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MegaTraveller - Explorer ship

O

OjnoTheRed

SOC-13
Marquis
Hello there. My daughter has been watching me get back into Traveller, and has naturally taken an interest in it.

She wanted to design a ship, and really wanted it to be a Jump-6 because "I was looking at all these ships and there wasn't a Jump-6 ship". It's true - she has been pouring over the Imperial Encyclopedia, really interested in the ships there.

I asked her what her Jump-6 ship would be intended to do (i.e. mission). She said an exploring ship.

Of course, she wanted it to have the best weapons and the best of everything, but we discussed the most important aspects of the ship to fulfill its mission. We left off armaments to reduce the cost. Anyway, she wanted me to "send it to Traveller" - and I thought that posting it here would be reasonable enough.

Any feedback or comment on the design welcome.

http://www.box.net/shared/qff2lx5vus

Also, she wants me to use this icon: :devil:
 
lol, yeah.

I put them in the spreadsheet thinking ahead to just ensure enough crew space allocated while we thought about jump-6 fuel etc. forgot to remove them after deciding against mounting weapons in the primary design. Well, we can consider the extra staterooms for extra crew / landing parties etc.
 
What's the hull configuration and armour (or what shape is it and how thick is the hull)? Also, if it's an explorer, what about fuel scoops and purification? I'm thinking the option for wilderness refueling would be important.

Finally, I'd be tempted to give it some sort of subordinate craft ... at least an air/raft if it'll fit.
 
Double your duration if possible. The extra fuel could be used for an emergency second jump if needed. Remember, exploring takes time and explorers take risks.
 
Thanks heaps everyone! A couple of mistakes exposed by the replies: yes, I'll do-up the evaluation with the hull config etc. Some great ideas there, as well as some things I completely forgot to carry across - I did install fuel purification forgot to list it. I'll put up a revised design soon as I've got a chance to re-do it.
 
As promised, I have updated the design evaluation including the missing information. The only thing I have skipped is adding a missile turret for probes - ah, well, next iteration.

I have added enough fuel for an additional Jump-1. This could also be used to extend the endurance of the power plant - I've included this in the notes. Solar Cells and batteries supply emergency back-up.

I am tempted to sacrifice cargo space for a few more cubic metres of batteries to give more margin for back-up needs. I have drawn the extra endurance of supplies from Beltstrike (where 1 displacement ton = 50 person/weeks of supplies).

http://www.box.net/shared/qff2lx5vus
 
OjnoTheRed said:
The only thing I have skipped is adding a missile turret for probes - ah, well, next iteration.
Click to expand...

Okay, starting to look good. (When you add the turret you'll only want one launcher.) I'm wondering if you need space for a lab and possibly specimens ... say equivalent to a stateroom? Have you optimised the design, maybe you can reduce the crew requiements by 1 to get some extra space?
  • Did you remember you don't need LS and grav in the fuel tanks?

  • I've always assumed that for ships a holorecorder was built in at no extra cost.

  • Do you need triple sensors?

  • Do you need a neural scanner on a ship? Better on the GCarrier.

  • Hull armour should start at 40 and go up in multiples of 3 ... so 49 rather than 50.
 
Hemdian said:
Okay, starting to look good.
Click to expand...
Thanks!
I'm wondering if you need space for a lab and possibly specimens ... say equivalent to a stateroom?
Click to expand...
Nice idea - yes, I'll add that in.
Have you optimised the design, maybe you can reduce the crew requiements by 1 to get some extra space?
Click to expand...
Partly - I have spreadsheeted the calculations and reduced, for example, power plant MW (and consequently fuel) once total power requirements were known. I took the 5 x staterooms allocated to gunners for the passengers, and added in 2 ship's troops for security work. I have used full staterooms for all crew, thinking that they would need to be reasonably comfortable for long-range voyages.

OK, now for the individual questions, all very helpful, thank you heaps.
  • Did you remember you don't need LS and grav in the fuel tanks? No! I didn't think of that at all. That's a fair whack of volume and weight right there.

  • I've always assumed that for ships a holorecorder was built in at no extra cost. Yeah, that's reasonable I reckon. But the volume, weight, power and price are tiny compared to the rest of the ship's sensors and electronics so I chucked it in the spreadsheet. The only proviso is that price /Cr100000 x TL = CP required which can have a measurable effect on the design.

  • Do you need triple sensors? This feature is inspired by the Donosev class Survey Starship featured in the World Builders Handbook (among other places in the Traveller canon). My reading of it in game terms is that it means the crew get a second and third task attempt at passive or active scanning for the quickest and most accurate results. In pseudo-real terms it represents a veritable plethora of sensor arrays for exploration purposes. Having said all of that, might consider reducing it to dual rather than triple. Compared to other ship requirements, they really are another blip on the overall cost, volume and power constraints of the ship.

  • Do you need a neural scanner on a ship? Better on the GCarrier. Good point! Only reason I can see a need for one is the ship landing on an unknown world might want some extra warning of approaching animals or sophonts. Otherwise, yes, a scanner on the GCarrier is a much better option. And, in fact, looking at the GCarrier in the WBH rather that the Imp Encyclopedia, I might swap versions for that and other reasons (and bugger the ability to evacuate unless I can get 3 of them in).

  • Hull armour should start at 40 and go up in multiples of 3 ... so 49 rather than 50. Oh yes - I had forgotten how values impact at the Starship Combat level and kind of just took a round number a bit above the minimum, as it were. I'll consider 52 instead of 49 as well.
 
Pfft. I was gonna suggest a rule from MGT, and relised how utterly impossible it would be to try to even finagle it into FFS ship design.

Even using a spread sheet, my hats off to anyone who can get anything to work using FFS's design system.
 
ThunderChilde said:
Pfft. I was gonna suggest a rule from MGT, and relised how utterly impossible it would be to try to even finagle it into FFS ship design.

Even using a spread sheet, my hats off to anyone who can get anything to work using FFS's design system.
Click to expand...

FF&S is very workable, once you learn the how. And for that, you really need Brilliant Lances. It's tech architecture book is FF&S Lite.
 
MGT puts the solar back up system at 10% of the tonnage for a fusion plant. No comment on volumes, not a factor in MGT (beyond the displacement tons).
the general assumption is solar sensitive sufaces on the hull and storage and conversion in the hull. Alotta room for GM call on how it looks.

This yeilds the output equivalent of the fusion plant, as a house rule I give it this out put in the habital zone, the further you head out in a system, the less it yeilds, and under MGT it cannot be used to power a Jump Drive.
 
On the subject of explorer ships, there was a draft of 'Grand Explorations' for MegaTraveller on the HIWG CD-ROM. Good read - might even be available at Traveller Downport now that Hans is putting up material that has been cleared to go.
 
ThunderChilde said:
MGT puts the solar back up system at 10% of the tonnage for a fusion plant. No comment on volumes, not a factor in MGT (beyond the displacement tons).
the general assumption is solar sensitive sufaces on the hull and storage and conversion in the hull. Alotta room for GM call on how it looks.

This yeilds the output equivalent of the fusion plant, as a house rule I give it this out put in the habital zone, the further you head out in a system, the less it yeilds, and under MGT it cannot be used to power a Jump Drive.
Click to expand...

In Mega Traveller, craft design covers anything from vehicles on-planet (grav bikes, ATVs, battle tanks) through small craft and through to the largest starships. This means the power supply selection can be anything, including combinations (e.g. battery / solar cell backup).

Chassis / Hull volumes are in "kilolitres" (i.e. cubic metres - always wondered why they didn't just say "cubic metres"). Solar Cells are installed in square metres - the maximum being the square root of the hull volume in cubic metres. The output, weight and price per square metre are rated by tech level (i.e. higher TL means cheaper, lighter and more efficient for a given volume). Even at TL15, they won't substitute for a fusion power plant by any stretch of the imagination. On this ship, they must just cover basic environment and life support - but some sections of the hull would need to be unsupported (about 10%) and there would be no gravity or inertial compensation - not that you'd need inertial compensation if your maneuver drive was gone anyway. It will keep them breathing while frantic repairs are carried out or a rescue plan is effected. The toilets and kitchen won't function, though ...
 
Starviking said:
On the subject of explorer ships, there was a draft of 'Grand Explorations' for MegaTraveller on the HIWG CD-ROM. Good read - might even be available at Traveller Downport now that Hans is putting up material that has been cleared to go.
Click to expand...

Thanks Starviking, I'll have a look at downport and see what's up.
 
Thanks Starviking. Yes, I see on Traveller Freeport some HIWG stuff is being published, bit by bit. Interesting stuff. The Grand Explorations isn't up there, but the fanzines Tiffany Star and AABP are and I'll be flicking through them with much interest.

I have updated the design with a design for a probe. Both the ship (which now includes price, and weight for the actual probes rather than standard HE missiles) and the probe evaluations are at the following link.

http://www.box.net/shared/qff2lx5vus

I used Special Supplement 3 - Missiles for the probe design. Once the propulsion and guidance system were in, I then started adding components from sensors and electronics in the craft design sequence from Mega Traveller. I added in batteries for one hour's life once the controller decides to switch them on, and a holorecorder for extraction of data in case of a mishap with the probe (i.e. a flight 'black box'). I've ignored volume for the purpose of the probe design, and just kept within the 50kg limit for missile turrets from the supplement.

More feedback / comments welcome.
 
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