Er, requesting clarification. If Charlotte goes on an orbit of the asteroid to try to see if there's any nasty surprises ready to jump us from the other side, she won't be able to provide sniper cover. So she can't interpret "permission granted to orbit" as "provide sniper overwatch."
Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.Sabre: Your last post is hard to interpret here.
1. You aren't able to accelerate 9 spaces. I am just talking with Hydrall now to increase movement to 2 per AP [You can also move 1, but it still costs a full AP]. I think we are implimenting it, but under that you still only have 6 movement points.
2. SOS has been used generically in the history of the RP as the signal sent both for Drone recovery and Emergency rescue. The two have typically been distinguished between in context but in this case it wasn't thought of. Perhaps a new term might be more suited for Drone recovery, however, I do not think that this was necessarily intended as a trap. If it was, the SOS beacon was not intended to fake human lives in danger.
3. It might have been noted elsewhere, but we are ignoring Z-axis for the time being. I am not sure if this is remarked in your post or not. I'm assuming not, but I can't tell in your post for certain.
4. Orbiting the Asteroid seems wierd; do you mean that you want to orbit the entire battlefield? Because everything seems interconnected and there's also a huge asteroid field along one edge which would mess up a frame.
5. What Wryte said.
Generally speaking, we're ignoring the gravitational attraction of smaller celestian bodies and assuming that you'll mostly be influenced in tandem with everyone else on the map in a Heliocentric orbit because a minority of people have had 3-D calculus courses at all and that would make this game waaaaay too big a headache for everyone. Just assume everything will work like a typical surface battle unless stated otherwise [ie. Acceleration/Decceleration rules].
Does anyone have major objections to this? If not, then Sabre; could you please revise your move to a legal one?
edited 23rd May '14 8:43:24 AM by Fauxlosophe
Just noticed I was switched to the second company. Not complaining, I was thinking about sayng something about a 6-man group with four Support units, two of the same model and bearing the exact same armaments at that. So I appreciate Hydrall (I'm assuming) being way ahead of me on that.
edited 23rd May '14 11:33:14 AM by EponymousKid
I'm accelerating so that in a turn or two I'll be moving at 9sq/rd, not accelerating at 9sq/rd[2]. In other words, I'll be adding velocity as needed until I can maintain a speed of 9 squares per round. This may take a turn or two of acceleration, keeping in mind I'm already moving at ~3sq/rd and a light frame can accelerate 4sq/rd in a straight line, minus ~1 sq/rd for the fact I intend to move in a curve instead of a line.
And how big is the asteroid? I can't tell; I'm going by the map. If it's too big to orbit in a practical amount of time (i.e., a few rounds), I'll revise my actions.
Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.I am just talking with Hydrall now to increase movement to 2 per AP [You can also move 1, but it still costs a full AP].
If the maps are going to continue to be this big, I think that's gonna be a necessity just to keep us from spending half the game moving without doing anything else. Unless of course our weapons have way more range than I'm anticipating.
I can't tell; I'm going by the map.
Here's a hint: if it's not on the map, you're probably not supposed to go there in the first place. :P
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It would take a couple rounds but we're hoping to reduce combat to be like 3-6 rounds. Long drawn out battles are the bane of forum games. So even if we allow it, you're going to spend the bulk of any climatic battlescene looking for an ambush [or, maybe stumbling headfirst into an ambush, alone and one round away from any support which will be enough time to kill you. This is speculation on my part however, I suspect the drones are more likely the primary issue in this battle].
Also there's a huge asteroid belt around the end which since we're avoiding Z axis, you are going to hit if you do a full circle.
Also calculating gravity is a pain and at least one person is having enough trouble with inertia rules, so Orbit [at least for the time being] is a no go. Rule of thumb; if it invovles calculus more complicated than, say the Pythagorean theorem, we are making it neededless complicated.
Agreed on both counts.
As to the rules; I shot down the 2-3 squares per AP before but I was working with the idea that a square would equal range nad most of us could "stack" onto a large square. I didn't clarify this but took it for granted from my AG experiences. As it stands, we need multiple squares per AP or else mobility and swords are meaningless. Considering the scale now, I'd say 2 AP, though if we wanted larger emptier fields like there was initially, I'd lean 3. What do you guys like?
Edit: Also, I really appreciated the exasperated off-screen Nurse Joy. I don't know why, it just made me happy.
edited 23rd May '14 2:11:08 PM by Fauxlosophe
In other words, no looking on the other side of the asteroid. Will adjust accordingly.
Hmm. Even if we're ignoring the z-axis, is the crevice in the asteroid enclosed on the top and bottom, or just one of those, or open, or both?
Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.^^^ I'd say start with 2 and see how that goes. Since our movement essentially stacks each round, 2 acceleration per AP is going to add up pretty quickly. May I suggest, though, that there be an exception allowing us to accelerate 1 and decelerate 1 in the same direction as a single action, essentially moving 1 square for 1 AP with no inertia leftover? I think it would really help with precision maneuvers.
re: Nurse Joy: Thanks, I was pretty happy with that bit, too. :)
^^ Hydrall's description made it sound like a cave to me, though having the starscape beneath it does imply a crevice instead.
edited 23rd May '14 2:39:11 PM by Wryte
This could have real implications should an ambush happen, mind. I know we're doing our best to ignore the z-axis, but turning 90 degrees to point upwards or downwards and hitting maximum afterburner would be a logical escape trajectory (as opposed to desperately trying to accelerate the other way). Plus, if it's a crevice it's possible to have Circus provide sniper overwatch from one of the two walls; if it's a cave that's right out, and the place would be an EOD deathtrap.
Charlie Stross's cheerful, optimistic predictions for 2017, part one of three.^^ Tell me about it. In my actual playthrough I just had Bulbasaur do all the fighting after sending Caterpie in first until she evolved into Metapod, then did the same thing for Weedle to Kakuna, and even that took for-freaking-ever.
Speaking of which, I'm going to be sad when Elle evolves in-comic. I've really gotten to love drawing her crawling all over Chrys. :P
WARNING MATH/PHYSICS DUMP! MAH INNER NERD IS A LITTLE BIT RAGING ATM
... Okay, I know this issue has already been mostly settled, but you can't just "put yourself in orbit" at a given speed and distance from an object. The the force of the gravity needs to be enough such that it equal to m*v^2/r, where r is the radius and v is the tangential velocity. If it's not you would need to keep accelerating yourself to compensate for the change in direction as you move around the central point. Which would be no different than Sabre expending AP on our grids to approximate a circular motion on our cartesian coordinate system.
The acceleration you would need to spend every turn moving at 9 units/turn with a circular radius of 10 units is v^2/r; which equals 9*9/10, or roughly 8 units per turn^2. So unless the gravity of the asteroid is pulling everyone in at 4 units/turn^2 (a light can generate 4 units of acceleration per turn; 8 - 4 = 4), that path is not sustainable.
Alright, needed to get that off my chest. </nerd rant>
Wikipedia is a valid source in this case.
edited 23rd May '14 3:38:10 PM by zzzdragon
Fear the Gothilolions! | Anime listThe best part is: I actually talk like that when I don't remember slow down, be clear and don't bother to completely filter. Just after starting a sentence I'll think up a better way of phrasing it, and will start saying the better version without bothering with such pleasantries as "let me start again."
Also, I just noticed I need to fix my math. It's fixed now.
edited 23rd May '14 3:40:38 PM by zzzdragon
Fear the Gothilolions! | Anime list

Fair enough. I'll edit that into my post.