Difference between 4 and 4.1
- Thread starter TheDS
- Start date
Andrew Boulton
The Adminator
It's basically just tweaks to the chargen. No modifications to FF&S2.
Andrew Boulton
The Adminator
It's basically just tweaks to the chargen. No modifications to FF&S2.
Andrew Boulton
The Adminator
Andrew Boulton
The Adminator
Thanks, Andrew!
FFS3: Well, there's a couple posts about it already, but I'll cover the main points.
I liked FFS1 a lot. Easy to read, the science behind the game was somewhat explained and simplified, and it greatly enhanced what MT had started; a way to make realistic stats for just about anything. The designs have enough information to them that you can translate just about anything into realworld stats, and then into just about any game system you want.
I haven't read FFS2 nearly as thoroughly. Most of my readings showed that it expanded FFS1, but was really hard to read. Few diagrams, tables in the back of the book (one of which is copied 6 times!), and lots of other stuff just turned me off it. I have found out since that there ARE a few major changes, like the amount of fuel in a jump, and the power limit for lasers (I understand the metagame reasons for this, but it just doesn't feel right, when most SF I've read acknowledges no upper limits with sufficient tech).
Basically, I want to merge the best parts of the two books into a single unit, fix major typos and inconsistencies, add in all the erratas and extra rules (like Robot rules from Vampire Fleets, the stuff in RCEG, etc) and put it all in a single package. Would like to add in some more realism, give people more options, basically create something that feels like an expanded FFS1.
I am going to have to come up with a more definitive sensor and combat rules, something that is more realistic, but simpler to handle than BL and BR were. Combat should be easy to figure out and realistic.
One thing about BL that kills me is high ROF weapons. I'm sitting next to some one, firing off 800 shots per turn. I roll a critical success. I hit with TWO shots. Uh, sorry, but it's real easy to hit stuff even several light seconds away (assuming perfect positioning information and accurate gunnery), so I'm NOT gonna miss when I'm sitting next to it, and it's not even evading.
Another is when shooting down incoming missiles, you could either have 8 guns firing at ROF100 or 1 gun firing at ROF800. By the rules, the single gun can't divide it's fire, but who is REALLY gonna waste the space for 8 turrets when 1 will do the job? (Ok, redundancy may demand differently, but it's not THAT bad.)
There's any number of things that could be fixed about sensors. I am aware of a T4 Definitive Sensors Rules, but I find it inadequate to do what I want. Too often there is a bigger difference between 1000 tons and 900 than there is between 900 and 100. (This is a problem with ALL Traveller editions I've seen.)
Overall, I want to see a smooth, easy to use book. Designs should flow from it like water. And fusion reactors will not be such garbage.
Do you realize a single GRAM of deuterium could keep your car fueled for about a year and a half? The most efficient reactor, the TL 16 one (in TNE design rules), has an efficiency of about 2%. That means for every megawatt of power you get out of it, you waste fuel for 50 MW (a little more, actually). I could see that kind of efficiency for a TL 9 reactor, or for a fusion rocket, but the peak of technology is only about 4% as efficient as a steam engine (50-60% efficiency)?
The big thing this means is that reactor fuel consumption is virtually negligible compared to other fuel usage. Fusion rockets will be worth building (turning them into "reactors with holes in them"), so for those who DON'T want to use Thruster Plates because they don't like the idea of reactionless engines, they now have something they CAN use. I'm pretty sure the Daedalus drive will be a lot more effecient as well, and I'd like to find some info on nuclear saltwater rockets (NSWR) and could even throw in Forward's pet antimatter drive.
Adding in wet ship construction. Adding in the high-tech stuff that was in MT and promised for TNE, but not delivered before the real crash of the Imperium (Virus-shmirus; what do you do when the whole UNIVERSE comes to a screeching halt?). And it looks like a lot of it will be less system-dependent than before. TCS-players will at last have a clue what their fleets might look like if they were parked in the back yard. No more "largest weapon is a T-gun" crap. What's the point of building a 500,000 ton ship if a 75,000 ton BR can mount the biggest gun? That was one of the great things FFS gave us, was the ability to break the mold of High Guard and MT.
But this is a part-time project for me. I put a few hours into it each week, now that I'm done scanning stuff in. Still have to OCR, still have to unfutz the OCR, still have to make sure all the corrections and add-ins are there, still have to proofread the crap out of it all, still have to carefully go through FFS2 and make sure I've got all the good parts. Still have to make / find technology write-ups for the most interesting stuff (like why lasers do what they do, how jump drive REALLY works (screw jump masking with a rusty railroad spike, SOM is my inspiration here), how sensors work, etc). Still have to make / find diagrams to explain the complicated stuff. Still have to make sure it looks GOOD and READABLE.
And THEN... THEN I get the fun task of getting MWM and whoever else holds copyrights on stuff to let me release it into the wild. As long as it stays on my HDD, it's fair-use and I don't get sued. If I hand it out to anyone else, I could be, and really, what's the point of all that trouble if you fine people (whom I will be bleeding for information now and then) are not allowed to benefit from it? So, yes, I will be asking for help now and then, and when that last stage comes, the WHOLE FREAKIN COMMUNITY may be required to get it into the public (and even that may help, as I hear MT is basically a lost cause right now). Maybe the gents who run this place can put a good word in for me?
Well, that's it in a nutshell. I have enough stuff that I could make a beta ship design, but couldn't put out all the stats for it yet. (That's another thing I want to do is reduce the amount of paper required to describe a ship, and reduce the need to page through another book to find out what a number means. A 3x5 card is my goal.)
Most stuff related to the project, I will probably post in appropriate sub forums, so if you hang out in only one or two, you might miss stuff.
FFS3: Well, there's a couple posts about it already, but I'll cover the main points.
I liked FFS1 a lot. Easy to read, the science behind the game was somewhat explained and simplified, and it greatly enhanced what MT had started; a way to make realistic stats for just about anything. The designs have enough information to them that you can translate just about anything into realworld stats, and then into just about any game system you want.
I haven't read FFS2 nearly as thoroughly. Most of my readings showed that it expanded FFS1, but was really hard to read. Few diagrams, tables in the back of the book (one of which is copied 6 times!), and lots of other stuff just turned me off it. I have found out since that there ARE a few major changes, like the amount of fuel in a jump, and the power limit for lasers (I understand the metagame reasons for this, but it just doesn't feel right, when most SF I've read acknowledges no upper limits with sufficient tech).
Basically, I want to merge the best parts of the two books into a single unit, fix major typos and inconsistencies, add in all the erratas and extra rules (like Robot rules from Vampire Fleets, the stuff in RCEG, etc) and put it all in a single package. Would like to add in some more realism, give people more options, basically create something that feels like an expanded FFS1.
I am going to have to come up with a more definitive sensor and combat rules, something that is more realistic, but simpler to handle than BL and BR were. Combat should be easy to figure out and realistic.
One thing about BL that kills me is high ROF weapons. I'm sitting next to some one, firing off 800 shots per turn. I roll a critical success. I hit with TWO shots. Uh, sorry, but it's real easy to hit stuff even several light seconds away (assuming perfect positioning information and accurate gunnery), so I'm NOT gonna miss when I'm sitting next to it, and it's not even evading.
Another is when shooting down incoming missiles, you could either have 8 guns firing at ROF100 or 1 gun firing at ROF800. By the rules, the single gun can't divide it's fire, but who is REALLY gonna waste the space for 8 turrets when 1 will do the job? (Ok, redundancy may demand differently, but it's not THAT bad.)
There's any number of things that could be fixed about sensors. I am aware of a T4 Definitive Sensors Rules, but I find it inadequate to do what I want. Too often there is a bigger difference between 1000 tons and 900 than there is between 900 and 100. (This is a problem with ALL Traveller editions I've seen.)
Overall, I want to see a smooth, easy to use book. Designs should flow from it like water. And fusion reactors will not be such garbage.
Do you realize a single GRAM of deuterium could keep your car fueled for about a year and a half? The most efficient reactor, the TL 16 one (in TNE design rules), has an efficiency of about 2%. That means for every megawatt of power you get out of it, you waste fuel for 50 MW (a little more, actually). I could see that kind of efficiency for a TL 9 reactor, or for a fusion rocket, but the peak of technology is only about 4% as efficient as a steam engine (50-60% efficiency)?
The big thing this means is that reactor fuel consumption is virtually negligible compared to other fuel usage. Fusion rockets will be worth building (turning them into "reactors with holes in them"), so for those who DON'T want to use Thruster Plates because they don't like the idea of reactionless engines, they now have something they CAN use. I'm pretty sure the Daedalus drive will be a lot more effecient as well, and I'd like to find some info on nuclear saltwater rockets (NSWR) and could even throw in Forward's pet antimatter drive.
Adding in wet ship construction. Adding in the high-tech stuff that was in MT and promised for TNE, but not delivered before the real crash of the Imperium (Virus-shmirus; what do you do when the whole UNIVERSE comes to a screeching halt?). And it looks like a lot of it will be less system-dependent than before. TCS-players will at last have a clue what their fleets might look like if they were parked in the back yard. No more "largest weapon is a T-gun" crap. What's the point of building a 500,000 ton ship if a 75,000 ton BR can mount the biggest gun? That was one of the great things FFS gave us, was the ability to break the mold of High Guard and MT.
But this is a part-time project for me. I put a few hours into it each week, now that I'm done scanning stuff in. Still have to OCR, still have to unfutz the OCR, still have to make sure all the corrections and add-ins are there, still have to proofread the crap out of it all, still have to carefully go through FFS2 and make sure I've got all the good parts. Still have to make / find technology write-ups for the most interesting stuff (like why lasers do what they do, how jump drive REALLY works (screw jump masking with a rusty railroad spike, SOM is my inspiration here), how sensors work, etc). Still have to make / find diagrams to explain the complicated stuff. Still have to make sure it looks GOOD and READABLE.
And THEN... THEN I get the fun task of getting MWM and whoever else holds copyrights on stuff to let me release it into the wild. As long as it stays on my HDD, it's fair-use and I don't get sued. If I hand it out to anyone else, I could be, and really, what's the point of all that trouble if you fine people (whom I will be bleeding for information now and then) are not allowed to benefit from it? So, yes, I will be asking for help now and then, and when that last stage comes, the WHOLE FREAKIN COMMUNITY may be required to get it into the public (and even that may help, as I hear MT is basically a lost cause right now). Maybe the gents who run this place can put a good word in for me?
Well, that's it in a nutshell. I have enough stuff that I could make a beta ship design, but couldn't put out all the stats for it yet. (That's another thing I want to do is reduce the amount of paper required to describe a ship, and reduce the need to page through another book to find out what a number means. A 3x5 card is my goal.)
Most stuff related to the project, I will probably post in appropriate sub forums, so if you hang out in only one or two, you might miss stuff.
Thanks, Andrew!
FFS3: Well, there's a couple posts about it already, but I'll cover the main points.
I liked FFS1 a lot. Easy to read, the science behind the game was somewhat explained and simplified, and it greatly enhanced what MT had started; a way to make realistic stats for just about anything. The designs have enough information to them that you can translate just about anything into realworld stats, and then into just about any game system you want.
I haven't read FFS2 nearly as thoroughly. Most of my readings showed that it expanded FFS1, but was really hard to read. Few diagrams, tables in the back of the book (one of which is copied 6 times!), and lots of other stuff just turned me off it. I have found out since that there ARE a few major changes, like the amount of fuel in a jump, and the power limit for lasers (I understand the metagame reasons for this, but it just doesn't feel right, when most SF I've read acknowledges no upper limits with sufficient tech).
Basically, I want to merge the best parts of the two books into a single unit, fix major typos and inconsistencies, add in all the erratas and extra rules (like Robot rules from Vampire Fleets, the stuff in RCEG, etc) and put it all in a single package. Would like to add in some more realism, give people more options, basically create something that feels like an expanded FFS1.
I am going to have to come up with a more definitive sensor and combat rules, something that is more realistic, but simpler to handle than BL and BR were. Combat should be easy to figure out and realistic.
One thing about BL that kills me is high ROF weapons. I'm sitting next to some one, firing off 800 shots per turn. I roll a critical success. I hit with TWO shots. Uh, sorry, but it's real easy to hit stuff even several light seconds away (assuming perfect positioning information and accurate gunnery), so I'm NOT gonna miss when I'm sitting next to it, and it's not even evading.
Another is when shooting down incoming missiles, you could either have 8 guns firing at ROF100 or 1 gun firing at ROF800. By the rules, the single gun can't divide it's fire, but who is REALLY gonna waste the space for 8 turrets when 1 will do the job? (Ok, redundancy may demand differently, but it's not THAT bad.)
There's any number of things that could be fixed about sensors. I am aware of a T4 Definitive Sensors Rules, but I find it inadequate to do what I want. Too often there is a bigger difference between 1000 tons and 900 than there is between 900 and 100. (This is a problem with ALL Traveller editions I've seen.)
Overall, I want to see a smooth, easy to use book. Designs should flow from it like water. And fusion reactors will not be such garbage.
Do you realize a single GRAM of deuterium could keep your car fueled for about a year and a half? The most efficient reactor, the TL 16 one (in TNE design rules), has an efficiency of about 2%. That means for every megawatt of power you get out of it, you waste fuel for 50 MW (a little more, actually). I could see that kind of efficiency for a TL 9 reactor, or for a fusion rocket, but the peak of technology is only about 4% as efficient as a steam engine (50-60% efficiency)?
The big thing this means is that reactor fuel consumption is virtually negligible compared to other fuel usage. Fusion rockets will be worth building (turning them into "reactors with holes in them"), so for those who DON'T want to use Thruster Plates because they don't like the idea of reactionless engines, they now have something they CAN use. I'm pretty sure the Daedalus drive will be a lot more effecient as well, and I'd like to find some info on nuclear saltwater rockets (NSWR) and could even throw in Forward's pet antimatter drive.
Adding in wet ship construction. Adding in the high-tech stuff that was in MT and promised for TNE, but not delivered before the real crash of the Imperium (Virus-shmirus; what do you do when the whole UNIVERSE comes to a screeching halt?). And it looks like a lot of it will be less system-dependent than before. TCS-players will at last have a clue what their fleets might look like if they were parked in the back yard. No more "largest weapon is a T-gun" crap. What's the point of building a 500,000 ton ship if a 75,000 ton BR can mount the biggest gun? That was one of the great things FFS gave us, was the ability to break the mold of High Guard and MT.
But this is a part-time project for me. I put a few hours into it each week, now that I'm done scanning stuff in. Still have to OCR, still have to unfutz the OCR, still have to make sure all the corrections and add-ins are there, still have to proofread the crap out of it all, still have to carefully go through FFS2 and make sure I've got all the good parts. Still have to make / find technology write-ups for the most interesting stuff (like why lasers do what they do, how jump drive REALLY works (screw jump masking with a rusty railroad spike, SOM is my inspiration here), how sensors work, etc). Still have to make / find diagrams to explain the complicated stuff. Still have to make sure it looks GOOD and READABLE.
And THEN... THEN I get the fun task of getting MWM and whoever else holds copyrights on stuff to let me release it into the wild. As long as it stays on my HDD, it's fair-use and I don't get sued. If I hand it out to anyone else, I could be, and really, what's the point of all that trouble if you fine people (whom I will be bleeding for information now and then) are not allowed to benefit from it? So, yes, I will be asking for help now and then, and when that last stage comes, the WHOLE FREAKIN COMMUNITY may be required to get it into the public (and even that may help, as I hear MT is basically a lost cause right now). Maybe the gents who run this place can put a good word in for me?
Well, that's it in a nutshell. I have enough stuff that I could make a beta ship design, but couldn't put out all the stats for it yet. (That's another thing I want to do is reduce the amount of paper required to describe a ship, and reduce the need to page through another book to find out what a number means. A 3x5 card is my goal.)
Most stuff related to the project, I will probably post in appropriate sub forums, so if you hang out in only one or two, you might miss stuff.
FFS3: Well, there's a couple posts about it already, but I'll cover the main points.
I liked FFS1 a lot. Easy to read, the science behind the game was somewhat explained and simplified, and it greatly enhanced what MT had started; a way to make realistic stats for just about anything. The designs have enough information to them that you can translate just about anything into realworld stats, and then into just about any game system you want.
I haven't read FFS2 nearly as thoroughly. Most of my readings showed that it expanded FFS1, but was really hard to read. Few diagrams, tables in the back of the book (one of which is copied 6 times!), and lots of other stuff just turned me off it. I have found out since that there ARE a few major changes, like the amount of fuel in a jump, and the power limit for lasers (I understand the metagame reasons for this, but it just doesn't feel right, when most SF I've read acknowledges no upper limits with sufficient tech).
Basically, I want to merge the best parts of the two books into a single unit, fix major typos and inconsistencies, add in all the erratas and extra rules (like Robot rules from Vampire Fleets, the stuff in RCEG, etc) and put it all in a single package. Would like to add in some more realism, give people more options, basically create something that feels like an expanded FFS1.
I am going to have to come up with a more definitive sensor and combat rules, something that is more realistic, but simpler to handle than BL and BR were. Combat should be easy to figure out and realistic.
One thing about BL that kills me is high ROF weapons. I'm sitting next to some one, firing off 800 shots per turn. I roll a critical success. I hit with TWO shots. Uh, sorry, but it's real easy to hit stuff even several light seconds away (assuming perfect positioning information and accurate gunnery), so I'm NOT gonna miss when I'm sitting next to it, and it's not even evading.
Another is when shooting down incoming missiles, you could either have 8 guns firing at ROF100 or 1 gun firing at ROF800. By the rules, the single gun can't divide it's fire, but who is REALLY gonna waste the space for 8 turrets when 1 will do the job? (Ok, redundancy may demand differently, but it's not THAT bad.)
There's any number of things that could be fixed about sensors. I am aware of a T4 Definitive Sensors Rules, but I find it inadequate to do what I want. Too often there is a bigger difference between 1000 tons and 900 than there is between 900 and 100. (This is a problem with ALL Traveller editions I've seen.)
Overall, I want to see a smooth, easy to use book. Designs should flow from it like water. And fusion reactors will not be such garbage.
Do you realize a single GRAM of deuterium could keep your car fueled for about a year and a half? The most efficient reactor, the TL 16 one (in TNE design rules), has an efficiency of about 2%. That means for every megawatt of power you get out of it, you waste fuel for 50 MW (a little more, actually). I could see that kind of efficiency for a TL 9 reactor, or for a fusion rocket, but the peak of technology is only about 4% as efficient as a steam engine (50-60% efficiency)?
The big thing this means is that reactor fuel consumption is virtually negligible compared to other fuel usage. Fusion rockets will be worth building (turning them into "reactors with holes in them"), so for those who DON'T want to use Thruster Plates because they don't like the idea of reactionless engines, they now have something they CAN use. I'm pretty sure the Daedalus drive will be a lot more effecient as well, and I'd like to find some info on nuclear saltwater rockets (NSWR) and could even throw in Forward's pet antimatter drive.
Adding in wet ship construction. Adding in the high-tech stuff that was in MT and promised for TNE, but not delivered before the real crash of the Imperium (Virus-shmirus; what do you do when the whole UNIVERSE comes to a screeching halt?). And it looks like a lot of it will be less system-dependent than before. TCS-players will at last have a clue what their fleets might look like if they were parked in the back yard. No more "largest weapon is a T-gun" crap. What's the point of building a 500,000 ton ship if a 75,000 ton BR can mount the biggest gun? That was one of the great things FFS gave us, was the ability to break the mold of High Guard and MT.
But this is a part-time project for me. I put a few hours into it each week, now that I'm done scanning stuff in. Still have to OCR, still have to unfutz the OCR, still have to make sure all the corrections and add-ins are there, still have to proofread the crap out of it all, still have to carefully go through FFS2 and make sure I've got all the good parts. Still have to make / find technology write-ups for the most interesting stuff (like why lasers do what they do, how jump drive REALLY works (screw jump masking with a rusty railroad spike, SOM is my inspiration here), how sensors work, etc). Still have to make / find diagrams to explain the complicated stuff. Still have to make sure it looks GOOD and READABLE.
And THEN... THEN I get the fun task of getting MWM and whoever else holds copyrights on stuff to let me release it into the wild. As long as it stays on my HDD, it's fair-use and I don't get sued. If I hand it out to anyone else, I could be, and really, what's the point of all that trouble if you fine people (whom I will be bleeding for information now and then) are not allowed to benefit from it? So, yes, I will be asking for help now and then, and when that last stage comes, the WHOLE FREAKIN COMMUNITY may be required to get it into the public (and even that may help, as I hear MT is basically a lost cause right now). Maybe the gents who run this place can put a good word in for me?
Well, that's it in a nutshell. I have enough stuff that I could make a beta ship design, but couldn't put out all the stats for it yet. (That's another thing I want to do is reduce the amount of paper required to describe a ship, and reduce the need to page through another book to find out what a number means. A 3x5 card is my goal.)
Most stuff related to the project, I will probably post in appropriate sub forums, so if you hang out in only one or two, you might miss stuff.
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