Because Combat Medic got a change of username, and quotes are not dynamically linked to the originals nor the user account numer.
embracing retro 'puters
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Because Combat Medic got a change of username, and quotes are not dynamically linked to the originals nor the user account numer.
kilemall
SOC-14 5K
In our Active Duty IISS campaign, my players also convinced me that a Suleiman on active duty would have a better computer than a 1bis. (To be honest, I didn't need much convincing.) I don't remember of we went with a Model 2bis, 3, or 4 or if I put different models about different ships at different times, but they did get the upgrade they wanted.
That's an interesting idea. I'm using the computer Model to determine range with an eye towards having the old civ .5 LS detect/military-scout 2 LS detect/3 LS track paradigm work with TL and Model, but the 1bis was coming up short.
Having an uprated sensor fit that then gets derated (like pulling top electronics from USN warships before giving to a secondary ally) and saving millions of credits of risk and equipment reuse with the Detached Duty ships neatly solves the issue.
Hmm, 2 Bis seems tailor made, I treat that as a Model/3 that goes to Model/1 with first hit, 0 EP so no power hit, just going to be a little more scrunched in the cargo bay- or could fudge with all that bridge space.
18 MCr- worth half the ship, but makes them capable little machines- with one of my EM fits being Radio, that little thing can pick up distress signals- or do fleet comms/reporting at AU ranges in wartime. Mass detection for all that gravitic mapping for jumps, that refit gives a slot for more conventional active systems like radar and one of the lidars.
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
Thank you for the explanation. I was not aware that you could change user names.
It's an idea I've been kicking around for a long time. So long ago, as a matter of fact, that I don't remember if I first came up with the idea or if one of my players did!
There are passages in Traders and Gunboats and elsewhere about how detached duty "Sulies" and those sold out of service are stripped down versions of the ones on active duty. There are also mentions in a few places about how the "attic" and the rear port compartment are actually configurable "mission spaces" which carry whatever equipment necessary for the ship's roles. (I know T&G mentions different equipment being carried for survey and courier work.)
We messed around with sensor ranges too because "homebrewing" and "kitbashing" was what you did back then if you played RPGs or wargames. The designers actually expected it! We were constantly fiddling with stuff trying to come up with a HG2/Mayday "fusion" of sorts while also adding "overlooked" details like differing sensor ranges. While we never quite succeeded, it was still fun.
I do remember various "Computer Size X and/or TL Y = Sensor Range Z" rules, but none really worked for us. Beyond that, the details are lost to time. I also remember one player pointing to the increases in computer size by model and asking that whether that increase has to do with the computer or the computer plus all it's "peripherals". We'd already been explaining "computer" volume as really "computer plus X, Y, and Z" volume. Because of that the player pointed out that the 1dT increase from Models 1/1bis to Models 2/2bis wouldn't just be the computer getting bigger but would be the "peripherals" getting bigger too.
That's precisely the Real World example we followed because all of us were ex-military and most of us were ex-Navy.
2bis is a sweet spot. It's needs another dTon which you can find in the "attic" or "forward sensor position". If, like we did, you assume that additional volume is more than just computing equipment, assigning the required volume increase to the forward sensor position is a good fit. 2bis is also good because there is no additional power requirement over either Model 1 types. (The fact that power requirements increased like they did was another "reason" for our "computer plus X, Y, and Z" assumptions.)
ISTR the players having a Model 3 aboard on occasion which they could operate as a Model 3 IF they chose to pay the EP cost. (Shades of SFB there.) I don't remember what the computer defaulted to when the EP wasn't available but I'd guess it would have a non-bis version.
Very pricey, true. A 14MCr bump over the installed model and that aboard a vessel which only costs ~28MCr to begin with. But, if the upgrade is "modular" in some fashion, what if the IISS only installs them when needed? A courier carrying mails off the x-boat routes will only need the comm equipment and data banks T&G mentions while a surveyor or fleet scout will need more processing power for it's sensor upgrades.
kilemall
SOC-14 5K
Well, might as well mention my sensor rules.
Detect-
Model # x 100000km = Detect Range
Track-
(TL x 50000km) + (Model # x 100000km) = Track Range
Assumption is LR sensors are VLA hull mounts for both range and redundancy.
The HG +/- for hull size DM also affects rolls on both the detector and the targetted ship. Antennas deployed Brilliant Lance style increases hull ability but also detection. Extra class of 0-9 dton for -3 for detection of small rocks, dormant missile/mines, incoming missile streams that have their engines/comms/sensors off, etc.
Eliminated computer compare on to-hit rolls for Drama level battles, more like separate lock-on roll that applies a -4 without lock, and extreme negative to hit for ships 'screened' HG/Imperium style due to EW interference.
1 LR sensor and 1 SR sensor per Model #, Bis treated as one model up- short range sensors are more for assisting in doggo detection (works at 1/8 range to increase chance of spotting doggo ships) against a spectrum the main sensors are not covering.
They would also act as warning receivers for any active search/lock on for their EM spectrum and would provide bearing and signal strength to help detect the emitter, and as an orbital sensor set for survey/ops support.
So for a typical TC Scout ship IMTU with our postulated upgrade, that would be LR Radio, LR Mass, LR IR (with IR LIDAR that is available by TL10) and SR Optical (with visual LIDAR), SR Radar and SR EMF.
Entirely different sets for something like Seekers, scout/science ships on say astronomical survey work, and of course high tech warships are going to have most every spectrum covered.
The idea is to make stealth possible just by virtue that a certain spectrum is being spoofed or not emitted on, even against Model/3 or 4 patrol craft.
Detect-
Model # x 100000km = Detect Range
Track-
(TL x 50000km) + (Model # x 100000km) = Track Range
Assumption is LR sensors are VLA hull mounts for both range and redundancy.
The HG +/- for hull size DM also affects rolls on both the detector and the targetted ship. Antennas deployed Brilliant Lance style increases hull ability but also detection. Extra class of 0-9 dton for -3 for detection of small rocks, dormant missile/mines, incoming missile streams that have their engines/comms/sensors off, etc.
Eliminated computer compare on to-hit rolls for Drama level battles, more like separate lock-on roll that applies a -4 without lock, and extreme negative to hit for ships 'screened' HG/Imperium style due to EW interference.
1 LR sensor and 1 SR sensor per Model #, Bis treated as one model up- short range sensors are more for assisting in doggo detection (works at 1/8 range to increase chance of spotting doggo ships) against a spectrum the main sensors are not covering.
They would also act as warning receivers for any active search/lock on for their EM spectrum and would provide bearing and signal strength to help detect the emitter, and as an orbital sensor set for survey/ops support.
So for a typical TC Scout ship IMTU with our postulated upgrade, that would be LR Radio, LR Mass, LR IR (with IR LIDAR that is available by TL10) and SR Optical (with visual LIDAR), SR Radar and SR EMF.
Entirely different sets for something like Seekers, scout/science ships on say astronomical survey work, and of course high tech warships are going to have most every spectrum covered.
The idea is to make stealth possible just by virtue that a certain spectrum is being spoofed or not emitted on, even against Model/3 or 4 patrol craft.
Would a more modern take on jump cassette information be like there is a fee you have to pay to download new info on jump destinations when you're at a spaceport?
Like the "cassette" in this case is simply information you're downloading from a spaceport database/computer network?
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So something akin to a GPS update? That could be one take on it. The process would slightly different from that described in CT. Then again, who plays any game on a purely RAW basis?
kilemall
SOC-14 5K
You could do that, but they made it clear it was a one-time use- doesn't have to be that, but to maintain the same effect you should probably charge 5x cost or something like that, or the original price for one-time use.
Well, one aspect of the cassette, I think, is that it's a "one time use". Now, whether the cassette self destructed on use, I don't know.
But another aspect is that the data that the cassette represents is a jump window. Download it, and it's good for, 12-24 hours "due to the nature of jump space" or something. After that, start ticing DMs off the misjump roll.
Hence my use of the phrase "slightly different" compared to CT.
If I haven't misunderstood him, Wellis' GPS:5700 idea would have a ship purchase a regional jump navigation database which then requires regular updates for the specific routes it contains. (Just how big the "region" is and often the "updates" are needed doesn't need to be addressed and mostly because each referee will want to do it his way!)
ISTR the cassettes being described as "self-erasing" but I can't find that with a quick search.
That's another aspect I've long assumed and for much the same reasons. Again, ISTR something about the cassettes have a short "shelf life" but I can't find the reference with a quick search either.
During my early days as a referee I puttered around looking for plausible "side gigs" for my free trader players. Earning your "nut" is hard aboard a Beowulf and I hadn't yet realized that it was supposed to be hard as a spur to adventure, so I mulled over various small revenue streams a starship could plug into besides pax, cargo, trade goods, and charters.
One side gig involved working as part a region's poste restante system. It would be a less formal version of a mail contract with fewer prerequisites while both paying less and not as often. CT's discussion of the small package trade gave me the idea. If single crewmen were already carrying messages and small parcels for an "honorarium" of 50 CrImps or so, why wouldn't a ship known to businesses acting as poste restante locations be paid to carry bundles of messages?
Another side gig involved selling the sewage a ship collects in flight to barren worlds and/or those worlds still developing Terran-miscible farm lands.
Yet another side gig was selling your jump drive "logs" to the port which would then use the data to refine the jump cassettes it produced. I never explained what the data was or why it was helpful beyond some mumbling about "jump space conditions". While having data from a recent jump between two systems helped when calculating a "reciprocal" jump, it wasn't absolutely necessary. I also never systematically modeled just how a jump calculated with recent data could be "better" than a jump calculated without it.
None of these side gigs were going to make a mortgage payment. They may buy life support for a stateroom or three, cover berthing fees, or pay a NPC's salary, but you weren't going to get rich doing them.
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mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
It's hidden in the computer program rules under the generate program:
Thanks Mike. Any idea about the "shelf life" aspect many if us seem to remember?
I was actually thinking more like you download the coordinates or wherever, jump, and then the info you downloaded erases itself so you have to go buy info on a new route.Hence my use of the phrase "slightly different" compared to CT.
If I haven't misunderstood him, Wellis' GPS:5700 idea would have a ship purchase a regional jump navigation database which then requires regular updates for the specific routes it contains. (Just how big the "region" is and often the "updates" are needed doesn't need to be addressed and mostly because each referee will want to do it his way!)
Since nowadays so many people download stuff instead of buying a physical hardware like Blu-Rays, I thought that would be equivalent if one were attempting to extrapolate from more modern trends.
But your idea sounds better honestly.
That's how it works in CT except with an additional physical component; the cassette.
Ever think the physical hardware is in the picture to ensure the data gets erased?
But your idea sounds better honestly.
It's different, I'll give you that.
Since we're talking retro, would jump casettes look like 8-Track casettes or something?
Like how do you make Traveller truly the future of the 1970s?
More like atari carts, for me.
Since we're talking retro, would jump casettes look like 8-Track casettes or something?
Like how do you make Traveller truly the future of the 1970s?
LOL! Back in the early 80's, that's the way I imagined them.
Cheers,
Baron Ovka
BRJN
SOC-12
When I saw Nintendo's Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow game cartridges, that became what I have thought of for 'jump tapes' ever since.
:smirk: A plainclothes Terran Intelligence operative at Phoenix Landing Port invites a visiting Vilani ship crew to visit the local shopping mall "to pick up some food and stuff you can't find at home". They peek into a Redbox Used Video Games store in passing and the navigator just flips out for no apparent reason.
Even in the Far Future, the creation of a party of summoned monsters is still the biggest thing?When I saw Nintendo's Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow game cartridges, that became what I have thought of for 'jump tapes' ever since.
:smirk: A plainclothes Terran Intelligence operative at Phoenix Landing Port invites a visiting Vilani ship crew to visit the local shopping mall "to pick up some food and stuff you can't find at home". They peek into a Redbox Used Video Games store in passing and the navigator just flips out for no apparent reason.
...Now I'm imagining some crazed inventor, at a higher tech level, making Sapballs to hold crewmembers in when they're not needed or to save space.
Even in the Far Future, the creation of a party of summoned monsters is still the biggest thing?
It's not that Eneri Q. Vilani plays Pokemon. It's that he thinks he's looking at jump cassettes being sold for 99 cents!
When you think about the Ziru Sirka with it's command economy, it's deliberately cultivated economic interdependence, and all it's other "social control via social engineering" policies, you can pretty much guess that only a small percentage of starships in the ZS will have a Generate program onboard. In the First Imperium, you only go where you're supposed to go, you only carry who and what you're supposed to carry, and you only trade with who you're supposed to trade.
