Triplanetary: Movement ?

[RedLeif508]

The rules say:
By expending a point of fuel, the ship may enter clockwise or counter-clockwise orbit. On a later turn it may burn fuel to leave orbit to return to the planetary surface or venture into space. [pg 4]

Is this assuming the approaching ship only has a movement vector of one hex? A ship with a vector of 3 hexes, aimed straight at the planet, only needs to spend one fuel point to enter orbit?

I know this isn't a physics lab/sim, but I'd just like to be clear on this.
Thanks

[Desert Scribe]

Originally Posted by RedLeif508

The rules say:
By expending a point of fuel, the ship may enter clockwise or counter-clockwise orbit. On a later turn it may burn fuel to leave orbit to return to the planetary surface or venture into space. [pg 4]

Is this assuming the approaching ship only has a movement vector of one hex? A ship with a vector of 3 hexes, aimed straight at the planet, only needs to spend one fuel point to enter orbit?

I know this isn't a physics lab/sim, but I'd just like to be clear on this.
Thanks

The part you quoted about spending one point of fuel to reach orbit is for taking off from a planet.

For entering orbit from elsewhere, look a few paragraphs further:

Ships may enter orbit around any body with gravity hexes. A ship which moves at one hex per turn from one gravity hex to an adjacent gravity hex of the same body is in orbit.

In other words, you have to make sure you're going slow enough (one hex per turn--any faster and your velocity would hurl you out of the gravity well) and in the right direction (start in one gravity hex and then go to the next gravity hex).

[RedLeif508]

If the 'spend one fuel to enter orbit' is only applicable to launch (which I agree I misunderstood), I'd argue that the rules don't specify exactly how to enter orbit from space. Your quote from the paragraph titled "Orbit" says "Ships may enter orbit around any body with gravity hexes." It doesn't say how that is done. Here are some procedures I think mostly obey newtonian physics and the rules:

Landing rules/procedure:
To land on a standard gravity planet, without crashing, a ship must enter orbit around the planet, at least one turn before attempting a landing. If a ship’s vector indicates it touches a planet without being in orbit first, the ship has crashed. If the ship attempts to ‘land’ in a hex side without a friendly starport/base it will crash.

To enter orbit from space:
1. Approach a planet and enter a 1 gravity hex with a 1 hex velocity vector.
2. On the next turn spend one fuel and draw a one hex vector to an adjoining gravity hex (either clockwise or counter clock wise). It is now ‘in orbit’.
3. On following turns continue to move the ship one hex along its orbit (from gravity hex to gravity hex around the planet). These motions do not require fuel. The ship may continue to move in the same direction until the ship leaves orbit by spending 1 fuel to either land or exit into space.

One actually has to plot the ship moving into the hex ‘above’ the adjacent gravity hex, then the gravity that the ship began its turn in ‘pulls’ the vector down into the adjacent gravity hex. It plots out like a six pointed star if one follows the astrogation rules. It’s really quite cool. One can see why an orbit was called a free fall in the old days.
If the ship is at 2 or higher velocity it won't be able to enter orbit

To land on a planet:
1. On a following turn (after entering orbit) the player must spend one fuel point. the ship may then move to any hex side to land on the planet.
2. If the hex side the ship lands in does not contain a [friendly] base the ship has crashed.

Launching rules/procedure:
To leave a planet or re-land at a different base on the same planet a ship must launch into orbit first.

To enter orbit from a friendly base on the planet’s surface:
1. On the turn of launch draw dotted vector line from the planet’s surface containing a friendly base to the adjacent gravity hex. Mark the turn of launch in that hex.
2. On the next turn spend one fuel point; draw a one hex solid vector line to an adjoining gravity hex, adjacent to the planet. It is now in orbit.
3. On following turns continue to move the ship one hex along its orbit (from gravity hex to gravity hex). These motions do not require fuel. The ship may continue to move in the same direction until the ship leaves orbit by spending 1 fuel to either land or exit into space.

Achieving orbit from the surface of a planet is accomplished with boosters, thus no fuel is used to attain altitude from the surface. If the ship fails to spend a fuel point and plot to an adjacent gravity hex in the next turn it falls back to the surface and crashes. It crashes because it was not in orbit yet. Ships may not enter orbit unless launched from a hex side with a friendly base/port.

To exit orbit into space:
1. Spend one fuel point.
2. Plot a 2 hex vector based on the starting vector's direction, adjust it by 1 hex in the direction of the gravity arrow the ship started the turn in.
3. The ship has left orbit for deep space.

I'd appreciate any feedback on these.

[Desert Scribe]

That all sounds about right, but I will have to wait for the game to arrive and plot some course with a marker to be sure. :)

[RedLeif508]

I couldn't wait for the physical copy so I printed some hex paper and started goof'n around with it. Thanks for giving this a look through. I've made an animated Powerpoint slide deck that illustrates the launch sequence and I'm still working on the landing sequence deck. But I don't know how I'm going to share/post it somewhere yet.

[ColBosch]

Eh...while I've always felt that Triplanetary is open to all sorts of modification, I'm not interested in making it more complicated. It's not Newtonian movement to begin with, so why make landing/takeoff conform to those laws?

[RedLeif508]

My procedures above were a waste of time.

To enter orbit from space following the Astrogation, Landing and Taking Off, and Orbit rules as written work fine with the exception that the ship must approach with a velocity of 1 hex.

I've not found a way to enter orbit with a velocity of 2 or higher.

[ColBosch]

Originally Posted by RedLeif508

My procedures above were a waste of time.

Please don't think this way. Even though I disagreed with what you came up with, it's never a waste of time to contemplate and attempt to solve a problem. Triplanetary is a fantastic game to expand and modify!

[RedLeif508]

Originally Posted by ColBosch

Triplanetary is a fantastic game to expand and modify!

I couldn't agree more.