Re: GURPS Spaceships Design Spreadsheet
 

Version 2.0 Release Candidate 19
-Reworked the macros that deal with the Design Table navigation buttons, hopefully fixing the issue with it going to the wrong sheet.
-Fixed a couple minor issues on the Optional Rules sheet

You can download the spreadsheet here:

Excel 2000 (RC19)
http://gurpsland.no-ip.org/zip/SpaceshipsV2.zip (5.1 MB)
http://gurpsland.no-ip.org/zip/SpaceshipsV2.7z (~2.5 MB)

Excel 2007 (RC19)
http://gurpsland.no-ip.org/zip/SpaceshipsV2-2007.zip (~6.3 MB)
http://gurpsland.no-ip.org/zip/SpaceshipsV2-2007.7z (~6.2 MB)

OpenOffice 3.3.0 (RC9)
http://gurpsland.no-ip.org/zip/SpaceshipsV2-Ooo.zip (~2.1 MB)
http://gurpsland.no-ip.org/zip/SpaceshipsV2-Ooo.7z (~1.9 MB)

Re: GURPS Spaceships Design Spreadsheet
 

Sorry, it's still not working for me. I think it may have something to with my adding a "Saved Ships" sheet to import my own custom designs to. Either adding the sheet or importing my ships must be screwing with the macro behind the button somehow. I'd be willing to email you a copy of my sheet as it stands so you can check it out.

Also, could you please set the default "Calculate Troop Strength" option value to off? I haven't needed it yet, and it's slightly annoying that I must uncheck it every time I reset the design sheet to start a ship from scratch.

Finally, could you please include a "Spin Tether" option (SS7 p.22) in the Gravity section of the "Ship Options"? It should have a numeric input field for the gravity value requested validated as greater than zero and (maybe) less than or equal to 1 which would be the listed capacity of an External Clamp. The stats could be calculated from this and the ship's Lwt. and added to the notes and the ship's cost.

Re: GURPS Spaceships Design Spreadsheet
 

This isn't a case of the sheet changing, this has something to do with working memory. It's kind of complicated, but which sheet the particular button points to can be somewhat variable, and apparently Microsoft messed with one of the function that accesses sheets from within the macros. Without seeing how it is doing what it's doing on your version of Office I have no way of figuring out what is going wrong. All I know for sure is that it works perfectly fine on multiple computers of mine running Office 2000 and Office 2007.

I'll take a look at these when I get some time.

Re: GURPS Spaceships Design Spreadsheet
 

I just re-uploaded the RC19. The only change is that I basically hard-coded the button Macro for the Design Table navigation button. If this doesn't fix the problem then I really have no idea what is going on.

Re: GURPS Spaceships Design Spreadsheet
 

It was odd. Immediately after importing my old ships to the newly added "Saved Ships 1" sheet, clicking the "Design Table" did bring up the "Design Table" sheet. Every time I clicked it after that though, it went to the new "Saved Ships 1" sheet. Maybe my computer is cursed.


EDIT: I did have a reverse compatibility error message crop up when I first tried to save the file (apparently it didn't like some external sheet cell links) but I ignored it and it hasn't caused any other problems.

Re: GURPS Spaceships Design Spreadsheet
 

Some fuel usage issues:

• The fuel usage duration calculation for reaction engines seems to assume constant thrust rather than constant acceleration. This means at engine burnout the actual acceleration = a × 20/(20 - number of tanks used up) where a = nominal acceleration. Fuel duration for constant acceleration = ΔV × K/a hours where K=0.045 for liftoff and 0.0455 for space. There should be an engine (or ship) option as to which is constant.
• If the ship has more than one reaction engine that use the same fuel tanks, ΔV and duration for each engine is calculated using the entire fuel supply. Could you set up a "fuel profile" entry like the "power profile" entry that could assign a fixed amount of fuel to each engine's use?

  Example: A Mars Shuttle I recently designed had both NTR ram-rocket (for liftoff to low orbit) and VASMIR (for high efficiency space maneuvering) drives that used 5 hydrogen fuel tanks. It needs 4.4 tanks for the NTR to boost from top air speed (0.5 mps) to low Mars orbit (2.48 - 0.5 = 1.98 mps), leaving 0.6 tanks for the VASMIR. (This is 6 mps in high efficiency or 0.3 mps in low efficiency mode.)

Re: GURPS Spaceships Design Spreadsheet
 

I am currently designing a Mars base that is largely underground, and I have several suggestions:

1. All propulsion systems should be filtered out when a "Building" Orientation Design Option is selected.
2. Systems that should not be "Underground" include Solar power systems (this includes panels, mirrors and boilers), Weapon systems
   Quote:

   unless either the entire building is underground (in which case top-facing fixed mount or any turret weapons can be installed in upper level section of the basement), or unless they’re a third of a spinal battery or a ghost particle beam. Pyramid 3/43: Alternate GURPS, Alternate Spaceships p.10

   and Enhanced/Multipurpose/Tactical Comm/Sensor Arrays (they need a line-of-sight). Some Hangar Bays may be underground if at least one isn't (or 3 if you want a larger door) in the current or a connecting section.
3. Quote:

   Armor: A building requires a minimum of one Armor system per section, representing its structural composition. Pyramid 3/43: Alternate GURPS, Alternate Spaceships p.10

   Can this Armor use the Spread dDR option.
4. If any system in an Upper or Middle section of a "Building" is "Underground", shouldn't the systems in the sections below it automatically be set to "Underground"?

Re: GURPS Spaceships Design Spreadsheet
 

The problem is that the way filtering works I can't add filters for specific locations, only hull sections. Since part of a section can be underground and part above this means I can't effectively add filtering without a complete redesign of a large portion of the sheet and a probable slow-down of the calculations. The Propulsion System filtering may be slightly less problematic, but would still require a lot of work for very little gain (how many "spaceships" are buildings; and of them how annoying is it to have to scroll past the propulsion systems vs how much work it would require to filter them out).

By a strict reading of the rules I'd say no, as it says that "each section" must have an Armor System. However, I rarely use the Spread dDR rule anymore since I mostly use Smaller SM Armor Systems to fill that niche; Personally I wouldn't have a problem with using either Spread dDR or Smaller SM Armor Systems so long as there was at least 1dDR per hull section.

Maybe, but being an abstract system there's no rule stating that Hull Section 6 is automatically below Hull Section 5; in fact many ship systems are likely to be distributed around the vessel, or to at least have components that are distributed around the vessel. The hit location numbering is just a convenient abstraction for targeting during combat.

Re: GURPS Spaceships Design Spreadsheet
 

I don't think he's talking Hull Section 5-6, but Front/Top, Middle, Rear/Bottom. I think he meant to say that marking Front/Top as Underground should make Middle and Rear/Bottom Underground by default.

Re: GURPS Spaceships Design Spreadsheet
 

That makes sense, and looks like it'll be extremely easy to implement.