Re: (1841) TDR Ideas, Addendum

>From: John Wilber [email removed]
>MANEUVER DRIVES

A though just hit me (*clonk* :).  If TDR deems that grav drives are
reasonable (probably at high TL's if my power function idea is used),
actual thrust sould be primarily along the axis of the ship, with limited
thrust on the sides.

Generally: sides =1-6,    1  ^
                         6 2 |
                         5 3 forward
                          4

Assume: rear = full power, front = 2/3 power, rear flank = 1/2 power,
        front flank = 1/3 power.  Round down (space combat)

(gravatic drive is at center of gravity, aligned along the axis).

Rear Thrust  Front  Front Flank  Rear Flank
    1g         0g       0g          0g
    2g         1g       0g          1g
    3g         2g       1g          1g
    4g         2g       1g          2g
    5g         3g       1g          2g
    6g         4g       2g          3g

A ship designed with a 4g max rear thrust may apply up to 2g forward as
breaking thrust.  If the captain wants more, he will have to turn around.
In addition, the ship may face the enemy and still retreat, if the
armor in the fron is heavier.

VECTOR MOVEMENT

The last bout of vector combat I played with was MAYDAY, many years ago.
I don't know how MT does it, but how about this.

Forward vector: Current vector with respect to the ship's axis.  positive
indicates forward, negative indicates backward.

Slip vector: Thrust added by rear flank thrusters produces a slip vector,
either Left or Right.  These vectors are added to the forward vector.

Drag vector: used to counteract slip vectors.  Right drag will cancel
right slip on a 1-1 basis.

Reverse vector:  Using forward thrust to counteract forward vectors.

When ships rotate, the vectors change names:

           Forward   Left-Slip    Right-Slip
Left Turn   R-Slip   Forward       Left Drag
Right Turn  L-Slip   Right Drag     forward
 _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _
/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \
\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/*\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/
/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/*\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \
\_/F\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/F\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/*\_/*\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/
/ \_/*\_/"A"/ \_/*\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/*\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \
\_/ \_/*\_/ \_/*\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/*\_/ \_/F\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/
/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/*\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \
\_/ \_/*\_/ \_/ \_/*\_/"B"/ \_/ \_/*\_/"C"/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/
/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/*\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \
\_/ \_/*\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/*\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/
/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/*\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \
\_/ \_/*\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/*\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/
/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/S\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \
\_/ \_/S\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/S\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/
/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \

Course "A" has these vectors: F4, L2
Course "B" has these vectors: F2, L3, R2
Course "C" has these vectors: F6, L-4    (drag left 4)

the *'s indicate the plotting path.  S is starting point, F is ending point.
As you can see, large drag and slip vectors can be simplified to
forward vectors with small slips or drags.

Thus, drag converts to slip at the cost of forward vector and reversal
of dirction.  (as shown on path "C")
Equal left and right slips cancel, to produce one forward vector, per
canceling, with the excess becoming the actual slip.

- - -============================================================================-
 Burton Choinski                                       [email removed]
   Prime Computer, Inc.                                  [phone removed]
   Framingham, Ma.  01701
 Disclaimer:  Down! Down! Down! Out! Out! Out! Mine! Mine! Mine!
- - -============================================================================-

[I deleted some rows of empty hexes for brevity, and edited the subject
line and attribution text.  Someone let me know if my editing gets out
of hand -- James]