Date: Wed, 26 Jul 95 17:56:56 -0400 From: "Harold D. Hale" Subject: Re: Walkers --DRAFT-- (Sky)Walkers: A Walker Design Sequence Supplement Version 1.0 by Harold D. Hale Introduction The general consensus is that the appearance of contragrav at TL 9 and HEPlaR at TL 10 renders most forms of ground transportation obsolete--so much so that a TL 12 ground car is almost unheard of (unless you're a nostalgia buff who wonders what it would be like to cruise a highway and have to parallel park). Development of walker type vehicles also comes to a grinding halt. Though there is some development in this field after TL 10, the results are specialty vehicles which operate on worlds where contragrav equipped types have difficulty safely maneuvering because of weather patterns (high winds would undoubtedly wreak serious havoc on a slow moving contragrav transport, not to mention what it would do to the passengers' stomachs) or other factors. But what if contragrav weren't available on a world until later on, say TL 14 or 15 (or was never developed)? After all, we Terrans aren't even close yet to having the "flying cars" pictured in "Back to the Future" and other Hollywood flicks dating back to the 50's and we have achieved TL 8 in many areas. Wouldn't there be some worlds that chose to develop walker vehicles to their technological conclusion (whatever that may be)? And what about worlds where walkers were developed, and later contragrav was introduced? Would they abandon their walker vehicles immediately, or would there be a transitionary period where walkers were retrofitted with contragrav? This supplement attempts to address these issues by providing the designer with more advanced walker design tools. You must own a copy of Fire, Fusion & Steel (FF&S) to utilize this design sequence. Disclaimer: This design sequence supplement incorporates material copyrighted by GDW. It is being posted for the sole purpose of testing, evaluation and general feedback. Use of this material for other purposes is not a good idea. Really. Walker Vehicle Design Step 1. Chassis As described in the Ground Vehicle Design section. Walker chassis are available in the same types and materials as other vehicles. Step 2. Suspension Select a suspension type appropriate to the vehicle. Improved walker suspensions appear at TL 12, and take advantage of gravitic (if available), cybernetic, and materials technology advances. Advanced walker suspensions are similiar, and capitalize on advances in those fields made up to TL 16. Advanced walker and Improved walker vehicles require that a contragrav unit be installed in the vehicle. Contragrav generators can be found on page 24 of the FF&S manual. WALKER SUSPENSIONS TL Vol Mass SA MCr Walker 8 2.8 2.8 80 0.0028 Improved Walker 12 1.4 1.4 80 0.0056 Non-Grav Imp Walker 12 2.1 2.1 80 0.0042 Advanced Walker 16 0.7 0.7 80 0.0112 TL: Tech level available. Vol: Volume in kiloliters (cubic meters) per displacement ton (14 kl) of hull. Mass: Mass in tonnes per displacement ton of hull. SA: Useful surface area in square meters is equal to the chassis material volume (from chassis size table) times this number. MCr: Price in millions of credits per displacement ton of hull. Step 3. Control Systems Improved, Non-Gravitic Improved, and Advanced walkers require a computer of a tech level at least equal to that of the vehicle. The computer may be of the standard variety, or a flight computer type. Regular walkers do not have this requirement. Step 4. Life Support As described in the Ground Vehicle Design section. Step 5. Electronics As described in the Ground Vehicle Design section. Step 6. Weaponry As described in the Ground Vehicle Design section. Step 7. Power Plant As described in the Ground Vehicle Design section. Step 8. Transmission All walkers regardless of type must be equipped with a walker transmission. The size of the transmission depends on the tech level of the vehicle and the power available for the transmission. WALKER TRANSMISSIONS TL Vol/L Cr 8 8 10,000 9 2 2,500 10 0.4 625 12 0.067 156 14 0.0096 39 TL: Tech level available. Vol/L: Volume (in cubic meters) of a legged walker vehicle suspension per Mw of power output designated to the transmission. Cr: Price in credits per displacement ton of hull. Improved and advanced walkers can also have their power plants modified to provide thrust by the addition of propellers, a combustion chamber, or to power a more exotic drive. The variety of thrusters available is detailed in the Sublight (Maneuver) Drive Chapter (9) which starts on page 69 of FF&S. Step 9. Crew As described in the Ground Vehicle Design section. Step 10. Cargo As described in the Ground Vehicle Design section. Design Evaluation Modifications 1. Check Step As described in the Ground Vehicle Design section. 2. Record Design Features As described in the Ground Vehicle Design section. 3. Determine Movement a. Ground Movement Road Speed (Ground): Base road speed in km/hr = 5 + ([MW / LW] x 2500) MW: Vehicle motive power in megawatts LW: Loaded weight of the vehicle in tonnes Modifiers Each tech level above 5 +1 kph If standard walker x0.25 kph If improved/non-grav imp walker x0.4 kph If advanced walker x0.5 kph Off-Road Speed (Ground): The Off-Road Speed of all walkers equals their Road Speed. Vertical Movement (Leaping): ***I have a way to get this, but am looking for*** ***a better one. Two different sets of formulas*** ***need to be used--one for contragrav equipped*** ***vehicles, which will have their leaps *** ***evaluated based on how high they can jump in*** ***2.5 seconds (or half a turn--presumably they*** ***would spend the other 2.5 in descent--if *** ***not,calculating how high they can go in a *** ***combat turn would be a simple matter of *** ***multiplying by two); and one for *** ***non-contragrav vehicles, which should be *** ***pretty straight forward since hangtime, etc.*** ***is not an issue. *** Flying: If so equipped, determine the walker's G rating and aerial movement capabilities of the vehicle using the Lift Vehicle Design evaluation section on page 26 of FF&S. ***It would also be possible under the right *** ***circumstances for a contragrav equipped *** ***walker to be fitted with collapsible *** ***wings which could be extended and allow the *** ***walker to become a glider. Anyone want to *** ***take a crack at a formula for calculating *** ***the proper wing surface, etc.? *** 4. Firing Characteristics As described in the Ground Vehicle Design section 5. Determine Maintenance Points As described in the Ground Vehicle Design section Your comments (good or bad) and constructive suggestions on this supplement are welcomed. Please e-mail me at hdhale@tasc.com or post something to this mailing list. I'll be posting new and improved versions of this supplement to the mailing list as time permits. --Harold