 April 14, 2015 - 7:01am | I've always thought that the way computers work in SF is a little... clunky. It seemed that way in the 80s when I first started playing and running the game, and it still seems that way now. The rules I've been working on for a Void drive have led to some tweaking of some of the ways computers work with ships, but I think this can translate across to other computers in general use on the Frontier. So I'm going to open up a discussion about this by proposing a different way of doing things. It seems to me that it might better to not use the sort-of backward system for building a computer as per the SF rules in Alpha Dawn. I think it might better that the deciding factor about any given computer is its level. In this sense, level denotes how powerful it is at running programs - raw CPU power (and perhaps also GPU, but mostly CPU). Function points (FP) could remain, but ostensibly they just denote how much memory they take up (eg something akin to hard-drive space). A computer of any given level comes with X amount of FP as standard. But it can be upgraded. In turn, some programs need to be run on a computer of a certain level to work at their optimum - it perhaps needs a base level and otherwise cannot run. At the same time, some programs are fairly simple and can run on quite low level computers and always work on higher level computers. Programs require a certain amount of FP to work and so any time they're installed on your computer, they use up their FP in space. Levels also go in some way to denote how powerful that computer is, but this is limited by a maximum possible level for any given computer. So, say I buy a level 4 computer that has 50 FP. This computer can run any program of level 4 or lower, and can store those various programs as long as their total FP does not amount to more than 50. I could possibly buy more FP, which would allow me to store more programs of levels 1 to 4 on my computer. If I want to upgrade the level of my computer, I can spend money on doing so. However, as it is my computer cannot be upgraded past, say, level 6. If I want to get anything of a level higher than that, I need to buy a new computer. FP and programs can be copied over to this new computer if I require. I can also start running programs of levels 6 and 7, as well as those of levels 1 to 4 (either ones I already own, or new ones). Note that in all of the above cases there is a single operating system for all computers. Maybe very powerful computers need a different type of operating system, but that's open to discussion. Either way, if I have a small tablet-like or laptop-like computer, or a body comp, or PC-like computer they all run on the same operating system. All that divides them is: - their initial level - their initial FP - the max level up to which they can be upgraded - the extra FP a user may have installed I think that covers a fair few things. Let me know what you think. |
 April 21, 2015 - 2:15pm | Punch card http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punched_card Sounds like this might interest you. Sort of tantalizing to imagine a space civilization using punch cards LOL  |
 April 21, 2015 - 8:33pm | Yeah I am leaning toward a very retro setting... nothing standardizied, sathar have not reared their ugly heads yet, big discoveries have not happened. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
 April 29, 2015 - 9:41am | Personally, I like the retro feel of the setting. The clunky computers add to the charm, and even give it an "alien" feel. Too many science fiction games use modern computers & weapons, making these games feel generic, with little to differentiate them. I think of the computers being a lot like the ones on Star Trek or Space 1999. Trek computers are based on "duotronics", implying that they are fundamentally different than ours. To me, Star Frontiers is something like that. Their computers developed along different lines. |
