[Spaceships] Converting Star Control spaceships (more spirit than letter)

[vicky_molokh]

Greetings, all!

In preparation for my Star Control campaign, I'm looking over spaceships in hopes of making conversions. No, I'm not going after the silly literalism like crew=HP and other stuff. Instead, I'm aiming for the spirit of the ship designs. So, here are things I figured so far:

TL
It seems most convenient to set the general setting TL to 10^ after the Second Doctrinal War. Some races have unique access to rare technologies, such as a short-range Jump Drive.
Computers seem to be retarded, except for the civilizations who are computers. I guess that warrants the Electro-Mechanical switch; Chmmr and Daktaklakpak are just built with points, and considered non-reproducible except through 'black-box', i.e. 'natural' reproduction.
Personal-scale TL is probably better left a bit lower - 9 seems okay.

Engines:
Standard Reactionless and Hot Reactionless are the two standard methods of propulsion. Both engine types have a maximum speed relative to the star system (which usually means its sun) in which the ship flies. If a ship somehow attains a greater speed, and activates the reactionless engines, it will decelerate with their usual sAccel value. Maximum speed is proportional to the number of engines (yes, original SC had separate acceleration and max speed values, but I don't see the point). I'm considering setting the equation such that for each 1G of sAccel the ship's maximum speed equals the 'average' engagement speed for whatever combat scale will be deemed 'generic' for the setting (which is probably 0.5G/Close, i.e. 1-minute; might be forced to use Standard 3-minute though). Thus either 1 or 3mps per engine. That would take years to reach the Oort cloud, so maybe I should set the max speed higher when away from gravity wells and 'non-synchronized' engines (thus allowing 'synchronized' fleets to travel faster in places where they have nothing to run into).

Power Plants
The idea of using capacitors that are spent and then recharge on a combat timescale seems a bit dubious, and certainly very far from RAW. So I'm considering giving most ships Fusion Plants in such a way that they can't power All of their systems simultaneously. For instance, the Yehat Terminator can't power both their unique heavy shield and all of its guns (and drives). The somewhat unintended result is that some engineers will have the choice between not only weapons and special systems, but also engines.

Weapons
Not all weapons match their SC descriptions. In general, 'powerful' small attacks, like those of the Yehat Terminators, I would represent using EM guns. Short-ranged powerful weapons are usually Plasma-based. Earthling missiles are just that, missiles; however, as real nukes would often be game-enders in this setting, I'm considering the idea of using normal missile stats instead, claiming that those are micronukes in this setting, and real 'big' nukes are unavailable.
LASERs seem kinda meh though. Not sure if they're appropriate.

FTL
The default assumption is Hyperdrive + Fueltank(s). The hyperdrive eats fuel proportional to the distance traveled, not acceleration/speed. Top hyperspace speed does, however, depend on the the number/power of engines.
With the hyperspace collapse, only precursor ships get to use Hyperspace throughout the galaxy (I initially wanted to say it's the new W-Space, but now I'm unsure); however, there are *shallow spaces* where Hyperdrives still function even after the *crumble*.
And then there's Quasi-space for those who can *slip* into it.

Fuel
While fuel is essential for FTL travel, I'm considering the idea of making it so that Reactionless drives do not require fuel, or require amounts totally negligible.

Ship sizes
I'm very, very unsure how to approach that. Canonically, ships have rather small crews by space operah standards - 6 to 42 is typical. However, I think that is a bit too little, and consider the possibility of expanding the top limit.
However, there's another idea: the SC2 Flagship has place for 50 crewmen per Crew Quarters; assuming rough equivalence between an SC2 Crew Quarters and a G:SS Habitat full of Cabins with Total Life Support, that puts the Flagship at SM+10. However, that puts the top size of the Dreadnought, Marauder and Avatar at SM+9 (if that). Autonomous Fighters should logically be SM+4 (they're rather small); a single +9 Hangar is large enough to fit 10 inside (10t per fighter, 100t per hangar); some experiments on my part confirm that UQ Dreadnoughts launch up to 12 fighters at a time; call it 2 hangers full of fighters in G:SS.
Making Arilou Skiffs smaller than SM+6 is hard, so I guess they define the lower size limit for non-fighter craft.
IOW, sizes for hyperspace-capable craft range from +6 to +9, giving us 4 size categories, plus fighters (5th - non-capable).

Considerations for specific ships:
Some ships are relatively easy to build; others require bending the rules or even more. Since I'm intending to primarily use only 8 of the races/civilizations, here's the list of the ones I worked on:

Earthling Cruiser
Spinal Missile Launcher, Central Hull Laser Medium (or smaller) Turret. Unused slots filled with ECM to denote generally being defensive.

Syreen Patrol Craft
(Yes, I'm not using the P-word in my campaign.)
More Habitats and Cargo Holds than typical for combat craft. Fixed Particle Beam on the front hull. Mind Disruptor with special effect: the more powerful effect is a compulsion to abandon ship instead of the usual incapacitation.

Arilou Skiff
Central LASER Major Turret. Short-range teleporter denoted as Jump Drive, with the special feature of increasing total sAccel of the ship for combat purposes, and maybe giving some bonus for escape.

Chmmr Avatar
The LASER will probably have to be replaced by something different to buff damage. Tractor Beam should probably be replaced by the GURPS version of Tractor batteries in the central hull. ZapSats are probably best represented as SM+4 automatons with Tractor Drives (linked to the Avatar's position by a permanent Tractor Link).

Ur-Quan Dreadnought
I suppose I should arm it with a Spinal weapon of some sort, but not sure what would fit best. Plasma is too short-ranged, and anything else doesn't look like it fits. Fighters are just that. I'm probably arming them with Spinal Particle beams, even though missiles would probably make more sense from a DPS perspective.
The ship should probably include luxury cabins instead of normal ones, and lots of Open Space (this being a post-second-war era, where Ur-Quan are no longer dispersed to 'one Ur-Quan per ship').

Kohr-Ah Marauder
Absolutely no idea on either the blades nor the FRIED system. OK, just one couple of ideas: maybe make blades into just a special form of missiles or propelled mines, and represent FRIED with ECM+PD, but that makes the Marauder into a 'Dark Earthling Cruiser'.

Androsynth Guardian
The Androsynth are essential to the story arc of my campaign, but I have even more problems converting their ship. This is one weird-science design, I tell you. For those not in the know, their primary weapon is a launcher of 'bubbles' [sic] which essentially do Corrosion damage upon contact, and are erratically semi-homing on enemy ships. Their special system of the ship is the ability to temporarily transform into a comet-like form, increasing speed, maneouvrability, and dealing very nasty collision damage (while becoming essentially immune to collisions with anything of its size).

Yehat Terminator
Pretty easy, actually. Heavy Shield with the feature that it is available at TL10^, but must be either on or off (no 1-PP mode). I suppose it's possible to add another limitation - that it overloads in several seconds unless it gets more than 2PP per turn, but that seems somewhat overcomplicated.

Looking forward to comments and advice.
Thanks in advance!

[Kissamies]

You know, there used to be a page about GURPS Star Control some guy made. Too bad it doesn't seem to exist any more. It had a lot of stuff I didn't agree with, but it would have been very good for mining ideas. I remember some of it. I think it was mostly race templates.

Also, you probably know of this wiki already, but here's the link in case you don't: Ultronomicon

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

TL
It seems most convenient to set the general setting TL to 10^ after the Second Doctrinal War. Some races have unique access to rare technologies, such as a short-range Jump Drive.
Computers seem to be retarded, except for the civilizations who are computers. I guess that warrants the Electro-Mechanical switch; Chmmr and Daktaklakpak are just built with points, and considered non-reproducible except through 'black-box', i.e. 'natural' reproduction.
Personal-scale TL is probably better left a bit lower - 9 seems okay.

IIRC, that guy had the most advanced guys, such as the Ur-Quan, Chmmr and Yehat at 11, most of the others at 10 and more primitive ones, especially those who had been uplifted, like Shofixti by Yehat and some of the Hierarchy races, at 9.
I think you are on the right track. Just play it loose with TL and don't be afraid to snag a higher TL gizmo if it fits the setting. The Yehat obviously have force field tech, for example, at least at starship scale. Precursor tech is obviously 12^ and beyond.

FTL
The default assumption is Hyperdrive + Fueltank(s). The hyperdrive eats fuel proportional to the distance traveled, not acceleration/speed. Top hyperspace speed does, however, depend on the the number/power of engines.
With the hyperspace collapse, only precursor ships get to use Hyperspace throughout the galaxy (I initially wanted to say it's the new W-Space, but now I'm unsure); however, there are *shallow spaces* where Hyperdrives still function even after the *crumble*.
And then there's Quasi-space for those who can *slip* into it.

Fuel
While fuel is essential for FTL travel, I'm considering the idea of making it so that Reactionless drives do not require fuel, or require amounts totally negligible.

Remember, that on SC2 it costs some fuel to fly around in star systems. Lander uses fuel too. I can understand wanting to avoid the headache, though. The SC3's Warp Bubble Transport always sounded to me much like the regular scifi warp drive, as described in GURPS Space p.40. It just can take the fleet along the ride. I don't think it needs a separate 'space'.

Ship sizes
I'm very, very unsure how to approach that. Canonically, ships have rather small crews by space operah standards - 6 to 42 is typical. However, I think that is a bit too little, and consider the possibility of expanding the top limit.
However, there's another idea: the SC2 Flagship has place for 50 crewmen per Crew Quarters; assuming rough equivalence between an SC2 Crew Quarters and a G:SS Habitat full of Cabins with Total Life Support, that puts the Flagship at SM+10. However, that puts the top size of the Dreadnought, Marauder and Avatar at SM+9 (if that). Autonomous Fighters should logically be SM+4 (they're rather small); a single +9 Hangar is large enough to fit 10 inside (10t per fighter, 100t per hangar); some experiments on my part confirm that UQ Dreadnoughts launch up to 12 fighters at a time; call it 2 hangers full of fighters in G:SS.
Making Arilou Skiffs smaller than SM+6 is hard, so I guess they define the lower size limit for non-fighter craft.
IOW, sizes for hyperspace-capable craft range from +6 to +9, giving us 4 size categories, plus fighters (5th - non-capable).

I'd say keep the small ships like the Skiff and Shofixti Scout small and make the big ships a little bigger.

Arilou Skiff
Central LASER Major Turret. Short-range teleporter denoted as Jump Drive, with the special feature of increasing total sAccel of the ship for combat purposes, and maybe giving some bonus for escape.

There's also the inertialess propulsion. High Handling stat perhaps. It is certainly very maneuverable. Besides the Pkunk Fury, the best ship to make Mycon eat its own plasmoids. Don't know about the HyperSpace Shunt. Maybe using it could randomly rearrange the Skiff's Range with every other spacecraft.

Chmmr Avatar
Tractor Beam should probably be replaced by the GURPS version of Tractor batteries in the central hull...

I agree. Better range, though.

Kohr-Ah Marauder
Absolutely no idea on either the blades nor the FRIED system. OK, just one couple of ideas: maybe make blades into just a special form of missiles or propelled mines, and represent FRIED with ECM+PD, but that makes the Marauder into a 'Dark Earthling Cruiser'.

Could be treated like an explosion, I guess. Or something that automatically hits at Point-blank range. Could be still dodgeable. With penalty, I suppose

Androsynth Guardian
The Androsynth are essential to the story arc of my campaign, but I have even more problems converting their ship. This is one weird-science design, I tell you. For those not in the know, their primary weapon is a launcher of 'bubbles' [sic] which essentially do Corrosion damage upon contact, and are erratically semi-homing on enemy ships.

Maybe treat as weird short ranged missiles that can dodge.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Kissamies

You know, there used to be a page about GURPS Star Control some guy made. Too bad it doesn't seem to exist any more. It had a lot of stuff I didn't agree with, but it would have been very good for mining ideas. I remember some of it. I think it was mostly race templates.

I searched for quite a while, and I think it's down. Some broken links and other wreckage, but no survivors.

Originally Posted by Kissamies

Also, you probably know of this wiki already, but here's the link in case you don't: Ultronomicon

Yeah, nice source, though I need to replay SC2 to get some of the more detailed info (e.g. Kohr-Ah reply to The Words).

Originally Posted by Kissamies

IIRC, that guy had the most advanced guys, such as the Ur-Quan, Chmmr and Yehat at 11, most of the others at 10 and more primitive ones, especially those who had been uplifted, like Shofixti by Yehat and some of the Hierarchy races, at 9.
I think you are on the right track. Just play it loose with TL and don't be afraid to snag a higher TL gizmo if it fits the setting. The Yehat obviously have force field tech, for example, at least at starship scale. Precursor tech is obviously 12^ and beyond.

GURPS TLs are very harsh. 1 or two TLs of difference will make a mess of the weaker ship immediately. Besides, it's easier to scale armor and engines that way.

Originally Posted by Kissamies

Remember, that on SC2 it costs some fuel to fly around in star systems. Lander uses fuel too. I can understand wanting to avoid the headache, though. The SC3's Warp Bubble Transport always sounded to me much like the regular scifi warp drive, as described in GURPS Space p.40. It just can take the fleet along the ride. I don't think it needs a separate 'space'.

There's like a 0.3 fuel cost per landing, but flying in-system is free. As for the Warp Bubble, this is where I'm planning the diverge my campaign from the canonical SC timeline. Remember the Androsynth vanishing *somewhere*. They learned to *go and return*, and this time, they are the ones behind the big precursor vessel and the expedition. Makes for much more fun politics (some more notes in the Nomad Fleet thread).

Originally Posted by Kissamies

I'd say keep the small ships like the Skiff and Shofixti Scout small and make the big ships a little bigger.

Any bigger and Skiffs will die in one shot from PD fire. Luckily, the Shofixti haven't joined the expedition, so I don't need to worry about those gummybear-piloted nukes.

Originally Posted by Kissamies

There's also the inertialess propulsion. High Handling stat perhaps. It is certainly very maneuverable. Besides the Pkunk Fury, the best ship to make Mycon eat its own plasmoids. Don't know about the HyperSpace Shunt. Maybe using it could randomly rearrange the Skiff's Range with every other spacecraft.

I used the Pseudo-Velocity feature for them. So they don't worry (much) about Collision damage.

Originally Posted by Kissamies

I agree. Better range, though.

Prolly. Tractors are very, very weak in GURPS anyway, compared to EVE or SC2.

Originally Posted by Kissamies

Could be treated like an explosion, I guess. Or something that automatically hits at Point-blank range. Could be still dodgeable. With penalty, I suppose

Yeah, but what system?

Originally Posted by Kissamies

Maybe treat as weird short ranged missiles that can dodge.

The bubbles you mean? They just don't make much sense in the first place. I guess I can get away from the issue by saying that all Guardian blueprints are lost, and that the Flagship is the Androsynth ship in this expedition.

[Darekun]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

The hyperdrive eats fuel proportional to the distance traveled, not acceleration/speed. Top hyperspace speed does, however, depend on the the number/power of engines.

If fuel consumption rate is linearly proportional to speed(i.e. a convenient form of SpaceFriction applies), then fuel consumption amount is linearly proportional to distance traveled.

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Darekun

If fuel consumption rate is linearly proportional to speed(i.e. a convenient form of SpaceFriction applies), then fuel consumption amount is linearly proportional to distance traveled.

No, fuel consumption for Hyperspace travel (and equivalent) is proportional only to distance traveled. It is totally speed-independent. Hyperspace indeed has a phenomenon similar to SpaceFriction, but with Reactionless engines it doesn't matter. Keeping the Hyperdrive functional is what matters; I think the Hyperdrive eats fuel to allow Reactionless drives to 'hold onto' Hyperspace or something. In fact, I think this is why Quasispace doesn't consume fuel - because the Hyperdrive doesn't need to do anything - just engage the normal thrusters without add-ons.

[Kissamies]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

...though I need to replay SC2 to get some of the more detailed info (e.g. Kohr-Ah reply to The Words).

It's probably all here: http://www.sa-matra.net/quotes/kohr-ah/

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Kissamies

It's probably all here: http://www.sa-matra.net/quotes/kohr-ah/

Thanks. This one confirmed the Perk/Quirk level Racial Memory of the race, as well as added the implication that Ur-Quan do not lie (or at least so they say; seems plausible though).

[vicky_molokh]

I started figuring out the ratios between ships. Here's the way I'm trying to do it:

The baseline assumptions are that the Kzer-Za Autonomous Fighter is SM+4, Arilou Skiff is SM+6, and the Kzer-Za Dreadnought is SM+9. Some scaling comparisons:

dHP:
Fighter 15
Skiff 30
Dreadnought 100

dDR per system:
Fighter: 3 Streamlined.
Skiff: 7 Streamlined.
Dreadnought: 30, unstreamlined.

Weapons:
Fighter Spinal Particle Beam: 4d(2); average dDamage 13; average penetration 26; must use precision attacks to scratch a Dreadnought, but still dangerous in numbers with proper capital ship support.
Skiff LASER: 6d burn (2); average dDamage 20, average penetration of 40 dDR.
Dreadnought 'Fusion Blast' (RAW Spinal Particle Beam + Gravitic Focus): 3d*5 (5); average dD 50; average penetration 250 (!); potentially one-shots a Skiff.
(It can do twice that w/o the Gravitic Focus, but I'm not sure I want that much damage anyway.)

I also figured I must use Pseudovelocity for collision purposes, because otherwise even a puny fighter hitting a capital ship will do enormous damage.

[vicky_molokh]

Here's my take on the Dreadnought

TL	Spacecraft		dST/dHP	Hnd/SR	HT	Move	LWt.	Load	SM	Occ	dDR	Range	Cost
10^	Kzer-Za Dreadnought	100	-1 / 5	12	2G	3,000	204[1]	+9	44ASV	30	1x	$371.8 M			
Length: 70 yd. (210 ft.)   Crew Requirement: 13 [2]   Power Points: +6 / -7   Air Performance:  Speed: 400 mph / 2G   Hnd/SR: -1/5

Front Hull Systems
1. Armor - Nanocomposite - 30 dDR
2. Control Room -  Computer: C4 Comm/Sensor: 8 Stations: 6
3. Open Space - 2 Areas
4. Power Plant - Fusion (+2PP)
5. Habitat - 20 slots - 2 Luxury Cabins, 10x Sickbay = 1 Clinic, 3 Generic Science Labs
6!. Weapon Battery - Spinal
Core. Habitat - 20 slots - 40 Cramped Cabins

Central:
1. Armor - Nanocomposite - 30 dDR
2. Fuel Tank - 150t
3!. Hyperdrive
4!. Factory, right next to the hangars in the rear hull (for fixing fighters)
5. Power Plant - Fusion (+2PP)
6. Power Plant - Fusion (+2PP)
Core: Weapon Battery - Spinal

1. Armor - Nanocomposite - 30 dDR
2!. Reactionless Engine - Hot (1G)
3!. Reactionless Engine - Hot (1G)
4. Hangar Bay - 50t/min, 100t total
5. Hangar Bay - 50t/min, 100t total
6. Weapon Battery - Spinal

5 Airlocks (Capacity: 5 persons each), CAMPAIGN OPTIONS: Electro-Mechanical Computers, SHIP OPTIONS: Artificial Gravity, NOTES: [1] Load Includes: 4.4 tons of Crew & Passengers, 200 tons Hangar Bay Capacity, [2] Crew Requirement: 6 Control Stations, 1 Medical, 6 Lab Worker, FUEL USE: [3] Any Fuel, REACTIONLESS ENGINE: [4] Pseudo Velocity

Weapon Battery:
Front - Spinal Particle Beam w/Gravitic Focus
Power 3GJ, Range S/L, damage 3dx5 burn rad sur (5), sAcc -1*, Rcl 1, RoF 3 (per minute)

And here's the fighter:

TL	Spacecraft		dST/dHP	Hnd/SR	HT	Move	LWt.	Load	SM	Occ	dDR	Range	Cost	
10^	Autonomous Fighter	15	0/4	12	3G/c	10	0.1[1]	+4	1+0SV	3	$1.27M
Length: 10 yd. (30 ft.)   Air Speed: 4,300 mph   Air Hnd/SR: +4 / 5   Crew Requirement: 1 [2]   Power Points: +6 / -3

Front Hull.
1. Armor
2!. Spinal Mount A
3!. Spinal Mount B (I'm departing from RAW by allowing a dual-spined construction)
4. Defensive ECM
5. Defensive ECM
6. Defensive ECM

Central:
1. Armor
2. Control Room, 1 Station, ejectable
3. unspecified (might put in something useful)
4. Power Plant - Fusion (+2PP)
5. Power Plant - Fusion (+2PP)
6. Power Plant - Fusion (+2PP)
Core A!: Spinal Mount
Core B!: Spinal Mount

Rear:
1. Armor
2!. Spinal Mount
3!. Spinal Mount
4!. Reactionless Engine - Hot (1G)
5!. Reactionless Engine - Hot (1G)
6!. Reactionless Engine - Hot (1G)

SHIP OPTIONS: Streamlined, Winged, Gravitic Compensators, Emergency Ejection Seat, NOTES: [1] Load Includes: 0.1 tons of Crew & Passengers, [2] Crew Requirement: 1 Control Stations; Pseudo Velocity

Spinal Mounts - Dual Beam Weapons (using dual particle beams to make their damage meaningful against capital ships around SM+9)
Particle Beam 
Power 10MJ, range C/S, damage 4d burn rad sur (5), sAcc -1*, Rcl 1, RoF 3 (per minute)

[vicky_molokh]

Just noticed that nobody can do two Gunnery tasks in a single turn, so there's no point in the dual-spine build for the fighters. :(