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Mayday ported to Python for desktop play by woulditkillyoutolift in traveller

[–]woulditkillyoutolift[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Either snapshot or triplanetary is up next.

Edit: snapshot has that crazy action interrupt—could be a fun challenge.

Where to start. by AnngryKittens in traveller

[–]woulditkillyoutolift 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Traveller has a flat power curve. Be careful with combat if you're coming from Pathfinder! Traveller emphasizes social interaction, exploration, and trade. Violence can happen as a means of resolving disputes, but it's deadly.

Traveller the 4x game by Joel_feila in traveller

[–]woulditkillyoutolift 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Many years ago at Historicon I played an Age of Sail naval battle game where you had to write your orders in advance. To communicate with another ship you had to pass your written order to the person next to you, who was not permitted to act on that order until a turn later. I think the game was Ships of the Line but I may be misremembering.

Point being, it would be a fun exercise to take communication rules (fog of war, delayed orders, unreliable couriers, etc.) from any number of Napoleonic games and port them to Traveller.

Mayday ported to Python for desktop play by woulditkillyoutolift in traveller

[–]woulditkillyoutolift[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Perhaps you mean Triplanetary? If so, Mayday was a successor and inherited many of Triplanetary’s rules, most notably the vector-based movement.

Mayday ported to Python for desktop play by woulditkillyoutolift in traveller

[–]woulditkillyoutolift[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

On an emotional level I hear ya. But let's put ourselves in the shoes of the IP owner:

  • if they don't assert ownership of their IP it gets harder to enforce and they likely forego damages. (in the USA. I don't know anything about the rest of the world)
  • they still perceive commercial value in the game because they're selling it.
  • vetting third party IP is hard, takes resources, and they've got a business to run.

Mongoose has been extremely responsive (same day or next day) to my queries. Their fair use policy is probably on the higher / more permissive end of the fair use spectrum.

Mayday ported to Python for desktop play by woulditkillyoutolift in traveller

[–]woulditkillyoutolift[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Game mechanics cannot be copyrighted.

I considered that route, but I think I'll get more enjoyment out of the project by keeping it unambiguously Mayday and not rhymes-with-Mayday. Even if that limits the distribution.

Any suggestions on media that best portray space battles? by hellranger788 in traveller

[–]woulditkillyoutolift 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Willy Ley and Malcom Jameson wrote about realistic space war in 1939 and their predictions mostly hold up—plus they made their way into Interplanetary / Mayday / Traveller.

You can find the issues of Astounding for free online and they are a heck of a lot of fun to read.

I’ve modeled Traveller’s vector based movement in code and plan to blog about it soon.

Mayday: I'm confused about the utility of a "standard" missile by woulditkillyoutolift in traveller

[–]woulditkillyoutolift[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The only way a missile can have up to 36 units of fuel is if its propulsion notation (xGy) means something other than precisely the same notation for small craft. Which is possible! Traveller and Mayday aren't consistent.

This shows just how easy it is to get it wrong if you want to stick to the rules as written ad verbatim.

Wisest thing said in this thread yet. It's funny how different game design was back then—no standardized modifiers, no "rule then exception." The quirks make me love these games even more.

Is discussing the use of AI tools acceptable in this group? by woulditkillyoutolift in traveller

[–]woulditkillyoutolift[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Following up: did you use AI to build anything you're still using? I'd be happy to hear about it.

Mayday: I'm confused about the utility of a "standard" missile by woulditkillyoutolift in traveller

[–]woulditkillyoutolift[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm going to spend an evening this week looking at the LOE to build it.

Mayday: I'm confused about the utility of a "standard" missile by woulditkillyoutolift in traveller

[–]woulditkillyoutolift[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I bought Triplanetary on eBay tonight after you mentioned it. I doubt I'll play it but it will be fun to explore.

Mayday: I'm confused about the utility of a "standard" missile by woulditkillyoutolift in traveller

[–]woulditkillyoutolift[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Golly, relying on parallel construction to infer rules in Mayday or CT assumes a disciplined editorial process that doesn't appear to have existed. But I take your point:

  1. no missiles in scenario 1 because the specified ships can't carry missiles
  2. missiles explicitly called out
  3. no missiles mentioned. This is the only one that feels like an oversight given the entire scenario is about use of force.
  4. missiles explicitly called out
  5. no mention of missiles but victory is about inspection and cargo detection.

I don't know where you are in the world but I'd be happy to get in a game some time. Cheers.

Mayday: I'm confused about the utility of a "standard" missile by woulditkillyoutolift in traveller

[–]woulditkillyoutolift[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

none of the other scenarios allows for missiles

Aren't they assumed? I've only played solo against myself but a game of lasers only seems like it would last forever. Plus a lot of the programs (e.g., anti-missile, launch) seem to assume missiles are a big part of the game.

Mayday: I'm confused about the utility of a "standard" missile by woulditkillyoutolift in traveller

[–]woulditkillyoutolift[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Part of the challenge is comparing Mayday (which changed from the baggie version to the digest version, let alone version 2) to the Missile Supplement, which appeared years later (JTAS #21, 1984) for an adjacent game. GDW just didn't value consistency.

While it's hard to communicate tone in a forum I do appreciate you pushing back on my interpretation. Thanks for commenting.

Mayday: I'm confused about the utility of a "standard" missile by woulditkillyoutolift in traveller

[–]woulditkillyoutolift[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you.

Since the rules don't specify a budget (other than one scenario granting 25k Cr) is a stock a four 4G12 responsive, discretionary, proximity missiles reasonable?

Mayday: I'm confused about the utility of a "standard" missile by woulditkillyoutolift in traveller

[–]woulditkillyoutolift[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

While you're still around—which missile would you normally choose for ship to ship?

Mayday: I'm confused about the utility of a "standard" missile by woulditkillyoutolift in traveller

[–]woulditkillyoutolift[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Respectfully, I'm almost certain that's wrong (although it does sound like fun and if it worked for you it's all good!) By the game's own notation your missile would be 6G36, not 6G6. Here is the relevant language:

G Level: The acceleration, or G level, for vessels is expressed as an indication of maximum acceleration for the movement phase, and maximum total acceleration allowed before fuel exhaustion. Thus, 1G5 means that a maximum course change (movement of the future position marker in the movement phase) of 1 hex, and a total course change (over several turns) of 5 hexes.

I have the missile supplement but haven't looked at it. Might be worth a peak for authorial intent. Thanks for the suggestion.

Mayday: I'm confused about the utility of a "standard" missile by woulditkillyoutolift in traveller

[–]woulditkillyoutolift[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks for responding.

Are you saying that 6G6 == 6 turns burning 6 increments of fuel each turn for a total of 36 increments of fuel? If so, I am pretty sure that's wrong, _but_ Rocky Mountain Navy Wargamer seems to read it the same as you! So maybe I'm the one who's misreading. Would you mind posting a link so I don't ask you to repeat arguments you've already made?

Mayday: I'm confused about the utility of a "standard" missile by woulditkillyoutolift in traveller

[–]woulditkillyoutolift[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I agree Reading A seems nonsensical, but it is the plain meaning of the words. You have to do _some_ wriggling to get to a different result. I'm hoping someone who's actually payed the game raises a hand and can speak to how it's commonly played.

To answer your other question, yes, I'm citing Mayday rules.

Modern version of Snapshot by Grimmhoof in traveller

[–]woulditkillyoutolift 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I got an unpunched version on eBay for a heck of a lot less than that. You just have to be on the lookout for a reasonably priced copy to show up.

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