Post by Falconer on Jan 29, 2010 17:13:12 GMT -5
(59.0) DESIGNER’S NOTES
There is considerable difficulty in doing a game on a subject where the “historical” data consists of some 100-odd hours of film, several novels, and a wide variety of semi-official “technical” data. In putting all of this into a game format, one must first consider that any “battles” shown in the films are not the only battles ever fought, and are most likely to be the most unusual battles. Then the designer must construct a game system which will provide good results for “average” battles, and yet still account for the “unusual” ones.
In a historical game one can expect different sources to at least agree in their basic concepts. The real world is reasonably consistent. But in Fiction in general, and this subject in particular, that consistency is simply not there. Not only do the later “add on” materials disagree considerably with the film in some cases; the various sections of the film disagree considerably with each other. The ancient bane of Science Fiction writers (the speed of light and the distances to be covered) strikes home particularly hard in this universe, where we find that at maximum possible speed the ship could not cover the “five year mission” in anything less than 250 years. But if a game was to be done, all of these conflicts had to be resolved — compromised with each other to create a realistic and yet playable game system. In this game the designer has assumed the film to be correct (even where it contradicts itself) and tried to work in the other material as consistently as possible.
The designer began his work on this game by analyzing the ships. The basis of the game was the Federation Heavy Cruiser. In using it in the game, it was found to have certain weak points which should have been accounted for. The designer’s solution was to create the “Command Cruiser.” The Dreadnought existed as a set of external blueprints and was easily enough factored into the game.
Problems began when the designer turned his attention to the Klingon Battlecruiser. There exists a sat of semi-official blueprints for this ship, but the blueprints do not agree with the film in key areas. The blueprint Klingon is literally bristling with Phasers. These, of course, were never used on film. While rumor has it that the draftsman added them “because they looked good,” the designer felt that he had to work them into the game. The solution came from another item on the blueprints, which indicated that the Klingons carried radar-homing Drone missiles (also never used on film). The Phasers were declared to be low powered “defensive” Phasers, intended to protect the ship from Drones. The relatively short range and low power neatly explained why they were never used on film. The unusual firing arcs of these Phasers (all can fire to the rear, but less than half to the front) seemed to support this. But who was using Drones against the Klingons?
The Kzintis were mentioned in some of the later film, and it seemed logical to use them for this hypothetical Drone-using race. The few mentions of them in the novels (which do not cover the same incidents as the films) indicated that the Kzintis were near the Klingons and had previously fought them. The Kzinti Strike Cruiser was created by the designer as a balanced ship that was at the extreme end of the “Drone technology” spectrum.
The Romulan blueprints (by the same draftsman that did the Klingons) also did not agree with the film. On film, Federation officers made the flat statement that the ship they were fighting used only “Impulse” power and was purely sub-light. The blueprints show a warp capable ship. To be sure, the idea of a sub-light ship in the film was rather ludicrous (it would have needed 50 years to cross the “neutral zone”), but the designer felt bound to honor the film. The blueprints were used as the basis of the War Eagle Class. (The designation of “Warbird” for the sub-light ship was invented by the designer and Lou Zocchi in a phone conversation three years ago.) The War Eagles make a good deal of sense. After the Klingon treaty provided the Romulans with warp technology, older Warbird hulls would be pulled into stardocks for refit. For similar reasons, the Federation Light Cruiser was designed as a counter-part to the Warbird, and the sub-light game created to use them. The silhouettes on the counters caused another problem. The ship on the film has an identical silhouette to that of the warp-speed cruiser in blueprints. The solution was to use this for the Warbird, and to add “auxiliary warp pods” for the War Eagle.
The blueprints provided a considerable amount of technical data on the “Plasma Torpedo” but this, unfortunately, caused more problems that it solved. The blueprints showed that the War Eagle was just barely capable of firing one. Using any realistic mathematical model, the Warbird could not possibly fire such a weapon. The designer felt obligated to honor the film, and the Plasma Torpedo is factored for the Warbird. All things considered, it probably would have been much easier to ignore the film and use the blueprints. But despite the fact that the most enthusiastic fans probably have the blueprints, it was obvious that far more people would have seen only the film. Playtesting of the War Eagle (which is far less hopeless than the Warbird) showed that the addition of Phaser batteries (which do not appear in anything but this game) make the ship much more effective.
The Gorns presented other problems. While the designer insisted on including them (primarily to provide a variety of cruisers) there was very little information on them. Physically impressive and personally fearless, they seemed particularly loath to stand up and fight a Federation Cruiser. This could indicate a severe shortage of ships, or perhaps an honest desire to avoid bloodshed. Their ships were created (by the designer) to show a mix of Federation and Romulan technology, and a penchant for ground combat (hence the large number of Shuttles).
As to the game system itself, the designer felt that the basis had to be individual ships. This brought on the rather thorough “Energy Allocation” system. Careful analysis of the films demanded a proportional movement system to depict the warp-speed dogfights that are common in individual battles. The rest of the game more or less fell into place, using game mechanics to create the “feel” and the “flavor” of the films technology. Common sense indicates that a great many people are going to be buying this game as their first wargame. The designer’s best wishes go to these people, who will be entering a new and fascinating hobby. However, such people should be cautioned that this game may be too complex for them to master at first sitting. If you simply cannot understand the game mechanics, please do not give up! There are any number of inexpensive introductory games on the market today. Try one of these, and when you have mastered it, return to STAR FLEET BATTLES. It is a game worth learning to play.
There is considerable difficulty in doing a game on a subject where the “historical” data consists of some 100-odd hours of film, several novels, and a wide variety of semi-official “technical” data. In putting all of this into a game format, one must first consider that any “battles” shown in the films are not the only battles ever fought, and are most likely to be the most unusual battles. Then the designer must construct a game system which will provide good results for “average” battles, and yet still account for the “unusual” ones.
In a historical game one can expect different sources to at least agree in their basic concepts. The real world is reasonably consistent. But in Fiction in general, and this subject in particular, that consistency is simply not there. Not only do the later “add on” materials disagree considerably with the film in some cases; the various sections of the film disagree considerably with each other. The ancient bane of Science Fiction writers (the speed of light and the distances to be covered) strikes home particularly hard in this universe, where we find that at maximum possible speed the ship could not cover the “five year mission” in anything less than 250 years. But if a game was to be done, all of these conflicts had to be resolved — compromised with each other to create a realistic and yet playable game system. In this game the designer has assumed the film to be correct (even where it contradicts itself) and tried to work in the other material as consistently as possible.
The designer began his work on this game by analyzing the ships. The basis of the game was the Federation Heavy Cruiser. In using it in the game, it was found to have certain weak points which should have been accounted for. The designer’s solution was to create the “Command Cruiser.” The Dreadnought existed as a set of external blueprints and was easily enough factored into the game.
Problems began when the designer turned his attention to the Klingon Battlecruiser. There exists a sat of semi-official blueprints for this ship, but the blueprints do not agree with the film in key areas. The blueprint Klingon is literally bristling with Phasers. These, of course, were never used on film. While rumor has it that the draftsman added them “because they looked good,” the designer felt that he had to work them into the game. The solution came from another item on the blueprints, which indicated that the Klingons carried radar-homing Drone missiles (also never used on film). The Phasers were declared to be low powered “defensive” Phasers, intended to protect the ship from Drones. The relatively short range and low power neatly explained why they were never used on film. The unusual firing arcs of these Phasers (all can fire to the rear, but less than half to the front) seemed to support this. But who was using Drones against the Klingons?
The Kzintis were mentioned in some of the later film, and it seemed logical to use them for this hypothetical Drone-using race. The few mentions of them in the novels (which do not cover the same incidents as the films) indicated that the Kzintis were near the Klingons and had previously fought them. The Kzinti Strike Cruiser was created by the designer as a balanced ship that was at the extreme end of the “Drone technology” spectrum.
The Romulan blueprints (by the same draftsman that did the Klingons) also did not agree with the film. On film, Federation officers made the flat statement that the ship they were fighting used only “Impulse” power and was purely sub-light. The blueprints show a warp capable ship. To be sure, the idea of a sub-light ship in the film was rather ludicrous (it would have needed 50 years to cross the “neutral zone”), but the designer felt bound to honor the film. The blueprints were used as the basis of the War Eagle Class. (The designation of “Warbird” for the sub-light ship was invented by the designer and Lou Zocchi in a phone conversation three years ago.) The War Eagles make a good deal of sense. After the Klingon treaty provided the Romulans with warp technology, older Warbird hulls would be pulled into stardocks for refit. For similar reasons, the Federation Light Cruiser was designed as a counter-part to the Warbird, and the sub-light game created to use them. The silhouettes on the counters caused another problem. The ship on the film has an identical silhouette to that of the warp-speed cruiser in blueprints. The solution was to use this for the Warbird, and to add “auxiliary warp pods” for the War Eagle.
The blueprints provided a considerable amount of technical data on the “Plasma Torpedo” but this, unfortunately, caused more problems that it solved. The blueprints showed that the War Eagle was just barely capable of firing one. Using any realistic mathematical model, the Warbird could not possibly fire such a weapon. The designer felt obligated to honor the film, and the Plasma Torpedo is factored for the Warbird. All things considered, it probably would have been much easier to ignore the film and use the blueprints. But despite the fact that the most enthusiastic fans probably have the blueprints, it was obvious that far more people would have seen only the film. Playtesting of the War Eagle (which is far less hopeless than the Warbird) showed that the addition of Phaser batteries (which do not appear in anything but this game) make the ship much more effective.
The Gorns presented other problems. While the designer insisted on including them (primarily to provide a variety of cruisers) there was very little information on them. Physically impressive and personally fearless, they seemed particularly loath to stand up and fight a Federation Cruiser. This could indicate a severe shortage of ships, or perhaps an honest desire to avoid bloodshed. Their ships were created (by the designer) to show a mix of Federation and Romulan technology, and a penchant for ground combat (hence the large number of Shuttles).
As to the game system itself, the designer felt that the basis had to be individual ships. This brought on the rather thorough “Energy Allocation” system. Careful analysis of the films demanded a proportional movement system to depict the warp-speed dogfights that are common in individual battles. The rest of the game more or less fell into place, using game mechanics to create the “feel” and the “flavor” of the films technology. Common sense indicates that a great many people are going to be buying this game as their first wargame. The designer’s best wishes go to these people, who will be entering a new and fascinating hobby. However, such people should be cautioned that this game may be too complex for them to master at first sitting. If you simply cannot understand the game mechanics, please do not give up! There are any number of inexpensive introductory games on the market today. Try one of these, and when you have mastered it, return to STAR FLEET BATTLES. It is a game worth learning to play.
