Aren't these neat? And (hint hint) wouldn't it be great if we could eventually work up something like this for some of Starfleet's historical engagements? Like Wolf 359, for example?
Mark
------------------ "Why build one, when you can have two at twice the price?"
posted
Sol: Well, the ships obviously attacked in several waves (re: "Emissary"). I'd like to map those waves, possible formations of the ships (see my post on the Wolf 359 Graveyard), tactics, used, etc. I mean, you can't just say that "six ships engaged the Bismarck and one was destroyed before the Bismarck was sunk", can you?
Mark
------------------ "Why build one, when you can have two at twice the price?"
posted
MinutiaeMan: Shit hot. In the word of everyone's favorite punching bag: GREAT IDEA!!
gonna read it later though
------------------ At that point, McDonald fired his gun three times in the air to emphasize his point. The crowd, estimated at 350,000, loudly cheered the new candidate.
"Let me make this clear: I am the law! I am your ruler! And you will have fries with that, motherf*cker!"
posted
Well since the method of displaying ship distances in Trek is out-the-fucking-window (ships at five hundred thousand kilometres distance are spotted with the naked eye), a map showing the courses of the ships would be oh so hard to ascertain. A location of the battle, yes, a direct display of turns and twists, doubtful.
------------------ You can't kill me, I'm charming!
posted
Yes, but Masao and I are working on different principles (for the Earth-Romulan War, anyway). He started with the idea of warp-capable missiles with a range of up to 5 AU or more. Combine that with the use of ship formations rather than individual ships, and the map will work reasonably well.
posted
Nice idea! I assume you will be using Director/Shockwave? If you need help with conceptualization, advise.
Have you thought of using a perspective grid, ribbon paths for the ships, and simple rotating arrows for the ships themselves (which then have "pop-up" screens to show actual ship engagements). I could propably help with the grid itself (see my galaxy map grids), to achieve a Starfleet look - al'a TCARS.
------------------ Faster than light - no left or right.
posted
Woah... that's a lot more than I could handle! I'm strictly a 2-D guy. Would be nice to have stuff like that, but I really can't handle anything like that.
Though if anyone else wanted to try... I'm working on a detailed account of the Battle of Hell's Gate right now, and I hope to get it finished in the next few days. If anyone would like to try a 3-D map of the battle, that would be great!
posted
The Battle of Hell's Gate is one of the battles during the Earth-Romulan War. Masao and I have been working on a thorough story for months. It was the biggest battle of the war -- supposed to be a major Romulan offensive into the heart of United Earth territory, but things went wrong and the UE destroyed pretty much the entire fleet, and the rest of the Romulan ships self-destructed.
posted
Erm, just a comment. If you want to get real nitpicky, space battles should be mapped in 3D since, well, space is three dimensional. Sorry to be a spoil-sport.
[This message has been edited by Daniel (edited March 14, 2001).]
Most 99.5% of Star Trek combat takes place in the same relative two-dimensional plane...does this not make 3D battle maps not really necessary?
Frankly, I would rather have cool 2D maps, than confusing 3D maps.
Art
......................... Erm, just a comment. If you want to get real nitpicky, space battles should be mapped in 3D since, well, space is three dimensional. Sorry to be a spoil-sport.
------------------ Spoken in Klingon, with a distinct Scottish accent: "If it's not Klingon...It's crap!"