This is the first in a planned series of posts in which I hope to take apart the existing ship construction system, see how it works and for that matter, why it works.
This is in no way an endorsement or condemnation of the ship construction system. When I look at what we currently have, I see hints of patterns. That leads me to wanting to understand if these really are patterns I see and the reasons for those patterns.
Of course, I welcome any and all feedback. In fact, I crave it. So let me know what you think.
Before I dive into specific systems, a little background might be helpful. Before Silent Death, there was Star Strike. Star Strike was the space combat piece of the Space Master game (2nd edition, I think). Star Strike was a VERY numbers heavy game. It dealt with a lot of detail, even the quality of the computer programs being used by the ship’s computer (not to mention the size and power of the computer itself).
According to the Designer’s Notes on page 31 of the Silent Death – Metal Express rulebook (SD 1st edition), there was a desire to create a simplified star fighter game system that would be supported by a line of miniatures. The designer, Kevin Barrett, goes through several paragraphs explaining some of the thoughts behind the dice system and such, but one in particular intrigues me and impacts this work.
What that extract from 1990 implies is that for the core ships at least, there was a thoughtful process that was used to create all of the ship displays for Silent Death. I seem to recall another comment in one of the early products (wish I could remember exactly where it was though) where it is mentioned that there were a number of tables and charts that were created for constructing ships and converting things from Star Strike. This is all very important because it means that when you look at the original listing of ships there should be more purposeful choices made than random ones or ones done for creative license.
I am not trying to recreate the conversion rules from Star Strike however. Establishing the link to Star Strike gives me something else to reference when I need to solve a mystery. When I suspect that something was done purposefully, it gives me yet another place to look to see if I’m right or not. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
As I dive deeper into this over the coming days and weeks, you’ll hopefully begin to see what I’ve seen. The ship design system that was used to create the original ships was much more complex (and I am theorizing it was more elegant) than the simplified rules we see printed in the Next Millennium book today.
With my next post I’ll cover the ship’s drive system. This was my first success in breaking down the rules and the math that was used to create the ships.
This is in no way an endorsement or condemnation of the ship construction system. When I look at what we currently have, I see hints of patterns. That leads me to wanting to understand if these really are patterns I see and the reasons for those patterns.
Of course, I welcome any and all feedback. In fact, I crave it. So let me know what you think.
Before I dive into specific systems, a little background might be helpful. Before Silent Death, there was Star Strike. Star Strike was the space combat piece of the Space Master game (2nd edition, I think). Star Strike was a VERY numbers heavy game. It dealt with a lot of detail, even the quality of the computer programs being used by the ship’s computer (not to mention the size and power of the computer itself).
According to the Designer’s Notes on page 31 of the Silent Death – Metal Express rulebook (SD 1st edition), there was a desire to create a simplified star fighter game system that would be supported by a line of miniatures. The designer, Kevin Barrett, goes through several paragraphs explaining some of the thoughts behind the dice system and such, but one in particular intrigues me and impacts this work.
Quote:“All of the ‘numbers’ for the ships were extrapolated from their statistics in Star Strike. Since each vessel was taken, or modified, from its Star Strike incarnation, this whole process was rather smooth though some alterations were made for the sake of making a more interesting game. Star Strike already had a detailed, coherent construction system, and several vessel designs had appeared in a number of support products.”
What that extract from 1990 implies is that for the core ships at least, there was a thoughtful process that was used to create all of the ship displays for Silent Death. I seem to recall another comment in one of the early products (wish I could remember exactly where it was though) where it is mentioned that there were a number of tables and charts that were created for constructing ships and converting things from Star Strike. This is all very important because it means that when you look at the original listing of ships there should be more purposeful choices made than random ones or ones done for creative license.
I am not trying to recreate the conversion rules from Star Strike however. Establishing the link to Star Strike gives me something else to reference when I need to solve a mystery. When I suspect that something was done purposefully, it gives me yet another place to look to see if I’m right or not. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
As I dive deeper into this over the coming days and weeks, you’ll hopefully begin to see what I’ve seen. The ship design system that was used to create the original ships was much more complex (and I am theorizing it was more elegant) than the simplified rules we see printed in the Next Millennium book today.
With my next post I’ll cover the ship’s drive system. This was my first success in breaking down the rules and the math that was used to create the ships.