From: Jerome Darmont [jdarmont@dionysos.univ-lyon2.fr] Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2000 11:06 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Aptitudes Hi all, I have an embarassing question (at least *I* am embarassed ;). How come no aptitudes are listed for all the NPCs in the moderator's guide? (Most wanted sections). Are all NPCs supposed to roll one die only? Doesn't sound fair. Did I miss anything? -- Jerome Darmont, mailto:darmont@multimania.com Webmaster http://fly.to/bleue.planete *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Stephen Mutka [dreadmook@netzero.net] Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2000 9:40 AM To: Blue Planet List Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Equipment Practicality Hey all, The list has been kinda quiet for a while, so I thought I'd pose a few questions. This is all stuff I've already dealt with in my own game, but I'm curious to hear what kind of opinions I can get. First off, what's the point of buying a Portable Navigation Suite? They have integrated GPS, an inertial navigation system, and a compass. It seems to me that any bodycomp could include these features (the GPS unit is listed in FluMech, and I don't see any reason not to allow the other stuff as well). I could see price being an issue, but it seems to me that pretty much everyone would want a bodycomp anyway, in which case the mapbox is just a waste of money and space. Any thoughts? While I'm at it, the implanted calculator kinda bugs me as well. I realize that it would be capable of all sorts of calculations (rocket telemetry, stock market volitility, and anything else that required realtime calculation), but couldn't a bodycomp do that as well? It might require most of the comp's processing power, but I don't see any reason to disallow it. And in this case, money is *definitely* an issue: would you really rather spend 10,000cs on a spiffy calculator (even if it's implanted), or 2,500cs on an (expensive) bodycomp that can do all sorts of other stuff as well? One could argue that these calculators would be used "in the background" while doing other complicated things (piloting a starship or what have you), but then those people would probably be working with maincomps, which would easily have the resources to handle these calculations while handling everything else. Has anyone actually seen someone take an implanted calculator? Don't get me wrong, I *love* the tech in BP. I just think the comp is being sold a little short, and isn't nearly a common as it should be. Am I off base here? That's all for now. Fire away! Steve ____________NetZero Free Internet Access and Email_________ Download Now http://www.netzero.net/download/index.html Request a CDROM 1-800-333-3633 ___________________________________________________________ *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Ml10@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2000 11:08 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Equipment Practicality Bodycomp VS Portable Navigation Suite Power Consumption. Navigaion equipment consumes a lot of power over a long period of time. While a GPS or electric compass might only need to be turned on once in a while to get the current reading, an inertial nav unit needs to be on all the time. I see bodycomps used much like the PDA's of today in that they are only turned on when needed in order to extend battery life. In areas in which it is possible to recharge batteries on a daily basis, a bodycomp is a fairly good alternative to a full blow suite. But in the field, I'd want a piece of equipment that was built for long term use between recharges. Performance The other issue is performance. A dedicated unit will usually be better than a general purpose unit. for example, I have a pretty serious hand held GPS. I gave an entry level GPS to a friend as a wedding gift and I have played around with the GPS attachment for my PDA. There are vast differences in accuracy, lockon times, ect…. Also, all the handheld units that I have used pale in comparison to the avionic GPS units that I use at work. Implant Calculator The #1 advantage that they have is hands free usage. Also, as pointed out above, a dedicated unit is usually better than a general purpose unit. The calculator on my PDA (which is rather good) is no match for my HP48GX calculator. If I was on ERT pilot, an Implant Calc would be a great plus. It allows hands free operation in an environment were a datajack would be impratical and an unlink jack would be unreliable. (try using any radio equipement in the middle of a storm.) I could use it for fuel calculations as the situation changes. Mike Z *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: David R. Crowell [gpfarm-dave@northnet.org] Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2000 11:34 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Aptitudes At a guess this was just something missed in the editing and changes from v1 to v2. ----- Original Message ----- From: Jerome Darmont To: Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2000 12:05 PM Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Aptitudes > > Hi all, > > I have an embarassing question (at least *I* am embarassed ;). > > How come no aptitudes are listed for all the NPCs in the moderator's guide? > (Most wanted sections). Are all NPCs supposed to roll one die only? Doesn't > sound fair. Did I miss anything? > > > -- Jerome Darmont, mailto:darmont@multimania.com > Webmaster http://fly.to/bleue.planete > *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: kabael@softhome.net Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2000 11:58 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Equipment Practicality > First off, what's the point of buying a Portable Navigation Suite? They have > integrated GPS, an inertial navigation system, and a compass. It seems to me > that any bodycomp could include these features (the GPS unit is listed in > FluMech, and I don't see any reason not to allow the other stuff as well). I > could see price being an issue, but it seems to me that pretty much everyone > would want a bodycomp anyway, in which case the mapbox is just a waste of money > and space. Any thoughts? I'd say that sure you could include this in a bodycomp, but it'll likely be add-ons, mainly because Joe Average Dude isn't going to need a lot of navigational frills. I'm sure there are package deals, whose quality varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. > While I'm at it, the implanted calculator kinda bugs me as well. I realize that > it would be capable of all sorts of calculations (rocket telemetry, stock market > volitility, and anything else that required realtime calculation), but couldn't > a bodycomp do that as well? Yeah, the bodycomp could do it, but don't forget that the internal computer has a drastically higher interface rate. A bodycomp is reasonably convenient, but there is no way it can compare to a larger system with more interface options (since it doesn't have to be so compact) let alone the speed of thought. When you're in a situation when you need to have those calculations NOW, then the internal computer wins out. It also wins when you need a comp and can't be seen with a bodycomp (covert ops). The internal computer wouldn't be a big seller, sure, but it has it's uses. Derek Guder - kabael@softhome.net - ICQ# 24193592 Opinionated reviewer extraordinaire *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: ChrisTheS [stormsurge@stormsurge.org] Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2000 5:22 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Equipment Practicality > Implant Calculator vs. Bodycomp RE: It's basically the difference between being a world-class mathematician who can do complex sums in their head and a high-school algebra student who needs a calculator to add double-digit numbers. When it comes down to it, wouldn't the first one be better? The implant calc essentially confers the ability to DO large complex sums in your head without a significant chance of error. While the same sums COULD be done by a bodycomp, they would not be done at the speed of thought (as the case with the implant calc), there would be a greater possibility of input errors, and it just wouldn't be nearly as impressive at geek parties :) -- ChrisTheS www.stormsurge.org *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message.