[Starport/Downport] Size of port

[DaveChase]

How many ships should be able to dock at a :
Class A spaceport
Class B spaceport
Class C spaceport

How many ships should there be ground space at a :
Class A downport
Class B downport
Class C downport
Class D downport
Class E downport (or does it matter here?)

Does a certain class of port (down or space) have to be of a certain size (volume/tonnage) or is just the services able to be rendered the important determining feature?

Are there set/required crew positions based on the size (classification) of a port?

Should a Class A or B port have rental quarters available for visiting/docking ships?
Or for passengers of docking ships?

Should there be a minimum of rental storage space available based on a ports classification?
Or does it depend on what kind of port it is? (Scout base, repair base, military base, merchant base, etc)


Dave Chase

 

[Evil Steve]

I don't feel there should be a minimum capacity for 'ports. Class is based on services that it can offer. The capacity would be dictated by traffic, which would be dictated by location and purpose, capital worlds, major cargo transfer points, and systems that are located at a branch of Jump-1 systems would need larger capacities than an important, but isolated mining world, or a border of little importance.

Rental space would be dictated by how often temporary visitors arrive and are left without a ship for long enough that they need quarters. I can imagine repair centres having need for rooms to let, for craft getting major overhauls. Mercantile stations might have lots of casual, and formal meeting spaces, but few private staterooms (so no one has the upper hand during negotiations). Military bases would have a few extra rooms, but I imagine most crew would stay on ship.

I have no additional thoughts on the issue of storage space.

 

[Hemdian]

Does a certain class of port (down or space) have to be of a certain size (volume/tonnage) or is just the services able to be rendered the important determining feature?

I don't think size is a factor in determining class. And wasn't size determined in an article by Marc Miller in an issue of JTAS magazine?

 

[jawillroy]

Leroy Guatney had a JTAS article about this with an interesting mechanic, but I think he overestimated traffic. He had a table cross referencing port type and world population: For a type A port on a pop A world, he rolled 10 dice and had a positive modifier per die. A type C port for a type A port would roll 8 dice, no modifiers. A type C port on a pop 7 world would roll 5 dice, and so on.

I could live with his numbers for the highport worlds, but he figured on way too much traffic for the backwaters IMO.

 

[rancke]

How many ships should be able to dock at a :
Class A spaceport
Class B spaceport
Class C spaceport

How many ships should there be ground space at a :
Class A downport
Class B downport
Class C downport
Class D downport
Class E downport (or does it matter here?)

Enough to accomodate the local traffic on peak days, so it depends on the population level of the world itself and all its trading partners (not to mention through traffic).

Does a certain class of port (down or space) have to be of a certain size (volume/tonnage) or is just the services able to be rendered the important determining feature?

Starport ratings indicate the facilities an unsheduled visitor can expect available within a reasonable time.

Are there set/required crew positions based on the size (classification) of a port?

Enough to provide the services for which the port is rated.


Hans