ATTN: All players for "P&N on PBW, take 2"

[Fyron]

Originally posted by dumbluck:
I'm not sure, but I think mine is the only P&N game on PBW, and it hasn't started yet. I think I'm only going to get 5 players, tho.

LOL! Only 5 players... you were quite wrong there. What did we get, 14, 15?

[Suicide Junkie]

Does someone wish to remind me what the 'SJ's FTL map' does for the game.

Sorry, but I'm to tired to search for forum for the answer at the moment.

The map features a "Hyperspace" area in the center of the map. It is 4x4 systems in size, and each galaxy map square is represented by a single sector in Hyperspace.
In order to enter or leave Hyperspace, you Warp.
Warppoints to/from Hyperspace are liberally distributed around the edge of all starsystems (12 per system) in addition to the standard warppoints created by a "Not all connected" random map.

Hyperspace exerts a random movement effect on all objects.

The effects, in terms of gameplay are as follows:
1) A ship with Two (2) movement points can warp from one side of a system to the other.
2) Ships with only 1 MP are generally stranded in Hyperspace, and can only escape if the random movement pulls them over top of a known warppoint.
3) Warppoint Blockades are generally useless. With at least 12 entrances per system, the defenders are much too spread out to be effective.
4) Blockades on the Hyperspace side of the system's warppoints is difficult at best, due to the random movement.
5) AIs cannot play this map. Ship pathing is restricted to in-system only. Presumably this is due to the extreme numbers of warppoints per system. The key is to have line of sight to the ship's next order location. You cannot tell it to move across the empire, but you can tell it to warp here, then warp to the next system, then warp through to the next system.

The map does a decent job of simulating B5, StarTrek, and StarWars movement at FTL speeds between starsystems.

[Baron Grazic]

So in essence, in our P&N PBW game, I could move a ship to the edge of the map, and tell it to warp and if a FTL Warp point exists in this location it will randomly warp to another location. Correct?

Is it always a random warp, or can you specify where to warp to, or once you know where is going it always goes there?

[Suicide Junkie]

No, not unless the game is using the FTL map.

But if it were, you would see 12 blue swirlies arranged around the edge of the system.
If you gave an order to move to one of them and then warp, you would end up in Hyperspace, and in a sector corresponding to the system you came from.

If you then wanted to travel to a system 30 lightyears away (3 map squares, quite close), then you would spend 3 MP to fly in that direction, to a stack of 12 blue swirlies. You'd give an order to warp into one of the twelve, and would appear in realspace, at the edge of the new starsystem. Where exactly you appear depends on which warppoint you give the order to travel through.
It is not random, there is a pattern to it. IIRC, the first WP in the stack goes to the top left of the realspace system, and the rest follow in a clockwise direction.

[Baron Grazic]

Thanks SJ.
I now understand how it works, which only leaves 1 question.

Are we using the FTL Map? Cause I can't remember any "blue swirlies arranged around the edge of the system"

[Suicide Junkie]

Nope. If we were, your map would have a very cool 3D effect because of all the warplines going to the hyperspace systems.
Plus, you'd have aliens crawling uncontrollably all over your empire.

[ November 19, 2002, 01:58: Message edited by: Suicide Junkie ]

[Baron Grazic]

I have enough of a nuisance with Vorlon's all over my system, let alone having Alien's too.

Thanks SJ.