"Types of movement." Topic

Okay, I think I know this but just to make sure I'm not confused can anyone tell me the difference in the 3 styles of starship movement.
1) cinematic
2) UFO
3) vector

Thanks

From my perspective (others may have different opinions), the following applies:

1. Cinematic – spacefighter/spaceships move like aircraft, in curving arcs;

2. UFO – these can move any direction, at any time, on the drop of a dime, irregardless of physics as we know it – acceleration and deceleration are spectacular;

3. Vector – uses the laws of physics to move in straight lines, but when combined together in multiple vector inputs, permits more complex maneuvers. The laws of energy, and accel/decel still apply.

For example, let's say you are moving at 10 units forward, in the X axis; you can also add inputs to the Y and Z axes, in order to move straight ahead 10 units, while moving to the right 3, and up 7. You will still be facing forward, assuming you didn't rotate your ship to add in the other inputs.

"Cinematic" – like in the movies, constant thrust means constant speed, and ships turn like ocean going ships.

UFO – Not sure, but if I had to guess, it would be "move any direction you want as far as your movement points allow".

Vector – you have to keep track of your previous movement, and then apply "thrust" from your movement points to change your movement direction or speed. This can vary from quite elaborate and "physics correct" systems that require you to do 2 or 3d vector math to the sort of "effect based" system used in Starmada:Admiralty Edition.

I learned vector movement from Triplanetary. It can be made really simple and still reasonably real: Say your ship starts with a speed of 5 and an acceleration of 2. On your next turn, plot out a 5" move (current speed) straight ahead and mark that point (don't move the ship yet). From that point, mark another point up to 2" in any direction (your acceleration) and mark that point. Then measure the distance from the ship's current location to that second point; that number is your speed for the next turn. Now, move the ship along a straight line stopping at the second point; the ship should be facing along the line it just moved. If you don't accelerate, you'll just move along that same line that same distance until you do accelerate (or decelerate). Ships have no maximum speed, however; keep accelerating long enough and eventually you get to a point where you can't turn fast enough to avoid flying off the board. Instead, heavy, clunky ships have low accelerations; light, agile ships have high accelerations.

Cinematic is where each ship class has a turning template. For example, a frigate might be able to move forward 1" and then turn up to 60 degrees; a cruiser might have to move 2" per 60 degree turn; and, a battleship might have to move 4" per 60 degree turn. Alternatively, everyone moves forward an inch before being eligible to turn, but frigates can turn 90 degrees, cruisers 60 degrees, and battleships 30 degrees . . . or some numbers like that. There may be turn gages involved. Ships have a maximum number of inches they may move per turn.

UFO movement I think of as an inertialess drive. Ships have a maximum movement value but may move in any direction at any time.

There's another one that we used to use ages ago (back when StarDate 3000 ships first became available), and that is "micro-jump". Ships have either a fixed move distance or a variable move distance based on energy allocation. When the ship moves, it retains its facing but moves in any direction either its fixed move or the variable move based on energy usage. But the ship "jumps" over any intervening "terrain" (ships, asteroids, planets, debris). We used to equip capital ships with these kinds of drives that were good for a couple of such moves each game (the mechanic was to roll a D6; if the roll was larger than the number of the current jump [i.e., the fourth jump in a game would be required to roll a 5-6] then the jump was successful. If the jump failed, the ship could make no more jumps in the game. Obviously, this was a secondary propulsion system but was useful in certain emergency situations . . . kind of like The Omega 13.

Technically, you want the ship facing the direction it accelerated, not the direction it moved, assuming the main drive can only thrust in one direction. You can still do it with a vector marker on the base somewhere that points in the direction the ship is moving.

There was an old free game called Attack Vector (I think the current Attack Vector bought the name from the guy) that used two markers for each ship. The miniature showed where the ship is currently at, and the second marker showed where the ship would be next turn.

G.O.B.S.! offers both a simple semi-cinematic system and a vector system, depending on player preference. Both systems differentiate between how well a vessel can move towards its heading (I use the term "thrust," though that's not technically correct) and how well a ship can change its heading. This allows for a greater range of ship classes in terms of mobility than a single movement stat.

In the simple system, ships can move up to their Thrust value (ranging from 1 to 8), and change heading up to their Maneuver value (ranging from 1 to 6, and representing 45° heading changes). However, heading changes are made before moving, and the Thrust that can be used is reduced by 1 for each point of heading change. So a ship with Thrust 4, Maneuver 2 can only move 2 inches if it turns 90°. Fighters, however, have the ability to change headings throughout their move*, though each heading change reduces the Thrust available to continue movement. So you get lumbering ships and nimble fighters duking it out in space.

The vector system is similar to the Triplanetary system, though the actual heading of the ship in G.O.B.S.! is indeed significant, whereas Triplanetary abstracts this as described in jizbrand's post. The same stats are used (Thrust and Maneuver), but changing heading does not reduce Thrust, but does limit how easily a ship can change its momentum and direction of travel. Fighters operate the same as larger vessels in the vector system; their stats provide the nimbleness one expects.

Both systems are easy to use. The simple system is slightly quicker, and I tend to favor it for that reason. But the vector system works well and adds a level of challenge.

--- Howard Shirley, creator of Generic Outlandishly Big Spacefleets!
thegobspage.com

* Astute readers will note that heading changes above 4 points are superfluous, as four 45° changes is 180°. However, fighters can have higher Maneuver values because they can change headings during their move, hence the higher stat range.

In Squadron Strike, there are three different Movement Modes. The modes are named after the number of Newton's Laws being obeyed.

Mode 0: Much like your description of UFO movement, but I liken it to a tank in a Dunnigan ground combat game. Your ship moves X spaces per turn, and has no momentum.

Mode 1: Your ship has momentum, and it magically rotates into the direction your ship's nose is pointed in. Turning the direction your nose faces bleeds speed by the inherent drag of the Lucasian ether. (Bonus points for making an X-wing "wheeeoyeomm" sound while doing it).

Mode 2: Your ships obey Newtonian laws other than tracking fuel and the impact of reducing the mass of the ship on future turn's thrust.

Attack Vector: Tactical has Mode 3 movement – you have vectors independent of your facing, you have fuel, and when you get down to the dregs of your fuel tank, your maximum thrust rating increases because your ship has gotten enough lighter to matter. We even track total delta V as the function of dry mass to wet mass and coaxed Excel into doing the fuel tracks with the continuous integrals…all so players can mark off fuel units, note if they're circles or squares, and annotate maximum thrust appropriately. (EG – you don't have to do the math yourself, thank heaven.)