
-------- TML Message #259 --------

Date: Tue, 28 Mar 89 21:08:13 MST
From: (SULAIMAN) asulaima@udenva.cair.du.edu
Subject: Programs
Archive-Message-Number: 259



BTW did anyone ever buy any of the computer programs for Traveller offered 
by GDW. I'm particularly interested in WordGen Bestiary and I think it was 
called Merchant Prince. I believe they were in Apple Basic. Does anyone know
if they are any good. Will anyone be willing to part with a copy of it. If I
recall they were not protected.

	Ameer Z. Sulaiman.

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-------- TML Message #260 --------

Date: Wed, 29 Mar 89 09:25 EDT
From: B_MAHONE%UNHH.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu
Subject: Money?
Archive-Message-Number: 260


Money in the future.  We've always thought it would be bank cards and monster
ATM's, but...  with the speed of Jump and all it's effects on information
transfer, are electronic money transfers the norm for characters?

GDW makes a point of telling us how big the currency is, and I've seen no
mention yet of the actual mechanics of economic exchange...  Are all the Free
Traders using cash and barter?

How are you folks handling this?  Any creative solutions?  Or have I missed
something?


Bob Mahoney                                     BITNET: B_MAHONEY@UNHH
PSC Computer Services                           uucp: uunet!unh!psc90!rem
Plymouth, NH 03264                              (or) dartvax!psc90!rem
============================================================================

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-------- TML Message #261 --------

Date: Wed, 29 Mar 89 09:05:10 est
From: (Tres Hofmeister) tres@toadwar.ucar.edu
Subject: antimatter jump drives
Archive-Message-Number: 261



	Being a first time poster, I don't know if this is an already ans-
wered question...

	I recently purchased the MegaTraveller Referee's Manual (I've played
Traveller on and off for about three years). One of my primary reasons for
doing so was the new ship design rules presented therein.

	After reading the section on vehicle design thoroughly (?) and
having skimmed the MT errata from the mailing list archives, my question is
this:
	At TL 17 (or beyond, perhaps), why is there no antimatter powered
jump drive?

	Reading the Traveller rules and supplements leads me to believe
that starship jump drives are powered directly by large capacitor banks
(which may be charged in other ways - energy absorbed by black globe screens,
for example - see High Guard) and only indirectly by whatever fusion type
power plant the jump drive includes (not the standard power plant, which is
not included in all ship designs - the Express Boat comes to mind). Thus
the need for large quantities of jump fuel.

	So what gives? Why can't an antimatter plant be used to charge the
capacitor banks, particularly at high tech levels?

	If I'm missing something (it wouldn't be the first time...) would
somebody clue me in?

				Tres
				tres@toadwar.ucar.edu


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-------- TML Message #262 --------

Subject: Re: Money?
Date: 29 Mar 89 13:17:15 PST (Wed)
From: Rob Vetter (Controlled, Calm, Concerned) <rob@amadeus.LA>
Archive-Message-Number: 262


> 
> Money in the future.  We've always thought it would be bank cards and monster
> ATM's, but...  with the speed of Jump and all it's effects on information
> transfer, are electronic money transfers the norm for characters?
> 
> How are you folks handling this?  Any creative solutions?  Or have I missed
> something?

	Debit cards ... the bank balance is stored on the card.  Could be
	interesting for a character with forgery 5.

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-------- TML Message #263 --------

Date: Wed, 29 Mar 89 09:16 EDT
From: RWMIRA01%ULKYVX.BITNET%CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU@cunyvm.cuny.edu
Subject: X-Boat Routes
Archive-Message-Number: 263


In TML Archive Message 258, Fred Schiff (vu0141@bingvax.cc.binghamton.edu) asks:

>This is a two part question:
>a) is there any semi-automatic way for generating xboat and other
>   routes from the information on a sector map?
This has always been an Eye-ball method for me.  There are a lot of criteria
that can go into calculating the most strategic location.  Given the following
sub-sector:


       A                     B                 A
       O                     O                 O
    System A             System C          System E
       A                     B
       O                     O
    System B             System D

System A   A___8__-D Scout and Navy Bases and Gas Giant
System B   A___9__-E Navy Base and Gas Giant
System C   B___5__-A
System D   B__09__-B
System E   _________ First Hub for the X-Boat Route

If you say link all A & B within Jump-3 or Jump-4, Then there will be two
X-Boat routes from system E to System C and D.  This is impractical.  Further,
using the same criteria, there would be six X-Boat routes between A, B, C, and
D.  (A to B, A to D, A to C, B to C, B to D, C to D).  You have to include
other factors.  For instance, System D would probably not be on an X-Boat route
be because there is no natural fuel in the system, even though it is a higher
tech level and higher population world than System C.  They would use couriers
to relay information to system D.  System's A and B are about equal in bidding
for the X-Boat Route.  The main consideration here would be what was beyond the
two.  Is the next concetration of worlds coreward or rimward? Etc.  If they are
the last two systems to get an X-Boat Route, then System A would get the nod
because of the Scout and Navy base.

Things to consider:
1) Star Port (More ships visit to dissminate mail)
2) Population (More people receiving messages)
3) Tech Level (Better message processing facilities)
4) Scout Base (Repair facilities etc., lots of Scout/Couriers)
5) Navy Base (Heavy X-Boat Mail user)
6) Natural Fuel (Gas Giant, Water) (Helps curb fuel costs)
7) Where am I going to next?

>b) given a text file with the sector or subsector information, what is
>   a good format to store the xboat route information? (I am thinking
>   of a text database format to be compatible with that used for sectors)
Well, what you could do is use a format like

0101 System Name   A123456-7 BTrade Codes    A701ImStar1 Star2 Star3 0202
                                                                     ^
                                                  XBoat Companion ---+

>Also what about the other routes?  The xboat routes are the Jump-4 routes
>which the communications take.  What about the trade routes? It is conceivable
>that the Megacorp. and Sector/Subsector wide routes of the various companies,
>although slower are as important in diseminating information, especially in
>outlying star systems. There are no rules as to where these should go (follow
>the xboats, but also go to other places)

There are six basic routes left to set up:
a) Scout/Courier Mail Routes
b) MegaCorp Trade Routes
c) Sector Trade Routes
d) Sub-Sector Trade Routes
e) Fledgling Trade Routes
f) Free Trader Routes

Scout Mail routes will STAR out from Xboat routes, preferably at Jump-2
intervals.  Mail can be carried from those worlds by fitted traders on jump-1
ships.

MegaCorp routes are going to jump to worlds that are going to make the most
money.  Sector routes are going to work the same.  Subsector trading companies
will visit some of the less profitable worlds where as fledgling and free
traders will visit them more.  The competiton at high tech, high pop rich
worlds will be too high for the smaller lines to even have a chance.  I don't
think that GDW set these up for two reasons, first it would clutter the maps
and second there are too many variables.

- --
Rob Miracle              | Bitnet   : RWMIRA01@ULKYVX    CIS: 74216,3134
Programmer/Analyst-II    | INTERNET : rwmira01%ulkyvx.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu
University of Louisville | UUCP     : ...psuvax1!ulkyvx.bitnet!rwmira01

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-------- TML Message #264 --------

Date: Wed, 29 Mar 89 11:49:22 PST
From: (Brad Post) c9c-aa@dorothy.berkeley.edu
Subject: Trav PBM:  Turn #7
Archive-Message-Number: 264



Here is turn #7, it's long, and it speaks for itself.

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

Well turn #7 was quite interesting, and long.  Here's #7, and the story keeps
getting better.


*******************************************************************************
				NOTES
*******************************************************************************

1)  Traveller mailing list is back up.  I'm going to continue posting to both
  rec.games.frp and the list, and hopefully they will catch up in three or four
  weeks.

2)  Spring Break -- mine is 3-17 to 3-25, I'm not going anywhere, so I'll 
   accept responses during that time.  If you are going to be away, just tell
   me and I'll wait for your response.

3)  Erekosse went to the bridge to do a System Check, and is no longer in the
   common room.

*******************************************************************************
			   PLAYERS' MOVE
*******************************************************************************

	"Where did you get that?"  says Moe.  "That's evidence, and you have
no right to remove it.  I demand you turn it over to me right now."  He goes
to get up, but Steve stands up also, Moe sees this, and sits back down.
	"First off buddy," starts the captain, "I can confiscate whatever I 
want, whenever I want.  And you can't demand anything from me.  So relax, I'll
have Erekosse check it out when he's done with the computer check."
	It's obvious that Moe is getting quite upset with the situation, and
says, "As a Imperial Agent, Captain, I am ordering you to hand that computer
over to me now."
	"Why?"
	"Becuase you might accidentally .. um tamper with it, and um ...", he
is looking nervous.
	"Let's see what's on it, shall we," says the captain as he begins to 
type on the mini keypad.
	"No!" screams Moe as he leaps for the Captain.  Steve's was caught
off guard, and his reaction is slow, but not slow enough to collide with Moe
before he hit the Captain.  
	Erc jumps out of his chair, and goes to help.  Samantha has her gun 
out.  Steve gets a wrist lock on Moe, and tries to make him submit, but Moe
is fighting like a bear, and with a sharp blow to the Steve's abdomen, he breaks
the hold.  Moe tries a kick to the midsection, but Steve is a bit faster, and 
blocks it with his right arm.  Erc jumps in with a right cross to Moe's jaw.
Moe responds with anouther low kick, not for the abdomen, for the balls.  Erc
is quite stunned, and falls to the floor.  Steve gets a round-house in as Moe 
finished his kick, and drops him.  Steve turns to the captain and says, "Are you
alright sir?"
	"Watch out," screams Samantha, as she fires her Snub-Pistol.  Steve 
ducked, and she hit Moe square in the chest, the tranq round does it's job.
"Jesus," exclaims Steve, "that guy is tough.  What's the dosage?" to Samantha.
	"He'll be out for a couple of hours.  Next time make sure they're down!"
	"Right.  How you feeling big-guy?"  Steve says to Erc, as he helps him
off the floor.
	"Lemon-sucking mongrel, kicked me in the balls!  How am I supposed to
feel?"
	"You'll be fine," says Samantha, "just put some ice on it."  That gets
a chuckle out of everyone, except Erc.
	"Walk it off, you'll be okay.  I'll remove this mess sir," Steve says
to the Captain.
	"Go right ahead."
	"My pleasure."  Steve grabs Moe by the feet, and drags him down the hall
with Samantha following.  He drags him into the stateroom, and then locks the
door.  

	"Well I think it's time to get some work done, eh boys and girls,"  says
the captain.  "Samantha, find out what's on this thing," he hands the computer
to her.  "Erc and I will go back downstairs and see what's inside that crate.  
Steve, I want you here, no one comes out of there rooms, without my permission,
comprende?"
	"Got it."
	"Okay people ...."
	The intercom whistles, and Erekosse's voice is heard, "Captain?"
	Captain Moray walks over (it's located next to the door adjacent to the
stairs), and says "What is it?"
	"Ummm, you better get down here, you gotta read this for yourself.  
Nothing is really wrong, just that you better see this."
	"Okay I'll be right down.  Also Steve, help Samantha, when she's done,
look through this ledger (he puts it on the table) I picked it up in Moe and
Curly's room.  Well let's move like we got a purpose."
	(Aside to Erc) "I've always wanted to say that," as they head 
downstairs.

	Samantha spends time scanning through the computer memory, and 
thier seems to be nothing of interest.  Most of the data files are business
addresses of companies, and the names of contact persons.  Also there are some
comm-line numbers and one strange entry, it reads:

		Binary -- 8AC23D	

Also, after looking further, you find one bank transaction, it reads:

	ACCT #:  xx42-8900PZ12    Balance:  35,972 Cr
	Transfer to:  PTP-SA-62   Amount:  26,000 Cr
	Date: 130-1117 

	
	Steve looks through the book, and finds nothing really of interest, 
it contains junk actually, and reading it carefully he discovers that after the
first 5 pages, the book starts repeating itself, it's like the same 5 pages
reprinted 50 times.

*******************************************************************************
			     CREWS' MOVE
*******************************************************************************

	The Captain and Erc enter the bridge, Erekosse is sitting at a HUD
unit, and there is a serious look on his face.  "What's up?" 
	"Well Jordan, I was looking through the files, because I couldn't 
remember if I had started the Anti-Hijacking program or not, and well it took
a while, and I discovered nothing was wrong, except that the library was messed
up a bit, seems that a 'door' was put in the library, so if it was asked to find
IBI badge #'s it would print up the data that Samantha read.  Also, when I 
brought down the Anti-Hijacking program this appeared."  He gets up and lets the
Captain sit down.  There is a message on the screen, it reads:

		     I'm sorry I did this, messing up the library,
		but they said if I didn't they'd kill us.  They
		said they were taking over, and if we helped they'd
		let us live.  I hope this gives you fair warning.
		I'm not leaving my stateroom till you say it's okay.

				--Charlie

	"Did you get rid of the 'door'?"
	"Yup."
	"Okay, I'm going to go with Erc, and we're going to open that crate. 
You get upstairs and watch with Steve, let's not let this get any more out of 
hand than it already is."
	"Okay, I'm on it."

	"Let's go Erc, it's time we see what they are really transporting."

	Erc and the Captain, enter the cargo hold.  They pick up a floater and
the tool kits and walk over to the crate.  Erc says, "I heard this humming sound
coming from the crate, I don't hear it now, but I think it was coming from the 
top of it.  I'll use the floater to to go up and look."
	"Okay, but wait, I do have two of them."  He goes and gets the second
floater.  (NOTE:  A floater is a disk, about 3' in diameter, it uses anti-grav
plates to lift a max of 250 kg, to a max height of 10m.  Tech: 14, your modern
day step ladder.)
	Both the captain and Erc move to the top of the crate, there is writing
on the top of the crate, that says: THIS END UP, DO NOT BLOCK, with arrows point
ing to a 2' x 2' square on the crate.  It looks quite like a ventilation duct,
but it appears to be closed.  There is also a panel, with a hinge on it, and 
Erc looks to the Captain for the okay, and when he give it, open the panel,
very carefully.  Inside the panel it a display unit, there are 6 buttons that
aren't depressed.  There are also 6 lights, next to the buttons, there are all 
green, and glowing brightly.  The video unit is on, but the screen is blank.
	"You ever seen anything like this," says the Captain to Erc.
	"No, but I think I know how to find out."
	"How?"
	"Push this button," he says as he points to one button all by itself,
seperate from the rest.
	"Okay, you push it," says the captain.
	"I'm not gonna push it, you push it."
	"No way Jose, I'm not pushing it, it was your idea, you push it."
	"I'm not gonna be held responsible if I blow up your ship captain, so
I think YOU better push it."
	"Hmmm, I see your point, okay I'll push it."  The captain depresses the
button very lightly, and after it is totally in, the screen comes to life.  Data
appears, and then some charts, and other sets of numbers.  The screen stops 
flushing data, and says:  SYSTEMS NORMAL
			  AIR -- GOOD
			  MATTER -- GOOD
			  SEAL -- SAFE
			  ENV -- SAFE
			  VITAL SIGNS -- GOOD

	"Uh, does this mean what I think it means," says Erc to the Captain.
	"Are you thinking what I'm thinking."
	Erc nods his head yes, and says, "Somethings alive in there," pointing
to the crate.
	"I'm getting to old for this shit," mutters the captain.


**********

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water ... ta-da!       
Hope your enjoying yourselfs, because it only gets better.

Responses due 3-24-89 or ASAP

NOTE:  all materials are copyrighted, Brad Post, cica 1988.  Any use of this
  material without the author's consent is a felony.

********************************************************************************
    __-,                               ___ _________
 __(__)|___                    _______/   |________|          "This is where
`----------|_______________---/       `----_____|___           you are supposed
 (      ___+-----------------<---------_____________-----_  <------ to aim,
  `-----                      `-----------'      |  +---_/      right up their
                                            ____/__/___/_____      shaft!"
 Brad Post: bpost@violet.Berkeley.Edu      |   ======        ||
            ...ucbvax!violet!bpost         |_________________||

*******************************************************************************


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-------- TML Message #265 --------

Date: Wed, 29 Mar 89 16:02:19 -0800
From: (Pure Evil) evil@blake.acs.washington.edu
Subject: Money
Archive-Message-Number: 265


>From: B_MAHONE%UNHH.BITNET@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
>Subject: Money?
...
>Money in the future.  We've always thought it would be bank cards and monster
>ATM's, but...  with the speed of Jump and all it's effects on information
>transfer, are electronic money transfers the norm for characters?
...
>Bob Mahoney

Banking depends upon reliable information.  Interstellar information is
limited by the speed of Jump, effectively introducing lag times upwards of
one week.

The result?  Instant banking is not allowed across interstellar systems.
Would-be entrepreneurs have three options:

* carry suitable currency with them

* barter

* wait for letters of credit to be registered

The first two solutions are obvious, and not particularly efficient.
However, they are often the only choices available, especially in a system
that is not within the political sphere of the entrepreneur's bank.

Letters of credit are more convenient, but can only operate under
well-ordered economic and political systems that span more than one system.
The letter of credit is exactly that: an official transfer of credit from
the banking system of one world to that of another.  To work, the
entrepreneur presents the letter to a bank that has a trade agreement with
his home bank.  Upon authentication of the letter, the entreprenuer is
credited with a certain sum (indicated on the letter).  The foreign bank
trusts that the home bank will credit its (the foreign bank's) account with
this same sum.  Occasionally, actual coinage will be shipped between worlds
to even out any net inbalance of trade.

Of course, letters of credit will be closely inspected for evidence of
forgery.  In fact, many banks will insist that the letters are delivered by
official agents of the Imperium through standard X-boat channels.  Some
banks may require confirmation (particularly for large transfers) from the
home bank --- resulting in long delays while inquiries are sent back and
forth.  Entrepreneurs may be held up for months while credit is "in
transfer."

No wonder the economy is so fragmented.

*** Scott Holter                             evil@blake.acs.washington.edu ***
*** "Maybe I can't save the world, but perhaps I can make it a safer place ***
***                             to have a beer."                           ***

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-------- TML Message #266 --------

Date: Wed, 29 Mar 89 18:05:34 PST
From: jchou@cory.berkeley.edu (James Teh-Tsuey Chou)
Subject: Re: antimatter jump drives
Archive-Message-Number: 266


This is not offical, but I do have a reasonable quick fix.

By using the fuel consumption at TL9, it can be calculated
that you need about 125 MW per jump unit during the 7 day
voyage (actually, it's about 133, but 125 is a more convient
figure).  This DOES give ships additional range at higher
tech level (or more space for cargo, etc).  I don't think
it does unbalance the game.  However, if you are using 
antimatter, you will have a super ship no one can catch up
with.  I suggest  you boost up the price of antimatter
up to elimiate the abuse.

James Chou

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-------- TML Message #267 --------

Subject: Re: X-Boat Routes
Date: 30 Mar 89 11:19:49 PST (Thu)
From: jamesp
Archive-Message-Number: 267



With all these routes:
   [X-boat routes]
> a) Scout/Courier Mail Routes	[Rob Miracle wrote the ">" quoted stuff]
> b) MegaCorp Trade Routes
> c) Sector Trade Routes
> d) Sub-Sector Trade Routes
> e) Fledgling Trade Routes
> f) Free Trader Routes

> I don't
> think that GDW set these up for two reasons, first it would clutter the maps
> and second there are too many variables.

As for cluttering the maps, I have a suggestion...

Print up your hex maps on standard forms (like use postscript to a laser
printer).  Keep all the basic world information that you would see on a
GDW map on the first map.  Then prepare overlay maps that just have the
trade/xboat routes, and no world information, printed on them.  Turn
these into trasnparencies.

Now all you have to do is overlay one or two sets of transparencies at a
time, to see the routes you're really interested in.  If you keep the
maps in a three-ring binder, you're really in business.

James

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-------- TML Message #268 --------

Date: Thu, 30 Mar 89 12:53:08 EST
From: vu0141@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu
Archive-Message-Number: 268


Subject: re: antimatter jump drives

tres@toadwar.ucar.edu writes:
	[At TL 17 (or beyond, perhaps), why is there no antimatter powered
jump drive?]  TL 17 is when antimatter power plants first appear. You can
certainly design a TL 17+ starship with antimatter instead of fusion plants,
(p 64 of Ref's Manual)

	[If I'm missing something] You're missing something.

	[Reading the Traveller rules and supplements leads me to believe
that starship jump drives are powered directly by large capacitor banks]

No. The "jump drive" (which is not of course a "drive"--it is not an engine)
is simply a very large fusion plant which uses up its fuel very quickly
because the jump uses a lot of energy which must be supplied in a very short
amount of time with no power fluctuations. (which is why you risk mis-jump if
you use unrefined fuel on a ship not equipped to use it)

The energy is shunted through these crystals (name escapes me) which puts the
energy into a grid which is around the hull of the starship.  That grid is
more properly what is responsible for jump, but since you only see it when
the ship enters or leaves jump space its easier for the spacers to just point
to the fusion plant and say "thats the jump drive" to the tourists, even though
everybody with a little experience knows thats not what it is.

I got that from Digest Group's Starship Operator's Manual which explains
(probably for the first time) the rational for the various technologies
in Traveler.

[energy absorbed by black globe screens,] - nope.  You can't use this energy.
It goes into the crystals and must be discharged before you want to jump. If
the crystals absorbs the total amount of energy they are able to you must turn
off the black globe or the energy which it absorbs will go elsewhere rather
than into the jump capacitors (ie. you FRY!!)  This has struck me as a strange
method of getting rid of the energy from the black globe, but then again it is
an experimental weapon and the naval engineers had to put all that energy 
*somewhere*.
	

Fred Schiff (vu0141@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu)

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-------- TML Message #269 --------

Date: Thu, 30 Mar 89 13:51:22 EST
From: vu0141@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu
Archive-Message-Number: 269


Subject: X-boat Routes
Reply-To: vu0141@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu

>b) given a text file with the sector or subsector information, what is
>   a good format to store the xboat route information? (I am thinking
>   of a text database format to be compatible with that used for sectors)
In Archive-Message-Number: 263 Rob Miracle says
Well, what you could do is use a format like

0101 System Name   A123456-7 BTrade Codes    A701ImStar1 Star2 Star3 0202
                                                                     ^
                                                  XBoat Companion ---+

This wasn't exactly what I had in mind.  This does not in fact tell me
where the routes are.  Also, I don't think that the format that GDW uses
for the Spinward Marches is quite appropriate. (For one thing you don't
need the stars necessarily, for another its cramped.)

I had more in mind 3 files for each sector:
  name.sector (mainworld generated sector info)
  name.xboats (xboats routes in sector name)
  name.extend (additional info on worlds I'm interested in)

I'm not quite sure what the last would have in it, but if would at
least have the names of the subsectors; I'd like to have them somewhere.

The sector file would have lines like:
Wunderland         2140 C130110-8   Lo Ni Po De     615 IM  

I adopted this from the way Digest Group lists worlds in Traveller's
Digest.  Name first, then location, zone at end after alignment. The
trade classifications can also hold additional info, including Xb, for
an Xboat station.  Then the xboats file will have the info on the graph
which is the route.

The question is how to store that graph.

I made some changes on the gensec program James Perkins wrote which I found in
the archives. I made it compatible with MegaTraveller. It was the base for my
musing about how to do the X-boat routes.

It looks like this:
% gensec nonsense
usage: gensec {-S | density | maturity}
  Generates Traveler sector or subsector.

  S = {A..P}, subsector to generate
  density = generation percentage or rift|sparse|scattered|dense
  maturity = backwater|frontier|mature|cluster
  defaults are entire sector, 50% stellar density, standard frontier maturity.

% gensec -L rift backwater
Unnamed            2627 E335377-4   Lo Ni           021 IM  
Unnamed            2630 C573551-7 S Ni              202 IM  
Unnamed            2729 E7B0535-7   Ni De           520 IM  
Unnamed            2921 B510373-A   Lo Ni           212 IM  


Hot jets!
Fred Schiff (vu0141@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu)

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-------- TML Message #270 --------

Date: Fri, 31 Mar 89 00:39:57 -0500
From: (Dumpmaster John) jco@manatee.cis.ufl.edu
Subject: Grain
Archive-Message-Number: 270



Someone in the last few days asked about shipping grain today.  Well I'm not
sure about ships (But I suppect that it's the same as trucks.)  Anyway, the
reason that you don't see trucks on fire at the side of the roadway because
they are loaded with grain is the trucks are vented.  Normaly they are open
top container trucks w/ a tarp over the top.  

Railways do the same thing.  As far as ships.  It's either open top or a
ship is big enough to have a fancy AC that cleans the dust out.  The fancy
AC is how grain silos do it.  And you do hear about silos blowing up every
once in a while.  

Now then how to do it in Travler.  My way ingore it.  If as a GM I had to
make a ruling on it.  It's in sealed containers (Most likly vacuum packed.
This has the added benifit of volume reduction.)

later 
jco

"What would Rock and Roll be without feedback?" -- D. Gilmour
In Real Life:		UUCP: {gatech|mailrus}!uflorida!beach.cis.ufl.edu!jco
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-------- TML Message #271 --------

Date: 31 Mar 89 12:51:00 CST
From: ("MARK A. POWER") uabmap01@asnuab.asn.net
Subject: Re: Speculative Trade; Trading Campaigns
Archive-Message-Number: 271



In Archive-Message-Number: 257, Adrian Hurt <adrian@cs.hw.ac.uk> says

>I'd go for vacuum, on the grounds that if the ship gets attacked, the cargo
>hold will be depressurised like the rest of the ship. Unless the crew want to
>risk explosive decompression, that is.

	Actually, one of the reasons for listing special shipping 
considerations is this situation.  If you've got a vacuum-sensitive
cargo, you have to take damage to it into account before depressurising
the ship.  If you've got a load of explosive material, you probably want
to think twice before fighting the pirates at all.  If 60 tons of frozen
gourmet dinners are thawing in the hold, that temporary powerplant
malfunction is a lot more serious.  The whole idea is to add a little
variety and role-playing to the otherwise rather boring cycle of
buy-jump-sell-buy-jump-sell.  A side benefit for the referee is it also
gives you a legitimate way to cut into the players profits if the game
gets out of hand.  It's tough (for me) to run a campaign where all the
players are worth millions.  Losing a cargo occasionally can help
prevent this.

	Another problem I see with a trade-centered campaign is that most
of the players don't get to do anything.  Now that I'm running
MegaTraveller, I've got something for the engineer(s) to do (check the
rules for entering jump drive under the Engineer skill in the Player's
Manual), but what about everyone else.  Once my NPC generator is
completed, I can generate NPC passengers, and let the purser assign the
staterooms.  This will also make it a little less obvious when I slip in
a prepared NPC encounter.  I'm also considering, since I have 15mm scale
floor plans for their ship, to each time they prepare to leave port,
hand them scale cargo containers and let them arrange the cargo bay.
That way I can make use of a corrollary (sp?) of Murphy's Law - the
freight loaded furthest from the door belongs to the man who needs it
first.  Does any one have any further ideas?

	Getting back to my original posting, is anyone interested in 
revamping the speculative trade system?  I've got a few entries into my
master cargo table ready.  If there is enough interest, I'll send them
to this list.  If not, I'll be happy to send them directly to anyone who
wants them.


- --------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Power				uabmap01@asnuab.asn.net
Health Information Systems
University of Alabama Hospital
- --------------------------------------------------------------------


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