I like the idea of partial information. This would help simulate reacting to
the enemies' actions as they occur:
"They're slowing!" "They're coming about (turning port, turning starboard)!"
"They're climbing/diving (3-D games only)!"
"They're rotating to bring their undamaged broadside to bear!"
or a little more complete...
"They're accelerating and veering to port!"
Note that these sorts of 'peeks' do not give complete information (exact
amount of thrust/degrees of turn/resulting speed. You can't know those
things until the turn is finished and the new one is beginning, because all
movement is continuous and simultaneous in real life.
However, the general trend of enemy maneuvers would quickly become obvious.
> I like the idea of partial information. This would help simulate
> "They're slowing!"
You know, I really like this idea. Now for some outright self promotion,
yesterday I posted an idea of replacing the FCS as currently discussed with
Enhanced Sensors/FCS used in tandem. The FCS by itself could be used
for command and communication, or combined with the sensors could perfrom
advanced analysis on the sensor data to generate the 'peeking' information.
MT sensors provide information based on a die roll
1-2 - No information
3 - Military/Civilian and Mass rating
4 - Mass, Propulsion, and Screens (original values)
5 - All onboard systems (original values)
6+ - As 5, plus all current ratings
If you attach the FCS/CIC to perform a more thorough analysis of the
sensor data, you gain the following information about the target, based on the
success of the sensor roll
1-2 - No information
3 - Change in speed (accel/none/decel)
4 - Change in direction (port/none/stbd)
5 - both change in speed/direction
6 - as above with more precision - as in 'shallow turn starboard'(1-2
pts) vs 'tight turn starboard' (3+ pts)
I have a difficulty seeing how to manage the turn sequencing with this
system. Can anyone see an easy way to integrate it with a 'hold-back
type command system?
> Note that these sorts of 'peeks' do not give complete information
Very clever - I like it.