James T. Perkins · 31 July 1987 · reply to #38
> Date: Fri, 31 Jul 87 12:32:15 PDT
> From: [email removed] (Michael D. Smith)
> To: [email removed]
> 1. How accurate are the ship diagrams shown in the books?
> The book indicates the staterooms require 56 cubic
> meters, yet most ships' diagrams show a stateroom
> has a floor space of 3 meters x 3 meters.
> With a 2.5 meter high ceiling, those staterooms
> would only be occupying 22.5 cubic meters.
>
> Assuming a 2.5 meter high ceiling, a typical
> stateroom should be 4 meters x 5 meters
> (the remaining 6 cubic meters could be used for
> plumbing, air, & electrical).
Hmm. Guess I better whip out my:
Supplement 7, Traders and Gunboats
Copyright 1980, by Game Designers' Workshop, Inc.
Page 5.
"STARSHIP DECK PLANS
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The creation of starship deck plan data is based on the assumption
that one ton of mass displacement equals fourteen cubic meters. The starship
displacement ton is derived from the volume of one ton of liquid hydrogen, the
material used as fuel for starships.
"Since the square grid scale used for deck plans is 1.5 meters [sic]
squares, a ceiling height of three meters means that two floor squares,
extended floor to ceiling equals four 1.5 meter cubes or about 14 cubic meters
(1.5x1.5x1.5x4=13.5 cubic meters), or one ton. If a 100-ton ship were mapped
as a one-level square, it would have two hundred grid squares within.
"Allowances of approximately 10% (plus or minus) were made in most
areas to allow for proper access and representation of specific items within
the ship. For example, crew quarters call for four tons per person (in Book
2); the actual tonnage allocated to staterooms stands at less than that, but
the remaining area is take [sic] up in communal facilities such as galley,
mess, and recreation lounges.
"In addition, a limited volume of passages has been added to some
starships. Passages and access ways which have no other use may be safely
added to a ship without affecting its volume or displacement for construction
purposes; such additional passages should amount to no more than an additional
10% of the total ship volume."
So this means that a 200-ton ship can actually look like (200 tons + 10%
fudge-factor) + 10% hallways = 200 tons * 1.1 * 1.1 = 242 tons on a deck
plan. Even the miniscule 100-ton Type S Scout ship gets another ~21 tons
out of this arrangement(!)
_ ___
| | / _ \ James T. Perkins, [email removed], 629-1149
| |__ | |_| | Tektronix Logic Analyzers, DAS System Software, Display
|[address removed]
Killed processes never die... They just go to the big Bit Bicket in the sky.