
<BR>
Loaders & Deck Apes: With TL 13+ Robots available, and the prices at which<BR>
a TL13 cleaning robot can be built, there's no reason not to replace<BR>
swabbies with bots. Likewise, loading is not an intellectual activity,<BR>
provided the steward has the loading plot ready. With containerized cargo,<BR>
there is no reason not to automate the process, as bot's WILL BE more<BR>
accurate than persons.<BR>
<BR>
So, in almost all areas, the reduction really isn't from computers, but<BR>
from the roboticization of the workspaces, and adding the software for the<BR>
required skills. Not a big problem. Expensive. In the long run, probably<BR>
even cheaper than paying crewmembers. But, in the overall economic picture,<BR>
not a good idea. First, you want people to be liable... so if something<BR>
goes wrong, you need a user to have user error. Secondly, if you automate<BR>
the craft too much, it becomes far too easy to take over if you can gain<BR>
computer access... send a well charged up cymbeline chip on a mission....<BR>
Third, People need jobs. Capitalism is based upon payment for labor. That<BR>
requires labor as an input value. Lacking this, see vinge.<BR>
<BR>
I definitely don't buy vinge's whole bit,  but I do know that moder<BR>
economics require a working public.<BR>
<BR>
William F. Hostman  |  "Smith & Wesson: THe original Point and Click<BR>
interface!"<BR>
Aramis 0602 C55A364-C S kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge-<BR>
533<BR>
Mailto:aramis@gci.net http://home.gci.net/~aramis mailto:wilh@alaska.com<BR>
ICQ:14640742          AIM:AKAramis	ARM 1.0: 3 R H++ P+<BR>
IMTU 1.0: tc tm++ tn- t4-- tt+ to- tg-- ru+ ge 3i+ c+ jt-() au+ st- ls<BR>
pi+() ta+ he+(-) kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge- pi+<BR>
<BR>
------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 23:41:52 -0900<BR>
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@gci.net><BR>
Subject: Re Skip Tracing<BR>
<BR>
><snip><BR>
>>If the agent finds proof of payment, fine, he's got to leave.<BR>
>>Otherwise, including if the crew refuses access to the papers and/or ship<BR>
>>after seeing appropriate credentials, the agent may reposess the ship "On<BR>
>>suspicion". I only did this to a PC group once... it ended the campaign<BR>
>>(They wound up confined to an imperial prison world, since the note holder<BR>
>>was the Imperial Government, and the "Tracer" was an IMOJ field agent...<BR>
>>whom they shot.)<BR>
><BR>
><BR>
>Ended the campaign?... Ended The Campaign?!?, why didn't you just run them<BR>
>through Adv 8 Prison Planet, it was *made* for just such an event. Ok, it<BR>
>may not be everyone's cup of tea, but at least it continues the game and has<BR>
>the *possibility* of escape and freedom...<BR>
<BR>
Escape? They'd described to me how to set it up. Since all sentences were<BR>
LIFE sentences (not natural life, but you are there until you die there,<BR>
unless the emperor takes pity on you), on a world with no surface<BR>
accessable metal deposits that are workable. The atmosphere is breathable,<BR>
the plants are all edible, and the temperature is generally tropical in the<BR>
middle lattitudes. The "jailors" set up a blockade. They NEVER land. Not<BR>
even to drop prisoners; a prisoner arrives via paradrop; in their kit a<BR>
prioner has a bowl, a spoon, and a pocketknife, all of SD, plus the<BR>
jumpsuit, the parachute, and the rigging thereof. When I sprung this on<BR>
them, they decided that they didn't want a "survive the jungle and the<BR>
previous prisoners". They'd all read the Sten Series, and knew what you can<BR>
do as a prisoner... and the bit about the penal colony had them fearing<BR>
thbe already established hierarchy.<BR>
<BR>
Besides, I didn't have Adv. 8; I only acquired that last year.<BR>
<BR>
William F. Hostman  |  "Smith & Wesson: THe original Point and Click<BR>
interface!"<BR>
Aramis 0602 C55A364-C S kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge-<BR>
533<BR>
Mailto:aramis@gci.net http://home.gci.net/~aramis mailto:wilh@alaska.com<BR>
ICQ:14640742          AIM:AKAramis	ARM 1.0: 3 R H++ P+<BR>
IMTU 1.0: tc tm++ tn- t4-- tt+ to- tg-- ru+ ge 3i+ c+ jt-() au+ st- ls<BR>
pi+() ta+ he+(-) kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge- pi+<BR>
<BR>
------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1999 08:49:21 +0000<BR>
From: Timothy.Collinson@solent.ac.uk<BR>
Subject: RE: YKYBPTMTW<BR>
<BR>
Timothy Collinson wrote:<BR>
>>>>You Know You've Been Playing Too Much Traveller When:<BR>
>>>Or you walk across some hexagonal paving stones and expect to<BR>
>>>take a week getting from one to another.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Jens Rydholm writes:<BR>
<BR>
>>But you might be able to move more than one step at a time... :-)<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Peez<BR>
>    Be careful. If you've been drinking unfiltered water, you<BR>
>    might miss-step!<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
LOL!  Rats!  No wonder I ended up at work this morning instead of Regina<BR>
highport.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
tc<BR>
<BR>
------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1999 08:58:46 +0000<BR>
From: Timothy.Collinson@solent.ac.uk<BR>
Subject: Re: YKYBPTMTW:<BR>
<BR>
Leonard Erickson wrote:<BR>
> You see, the first floor was almost entirely open, and tiled with 1"<BR>
> white ceramic *hex* tiles. Yeah, a hex map about 200 feet square.<BR>
><BR>
> Let's see. If I haven't dropped a decimal, that's 2400 hexes across.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Black Ice wrote:<BR>
>How much of the 3I (and surrounding polities) would fit on a map that<BR>
>size?<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
Well I make that 60 *sectors*.  (2400/40).<BR>
<BR>
I think we can safely say you could fit all of known space on the floor and<BR>
a fair chunk of the Zhodani core expeditions.<BR>
<BR>
'Course you might want to have a 'walkway' round a sector for access<BR>
purposes but it would still be a stunning map.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
tc<BR>
<BR>
------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1999 01:14:37 -0800<BR>
From: shudson@lightspeed.bc.ca (Steven Hudson)<BR>
Subject: Re: Imperial culture<BR>
<BR>
>From: "Alan Bradley" <alanb@elf.brisnet.org.au><BR>
...<BR>
>>  The OTU is _Turks in Space_! And while you might not want to turn your<BR>
>> backs on them, at least they're humble about their achievements :><BR>
...<BR>
>You see, most of the former Soviet Cosmodromes and stuff are in places like<BR>
>Kazakhstan, where the local populations tend to be mostly Islamic, and<BR>
>often speak Turkic type languages (as well as Russian, of course). <BR>
<BR>
  More simply, it could just be that Anatolia is home to (a) certain <BR>
organization(s) that knows many things, most certainly including<BR>
Secrets Sophonts Were Not Mean To Know. Of course, such outlandish<BR>
theories are always discredited.<BR>
<BR>
  But they would be of course, wouldn't they?   <fnord><BR>
<BR>
------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1999 09:14:29 +0000<BR>
From: Timothy.Collinson@solent.ac.uk<BR>
Subject: Re: 3d imperium<BR>
<BR>
Bruce Johnson wrote:<BR>
<BR>
>Look at the map of the London Underground. It is a perfectly functional<BR>
>map that doesn't bear much if any relationship to rw geography. (I read an<BR>
>article recently, in Scientific American, IIRC where the author talked of<BR>
>his experiences with the Underground. There are two destinations on<BR>
>different branches, that were you to follow the map, would seem to be<BR>
>quite far aoart. In transit time on the Underground, they were, but up on<BR>
>the surface, they were a quarter mile apart.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
That must be somewhere out west, say Acton way.  Drat!  Now I'm going to<BR>
have go and find the article.<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
There's also the minor curiosity that you can go northbound on one line<BR>
from station A to station B and then northbound on another line from B and<BR>
wind up back at A.  I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to work out<BR>
where this us unless you want to know in offlist email!<BR>
<BR>
After two years of using the underground I started cycling round London<BR>
(good for the adrenalin rush) and was surprised by how 'inaccurate' my<BR>
geography was!<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
I wonder if in some future 6th Imperium when they work out how to travel<BR>
instantly (or very very fast) in normal space, travellers are suddenly<BR>
puzzled that actually Efate is quite near Capital and none of the familiar<BR>
astrography 'works' any more?<BR>
<BR>
tc<BR>
<BR>
------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1999 02:01:45 -0800 (PST)<BR>
From: Terry Mixon <tlmixon@yahoo.com><BR>
Subject: Re: 2d maps and galactic thickness (was RE: Traveller-digest V1999 #1391)<BR>
<BR>
- --- "Joseph R. Dietrich" <yikes@evansville.net> wrote:<BR>
<BR>
> >would suggest that the [galactic] disk itself is what, about<BR>
> 40-50kly "thick"?<BR>
> <BR>
> It depends on your definition of thickness. A great majority of stars<BR>
> are concentrated in an area about 3,000 ly thick, IIRC.<BR>
<BR>
The GURPS space book has it at 600 parsecs (1956 ly) thick in the <BR>
spiral arms and 1800 parsecs (5868 ly) thick at the core.<BR>
<BR>
Terry <BR>
__________________________________________________<BR>
Do You Yahoo!?<BR>
Thousands of Stores.  Millions of Products.  All in one place.<BR>
Yahoo! Shopping: http://shopping.yahoo.com<BR>
<BR>
------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1999 01:40:50 PST<BR>
From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)<BR>
Subject: Re: Skipping & ship cost & MTU solution<BR>
<BR>
In mail you write:<BR>
<BR>
> Sounds all rather well-organised. I just can't imagine<BR>
> it working that efficiently. To me, it seems rather<BR>
> like a 15th century Florentine bank lending money for<BR>
> a ship to do speculative trading in the East Indies...<BR>
> "I'll be back, really I will!" Hmmm....<BR>
<BR>
They did.<BR>
<BR>
> IMTU, ships are heaps cheaper... but then, I was using<BR>
> the TU before G:T came out, using GURPS rules, the old<BR>
> GURPS: Space... with the spaceship construction rules<BR>
> there. _Much_ cheaper than CT et al...<BR>
><BR>
> I make available "engineer's dreams" (like the<BR>
> "renovator's dream" in real estate) with the<BR>
> occaisional unpleasant surprise.<BR>
><BR>
> Further along this road, there may be those among you<BR>
> who know of this beach in India, I forget its name,<BR>
> where old unseaworthy ships get run aground. A whole<BR>
> city has grown up around the scrap industry there. I<BR>
> figure the same will happen in the future. Some ships<BR>
> get dumped in space or suns, but some get landed on<BR>
> this planet... A small desert world, almost mined out,<BR>
> only a few desperados live there... and old ships get<BR>
> dumped in a 100x100 km area... the local government<BR>
> charges mainly by the ton.<BR>
><BR>
> It's an adventure for the PCs, scrounging around. It's<BR>
> great for starting groups, I tell them what's<BR>
> available, and they tack together a spaceship out of<BR>
> it all... not high-tech stuff, but the host planet<BR>
> charges very little for it. In traditional GURPS rules<BR>
> it was relatively easy, with advantages, for a party<BR>
> to scrape up half a million or so, and they were able<BR>
> to get a mediocre free trader out of this. A<BR>
> "character ship" for them... starting off with no<BR>
> staterooms, just blankets on the floor... Maybe<BR>
> someone had a Contact or Ally in the local Imperial<BR>
> Shipyards, so they were able to get a decent computer<BR>
> (or they could stick with their TL6/7, two dozen<BR>
> parallel-wired 286 type machines)... and so... thus,<BR>
> ship construction becomes an adventure in itself, and<BR>
> they get to learn about the ship construction system,<BR>
> get explanations of what a meson gun is, and so on...<BR>
<BR>
Sounds like what I'll set up if I ever run a game again.<BR>
<BR>
Yards *full* of old ships will exist, especially in airless worlds, or<BR>
in *distant* (for stability) parking orbits around mainworlds. This is<BR>
where ships go when they aren't worth fixing, or when the crew just<BR>
gives up (or dies). Ships that nobody is real interested in "as is" but<BR>
are felt to maybe be worth more (eventually) than their value as scrap<BR>
metal.<BR>
<BR>
It's not like it *costs* anything to let them sit on an isolated corner<BR>
of an airless mainworld, or in that parking orbit. The only costs are a<BR>
nav beacon and a security guard (for the stuff in orbit, he just<BR>
watches a sensor display back at the highport, it's not as if you could<BR>
sneak up on them...<BR>
<BR>
You may be able to find almost anything there. But the more specific<BR>
the item, the less likely. And many (most) easily strippable parts for<BR>
*common* ships will have already been removed.<BR>
<BR>
So, for example, if you want replacement filters for your XGZ Mark 4<BR>
trader, they probably won't have them. But don't give up yet, says the<BR>
proprietor, I think we've got an old Vargr ship that has filters you<BR>
could use if you build an adapter in your ship's machine shop...<BR>
<BR>
And if all you care about is "we need life support parts, and we'll<BR>
*make* them fit if we have to" then you've come to the right place. <BR>
<BR>
You may even find functional but ancient ships. Like this old TL-9<BR>
trader. Uses a fission reactor for power and for the reaction drive.<BR>
She's old and worn, but still sound. It's just that the last owner died<BR>
and the heirs didn't want it. So it's been sitting here for a couple of<BR>
centuries. Yes, it does take a bit of hunting to find yards that'll<BR>
overhaul the ship. On the other hand, you only need to refuel the<BR>
reactor every 5-10 years. You still need LH2 for the Jump drive and for<BR>
the manuever drive, but that's available everywhere. It's a tradeoff.<BR>
And you spend a lot more time coasting to and from the 100 diameter<BR>
limit. But if you are willing to take the extra time, it's cheaper to<BR>
operate than a modern ship. <BR>
<BR>
And thus your players wind up as the proud owners of a true "antique"<BR>
of a ship. A real Classic. And a definite "fixer upper". :-)<BR>
<BR>
- -- <BR>
Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow)<BR>
 shadow@krypton.rain.com        <--preferred<BR>
leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com     <--last resort<BR>
<BR>
------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1999 01:36:49 PST<BR>
From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)<BR>
Subject: Re: GT Streamlining<BR>
<BR>
In mail you write:<BR>
<BR>
> I always assumed the streamlining was, well, wings and<BR>
> stuff. 20% of your volume is lost because 20% of your<BR>
> weight is now wings and so on. When I see technical<BR>
> data for a jet, they may give its weight as 25,000<BR>
> lbs, but that's 25,000 lbs *including* the wings,<BR>
> aeroliens (sp?) and such. It's assumed you're not<BR>
> intersted in its wingless weight, since all that<BR>
> weight, whatever it is, will be, um, "dead" weight."<BR>
<BR>
You are confusing "streamlining" and "airframe". Most *cars* are<BR>
streamlined. This means that air folows over them smoothly, and in a<BR>
manner calculated to not destabilize the vehicle (ie the car doesn't<BR>
have a stron tendency to turn into the wind, but a strong gust will<BR>
still push it sideways). <BR>
<BR>
Airframe is where you start worrying about stuff like generating lift<BR>
and major aerodynamic control surfaces. <BR>
<BR>
- -- <BR>
Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow)<BR>
 shadow@krypton.rain.com        <--preferred<BR>
leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com     <--last resort<BR>
<BR>
------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1999 01:58:09 PST<BR>
From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)<BR>
Subject: Re: X-Files scenarios in Trav (the d'Alemberts)<BR>
<BR>
In mail you write:<BR>
<BR>
> On 11/24/99 at 10:00 PM,  shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson) said:<BR>
><BR>
>>Not quite. There was an author given permission by Doc Smith shortly<BR>
>>before Doc died. His name was Ellern. The first story was "Moon<BR>
>>Prospector" and was not only published in Analog, but was the cover<BR>
>>story that month.  <BR>
><BR>
> Hey!  I've got that magazine...mid-60's, I think.  I could dig it<BR>
> out of my 40 year collection of Astoundings and Analogs, but that<BR>
> would be more effort than I want to put out.<BR>
<BR>
I've got it too. Buried in storage like most of my library :-(<BR>
<BR>
It was 64 or 65. After they went back to digest size, but while they<BR>
still had the white borders at the top and bottom of the cover.<BR>
<BR>
- -- <BR>
Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow)<BR>
 shadow@krypton.rain.com        <--preferred<BR>
leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com     <--last resort<BR>
<BR>
------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1999 02:00:11 PST<BR>
From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)<BR>
Subject: Re: YKYBPTMTW:<BR>
<BR>
In mail you write:<BR>
<BR>
> Leonard Erickson wrote:<BR>
>> <BR>
>> In mail you write:<BR>
>> <BR>
>> > Timothy Collinson wrote:<BR>
>> >> >You Know You've Been Playing Too Much Traveller When:<BR>
>> >> Or you walk across some hexagonal paving stones and expect to take a<BR>
>> >> week getting from one to another.<BR>
>> ><BR>
>> > But you might be able to move more than one step at a time... :-)<BR>
>> <BR>
>> I recall a time in the late 70s or eaerly 80s when a car dealership<BR>
>> vacated their building downtown. For a long time they couldn't find<BR>
>> anybody to rent it, and we joked about getting a bunch of gamers<BR>
>> together and renting it.<BR>
>> <BR>
>> You see, the first floor was almost entirely open, and tiled with 1"<BR>
>> white ceramic *hex* tiles. Yeah, a hex map about 200 feet square.<BR>
>> <BR>
>> Let's see. If I haven't dropped a decimal, that's 2400 hexes across.<BR>
><BR>
> How much of the 3I (and surrounding polities) would fit on a map that<BR>
> size?<BR>
><BR>
> "Stomping the Sword Worlds" would take on a whole new meaning.... ;-)<BR>
>> <BR>
>> I can see it now, dozens of different games set up with the "maps"<BR>
>> roped off when not in use...<BR>
><BR>
> Alternately, you could do World War II (using the _whole_ world!) at<BR>
> battalion/regiment/brigade level (each hex would be about 10 miles<BR>
> across at the equator).<BR>
><BR>
> Naval actions could be fought at the destroyer-escort-and-up level....<BR>
><BR>
> *drooling at the possibilities*<BR>
<BR>
Keep your eyes open. This was a *common* flooring for some years, and a<BR>
lot of ground floor "showrooms" used it. <BR>
<BR>
If I ever get a house of my own, I may buy a bunch of those tiles and<BR>
use them to cover a *big* gaming table. Nice glazed ceramic finish, so<BR>
you can use grease pencils and felt markers and still clean it easily.<BR>
I expect I can find a good, non-porous *black* grout to mount them in. <BR>
<BR>
Who cares if you spill drinks on the map? As long as you didn't use<BR>
water soluble markers...<BR>
<BR>
- -- <BR>
Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow)<BR>
 shadow@krypton.rain.com        <--preferred<BR>
leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com     <--last resort<BR>
<BR>
------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 23:49:13 PST<BR>
From: shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson)<BR>
Subject: Re: 3D jump ranges - A solution<BR>
<BR>
In mail you write:<BR>
<BR>
> Someone mentioned the idea of not having a J2 drive having twice the<BR>
> range of a J1 one. This would (if done right) fix the problem of<BR>
> reaching too many stars with an average jump drive.<BR>
><BR>
> I thought about this, and decided to calculate exactly how long range a<BR>
> J1 (and J2 etc) drive should have in order to preserve the same<BR>
> relationship between jump rating and number of possible destinations as<BR>
> in canon.<BR>
><BR>
> First of all, I counted the number of possible destination hexes<BR>
> (regardless of they contain a star or not) from one hex using different<BR>
> jump ranges. For J1 to J6 drives, the number of destination hexes are 6,<BR>
> 18, 36, 60, 90, and 126. Thus, a J6 drive should be able to reach 21<BR>
> (126/6) times as big a "destination volume" as a J1 drive, and so on.<BR>
><BR>
> Since a sphere with n times the volume of another sphere has a radius<BR>
> that is [the cubic root of n] times that of the other sphere, it is<BR>
> quite easy to figure out how big the jump ranges should be. I assume<BR>
> that the range of a J1 drive is 1 parsec. If another basic range is<BR>
> desired, just multiply all the ranges by the basic range (in parsecs).<BR>
><BR>
> In the table below, the symbol * means "cubic root of"<BR>
><BR>
> Jump rating   Jump range<BR>
> ===========   ==========<BR>
>     J1            1<BR>
>     J2           *3 (1.44)<BR>
>     J3           *6 (1.82)<BR>
>     J4          *10 (2.15)<BR>
>     J5          *15 (2.47)<BR>
>     J6          *21 (2.76)<BR>
<BR>
This looks like a *bad* case of "diminishing returns". <BR>
<BR>
Let's look at this a bit differently. In *real* 2-d space, you don't<BR>
have fixed hexes. The *area* accessible to you goes up with the square<BR>
of the jump. J1 = 1X, J2 = 4X, J3 = 9X, etc. In 3d space it goes up as<BR>
the cune. So without doing the calculations, I think you want the range<BR>
to increase as the 2/3rd power of the jump number:<BR>
<BR>
J1	  1<BR>
J2	 *4 (1.58)<BR>
J3	 *9 (2.08)<BR>
J4	*16 (2.52)<BR>
J5	*25 (2.92)<BR>
J6	*36 (3.30)<BR>
<BR>
This looks a bit better than your figures, and I'm pretty sure it has<BR>
the area/volume relationship right.<BR>
<BR>
- -- <BR>
Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow)<BR>
 shadow@krypton.rain.com        <--preferred<BR>
leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com     <--last resort<BR>
<BR>
------------------------------<BR>
<BR>
End of Traveller-digest V1999 #1396<BR>
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