Ship Design Philosophy

[Condottiere]

Starships: Cheapest Possible

A. Interesting question is, if life support is fixed overhead, so to speak, can you bottle excess?

B. Rather like excess power points from a reactor shunted off to a battery.

C. I would suppose you could energize a ten tonne stable every twenty hours, per crewmember, to pump out enough oxygen for the equivalent twenty manhours.

D. Temperature control would seem less susceptible to this method.

E. Dropping temperature could be mitigated with an arctic survival suit.

F. Increasing temperature does seem somewhat of a quandary,

 

[MarcusIII]

Interesting question is, if life support is fixed overhead, so to speak, can you bottle excess?

Best to first define what is included in that cost. O2 and water are basically recyclable so no significant cost there. That leaves food, cleaning supplies, sundries replacement, any special filters. Can't think of much else that wouldn't be covered by basic and annual maintenance.

Reason enough that one of my 1st house rules was that unoccupied staterooms have no monthly cost.

 

[Condottiere]

Food and water are prestored.

In the long term, you do recycle air and water, and that would be part of the continuous operating cost(s).

If you don't turn the faucet, the water wouldn't need to be recycled (after digestion).

In most cases, breathing in oxygen is involuntary and continuous.

I suppose you could have an atmospheric analyzer, tied in to the oxygen scrubber vents, which controls and balances the air mix.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Cheapest Possible

G. In theory, you're sacrificing eight tonnes of cargo space, assuming the starship is configured as a Flea Trader.

H. In practice, you can always fill up that stabilized space with carton boxes of smallerized merchandize.

I. You will then both have life support, if as a fixed operating cost, and the cargo space in question.

J. Best of both worlds.

K. Seen as an annual cost, it's just an extra half kilostarbux per month for that one crewmember, total six kilostarbux over the year.

 

[MarcusIII]

I suppose you could have an atmospheric analyzer, tied in to the oxygen scrubber vents, which controls and balances the air mix.

Since we've been doing this in subs forever it would be done at much higher TLs. But, the monthly stateroom costs per the rule are completely far too high. There is nothing logical that justifies them.

 

[Condottiere]

Hard to analyze something, when you aren't informed as to what's involved, beyond that water and air is recycled, and the passenger gets board and lodging.

And climate control.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Cheapest Possible

L. Last part of the basics, we have insystem propulsion.

M. Manoeuvre drive is rather obviously the long term better deal.

N. However, if you aren't using the starship as anything other than point to point transport, especially between starports, reactionary rockets should be considered.

O. Despite requiring double volume for the same performance, with the requirement of power points, the required dedicated power points would need the same volume from an early fusion reactor.

P. Two tonnes reactionary rockets at two fifths of a megastarbux, versus one tonne manoeuvre drive, plus one tonne early fusion reactor, at two and a half megastarbux.

 

[MarcusIII]

Hard to analyze something, when you aren't informed as to what's involved, beyond that water and air is recycled, and the passenger gets board and lodging.

And climate control.

Right, the rules nor any other material since '77 list anything else. Ergo, way too expensive.

 

[Sigtrygg]

CT Beltstrike boxed adventure:
"Life support supplies include food, air and water (to repface leakage from the recycling process), and consumable elements of the life support
system, such as filters, CO ₂ absorbers, and so on."

I always wonder what the "and so on" are...

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Cheapest Possible

Q. You can cut costs any number of ways, for a, or this, starship.

R. But, you can't get around the ten tonne nine megastarbux jump drive, rated for one hundred twenty parsec tonnes.

S. Last leg of the engineering stool is the power plant.

T. Basic systems is twenty power points per hundred tonnes.

U. Which covers artificial gravity, life support, and connected ship systems.

 

[MarcusIII]

I always wonder what the "and so on" are...

And other things the GM can use to drain excess Cr from the players. It's a missing sentence

 

[Condottiere]

If you don't like what the tavern is charging you, you can switch to another.

You could also hypnotize the barkeep, that your tab is paid.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Cheapest Possible

V. We have ninety six tonnes of usable volume.

W. Obviously the two most critical areas to keep energized would be the ten tonne stables, and the volume occupied by the working power plant itself, and allocated fuel tank.

X. We don't know how long it takes to kickstart a fusion reactor, in Traveller.

Y. While it's in Einsteinian space, the bridge, the computer, the sensors, and the propulsion.

Z. Moving towards the jump point, the jump drive, and it's assigned fuel tank.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Cheapest Possible

1. Default for basic services is twenty power points per hundred tonnes, which includes artificial gravity.

2. You're allowed to half that, without losing any services.

3. Ungravitated hulls only need ten power points per hundred tonnes.

4. Obviously, you can half that, and have all the basics, except artificial gravity.

5. Default planetoid has organic gravity tiling.

6. So you have enough buffer to provide basic services with only nine and three fifths power points.

7. Switch off the artificial gravity field, and it drops to four and four fifths power points.

8. And, if you think it's worth it, you can start isolating sections of the starship.

9. With cargo, it would depend if it's temperature sensitive, if it breathes, and if it requires gravity.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Cheapest Possible

A. Component configuration.

B. Basically, fixed dimensions.

C. Engines are not playdoh like fuel tanks.

D. They don't fit in every leftover nook and cranny on the deckplans.

E. So, I have this particular model of a jump drive, that happens to be ten tonnes.

F. Are all ten tonne jump drives dimensioned the same?