| From: | David Hinkley <dhinkley@***.ORG> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: A thought about ships |
| Date: | Tue, 19 May 1998 14:59:06 -0700 |
> Well I just finished cyberpirates (I was holding off on the rigger rules
> untill after I read rigger 2). Well lets see the damage codes for anti
> ship weaponry are about right though I'd have to argue with the statement
> the a direct his from a Outlaw 2 isn't going to do at least a little
> damage (especially to an unarmored ship).
It is going to do damage. The question is would it be effective damage. The
problem is that a ship is very large and the effects of even large AT weapons
are relatively small. And most of the volume of the ship can be hit and damaged
without affecting the ship. On the other hand there are a few locations within
the ship that are both small enough for "normal" weapons to effect and
important enough to effect the ship. The bridge, the engine room, the rudder
and stearing gear and possibly the fuel tanks are examples of these areas. But
these areas, with the possible exception of the bridge and rudder, are located
deep in the hull where they would be difficult to target. Hense the game
designers delema how to design a combat system that somewhat accurately
reflects the difficulty while at the same time is playable. FASA's choice was
one of the ways.
One of the other is a series of combat resulution tables that determine where
the rounds hit and what was damaged. This method works but it is
cumbersome and creates a demand for a "call shot" system and a means of
determing what knowledge a PC needs to "call shot" the engine room on a
large frieghter.
I wish I had a god solution but as of now I only have the problem identified.
While that is progress it is not a lot.
David Hinkley
dhinkley@***.org
