From: Izenberg, Noam <Noam.Izenberg@j...>
Date: Sun, 20 May 2001 13:30:16 -0400
Subject: Re: PDS/ADFC systems
> BIF wrote: > I was thinking about the PSB for the PDS systems, and the fact that Why? Sophisticated computer/electronic aid may merely augment the human fire/no fire decision. Or the system itself is shotgun like - you don't need so much accuracy only a computer could fire it. Or its something even more bizarre - you patch gremembers into a grav sensor grid directly and they "feel" where to shoot. > My thinking is due to the shear speeds involved in space ship terms, Remember the "standard" turn lasts anywhere from 5-20 minutes. How fast does reaction time have to be if the turn really condenses the aggregate of many feints and attacks? > Also, how do you think the ADFCons work? My Could also simply be a focusing aid for small targets attacking other ships. Perhaps ships w/o ADFC can't point weak PDS up to 6" away vs. things not attacking their own ship. > ...This could be a reasonable explination due to the fact that a ship It _could_ be reasonable. But there are other ways of thinking about it that require humans-in-the-loop, or other concepts that make a solely PSB-based or -justified rule difficult or impossible to apply. I think of PDS attacks this way. Missiles and fighters may engage a target that's 6" waya, but all the actual firing etc takes place within 1" (more like within 0.1"). To me its implausible at best to expect fighters to be effective at ranges of over 1000 km (one of the most standard definitions for an MU. So a ship using PDS vs. things attacking it are going for the bona-fide shrotest range possible. ADFC enables you to focus your arages against targets much farther away, possibly in conjunction with the target ships' own PDS net. While the target's fire goes vs. the terminal or attack runs, the ADFC support goes as they set up or regroup slightly furhter out. But again, that's only one way of thinking about it, which has its own strengths and flaws. The PSB is what gives the game a distinct flavor, but in a game like FT, it shouldn't define the rules. IMO.