TNE FFS Ship Design Spreadsheet

[AnotherDilbert]

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?p=590465#post590465

This spreadsheet is somewhat complex to use so I will try to make a simple tutorial in this thread.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

We shall design a small Imperial patrol ship, something like 400 Dt at TL-15.

We start with the original spreadsheet:

We update the grey fields with TL-15 and 400 Dt.
Configuration is selected by giving a number that is the order of the configuration in the list of configurations, e.g. 2 for "Needle" and 6 for "Sphere".
Streamlining is chosen with a numerical value: -1 for Unstreamlined, 0 for Streamlined, and +1 for Airframe. You only get what is possible for this configuration, so you might not get what you asked for...

We have chosen configuration Sphere since it adds the least mass for armour. We will add armour later when the ship is almost finished and we know how much mass we can afford.

We can of course go back and change any value and the spreadsheet will be recalculated.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

We continue down the spreadsheet to define drive performance:

We define Jump-4 capability and 2G acceleration. Power, fuel and ancillary systems such as fuel purifiers are defaulted and calculated. The actual fuel is allocated as Demountable Tanks in the cargo hold, but that can be turned off below.

You might not get exactly what you specify, e.g. you will not get more jump capacity than is possible at the chosen TL. In the "Desired" column you specify what you want and in the "UCP" column is shown what you actually got.

Manoeuvre drive performance can be calculated by volume of the ship or mass. By RAW you should use volume if the total mass of the ship is less than 14.5 × displacement, actual mass otherwise. The UCP column always show acceleration calculated by mass to give a rough indication of how expensive is would be to change to mass calculation. I have made the choice manual, specify 1 in cell J25 for mass calculation.

We will continue using volume calculation as is RAW.

At lower TL rockets can be used instead of, or in addition to, HEPlaR.

The "#" column specifies how many identical systems the ship should have, you can add several to have backups, or remove the system by specifying 0 in this column. E.g. you can remove the Purifier by specifying 0 in the "#" column.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Workstations and computers are allocated as needed.

You can specify a minimum number of workstations in the "Desired" column.

By default you get computers of the ship's TL, but you can specify a lower TL in the "Desired" column e.g. to get cheaper computers. You can also specify a different number of fib computers, e.g. to only use fib computers in a military ship.

Controls and Avionics are defaulted.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Common Electronics systems can be chosen from lists:

You will be informed in angry red if you chose a system of to high TL.

We will choose good sensors, with some backups, for our patrol ship:

Electronics crew are automatically added to man the systems.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Staterooms and life support systems are allocated automatically.

You can specify minimum amounts of accommodations in the "Desired" column to get more staterooms.

By default small staterooms will be used, but you can specify large staterooms or bunks, those will be subtracted from the number of small staterooms.

You can specify double occupancy for crew in cell D59 and bunks for ship's troops in cell D60. Specify 1 to turn them on, or 0 to turn off. These options stack so if both are chosen ship's troops share bunks.

We specify some troops in bunks, double occupancy, and a large stateroom for the captain:

The exact number of staterooms will change when we add more systems later.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

All remaining space will be allocated to the cargo hold.

By default jump and reaction fuel are allocated as Demountable Tanks in the cargo hold. Turn that off by specifying 0 in the "#" column or a different size in the "Desired" column.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

We allocate a tiny utility small craft by specifying it's displacement in the "Desired" column and selecting a type of hangar in the first column:

The mass of the carried craft is defaulted but can of course be changed.

If the craft is carried in grapples it is carried externally, increasing the ship's total displacement, and the ship's drives are recalculated for the new volume. See Total Tonnage in row 19. The correct type of grapples for the ship's streamlining is used.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Screens:

Nuclear Dampers can be allocated by specifying how many you want in the "#" column. If local sensors are desired select in the list.

If several Dampers are specified the necessary number of MFDs will be allocated to control them. Local gunners and MFD (bridge) gunners, with workstations and staterooms, will be added as shown in the "Gunner" and "MFD" columns.

Meson Screen is added by specifying a PV in the "Desired" column.

Tractors are added by specifying tons of pull in the "Desired" column. Range and the needed beam pointer are defaulted. A different beam pointer can be chosen in the list.

We specify a few screens, including a small tractor beam that can handle a missile or a close small craft:

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Weapons:

MFDs can be selected in the list. The needed sensor will be defaulted.

Turret sockets are automatically allocated to accommodate selected standard turrets. More can be specified by specifying a minimum number in the "Desired" column.

Standard turrets can be selected in the list and how many in the "#" column.

Custom laser turrets are specified by discharge energy in the "Desired" column and RoF. The needed beam pointer is defaulted. The needed capacitor/HPG is allocated outside the turret if it is too big.

Meson Guns are specified by selecting type (spinal/bay) in the first column and discharge energy in the "Desired" column. Beam pointer and capacitor is defaulted and basic performance is displayed.

We specify a couple of long-range MFDs, a couple of laser barbettes, a sandcaster turret, and a custom laser turret with a high rate of fire to be able to hit at extended range:

The custom laser uses a lot of power, too much really, but it is designed to use exactly as much power as 1G acceleration, so we can choose between acceleration and the weapon.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Now we have the basics down we can start to fine-tune the design.

We add a few staterooms to have some extra room.

We add an internal armour compartment for the bridge and add as much armour as we can without exceeding the breakpoint of mass = 14.5 × displacement: (If you want to avoid this ridiculousness just switch to calculating acceleration by mass from the beginning.)

We can also fine tune power production by specifying an absolute size of the power plant in cell B28 or just some extra power in cell B31.

We increase the power plant slightly to gain a power reserve for some extra equipment:

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Now we have a finished result:

And a rough draft of hit location tables:

 

[jcrocker]

Thanks for the walk-thru! Makes me want to pull out TNE and design a ship again.

 

[TheDark]

Very useful, and very nicely done. It does break in LibreOffice, I believe because that program doesn't recognize the named cell references (i.e. it doesn't know where Cp is or where Volume is). I assume it would also break in OpenOffice, since the two programs are still rather similar with their Calc programs.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Seems to work fine in LibreOffice 6.062, except string comparisons.

I'll update the string comparisons I found and post a new version.

Spoiler:

Edit:
Just don't insert any rows in LibreOffice...

 

[TheDark]

Seems to work fine in LibreOffice 6.062, except string comparisons.

I'll update the string comparisons I found and post a new version.

Edit:
Just don't insert any rows in LibreOffice...

Ah-ha! I fell behind without realizing it. It doesn't work in LibreOffice 5, and I need to download 6.

 

[Tupper]

That's fantastic. I've been working with Rb-98r4, and working through the old ships to check their stats (onto the last book, but fallen a bit behind lately!). Looks like your sheet could make things a lot easier!

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Thanks, I do strive for simplicity, but that also means my spreadsheet is not as complete as some other.