MT Only: MT Starship Operator's Manual (SOM) Vol 1

[snrdg082102]

Hello all,

While digging through a note pad I found a question concerning the geosynchronous (geosync) orbit formula on page 61. Since I don't remember asking I probably got distracted and totally forgot about asking.

Three items are needed to calculate geosync orbit which are the world's rotation period, mass, and diameter. The diameter is the only one I could find in the MT material I had at the time, which sent me to my CT and TNE books.

In CT LBB 2 I found the section for creating planetary templates on pages 36 and 37. I also checked in TNE World Tamer's Handbook, unfortunately I can't find the book to get the pages. I'm not sure that either source was working.

My newest MT book is the MT World Builder's Guide which starting on page 60 has processes for calculating the rotation period, density and adjusting diameter of the various bodies found in the system.

I once again got confused because planet and gas giant diameters are in miles and they switch to meters and kilometers for asteroid/planetoid diameters.

Can anyone provide a reason why this was done?

Update: I finally located my copy of TNE World Tamer's Handbook and I think the section for detailing planets starts on page 83.

 

[Carlobrand]

Hello all,

While digging through a note pad I found a question concerning the geosynchronous (geosync) orbit formula on page 61. Since I don't remember asking I probably got distracted and totally forgot about asking.

Three items are needed to calculate geosync orbit which are the world's rotation period, mass, and diameter. The diameter is the only one I could find in the MT material I had at the time, which sent me to my CT and TNE books.

In CT LBB 2 I found the section for creating planetary templates on pages 36 and 37. I also checked in TNE World Tamer's Handbook, unfortunately I can't find the book to get the pages. I'm not sure that either source was working.

My newest MT book is the MT World Builder's Guide which starting on page 60 has processes for calculating the rotation period, density and adjusting diameter of the various bodies found in the system.

I once again got confused because planet and gas giant diameters are in miles and they switch to meters and kilometers for asteroid/planetoid diameters.

Can anyone provide a reason why this was done?

Update: I finally located my copy of TNE World Tamer's Handbook and I think the section for detailing planets starts on page 83.

The original CT did planet diameters in miles for some reason, with the planet's size in miles being 1000 times the size code. A size 8 world, for example, is 8000 miles. That was odd because everything else in the game was metric. I guess WBH is just following what CT did.

 

[snrdg082102]

Howdy Carlobrand,

The original CT did planet diameters in miles for some reason, with the planet's size in miles being 1000 times the size code. A size 8 world, for example, is 8000 miles. That was odd because everything else in the game was metric. I guess WBH is just following what CT did.

Thank you for reminding me about CT. Apparently, the author of MT World Builder's Handbook used the table from CT Book 3 1st edition which does only list diameters in miles. The tables in CT Book 3 2nd edition and Book 6 Scouts list miles and in parentheses kilometers.

 

[Ulsyus]

Using miles instead of km could possibly have been done because it was a better fit for the eHex ratings: 6-8 being most likely rolled and being closest to Earth-like in size, meaning more planets that are better suited for humans were likely to be rolled up in system generation.

 

[aramis]

Using miles instead of km could possibly have been done because it was a better fit for the eHex ratings: 6-8 being most likely rolled and being closest to Earth-like in size, meaning more planets that are better suited for humans were likely to be rolled up in system generation.

1st ed CT used imperial measurements for all the in-space stuff, and metric dirtside/character scale.

In other words, it looks like CT 1e was written in imperial, and the stuff that characters would directly use was converted into metric (using 2#=1kg, based upon several items and their common 1970-'77 versions, and their being about 9% over mass.)

If they'd gone metric from the get go, with 2000km per rating (instead of 1600km) Earth would have been size 7 rather than 8... but no other major changes are needed.

 

[snrdg082102]

Evening Ulsyus and Aramis,

Thank you both for providing additional reasons that MT World Builder's Hand Book used miles. Of course had I read the example through completely I would have learned to multiply miles by 1.6 a gotten kilometers.

Again thank you all for the help.