[Growltigger]

Originally posted by DavidG:

quote:

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Well not really. It sounds needlessly complicated to me. I mean if the fleet in your example is 2 systems away should it really need to wait untill a message from the scout got all the way back to the homeworld and back before reacting? I think I like the SE4 universe with instantaneous communication.[/QB]

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Aha, but that is one of the points this methodlogy deals with in Starfire. How does your fleet now that it should move to intercept the alien scourge. It doesn't, unless it gets orders from your nearest command and control centre telling it to go and whup alien butt.

You specify standing orders for your scoutships, and if those orders say that they have authority to hijack fleets, then your scoutship could send a message to the fleet to interdict, provided it new they were there. If, when the scout left homeworld, that fleet was happily in orbit on R&R, how would it know to send a message to the other system (where that fleet was) to get them to assist?

Of course, a proper Starfire game needs a referee (a Space Umpire) who ensures that this rule is enforced

I suppose an analogy would be Pacific WWII carrier battles with no radio. You have a load of dauntlesses and devastators prepped and ready to whup those Japanese, but until your catalina tells you where they are, you cant do anything, and if that catalina has to fly back to you to tell you where they are, or send a carrier pigeon!! nuff said?

Personally, given that SEIV is on the galactic level, I think instantaneous communication is a bit much, maybe only at a high tech level or something