Supplement Four
SOC-14 5K
Here's a cool topic for speculation and discussion.
Twenty one years ago, DGP published the fabulous Starship Operator's Manual, a work that covers just about everything you'd ever want to know about a starship when gaming. In that book there much discussion on controls used to interface with a ship's computer system, from those used on the bridge, to those seen on bulkhead access valve, to those used in engineering and other parts of the ship.
The MT starship construction rules mention some of these controls by name only. There isn't much in the way of description. The SOP goes into much more detail about how these controls work, how they are interfaced with other systems, and arms the GM with so much more information to use when describing these neat far future gizmos to his players.
The two most common types of controls are dynamic linked and holodynamic linked.
Dynamic linked controls look like what you see in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and beyond. They're basically configurable flat panels, like windows on your computer screen that you can configure with your fingers. Different operators may prefer different layouts, so, as a the second shift Navigator comes on duty, all he needs to do is tap one of the controls on his panel, bringing up the stored configuration that he designed. People can even take their configurations with them, loading them onto new vessels (so that they are always using familiar controls), which is especially useful when operating a ship crewed by aliens. I imagine scouts, piloting X-Boats, do this sort of thing all the time.
The next step up the tech chain, though, presents a control unit that operates like a dynamic linked panel, but the controls are in 3D. This is a holodynamic linked control unit. If the operator likes having a ground-car style "driving wheel" interface, then his panel will create one. Maybe the next guy who sits down at that station prefers a mouse-style interface, not unlike the mice we use on our computers today. Well, this guy hits a switch to bring up his configuration, and the "driving wheel" dissolves and reforms into a "computer mouse".
It's a very neat concept--one that really gives the "feel" and "atmosphere" of things in the far future. I can see the GM describing this in a game: "Oh, you need to switch to manual attitude control in order to dock with the station's umbilical? You prefer a joystick set-up? No problem. You're operating a holodynamic linked panel. Three clicks, and you see the joystick form right in front of you."
That's cool gaming. That type of detail really adds to the game.
But...here's a question....
No where in the MT core rules or the SOP does it describe just how the holodynamic linked panels perform this feat of re-shaping physical objects (I'm not sure about FF&S...maybe there's something in there?).
There was a wonderful discussion about this, years ago, on the TML. IIRC, the prevailing thought was that the panels used gravitic technology, with tiny focussing units that manipulated some type of small particle to form 3D objects. One poster even speculated that the same type of particle used in the panels was the same stuff used in "sand" to block incoming laser fire (he argued that sand is moved between the ship and incoming laser fire by computer control gravitic focussers).
So, what do you think?
To my knowledge, there is no canon description (unless it came out in GT, T20, THero, MGT, or T5) on how the holodynamic link control unit does its thing.
What would be your explanation on how HDL units work?
How would you describe them to your players?
Speculation time!
Twenty one years ago, DGP published the fabulous Starship Operator's Manual, a work that covers just about everything you'd ever want to know about a starship when gaming. In that book there much discussion on controls used to interface with a ship's computer system, from those used on the bridge, to those seen on bulkhead access valve, to those used in engineering and other parts of the ship.
The MT starship construction rules mention some of these controls by name only. There isn't much in the way of description. The SOP goes into much more detail about how these controls work, how they are interfaced with other systems, and arms the GM with so much more information to use when describing these neat far future gizmos to his players.
The two most common types of controls are dynamic linked and holodynamic linked.
Dynamic linked controls look like what you see in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and beyond. They're basically configurable flat panels, like windows on your computer screen that you can configure with your fingers. Different operators may prefer different layouts, so, as a the second shift Navigator comes on duty, all he needs to do is tap one of the controls on his panel, bringing up the stored configuration that he designed. People can even take their configurations with them, loading them onto new vessels (so that they are always using familiar controls), which is especially useful when operating a ship crewed by aliens. I imagine scouts, piloting X-Boats, do this sort of thing all the time.
The next step up the tech chain, though, presents a control unit that operates like a dynamic linked panel, but the controls are in 3D. This is a holodynamic linked control unit. If the operator likes having a ground-car style "driving wheel" interface, then his panel will create one. Maybe the next guy who sits down at that station prefers a mouse-style interface, not unlike the mice we use on our computers today. Well, this guy hits a switch to bring up his configuration, and the "driving wheel" dissolves and reforms into a "computer mouse".
It's a very neat concept--one that really gives the "feel" and "atmosphere" of things in the far future. I can see the GM describing this in a game: "Oh, you need to switch to manual attitude control in order to dock with the station's umbilical? You prefer a joystick set-up? No problem. You're operating a holodynamic linked panel. Three clicks, and you see the joystick form right in front of you."
That's cool gaming. That type of detail really adds to the game.
But...here's a question....
No where in the MT core rules or the SOP does it describe just how the holodynamic linked panels perform this feat of re-shaping physical objects (I'm not sure about FF&S...maybe there's something in there?).
There was a wonderful discussion about this, years ago, on the TML. IIRC, the prevailing thought was that the panels used gravitic technology, with tiny focussing units that manipulated some type of small particle to form 3D objects. One poster even speculated that the same type of particle used in the panels was the same stuff used in "sand" to block incoming laser fire (he argued that sand is moved between the ship and incoming laser fire by computer control gravitic focussers).
So, what do you think?
To my knowledge, there is no canon description (unless it came out in GT, T20, THero, MGT, or T5) on how the holodynamic link control unit does its thing.
What would be your explanation on how HDL units work?
How would you describe them to your players?
Speculation time!
