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Subject: TML Bundle #173: Msgs 2160-2185
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TML Bundles come from the archives of the Traveller Mailing List,
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------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed Mar  6 21:01:06 PST 1991
From: traveller-request@metolius.wr.tek.com (TML Administrator)
Subject: TML Bundle #173: Table of Contents

-AMN- --Date--- --Sender--------- --Subject-----------------------------------
2160  21-Feb-91 Shannon D. Appel  Traveller != Imperium << I decided not to lon
2161  21-Feb-91 George William He Alternate Campaigns << I've been in a couple 
2163  22-Feb-91 METLAY@vms.cis.pi Traveller Not In the Imperium << Shannon, I'v
2164  22-Feb-91 gsw@moss.att.COM  Re: Traveller != Imperium << Well, Shannon, I
2165  22-Feb-91 plb@violin.att.CO Re: (2160) Traveller != Imperium << Operating
2166  24-Feb-91 za057@zeus.unomah Non-Imperial campaigns << I, to, have run a n
2167  25-Feb-91 Jo Jaquinta       3D Traveller << I also run a non-Imperium Tra
2168  23-Feb-91 f3w@mentor.cc.pur Re: Non-Imperial campaigns... << [Mark's mail
2169  26-Feb-91 tek@CS.UCLA.EDU   Re: 3D Traveller << In msg (2167) "3D Travell
2170  26-Feb-91 09nilles%cuavax.d 3d space.... << >From: Jo Jaquinta <jaymin@ma
2171  26-Feb-91 Arthur Green      Planet generation << G'day all - A question f
2172  26-Feb-91 George William He Fusion Drives (was re: nonimperial campaigns)
2173  27-Feb-91 al646@cleveland.F Stellar Densities << tek@CS.UCLA.EDU (Ted Kim
2174  27-Feb-91 METLAY@vms.cis.pi Inquiries on DGP stuff << My local game store
2175  27-Feb-91 f3w@mentor.cc.pur Re: Fusion drives. << I'm relying on a Charle
2176  27-Feb-91 PHB100@PSUVM.PSU. 100 diameter jump limit again << Greetings tr
2177  28-Feb-91 Andreas Bjorklind Re: Inquiries on DGP stuff << Our TML Histori
2178  28-Feb-91 James T Perkins   Re: Inquiries on DGP stuff << METLAY@vms.cis.
2179  28-Feb-91 asulaima@zephyr.c Addres change << Please note that my address 
2180  01-Mar-91 wilson m liaw     AI release date << AI is scheduled to be rele
2181  01-Mar-91 Jo Jaquinta       Re: 3D Traveller << >I suggest you add this a
2182  28-Feb-91 Richard Johnson   PBEM is Slowly Re-awakening << OK. Now that y
2183  28-Feb-91 Richard Johnson   3-D traveller << Jo asked about running MT ca
2184  01-Mar-91 Mark F. Cook      TDR SIG archives available on Sunbane << Shar
2185  01-Mar-91 sfellows@slate.Mi MTJ- a quick, qualitative look << I got the M
2186  03-Mar-91 woodsb@ecn.purdue Holo capacity << The list has been kind of qu

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2160
Date: Thu, 21 Feb 91 15:06:46 -0900
From: Shannon D. Appel <appel@soda.Berkeley.EDU>
Subject: Traveller != Imperium

I decided not to long ago to start a MegaTraveller game here in Berkeley.
It's been about 2 years since I last ran MT, but I was still feeling a little
burned out on the Imperium.  I'd seen so much of it over the last X years
that it seemed NORMAL.  Trying to recapture to exotic flavor of Traveller
for myself, I decided to go ahead and run my new campaign SOMEWHERE ELSE.
(Somewhere still being developed).  What I'm kind of interested in knowing
is if any one else out there has run Non-Imperium Traveller campaigns
and what interesting things they've done in them.

Thx,
    Shannon Appel

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2161
Date: Thu, 21 Feb 91 22:42:08 -0800
From: George William Herbert <gwh@ocf.Berkeley.EDU>
Subject: Alternate Campaigns


I've been in a couple of campaigns set outside the Imperium, and have a pet
project of my own in the works.

One was a (theoretical, the GM made a new sector somewhere 8-) trans-border
region that hadn't been explored very well yet.  We were hired to go scout
it out and survey it.  It was... interesting.  Especially when higher-than-
Imperial tech gadgets group depended on failed for various reasons, 
leaving some of us stranded DEEP in space.

One setting that I've been working on is the Zhodani core expedition.  It's
only mentioned in passing, but there's a lot of territory it covers, and the
chance to do some very neat things with the setting.

Another is a post-TL20 setting.  A universe with starship-sized portals between
most major planets is a whole different eniverse from a jump-only travel.
And there's allways a ringworld or three 8-)

- - -george william herbert
gwh@ocf.berkeley.edu

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2163
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 91 09:55 EDT
From: METLAY@vms.cis.pitt.edu
Subject: Traveller Not In the Imperium


Shannon, I've run two non-Imperial Traveller campaigns: the first was 
before any information at all on the Imperium was ever published 
anywhere (1977-1978), and the second was a "mini-universe" I whipped
up for a campaign for a course I taught in Role Playing Theory in 
college (no, really! and for credit, too!). If one doesn't mind the
physics of the rules, one can rewrite things easily, and having a
different reality makes jumps like TDR a lot easier as well if one
DOES mind the physics of the Imperium.

There are a number of other folks who have their own universes too;
one fellow whose name eludes me at the moment has published a fair
amount on the subject.

metlay

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2164
From: gsw@moss.att.COM (Jerry Williams)
Subject: Re: Traveller != Imperium
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 91 10:33:28 EST

Well, Shannon, I'm glad you asked.

You see, I've run a number of non-Imperium games and campaigns
(Traveller being my favorite game system).  I'll tell you about
a few of them.  I also still have background notes for some of
them.

Anyway, here are the scenarios:

o Post-Nuclear holocaust.  You've grown up in the wreckage.  There
  are mutant animals and such.  First Contact.  But the Aliens have
  a SECRET, which you must discover.  I ran this as a one-player
  campaign (before Traveller:2300 came out).  It started out more
  like Gamma World than Traveller.  Then the Aliens arrive and
  promise to make everything better.  Yet you don't seem to see any
  real progress, only a few tokens of Alien goodwill.  Why?  A bit of
  detective work is called for.

  One this this campaign did was give me experience creating animals
  using Traveller.

  I tried to give the feel of a broken Earth, after being blasted
  back into the Stone Age, with a few mutants thrown in for good
  measure.  The alien part caters to "detective" PCs, and could be
  eliminated entirely if you wish.  This campaign gives Traveller
  players a chance to play larger-than-life heroes, such as are often
  seen only in D&D-type games.

o Exploration mission.  Aiuconium (Ay-You-Ko-Nee-Um) has been
  discovered.  It is a stable heavy element which emits rays which
  stabilize nuclear reactions, making nuclear fusion a reality.  You
  are in an advanced Shuttle scanning the Moon for these ray
  emissions.  What you discover instead is a frontier cruiser.
  Another First Contact scenario, only this time you discover that
  the galaxy is at war and you must choose sides.  I recently ran
  the first part of this at a convention.  It went over pretty well.
  I made great use of impromptu skill rolls for this one.

  The cruiser had a definite Imperial feel, although this was not the
  Imperium.  This was kind of a choice of the lesser of two evils --
  an Empire which will plunder the Earth for its resources, leaving
  its people alone, or a Federation which will bring its technology
  to the Earth, but will bring it into the war as well, and actively
  "assimilate" us into its culture.  Real enterprising PCs might be
  able to find a way to avoid both and buy the Earth a few more years
  of anonymity.

o Another campaign I developed was non-Imperium, non-Earth, etc:
  You are a human from a free Federation, which has been plagued by
  attacks from a hostile alien race.  Eventually, open war breaks out
  between the two races.  The problem is that you don't know where
  the alien bases are -- they are a complete unknown.  Meanwhile,
  contact is made with another race, which promises to help you by
  leading you to the hostile aliens' capital.  What you don't know is
  that they are trying to manipulate the war so that both sides are
  destroyed and they can pick up the pieces.

  This is a kind of grand campaign, where the players get to make
  galaxy-affecting decisions.  One thing that's very important to
  this type of campaign is to provide LOTS of background material,
  most of which will never get used.  You also have to be able to
  "wing it" pretty well.

  As a point of interest: the characters in this campaign destroyed
  the first envoy from the "friendly" race, thinking it was an attack
  from their traditional enemies (they DID warn them with radio
  messages, but the envoy used a different method of communication).
  They then felt so guilty after learning of their mistake that they
  fell right into the trap unprepared.  They were so unconventional,
  though (and you would not believe the lucky skill rolls they made),
  that they managed to come through in the end.  As an example, when
  attacked by a type of battle cruiser/starbase, they realized that
  their long range fighter would never survive, so blasted their way
  into the hanger, then through interior walls until they got to an
  access shaft to the core (like what Lando Calrissian did to the
  second death star, only crazier).

I can't remember the other totally non-Imperium campaigns at this
time, BUT I'd like to point out another option: what about devising
your own sector/star/star cluster/whatever?

Here are two more background settings I have used:

o You are pirates in a star system on the edge of the Imperium.  You
  don't know about Imperial events, and don't care.  You live off of
  booty from passing ships.

  This is a fun campaign to run, and to be in.  I once played in one
  of these campaigns as a deposed barbarian chieftain, who was
  vicious with a sword.  The GM put us on an Ancients asteroid base,
  and kept trying to get us involved in Imperial matters.  We only
  paid attention to things that would help us in our piracy, ignoring
  the rest.  We didn't want that kind of campaign.  We were PIRATES,
  damn it, not research scientists.  That was lots of fun.

o You are in a star cluster called The Barrens.  They have a unique
  atmosphere which makes them a rather unpleasant place to live, and
  they have always been a bunch of backwater worlds, despite their
  proximity to the sector capitol of the Diaspora sector.  After the
  assassination of Strephon, they find that The Barrens are squeezed
  uncomfortably between Daibei, the Solomani Confederation, and the
  Imperial Marines (which have a base a few parsecs away).  Their
  solution -- ignore everything that is going on around them, and get
  ignored in return.

  I've set up two campaigns in this setting.  It is based in the
  Imperium (although I've made a few minor changes here and there),
  but they have no contact with it.  Each of the five worlds has a
  unique flavor to it, uncorrupted by Imperial tampering.

  "Travellers' Aid Society?  Are you joking?" -- you get the picture.

  I also took a great deal of latitude in the way things work when
  running these campaigns.

My point with the last two campaigns is this: if you place your
campaign appropriately, you can put it in the Imperial setting but
make it entirely your own, using only what you want from the
Imperium.

The advantage of the Imperium is the background knowledge you have
(it's tough to design a consistent universe, and keep it interesting).
Other good sources of background knowledge include using the Earth of
the near future (or present, or past), or books, or movies.

Star Wars is a good model for a universe, as is Star Trek.  I've done
some background work using both systems in Traveller.  You need to
use antimatter drives for Star Trek, but it works.  This was before
the proliferation of RPG's though.  Each of these now has its own
game system.  There are also a number of campaign possibilities in
the Foundation universe, although I have not worked on any of them.

*********
Gerald Williams
att!moss!gsw
gsw@moss.att.com
(201)386-2059
*********

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2165
From: plb@violin.att.COM
Subject: Re: (2160) Traveller != Imperium
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 91 8:45:43 EST

Operating System: HP-UX A.B7.00 U
Organization: AT&T-BL, Red Hill System Administration Group (HRSAG)
Location: HR 2C119
Phone: (201) 615-4419
Return-receipt:
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL5]

*| is if any one else out there has run Non-Imperium Traveller campaigns
*| and what interesting things they've done in them.
*| 
*| Thx,

Shannon,

I was running a campaign for a while that had the premise that an
over-populated earth had sent sleeper ships out to colonize the
stars.   The result was a collection of ethnic enclaves.  These
enclaves took on some flavor that appealed to the people within
that enclave.   For instance, I had "Nihon" which was the Japanese
enclave that had taken the flavor of fuedal Japan of the 14th and
15th century... only at tech 12!  They happened to get along real
well with the Aslan as well.

There were some tech 15 areas within my universe, but the average
was tech 11 or 12.  


In my universe, the Imperium was known about, but rarely interacted
with.  This was to keep some of my players happy that wanted to
have characters with an Imperial background.  The major difference
was that I had the Imperium displaced in space by a few dozen
sectors so that they did not interfere with the history of Terra
and it's outplaced colonies.   Terra, for its part by now had
killed itself off in a series of cataclysmic wars due to the
pressures of overpopulation.  The original reason behind the
diaspora of its peoples to the colonies.


- - -- 
Peter L. Berghold | TELEPHONE: +1 (908) 615-4419
- - ------------------+---------------------------------------------------
EMAIL ADDRESSES:   BIX - PETEB  COMPU$ERVE - 70152,3017 
FAX (908) 706-2004 DELPHI - BERGHOLD GENIE - PBERGHOLD

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2166
Date: 24 Feb 91 11:26:00 CDT
From: za057@zeus.unomaha.edu
Subject: Non-Imperial campaigns

I, to, have run a non-imperial campaign.  It was based on an expedition 
spinward, past all of the races in that direction  (hivers and K'kree).

The party ran into new empires and new races at every corner, and of
course very little humaniti...

The only advantage of having an Imperium campaign is all of the source
material out for the game, but if you want to run a non-imperial campaign,
GO AHEAD!!!

David West


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

Archive-Message-Number: 2167
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 91 14:04:53 GMT
From: Jo Jaquinta <jaymin@maths.tcd.ie>
Subject: 3D Traveller

	I also run a non-Imperium Traveller. I was quite surprised at the 
number of people who do/did. Anyhow, I have another question.
	Traveller, as published, is two dimensional. Space, at least on a
stellar scale, has no depth. You've got rimward, coreward, spinward and
trailing but no above or below. No rationalisation. No explination. Does anyone
out there run Traveller in a three dimensional universe? E.g. where sectors
are 10x10x10.

				Jo Jaquinta
				lgrant@maths.tcd.ie

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2168
Date: Sat, 23 Feb 91 00:48:36 -0500
From: f3w@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Mark Gellis)
Subject: Re: Non-Imperial campaigns...

[Mark's mail came to traveller-request by mistake, so I forwarded it to
the Traveller Mailing List at large -- James]

I've never run a traditional Traveller campaign, but I've used something
like the Traveller system (actually, it's gradually mutated into something
wiquite different, including a bunch of new characteristics, lots of new
skills, and a weapon system that's reasonably close to realistic--i.e.,
Jesus!  They're shooting REAL guns at us!  I mean, we could get KILLED
from ONE SHOT!  Jeez!

Anyway, and this background stuff is copyright Mark Gellis 1991, it's
fifty thousand years in the future, and humanity is now a young, but
respected member of the intergalactic community known as the Network.
The Network spans the universe.  There are no jump drives, people se
(oops, that should be "use") hypergates, enormous machines that can
punch portals through spacetime...they have no maximum range so people
can just cross the distance between galaxies at will.  In other words,
you've got as many solar systems to play with as you need.

There are three large human governments--the Solian Commonwealth, the
Po Empire, and the Ocyron Federation.  Technically, Solia are the good
guys ("good" a relative term in politics).  There are also dozens of
smaller federations, hundreds of independent systems, and millions of
independent nation-states in the thousands of human-controlled solar
systems.

There are more aliens than you can shake a stick at.  If you want an
alien character, bounce an idea off me and if I don't think it will
needlessly unbalance the game, it's yours.

Technology has reached a high and stable level.  Assume Tech Level 20 
is the norm, except there are no psionics and anti-gravity (sorry, I
just don't believe in 'em)(), although some civilizations are rumored
to have much higher technology at their disposal.  Eeek!

Don't worry about uncontrolled mayhem.  The universe does not have a
government--it's too big--but it does have caretakers.  Long ago, an
ancient race (actually, several of them, working as allies) fought
another ancient race and ITS allies, and won, so the universe was
not devoured by the bad guys several billion years ago, and the good
guys built the Modems, a machine race who own, control, and often are
the hypergates, and who have a racial prerogative to observe the
organics and make sure they don't genocide each other out of existence
(murder and war are okay, but genocide and uncontrolled expansion
are no-nos).  This is actually my explanation for why WE are here
now--after all, if you have intelligent life and FTL travel billions
of years ago, they would have kept expanding and colonized Earth 
and we would never have evolved, unless something stopped them.  (Sound
bizarre...try this experiment, a civilization with a trillion people
doubles its population ONLY once every million years, but it can
travel at infinite speed and its doubling rate starts in a hundred
solar system region two billion years ago...what's one trillion
doubled TWO THOUSAND times?  A lot of aliens, and no room for poor
evolving proto-humans.)

Of course, and many of you have listened to me chat about this every
now and then, I really have all of my adventures in only ONE solar
system.  How can I do this?  Simple.  Any space industrialized solar
system, with an asteroid belt (which I assume most of them have, or
will have after they shatter a few big moons) and a sun for solar power
and gas giants and comets for hydrogen has the raw materials to build
habitats (city-states) for several hundred billion people.  Usually,
I figure, you end up with a few million habitats organized into a few
hundred archipelagos.  Each habitat is its own city-state, but the
archipelagos are nations or federations, which are either independent,
or have allied or joined some larger federation, like the Solian
Commonwealth.  

Can you say, "Gee Mark, that sounds like an awful lot of places to
set adventures...and each habitat can have its own set of corrupt local
politicians, local criminals, local celebrities, etc., and so on"?

Why yes, it is.  That's why I like it.  I have an infinite range of
possibilities to work with, and I just narrow down to a particular locale
each campaign (or send people running around the system) and work out
the details.

Oh, did I mention that since there is no anti-gravity, and people are
limited to reaction drives (like a 1,000,000 Isp fusion drive--the most
common spacecraft drive) that the cometary halos of every solar system
are effectively a permanent frontier?  They're so spread out that no 
government can possibly control them, and they contain an enormous
number of cometary nuclei, which can each be used as a base (big ones
can be used as raw materials for entire habitats), so you get a lot
of free nations, some of them basically pirate nations, out in the
cometary halo of each solar system.  Good for adventures.  

Anyone who has any comments, etc., I would be interested, but it might
be better to send them to me via email, so we don't tie up the newsgroup,
since this is so different from the regular Traveller that it might not
really be fair to people who are interested only in the GDW games, etc.

[As list admin, I feel that FOLLOWUPs on specific setups are indeed best
directed at the orginator, but PLEASE feel free to send in an OVERVIEW
of your setup as Mark and others have kindly shared -- James]

Anyway, enjoy.

Mark
f3w@mentor.cc.purdue.edu



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

Archive-Message-Number: 2169
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 91 08:24:28 -0800
From: tek@CS.UCLA.EDU (Ted Kim (Random Dude))
Subject: Re: 3D Traveller

In msg (2167) "3D Traveller", lgrant@maths.tcd.ie (Jo Jaquinta) writes:
>
> Traveller, as published, is two dimensional. Space, at least on a
> stellar scale, has no depth. You've got rimward, coreward, spinward
> and trailing but no above or below. No rationalisation. No
> explination. Does anyone out there run Traveller in a three
> dimensional universe? E.g. where sectors are 10x10x10.
>

I have always wanted to play Traveller with 3D star maps. This is
something which has always bothered me about the standard subsector
maps. I suspect GDW kept things 2D for simplicity, but I always
thought this might make things more interesting, especially in border
areas. 

I suggest you add this as an option to sysgen5 (or whatever the next
version is). The key thing to keep in mind is to maintain the average
3D interstellar distances close to that of the 2D game. Otherwise,
game balance as far as jump drives go might be thrown off. (BTW, does
any one know what the actual stellar density is in the various parts
of the galaxy?) 

- - -ted

Ted Kim                           Internet: tek@penzance.cs.ucla.edu
UCLA Computer Science Department  UUCP:     ...!{uunet|ucbvax}!cs.ucla.edu!tek
3804C Boelter Hall                Phone:    (213)206-8696
Los Angeles, CA 90024             FAX:      (213)825-2273

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2170
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 91 09:16:39 EST
From: 09nilles%cuavax.dnet@netcon.cua.edu (Fiver Toadflax)
Subject: 3d space....

>From: Jo Jaquinta <jaymin@maths.tcd.ie>
>Subject: (2167) 3D Traveller
> 
>	I also run a non-Imperium Traveller. I was quite surprised at the
>number of people who do/did. Anyhow, I have another question.
>	Traveller, as published, is two dimensional. Space, at least on a
>stellar scale, has no depth. You've got rimward, coreward, spinward and
>trailing but no above or below. No rationalisation. No explination. Does anyone
>out there run Traveller in a three dimensional universe? E.g. where sectors
>are 10x10x10.

No, but I can see why GDW did not make it 3d.  Consider the problems
involved in displaying such a map.  The best and most accurate would be
a hologram.  But we haven't gotten that far yet....
An easier way would be multiple levels of 2d maps.  A real pain to use.
Another way would be to have notes about how far a system was above or
below the major 2d plane.

Dave
09nilles@cuavax.dnet.cua.edu

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2171
Date:         Tue, 26 Feb 91 20:33:56 GMT
From: Arthur Green <AJGREEN%IRLEARN@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU>
Subject:      Planet generation

G'day all -
            A question for planet generators ... how much do you cheat?
I'm in the middle of using The World Builder's Handbook to detail up Wardn
(in the goodole Spinward Marches) and have ended up with a world orbiting
a giant type M star (which means a year of something like 160 standard
years) and an axial tilt of 40-odd degrees (which means mondo extremes
of temperature through the seasons). Only snag is, the base temperature
is a bit on the high side. Using Book 6 I could fiddle with the albedo
values toget a nice temperature, but I haven't gone into WBH in enough
depth to get a good feel for how much I can stretch things.

As an aside, what do people think of the chances of indigenous life (not
necessarily intelligent on a world orbiting a Type M giant?

 - Arthur
   AJGREEN@IRLEARN.UCD.IE (or AJGREEN@irlearn.bitnet)
   "A waist is a terrible thing to mind"

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2172
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 91 17:49:34 -0800
From: George William Herbert <gwh@ocf.Berkeley.EDU>
Subject: Fusion Drives (was re: nonimperial campaigns)


Mark [ f3w@mentor.cc.purdue.edu ] mentioned 1,000,000 Isp fusion
drives in a 'realistic' lower-tech Traveller setting.

Antimatter _might_ make a million.  Try ten to a hundred thousand
for good fusion.

- - -george
gwh@ocf.berkeley.edu

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2173
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 91 10:28:25 -0500
From: al646@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (T. L. Hayes)
Subject: Stellar Densities



tek@CS.UCLA.EDU (Ted Kim (Random Dude)) writes:

>game balance as far as jump drives go might be thrown off. (BTW, does
>any one know what the actual stellar density is in the various parts
>of the galaxy?)

In the vicinity of our Sun the denisty is about 1 star per 10 cubic parsecs
or an average of 2.1 parsec between stars (in three dimensions).  Of course
this is near our Sun and things would certainly vary as you move in and out
of galatic arms, enter the core, move perpendicular to the plane of the
galaxy or change galatic types such as to an elliptical or irregular galaxy.

Near the core of our galaxy the estimated densities of stars per cubic parsec
goes something like:
Distance      	Number of
from Center	Stars per
in PC		Cubic Parsec
  0.1		3 x 10E7
  1.0		4 x 10E5
 10.0		7 x 10E3
 20.0		2 x 10E3

Hope this helps

TLH

- - --
T.L.Hayes                  |  Personal Mail: hayes@ll.mit.edu
MIT/Lincoln Laboratory     |              - or -
Lexington, MA              |  General Mail : al646@cleveland.Freenet.Edu

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2174
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 91 12:00 EDT
From: METLAY@vms.cis.pitt.edu
Subject: Inquiries on DGP stuff


My local game store is hopeless when it comes to MegaTraveller support.
They didn't even know tht the Travellers' Digest was changing its name,
as it turns out, so I've been waiting around for the first issue of 
the MegaTraveller Journal and it was never ordered in the first place.

Argh!

Could someone with access to a REAL game store do their beleaguered
Historian a favor and help him get all of the MTJ back issues that
are out so far? Also, I've seen FLAMING EYE in the stores, but have
any other promised DGP books been released-- in particular, the second
volume of the Aliens books, Solomani and Aslan?

thanks
metlay

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2175
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 91 01:18:29 -0500
From: f3w@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Mark Gellis)
Subject: Re: Fusion drives.

I'm relying on a Charles Sheffield article in a New Destinies issue (I'm
sorry, I can't find my copy right now, but I will post the reference
later if anyone wants it) that is relying on the Daedelus project's
estimate of an Isp of 1,000,000.  I actually checked one source, which I
forgot to write down the name of, that listed the potential Isp of
fusion drives at 2.4 million (assuming perfect efficiency, etc.).  I'm
assuming a) 40% of the ideal potential is conservative, but fair, and b)
my Traveller campaign is set far enough in the future that
matter-antimatter isn't even a "neat idea" anymore (anyone get that
reference?)...the engineering problems involved in getting a fusion
drive to its full potential are ancient history to these people.  I do
agree that, sadly, it will probably be a long time before we are able to
achieve this kind of efficiency with fusion, probably, in Traveller
terms, we're talking at least Tech.  12 or 13.

By the way, Sheffield also lists matter-antimatter at about 18,000,000 Isp.
I admit that I do cheat a bit and use 20,000,000; it's much easier to
figure things out that way.  :)

Mark

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2176
Date:    Wed, 27 Feb 91 14:00 EST
From: PHB100@PSUVM.PSU.EDU
Subject: 100 diameter jump limit again

Greetings travellers,

In one of the later posts about the 100 diameter jump limit, Dan Corrin says:
>
>Third, in a talk given by Mark Miller, he always intended there to be a
>limited (but large) number of points that a ship could jump from/to,
>otherwise piracy couldn't exist (qv my other article in this digest).
>
>                   -Dan Corrin

This brings up a question, can you jump from any point outside the 100 diameter
limit regardless of destination?  I.E.  do you have to be on the same side of
the gravity source as your destination?  Or can you jump "through" a G source?
Wouldn't this drop you out of jumpspace when you reenter the 100 D limit?

If you do indeed have to be on the same side as your destination, would this
significantly change in-system travel times for some ships depending on your
destination?  Or will this not matter to a constant acceleration?  How about
you physics/astronautic types doing some calculations for travel times to the
100 diameter limit at 90 - 120 degrees around the other side of the gravity
source to see if it makes a significant time difference?

- - -------
In the dark no one can hear the color of your eyes.
Disclaimer:  This is me.  Do I sound like anyone else?

Paul Baughman          PHB100@psuvm.bitnet

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2177
From: Andreas Bjorklind <abj@IDA.LiU.SE>
Date: Thu, 28 Feb 91 08:56:33 +0100
Subject: Re: Inquiries on DGP stuff


Our TML Historian asked some questions about DGP's publications. I
have in fact been in contact with the DGP by phone. From this I
understood that:

1) The first issue of MTJ is not yet out (or, wasn't when I spoke to
them two weeks ago). It should be out real soon now, though. The
person I spoke to said that the premiere issue should be out in
February. So, it's is just around the corner!

2) Yes, Flaming Eye is out, and has been so for a couple of months.
Manhunt is postponed, and will be released as a part of their Onnesium
triology this fall instead. Apart from this there is nothing more
advertised except their Grand Survey Software Package (or whatever
it's called). No word about their Aliens-series or Starship Operator's
Manual volume 2, or anyhting else.

3) A.I. (tm) is their new role-playing game to be released this fall
(som I suppose a lot of their energy right now goes into this!). I
asked them for a short resume of the concept, and I got it. If you're
interested I can pass on whet they said about it.

Regarding the ftp-site: Have anyone been successful in connecting to
sunbane lately? I haven't succeeded at all the last few weeks! And I
want to check that new trade-software... Could anyone send me a
mail-copy of the trade-software?

[MTJ is shipping now! Please feel free to share the AI summary with the
TML if you like.  I've been on sunbane Feb 22 and Feb 28 (today).  It
works fine; are you aware that a couple months ago the ftp address
changed to 129.100.100.12? The new trade software is there, and I have a
copy of it.  If one last ftp to sunbane fails to work, let me know and I
will send you a copy.  -- James]

/andreas
- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|G    Mr. Andreas Bjorklind, Laboratory for Library and Information       W|
|O  Science, Department of Computer and Information Science, Linkoping    O|
|S    University, S-581 83 Linkoping, Sweden. Tel. +46 13 28 19 69        W|
|H Internet: abj@ida.liu.se, UUCP: sunic!liuida!abj, Bitnet: abj@seliuida !|
- - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2178
Subject: Re: Inquiries on DGP stuff 
Date: Thu, 28 Feb 91 11:30:02 PST
From: James T Perkins <jamesp@metolius.WR>


METLAY@vms.cis.pitt.edu writes:
> Could someone with access to a REAL game store do their beleaguered
> Historian a favor and help him get all of the MTJ back issues that
> are out so far? Also, I've seen FLAMING EYE in the stores, but have
> any other promised DGP books been released-- in particular, the second
> volume of the Aliens books, Solomani and Aslan?

Metlay, I just gave The Military Corner (Portland gaming shop) a call.
It looks like the MegaTraveller Journal will be there today, or at least
sometime in the next week.  I've been eagerly awaiting this mag!

The most recent DGP products that I know of are Vilani and Vargr,
Knightfall, and Flaming Eye.  No-one has any idea when Solomani and
Aslan or AI will be coming out, but TMC usually gets only about a week's
notice from their wholesaler (although TMC sold direct from DGP when the
company was a fledgling).  As soon as I hear of any more new products,
I'll be glad to make it generally known.  I pity you, being stuck in a
Traveller-product void.

James
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Traveller Mailing List Administrator	     James T Perkins @ Tektronix, Inc
traveller-request@metolius.wr.tek.com	     Beaverton, Oregon, USA
uunet!metolius.wr.tek.com!traveller-request  "Load Auto/Evade, Beowulf!"

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2179
Date: Thu, 28 Feb 91 14:55:13  19
From: asulaima@zephyr.cair.du.edu (SULAIMAN)
Subject: Addres change

Please note that my address will no longer be valid after March 1
Could you please now send my mail from the traveller digest to

	sulaiman@ecs.umass.edu

Thank You
Ameer Z. Sulaiman


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

Archive-Message-Number: 2180
From: wilson m liaw <macgyver@cis.ohio-state.edu>
Subject: AI release date
Date: Fri, 1 Mar 91 0:12:33 EST

AI is scheduled to be released on October this year. 

				Mac

Wilson MacGyver                      | In every heart, there is a time machine
Internet:macgyver@cis.ohio-state.edu | if you believe in your memeory. Trace
=====================================| every place you've been, you know what
Disclaimer:All opinions are mine only| it means.    -Encouragement from Martika

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2181
Date: Fri, 1 Mar 91 14:16:02 +0100
From: Jo Jaquinta <jaymin@maths.tcd.ie>
Subject: Re: 3D Traveller

>I suggest you add this as an option to sysgen5 (or whatever the next
>version is).
	*Every* release of sysgen has been three dimensional! Sysgen 5
is to extend mapping to roads and city plans. I have had absolutely
zero feedback on it though and won't bother posting any more updates.
	I use it extensively to run my own (3D) campaign.
Date: Fri, 1 Mar 91 13:02:03 GMT
Sender: jaymin@maths.tcd.ie

>but I always thought this might make things more interesting, especially 
>in border areas.
	Borders are difficult to define, impossible to defend. Fleets have
to operate like packs.
 
>The key thing to keep in mind is to maintain the average
>3D interstellar distances close to that of the 2D game. Otherwise,
>game balance as far as jump drives go might be thrown off.
	It is impossible to keep the average the same. Since the
number of systems increases by r^3 in 3D and r^2 in 2D, if you have
the same density at jump-1 it will be off for jump-2, etc.
	The main difference I have found is the universe is so LARGE. In
a 10x10x10 "subsector" there are several hundred stars. With a jump-2 ship,
say, an amazing number of different stars can be reached in just a few
jumps. This is why sysgen (and Computer-Aided-Traveller) is a necessity 
for me.
	"Game balance" is a laughable concept. Any system of rules, no matter
what they are, will reach a point of equilibrium. If the referee correctly
understands what that point is and creates the initial position of the universe
accordingly you will have balance. Otherwise as events proceed the universe
will drift toward that point.
 
>I can see why GDW did not make it 3d. [associated problems]...
	It could have at least been rationalised. E.g. that jump
drives only work along planes paralell to the galactic plane. Thus
several planes (paralell universes?) might exist in our single galaxy
only reachable by slow-ships (or perhaps misjumps). Endless possibilitys.
Perhaps TDR would like to include this concept. That way everyone's favourite
non-Imperial traveller can co-exist!

				Jo Jaquinta
				jaymin@maths.tcd.ie

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2182
Subject: PBEM is Slowly Re-awakening
Date: Thu, 28 Feb 91 17:57:10 PST
From: Richard Johnson <agora.rain.com!richard@tessi.UUCP>

OK.

Now that you've all had a week to think it over carefully,
you can send in your PBEM turns.  Please try to limit yourselves
to a couple of play-type turns, and a moderate amount of 
inter-character discussion.  I, in turn, will endeavor to have
a resonse out ASAP.

Thanks.
Richard


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

Archive-Message-Number: 2183
Subject: 3-D traveller
Date: Thu, 28 Feb 91 17:53:41 PST
From: Richard Johnson <agora.rain.com!richard@tessi.UUCP>

Jo asked about running MT campaigns in a 3-D universe.

I tried once.  Space seems just too sparse to get away
with it unless you start to "fudge" jump limitations too
(like pilot X means you add X to the total "hexes" you
can jump).

I rationalize the map as a high distorted, non-representational
view of space.  This is what the Imperium looks like to your
jump drive, not your eyes.  Then the view is flattened to fit
on paper.  (Which is something that makes *no* sense in an
age of holodynamics and virtual reality...)

Richard

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2184
From: Mark F. Cook <markc@hpcvss.cv.hp.COM>
Subject: TDR SIG archives available on Sunbane
Date: Fri, 1 Mar 91 13:01:37 PST

Shar files containing monthly bundles of the TDR SIG mail traffic are
now available by anonymous ftp from Sunbane (129.100.100.12).  Look
in ~ftp/pub/traveller/TDR.  As of today (3/1/91), bundles are available
for Dec90, Jan91, and Feb91 (with the appropiate .sh suffix on each
file).

TDR traffic has died off to almost nothing.  At the current rate of
decline, there may not be a Mar91 TDR archive!  Come on, all you TDR
members.  If we're going to fix the mechanical problems with MT, we'd
better get to it.  (In my own defense, I'm about to start collaborating
with Iain Fogg again on Firefight! ver. 1.1.)

Later,

        - Mark F. Cook (TDR Archivist)

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

Archive-Message-Number: 2185
Date: Fri, 1 Mar 91 15:21:09 -0700
From: sfellows@slate.Mines.Colorado.EDU (FELLOWS STEVEN B)
Subject: MTJ- a quick, qualitative look

 I got the MTJ last Sunday.  Cover price is $5.95.  It includes a white on
black map of the Domain of Deneb. Length: 56 pages

So far I have not read it (much).  Just glancing through it, it is very
much like the Digest except it deals completely with MegaT.  The artwork ,
with a very nice cover, is a great improvement over before (on the whole).
Some noted things (I am glancing at it while typing), there are equipment
sheets and a discussion of the different types of battle dress and there is
an article titled,"A Concise History of the Rebellion", written by my
friend Clay Bush.  Should be really useful to someone like me who just got
into Traveller a year after the release of MegaT.  There is an adventure
which corresponds to the front cover and a few other things.

I noted a lack of material on Gming or design itself, and no Q&A, but
looking on the back page, they promise this in the next issue.

Overall, it was pretty much what I expected:  Not a startling improvement
over the Digest, but more articles dealing with the currents state of
the game. Note: there are no articles that deal with Traveller (ie. the
form of the game before MegaT was released) but I doubt anyone could not
use this material in a "old" Traveller format.

Maybe someone out there can give a detailed report of the contents.

Steven B. Fellows
sfellows@slate.mines.colorado.edu


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

Archive-Message-Number: 2186
From: woodsb@ecn.purdue.edu (Brent L. Woods)
Subject: Holo capacity
Date: Sun, 3 Mar 91 5:46:33 EST


     The list has been kind of quiet today, so I thought I'd ask a
quick question:

     What's the data capacity of a holocrystal?  I've taken a
(admittedly superficial) look through all the references I have here
and all I could find was a note in _Traveller's Digest_ 10 that one
holocrystal can hold about 5 hours of holographic video.  That's fine,
as far as it goes, but it doesn't tell me how much raw data the
crystal can hold.  If it'll hold 5 hours of video, I'd assume that the
capacity is fairly large, but *how* large?  500 Mbytes?  1 Gbyte?  1
Terabyte?  More?

     The reason I'm asking is that I'm trying to find out how much
data can be contained in a cubic meter of holocrystals (I'm assuming
one crystal every 2 cm, or 125,000 crystals in a 1 kl lattice).  After
I find *that* out, then I can estimate the capacity of a sphere of
crystals 100 km in diameter.  Yeah, that was *kilometers*.  I'm writing
a scenario about an old (about the end of the Rule of Man) archive
system.  Large capacity, eh?  It fills the center of a gas giant moon.
Doc Smith would have been proud, eh?  ;-)

     Now that I think about it, this could be more generally expressed
as, "What kind of data format is used in Traveller technology?"  Sure,
an 8-bit byte is a _de facto_ standard today, but it doesn't necessarily
*have* to be (at one time, it wasn't).  Also, does one "byte" correspond
to one text character, or are all files stored in a binary form that
includes some user-transparent data compression?  If so, do you express
the capacity of storage media in arbitrary-number-of-bits units (i. e.,
its physical capacity) or the amount of data that can be compressed
onto it (its *practical* capacity).  Heck, with lharc, I can squeeze
1.8 Mbytes of (text) data onto one 880 Kbyte Amiga disk.  Could a TL 15
mass storage system do any less?


- - --
     Brent

INTERNET:  woodsb@gn.ecn.purdue.edu
USNAIL:  2818 S. Sunrise Dr.  /  New Palestine, IN  46163
PHONE:  +1 (317) 861-4844 (voice)


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

End of TML Bundle
*****************

