tim_manley
SOC-12
Is there an app to spreadsheet from freelancetraveller.com is defunct and I no longer have it.
Would be cool if there's an app for that.... ;-)
Would be cool if there's an app for that.... ;-)
CT Book 2 Ship construction App?
- Thread starter tim_manley
- Start date
tim_manley
SOC-12
Whaddya know, I founds this...
http://crucible.cc/traveller/software.htm
Not an app, but still something.
tim_manley
SOC-12
I agree. An app would make creating a large amount of ships and saving them a lot easier.
Heck, you can pretty much create a randomized system to create ships. Now that'd be quite interesting.
"You see a very busy spaceport, there are almost two hundred ships orbiting it"
"I scan them all to see which I like the best so I can steal it."
<GM runs app>
Here are the 200 ships you see......
tim_manley
SOC-12
Yeah, but I have zero coding skills so can never make it happen :-(
Would there plausibly be that many "custom" designs at a given starport?
I have some skill in Python scripting, I've even written a Traveller sector generatot script which is pretty neat, I just need to hone my skills, and maybe I'll do this sooner or later for fun.
Vladika
SOC-14 1K
I would think so in any moderately large, or larger, starport. Space is big and there are many shipyards, many small ones would build "better" designs to break into the market.
Also, in a border area, especially one with independent planets (or for that matter, Darrian, Swordworld, etc.) Why wouldn't there be a bigger, or better (or worse) variety?
Think of the sheer number of Swordworld "prizes" there must be in certain areas of the Spinward Marches.
Here's what I wrote back in 1995. Despite what I called it, it is not purely Book 2, but it is Classic Traveller.
http://eaglestone.pocketempires.com/scripts/SDC.html
http://eaglestone.pocketempires.com/scripts/SDC.html
I can do that.
Compact output would be one line per ship.
Verbose output would be ... more, with text descriptors.
It's easier if the designs are not strict Book 2 hulls; i.e. allowing 300t and 500t hulls.
It's also easier by using formulas (for example, for cost determination).
The basic mission codes would be used.
Hull volume would tend to be lower rather than higher, with 200 thru 400 tons being most common.
Bridge size is probably just going to be 20 tons, for the moment.
Drive ratings would tend to be in the 1s and 2s.
Passenger versus cargo ratio depends on the ship's mission code, with a random element thrown in.
Okay, here's a first stab:
http://eaglestone.pocketempires.com/ships/gen-ships.pl
It generates a "3d6" table of 216 random small starships, in summary format. The ships themselves are generated according to Book-2/Traveller5-like rules, but the defensive loadouts are left vague on purpose. I weighted the likelihood of lower jump and maneuver ratings, and guesstimated the likely mix of passengers, cargo, and defenses.
http://eaglestone.pocketempires.com/ships/gen-ships.pl
It generates a "3d6" table of 216 random small starships, in summary format. The ships themselves are generated according to Book-2/Traveller5-like rules, but the defensive loadouts are left vague on purpose. I weighted the likelihood of lower jump and maneuver ratings, and guesstimated the likely mix of passengers, cargo, and defenses.
tim_manley
SOC-12
That is freakin' AWESOME!!!
You sir, have done a fine piece of work. I look forward to what you can grow this into. Now, I need to figure out how to up-vote you or something.....
Here's how successful software tools are developed:
1. A basic framework is coded up.
2. A laundry list of Want To Have's is worked up.
3. Said list is managed: prioritized, sanitized, modified, etc.
4. Items higher up the list tend to be implemented sooner than items lower on the list.
5. Updates are frequent and incremental.
NOW, a lot of data is generated in that program that's not shown. For example, volumes for drives, fuel, living space, and costs are calculated but not shown.
Since this is a "referee's list", i.e. for "what you see at the starport", most of that detail is not important. However, if this were developed into an Ordered List Of Ships, each entry could have a text block with the standard Classic Traveller boilerplate text.
I thought I would like the ships ordered primarily by mission code, and secondarily by tonnage, but actually I don't like the results. I think I like it completely randomized. Now an option to produce only ships with a particular mission code would be useful.
I would also like to be able to supply an optional random seed value, so that lists can be recovered by simply using the seed value. But I prefer to do that after all the random data I'm going after is determined.
Last edited:
Updated. Added some cost framework behind the scenes. Now displaying the bridge volume (varies from Book 2, but doesn't break anything).
Plus, you can specify one of the handled mission codes for a list exclusively of that type of ship.
Example: http://eaglestone.pocketempires.com/ships/gen-ships.pl?mission=Corsair
I note that many of these ship designs are sub-optimal. That's going to happen unless there is a lot of "business logic" to guide the design process. I've kept things somewhat sane by using Mission codes to enforce passenger, cargo, and defense allocations, but that's just scratching the surface: mission can also imply a "typical" jump and maneuver rating, for example. I think I'll try that next.
Plus, you can specify one of the handled mission codes for a list exclusively of that type of ship.
Example: http://eaglestone.pocketempires.com/ships/gen-ships.pl?mission=Corsair
I note that many of these ship designs are sub-optimal. That's going to happen unless there is a lot of "business logic" to guide the design process. I've kept things somewhat sane by using Mission codes to enforce passenger, cargo, and defense allocations, but that's just scratching the surface: mission can also imply a "typical" jump and maneuver rating, for example. I think I'll try that next.
I'd be in favor of a greater variety, mind you. The question (for the OTU or those that try to stay close to it) is whether or not the standard designs meet the market demand sufficiently to be the predominant vessels in use.
tim_manley
SOC-12
I'd actually like to see the boilerplate block text as well.
tim_manley
SOC-12
heh... I see what you mean:
ID Mission Hull(t) Bridge J M Crew Passengers Cargo(t) Defense(t)
--- ----------- ------- ------ - - ---- ---------- -------- ----------
122 trader 5000 50 1 1 10 0 41 0
a 5,000dt ship with 41t of cargo? interesting.
That's a fun one. That looks like a plot hook to me... (but actually that has to be a bug).
EDIT I've added a "seed" parameter for reproducible results. Example:
http://eaglestone.pocketempires.com/ships/gen-ships.pl?seed=1910
[FONT=arial,helvetica]I've added a "seed" parameter for reproducible results. Example:
http://eaglestone.pocketempires.com/...s.pl?seed=1910
I've also set some jump and maneuver guidelines based on the mission code. I might back those out, but I'll first see how they ride.
I'm also now showing total fuel tonnage.
Here's a potential badass in the "1910" group of ships. Nearly half its tonnage devoted to defense.
[/FONT]
http://eaglestone.pocketempires.com/...s.pl?seed=1910
I've also set some jump and maneuver guidelines based on the mission code. I might back those out, but I'll first see how they ride.
I'm also now showing total fuel tonnage.
Here's a potential badass in the "1910" group of ships. Nearly half its tonnage devoted to defense.
[/FONT]
Code:
DDD Mission Hull(t) Bridge J M Crew Passengers Fuel(t) Cargo(t) Defense(t)
--- ----------- ------- ------ - - ---- ---------- ------- -------- ----------
135 Frigate 3000 38 2 6 21 12 780 0 1423
