The Next Installment: Computers in Traveller: New Era
I detailed out the lists from FFS regarding standard, flight, fiber optic
and implant computers, as well as revised the tables for the desktop/laptop
and handheld computers and some rules (at the very bottom) for using them.
I'm planning on submitted this to GDW as well, so maybe (just maybe) it
might even be official someday.
"Standard" computers (FFS, page #48)
Model# TL Vol(m^3) Mass(tonnes) Price(MCr)
7 7 5 1 0.5
8 8 5 1 0.4
9 9 5 1 0.4
10 10 6 1.2 0.6
11 11 7 1.4 1
12 12 8 1.6 2
13 13 9 1.8 3
14 14 8 1.6 4
15 15 7 1.4 5
"Standard" computers in TNE are the mainframe/supercomputer/server analogs
to todays machines. These machines run multiple programs and store
tremendous amounts of information - and are meant to be connected to other
machines which serve as terminals. According to FFS (Fire, Fusion, and
Steel) these machines can serve as diagnosticians for flight ships and
reduce maintenance levels.
A more compacted (and cheaper) version of these machines are "Flight"
computers. These machines are streamlined for special purposes - anything
from database functions to calculating the proper lift surface configuration
for flight. Flight computers have their volume, power requirements, and mass
divided by 10, and their price divided by 1000.
There are also FiberOptic version for both standard and flight computers.
These machines are largely immune to the effects of radiation damage
(according to the original Traveller rules). TNE mentions that usually one
of the machines onboard a ship is FiberOptic. FiberOptic machines have their
volume, mass, and price multiplied by 2.
"Implant" computers (FFS, page #84)
Model# TL Mass(kg) Price(MCr)
7M 12 1.0 0.5
8M 13 1.0 0.4
9M 14 1.0 0.4
10M 15 1.2 0.6
11M 16 1.4 1.0
12M 17 1.6 1.2
13M 18 1.8 1.8
14M 19 1.6 2.4
15M 20 1.4 3.0
"Implant" computers are the relatively equivilant to flight computers. These
machines primarily direct any cybernbetics and interface directly to the
brain. Like flight computers, they can not reduce the maintenance levels for
starships & the like, but can calc jump parameters and allow a person to fly
a starship. Details on how it effects abilities are below.
EXTRAPOLATED DATA for smaller (& larger) machines.
Desktop/Laptop computers
Model# TL Vol(L) Mass(kg) Price(MCr)
7D 9 2 2.5 .02
8D 10 2 2.5 .016
9D 11 2 2.5 .016
10D 12 2.4 3.0 .024
11D 13 2.8 3.5 .04
12D 14 3.2 4.0 .048
13D 15 3.6 4.5 .072
14D 16 3.2 4.0 .096
15D 17 2.8 3.5 .12
These machines are roughly equivilant to the mainframe computer of two tech
levels earlier. They can be interfaced directly into starship systems and
it's possible to use them to reduce maintenance levels as per their model
number. FiberOptic versions are available at twice the volume, mass, and
cost. Flight versions are also available at half the volume and mass and one
fourth the cost. The flight versions of these computers are often used as
powerful terminals in connection to the larger "standard" computers for
their tech level.
Handheld computers
Model# TL Vol(L) Mass(kg) Price(Cr)
7H 11 .2 .5 1000
8H 12 .2 .5 800
9H 13 .2 .5 800
10H 14 .24 .6 1200
11H 15 .28 .7 2000
12H 16 .32 .8 2400
13H 17 .36 .9 3600
14H 18 .32 .8 4800
15H 19 .28 .7 6000
Handheld computers are the smallest computers (aside from inplants) readily
available. The handheld models function equivilant to flight computers from
four tech levels earlier. At tech level 13, Handheld versions equivilant to
standard models can be found for twice the volume and mass and three times
the price.
Some rules for using computers:
In FFS, there are some comments about using the implant computers to make
queries regarding general and specific topics - and a description which
identified them as essentially flight computers for comparison. From that,
I've worked out some general rules:
For the purposes of answering general queries - the flight equivilant
computers have an asset of 8, and the standard equivilant computers have an
asset of 12. A general question regarding well known information would be an
easy or average task, a specific question would be a difficult task, and a
very specific question would be a formidable (or impossible) task -
depending on the referee.
An additional rule (mentioned in FFS) is that players can "optimize" their
computers knowledge base around specific topics before a game. The number of
topics they can optimize around is based on the (model# - 6). i.e. a TL9
computer could be optimized for three topics. This decreases the difficulty
of the task by one for those specific topics (how specific is left
unspecified), and increases the difficulty of the task for general
(non-topic) questions by a DM of -2.
For purposes of involving the "software" skills for those with a implant
computer or a direct neural interface, you can optimize the computer around
that specific skill (instead of a topic) and gain a -1 difficulty when using
"intelligence" based skills and a -2 difficulty when using "education" based
skills.
Enjoy!
joe University of Missouri - Columbia
[email removed] [phone removed]