'Opportunity Fire' for Sattelites & WPs

[James Sterrett]

In an impulse movement system, you break the turn down into a number of "impulses" equal to the fastest object in the game.

Then make a chart such that the movement of each "thing" is spaced out over the turn. For a very simple chart, which assumes everything in the game can travel at a speed of either 1, 2, 3, or 4: (I# is the impulse number; play the turn as impulse 1 (move then fire); impulse 2 (move then fire previously unfired weapons); impulse 3 (move then fire previously unfired weapons); impulse 4 (move then fire previously unfired weapons). S# is the speed of the object. The # is for the movement point a unit at a given speed spends on a given impulse.)

-----I1-----I2-----I3--------I4
.
S1..................................1
.
S2.............1...................2
.
S3.....1.......2..................3
.
S4.....1.......2.......3.........4


Thus a unit with a speed of 1 moves only in the final impulse. A unit with a speed of 2 moves on the 2nd and 4th impulses, etc. Some systems make the "everybody moves" impulse be the first, instead of the final, but final impulse tends to work better (because it keeps fast ships from moving in rings around slow ones, and prevents slow ones from briefly being as fast as speedy ones).

SFB also treats all weapon recharge rates in terms of impulses, so a weapon fired at the end of turn 1 can't be fired at the beginning of turn 2. (SFB uses 32 impulses per turn.)

Those of you who have followed this far have probably figured out that impulse movement is a form of approximation of true simultaneous-continuous movement. Just as in calculus, the more finely you divide up the units of time and space, the closer this system approximates continuous simultaneous activity. SFB approaches (or transcends <grin> the limits of the playable in using this system for a game without ocmputer assistance. The computer Version of SFB, SFC (Star Fleet Command), used the computing power in part to make the time & space granularity much, much smaller than SFB's; close enough that SFC plays as if it were a true continuous-simultaneous game. [By definition, no game can manage to be perfectly continuous-simultaneous, since this would require infinite resolution. however, by using calculus, you can approximate the results very well. 8) ]

[Edited thrice because the UBB kept on buggering up my nice neat chart.]

[This message has been edited by James Sterrett (edited 30 November 2000).]

[This message has been edited by James Sterrett (edited 30 November 2000).]

[This message has been edited by James Sterrett (edited 30 November 2000).]