Hey folx,
Sorry for the sloppy editing yesterday, having computer troubles.
I sed:
>I just thought I'd post my updated version about
>cockpit design.
Cynthia sez:
}I still think that this is a nice idea for aircraft/vehicles & early
}spacecraft, but mid-to-high tech spacecraft probably have cockpits that
}look like the starship Enterprise or the Battlestar Galactica's. And the
}pilot probably operates them by saying, "Beowulf, calculate and execute
}insertion into a 1600 km parking orbit" or somesuch. Point being that the
}computer probably handles the actual details of maneuvering for anything
}bigger than an air/raft.
Yeah, voice control is nice, and possible. The books I've read on cockpit
design talk about voice control & the possiblilities. But for quick
control inputs (attack, evasion, landing) where piloting skill comes into
effect, you want that control stick. I can move my left hand a LOT faster
than I can say "Break right! Come to course zero nine five!" I can make
my right hand move a lot faster than I can say "Full throttle!"
Ever play with a flight simulator? Say like Wing Commander? Imagine
trying to give all the control input's verbally...
Yes, the computer Does all the maneuvering, and not just for
air/rafts: air/rafts have computers too. But the control INPUT is from
a stick.
Remember that most of the high performance starships have the same maneuver
capabilities as the fighters. As such they can perform the same maneuvers
and will require the same control inputs.
If all is voice controlled, then where does piloting control come in?
Why a dexterity bonus? (Unless the pilot is a stutterer... :-)
---------------
I sed:
> I wouldn't mind if TNE used A.I. much more extensively. It would broaden
> the base appeal of the game, and if done carefully, wouldn't change it
> too much.
Wildstar sez:
}Wouldn't change it too much? Heck, no! It would be like a return to the
}"good old days". Back when I started playing Traveller...
A yep.
Me:
> I could not keep that beam off of me.
> Even with that clumsy binocular/laser arrangement I just
> could not evade that beam without good cover.
> Hitting a target with a laser weapon will be VERY easy.
He:
}Did they try giving you another binocular/laser so that you could "shoot
}back" every once and a while? I bet having to worry about *THAT* might
}spoil someone's aim pretty quick!
No. I was 100 yards away without an extension cord. But the point is
that that binocular/laser thing was about as clumsy a weapon arrangement
as you can imagine. Picture this: A pair of binoculars with a brick
attached. No pistol grip, no rifle stock, just something you can barely
wrap both hands around to keep it from falling apart. Now, I'm no
marksmen, (I fired a .22 ONCE *In the dark*) but I believe 100 yards is
pretty much outside pistol range. Yet this clumsy thing was deadly
accurate. At pistol range it would have been even better.
Me:
> Solomani and most Imperial flight controls generally consist
> of stick, throttle, and rudder pedals.
Wildstar:
}It was quite a while ago, but when I designed the Gold of Zurrian, I was
}told (and this was "official" information at the time) that most Imperial
}vessels used the *VILANI* conventions, not the Solomani. I don't believe
}this has changed.
Where did you read this? It kinda makes sence, even fitting with my
estimate, but where did it come from? The Vilani setup I described
would be a lot easier to handle than the Solomani one with rudder pedals
if your feet were of the wrong configuration. PLEASE tell me where you
read this. I didn't know anybody else thought about stuff like this.
Me:
> The stick is usually
> mounted in the center of the console, but is sometimes on the left
> side, while the right hand generally controls the throttle.
Wildstar:
}If there is only one pilot, then the throttles may be on either side,
}depending on the whim of the designer; I believe that a left-side placement
}is more common, because most Solomani are right-handed, and will want to
}use their right hands for the control stick. For the same reason, a side
}mounted control stick will usually be on the right (this was certainly the
}case of the F-18 cockpit mockup that I "flew" a number of years ago).
Most aircraft I know of, (where I've seen the cockpit) have a right hand
throttle. I know the F-16 has a left hand throttle, and your testimony
for the F-18, but an F-14 pilot friend told me that that was the exception
not the rule. I guess the Solomani of Trav will probably have both left
and right side sticks.
Me: (On Vilani)
> the same control panel exists on a Vilani fat trader as exists
> on their air/rafts and their most sophisticated fighters.
}I think this sounds like a very Vilani thing to do. Since the Vilani
}design philosophy is more common in the Imperium, this would explain why
}anyone with "Pilot" skill can fly anything from a Scoutship up to the
}largest warship or transport. It also explains the skill cross over
}between air/raft, ship's boat, and pilot skills.
MMM. After all, what Vilani pilot will want to have to understand
all that technical stuff behind the control panel?
"When this light turns red: That is very bad."
"What if the light is in a different spot on the panel?"
"It won't be."
}No, you don't let the wheels swivel freely like on a Adrian Hurt's shopping
}trolley. Modern-day crosswind gear is powered (hydraulically or
}electrically), so that the pilot selects the crosswind angle with a cockpit
}control, and the main gear swivels to match. After you are down, you dial
}it back to zero, and use a little steering wheel to steer the nosewheel.
}This is the sort of system that is used on modern large transports (just
}about everything since the Boeing 707). No problem with high speed taxi.
Yeah yer right, but small aircraft don't have powered crosswind gear.
So Vilani, (taught as generically as possible) will have to be taught
DO NOT TAXI TOO FAST! There's probably a governer in the computer
somewhere.
> [Droyne controls]
}I'm not convinced with this one, but it makes for a good story!
Well, before I ran outta money, I learned quite a bit as a student pilot.
One of the things I kept wishing for was more appendages, and an instict
for things like angles of attack, bank etc. If I had wings and the
corresponding insticnt (even if it's vestigial) flying would be a LOT
easier. After all, the earliest droyne flying machines
are basically gonna be mechanical versions of their wings. Seems to me
that a mechanical linkage would be the easiest way to maintain control.
Why use your hands (which don't know how to fly) when your wings are just
as good (or better) and free up your hands to operate more secondary
controls.
I can imagine that the Droyne might install some large fans over the
pilot's station to give him a 'feel' for the way the ship or plane is
performing. He could feel a stall building up by the airflow over his
wings inside the cockpit.
(I wonder what it'll be like when the Alcyon crew gets a load
of the Bernoulli's cockpit :-)
Me: (on K'Kree)
> The pilot lies in a couch arrangement with his
> four hooves touching the floor. By leaning in one direction or
> another, the ship's attitude is changed.
Wildstar:
}This was tried in early human flight experiments (strapping the pilot
}into a yoke and having him lean to control yaw motion). This was
}abandonded as ineffective, but it would be like the K'kree to stick
}with the first system they thought of.
:-) Now you got the idea! When an alien has all those extra appendages,
USE 'EM!
Wildstar:
}References: "Jet-Age Test Pilot" (Tex Johnston's autobiography, published
}by Bantam). "Smithsonian Book of Flight" (Walter Boyne, published by
}the Smithsonian Press).
I'd also recomend "Future Fighters" (Salamander books, I forget the author)
(M. Spinks?)
}Visit the National Air and Space Museum.
Have done many times.
Hey, Wildstar, go to Garber Flight Restoration Facility in Silver Hill.
Call in advance & find out when my brother Jim is giving a tour of the
hangers. He's a docent on weekends. :-)
}Adrian Hurt writes:
}[Concerns of Zho psi pilot station]
Wildstar:
}Presumably if anybody could do it, the Zhodani could. Perhaps the fighter
}controls only respond to somebody sitting nearby, or maybe you have to
}flick a special control when you start up the system, so that the computer
}can store the pilot's mental pattern (flick-print?). From then on until
}flick control is turned off, the computer only responds to inputs from
}the person with the right mental pattern.
Sounds good, thanks! I'll use it!
2G Scott