Picture of you will:
Length of vector is built up velocity. Direction of vector is based upon past movement using prior turns of movement using vector movement rules of book 2 starships. This is recorded as relative to center of mass of ship. Convert polar coordinates to rectangular with ship as zero, zero location. Convert current location (also in polar coordinates with star system center of star as 0, 0. Add ship velocity vector to ship location vector. This gives new final location relative to star, if the ship does not accelerate in any direction. If ship accelerates, use real world formula for distance travelled while under acceleration. Take old position, draw vector to new position. This becomes new ship vector relative to itself.
This was the basis for the code I was working on. I got the prototype coding for translation polar to rectangular and back. If orbits were perfect circles (which sadly, they are not) - it would be simple to plot where a planet would be at any given moment. With the ability to know where a ship is at any moment - sensor ranges could be calculated. Naval engagements could be done where the GO could let the players are only what their sensors can see.
Such a ship plotting app that tracks ships, would be system agnostic, usable with CT, MT, TNE, T4,GT, MgT, and T5 (don't know how T20 works).
Toss in record keeping for jumps, etc - and you have not only a nice helpful app as a GM, but finally, a way to handle the question of pirates of no pirates in a vector movement system that does all the record keeping for you. Want to race at max excel to reach a pirate attack? Go for it. But if your velocity vector takes you out of engagement range, that is a huge gamble.
As a GM, I would have loved to run a triple blind scenario. Pirates vs civilian. Pirates hoping to avoid the Navy, and the Navy trying to sort out the pirates from the civilian.
Imagine being the naval player who captains a 5,000 D-ton destroyer in orbit, with a portion of his crew planetside (R&R, ship business, etc). When the balloon goes up, he has between 20 minutes to 60 minutes to recover crew and respond to a report of a pirate attack. In the mean time, a ship leaves the world on its blind side (low pop world) on an intercept before a 1g freighter can reach 100 diameters. A warning shot across the bows invited the prey to stop accelerating and allowing the pirate to match final vectors and allow the pirates to board and maybe hand unload cargo/freight before the destroyer can come into range. Maybe the pirates stay too long. Maybe the pirates dangle bait for Destroyer to chase prior to real attack and the destroyer is out of position. Maybe the destroyer has fighters on board that the captain leaves on the planet surface...
In short - a sandbox for testing scenarios, tactics, and even submarine sensor drama (just what IS outside of sensor range?!!!).
But, I lost interest. No one to write the app for. Even had the subsector planned to run it in - Lunion. Close proximity to a border (sword worlds), table of organization based on what would eventually become SECTOR FLEET. Naval command would have had to deal with crew replacements as personnel hit their separation from service date. Mandatory maintenance scheduled and the like. Even toyed with a red/blue team set up for crews to allow R&R yet keep the ships operational as long as possible.
Never got to happen alas.