D6 Magazine Artwork

The name kinda says it all.  Enjoy.

Ah, Ha!...Oh, Crap!

Ah ha!...Oh, Crap!

Just stumbled upon this article that tells how a team of Makers are currently developing a Fabricator that can print organic molecules, including pharmaceuticals.  If you'll recall, RocketFans, I mentioned that Conestoga Rovers boasted fabbers that were equipped with this ability.  The industrial implications of your local Walmart being able to print your prescription as easily as the photo-shop can print your memories pales in comparison to the social implications.  Think about what meth labs would look like in the future...

Or here's a real fun example:  One of the petty warlords in central Africa makes a deal with, say, a Chinese electronics firm, where the warlord will guarantee palladium shipments for two years in exchange for the fabber templates that China will have surely retro-engineered by then of the latest HIV treatments meds.

What do you call said warlord?  Possibly the first ruler of all of Africa.

Zhang Qing in 3D!

In 3D!!!

Zhang Qing in 3D!

        Here is a model of the Zhang Qing orbital cutter, made in the surprisingly capable Wings 3D.  I've yet to create a UV map or cover the model with a skin, and I dunno if I will.  I can, using the free and robust GIMP program.  Using the various filters and other bells and whistles, I can make a simple "coloring book" image of just a black outline on a white background without the hours-long process of tracing the outline by hand.  Just look at the primitive and flat image of the Qing  and you can see how far we've come.

More detail, but less...depth.

        I other news, my sugar had finally begun to stabilize again, through the agressive application of intense excersize and a very restrictive diet, as well as insulin and all of my medications.  The new fun comes from my having a fever at least once a week for the last month or so.  It's ridiculous to be in southern Alabama, where the outside heat index is in the triple digits as early as nine-thirty some morning, tottering around in fleese gammie pants and a jacket.  Seriously.

       I hop you like the eastern bloc spacecraft design ethic as much as I do.  Enjoy!

A few words on Tech Level...

Ship's Bow and Cow's Stern: This Actually Makes Sense.

        Tech Level, or Progress Level depending on what dice you roll, is a simple metric for measuring a fictitious society's level of advancement.  While in real life cultural and technological sophistication are not necessarily linked (Meso-American cultures were highly advanced despite being at a Stone Age Tech Level) in SF games this system provides enough structure to get around with.  The only reason I mention this at all is because technological capability and the technological standard  do not necessarily have to have anything to do with one another.

       In our current post-industrial, consumer-driven society, the cutting edge in technology is implemented virtually the second it's sable, and planned on becoming obsolete as soon as possible.  In a setting like The Black Desert, which is epi-singularity (maybe) and post-scarcity, planned obsolescence is not even a concept anymore.  In fact, in the BD setting, there are plenty of reasons for the technological standard to be significantly lower than the cutting edge.

        It's like this; in The Black Desert, personal fabrication is the primary means of obtaining goods.  Consumer goods, as we understand the term, are not a normal part of day-to-day commerce in the 23rd century.  Art, in the form of mixed media files that are displayed on everything from the walls of your home to your clothes, to your skin, are bought and sold more often than actual products. 

        The reason I'm belaboring this point is because there are things that even the most advanced personal fabricators cannot provide you at home but are an integral part of life in the middle of a Singularity.  The most obvious of these, in The Black Desert setting, are QOOR Processors and quantum computers.  A difference engine that requires the precise alignment of individual atoms and processors that are patterned on neural synapses are simply not something you can build in the garage, even in the future.  Faced with what would probably be an imperceptible-to-human-senses decrease in speed and power verses the ability to build a computer at home, most people in a society that is not inundated by consumerism will choose the more convenient, if less advanced, option.

        This is actually a mild example of technological disparity.  In modern day Guiana, fabricators are used to build Tesla turbines and solar powered water boilers, which is basically 19th century steam-tech.  That being said, it simply and cheaply provides a robust system of converting solar radiation into mechanical work without consuming non-renewable resources, so they use it.  In the SF classic Firefly, spacecraft cruise the black between the 26th century tech Core worlds and the Old West, sixshooter-and-horses culture of the rim, and present the disparity as a practical, logical situation.

        I love that show...

        Anyway, for the budding SF author (like me), this technological disparity is a boon.  Post-Singularity fiction is, almost by definition, impossible to write. Having such a high level of technology co-existing with 21st century tech without being anachronistic is a relief, because it allows me to keep the science hard and the fiction plausible.  This is why, for those who are looking, you may find my spacecraft using such quaint tech as integrated circuits and fiber optic cables.  Sure, it's older than your character's grandparents, but when a stray meteorite punches a hole through your CPU and you have to print out a replacement, you'll be glad your ship uses computers simple enough to rebuild from scratch.    

How I Procrastinate...

Service Deck Done!

       Here is the finished Service Deck for the Allie B. Clockwise from the top:  One of the main free electron lasers, in a spinal mount running the length of the spacecraft; One of four emergency shelters, capable of housing up to ten people apiece; one of four electrolyzer housings that convert the water in the massive, outboard into hydrogen for the sails and oxygen for the torch; the FCR, and back on around.  There is an airlock deck one deck forward, and another service deck forward of that that is identical with the exception of having life support equipment and consumables storage in place of the Emergency Habs and the FCR. 

       Anyway, I'm also working on finishing the spar decks, which are close to being done.  It's nice to actually have ideas coming in again, and to be able to keep working.  Hope you enjoy! 

More Peeks at the Allie B.

Not all Bridges have a Viewscreen...

       The images of the Alan B. Shepard  Escort's interior sections I've displayed before now were in the outboard spar, where the spin of the craft imparts a bit of gravity.  This section is of the Flight Control Room, which is in the central core.  This compartment sits in the center of the spacecraft, with twenty meters of water, missiles, and fusion reactors between the command deck and vacuum.

       The FCR iteself is an experimental layout.  With nearly unlimited computer power, near miraculous networking, and a lack of gravity, there is really no reason for the spacecraft's command center to follow the traditional configuration.  This new layout divides the FCR into for alcoves, each of which having enough command stations to control the entire ship under normal operation.  In addition, the number four station can rotate inward and face another, curved smartscreen separating the alcoves from the central command seat.  These four "inner" consoles, along with the command seat, can also be configured to provide ship's command and control under normal operations.  What this kind of layout allows is for any quarter of the FCR to be shut down, maintained, even rigged as simulators and set up for practice wargames.  If you like the setup, or see any problems or suggesstions with the design, drop me a line.  Enjoy!  

IPV Escort Art

Zoom zoom.

Work continues on the Alan B Shepard class Interplanetary Escorts.  This is a pic of the Aurora Galleae, the corona of radiation visible as the laser beams reflect off of the magnetic sails.  This is the same model that was used for the pics you've already seen, with materials added in Bryce.  Hope you enjoy.

Space Station WIP

Add caption

       This is a mock-up of the space station I'm detailing as part of my d6 Magazine article for the next issue.  If you recognize some of the pieces in this drawing, I'm not surprized; with the exception of  the sheild at the top (with its checkerboard of radiators) the entire station is made up of pre-existing map elements used in my various deck plans over the years.

        This is a tiny station, which is basically a truck-stop for intra-orbital traffic.   In The Black Desert, propellant is typically stored as simple water, then electrolyzed in to oxygen and hydrogen as needed.  Because the power and mass requirements for such a system are rather high, specialized stations exist to re-fuel spacecraft instead of having every private station in orbit need to install the equipment.

        Anyway, the article itself will only have a bit of info on the station; the station itself will be released as its own PDF around the same time.  Work continues... 

A Hull Breach is never Pretty...

Oooooooh, crap.

                This peice used Daz Studios 4 Pro for the people and background, Bryce 7 for the blood globules, Photoshop Elements 9 for the tint and debris, and GIMP for the fuzzy whisps of your life leaking away.  God, I love making this kind of stuff. 

For your viewing pleasure...

Modelling like a BOSS.

I give you a model of a militerized version of the Utility Laser I've mentioned before.  I'm rather pleased with how easily I managed to get the file into Bryce and reder the image.  This is especially good news, because I like to make my own designs for props and such, and will be able to include images of all this junk in future posts and, even better, products.

Speaking of which, I'm making a space station for my D6 Magazine article.  It's great to be working again!

A sort of shaky, provisional return...

              So, what do you call it when your vision tunnels, doubles, your wife swears that one of your eyes drifts independently of the other randomly, and you completely forget what you're doing?

              Nothing good, that what.

             It could  have just been incipient retinopathy, but I got that checked out.  It could be evidence of seizures, or possible transient ischemic attacks - "mini-strokes", in other words.  Anyway, I am no longer allowed to drive at night, and Monday will be my fifth doctor's appointment since last I posted on the site.

             I wanna thank all of you RocketFans who have asked after my health; I wish I had better news.  I do intend to continue working on Black Desert stuff, but I cannot give any reliable schedule of products for the foreseeable future.  The next major project I'll be involved with will be some sort of article for the next issue of D6 Magazine, which is a sci-fi issue.  I am also going to continue working on the IPV product, but I can't say when it'll be ready.

            More updates, and hopefully some actual content, will be forthcoming soon.

A Plague on our House!

           Maybe not really, but it sure seems that way.  The kids have had pink eye all week, and found out the hard way that we have poison ivy growing around our home.  Debra (my wife) and I are not, in fact allergic to poison ivy, which is a blessing as it has allowed me to tend the kidlets without getting all itchy myself.  That being said, Debra and I are not immune to the plagues, as her wicked fever has given her yet another case of bronchitis.  I also have had a fever this weekend.

           All of this is excuse-making for why I haven't gotten a thing done on the Allie B. In addition, many of the patterns (including my battle map grid) and other files didn't transfer when I swapped computers, so I've got to rebuild my stuff before significant progress can be made.  For all of these reasons, the release date for the Alan B. Shepard is moved back to April 1st.

           I hate to do it, RocketFans, but sick writing = crappy writing, and you deserve better than that.

March Preview: The Alan B. Shepard

March Preview:  The Alan B. Shepard

           As promised, RocketFans, this month's offering is going to be our first Interplanetary Vehicle.  This is the Alan B. Shepard class Escort, of which I've discussed before and designed months ago.  The interior space is huge compared to most of my rockets, so this PDF will probably be pretty lengthy.  In addition, a lot of the work I've done on the blog regarding the Mission Control Model will be featured as well, and there will be a whole section on traveling between worlds included.  This could take some time, but I'm on track and have already made a lot of progress.  Anyway, there may or may not be any 3D artwork in this PDF; it depends on time more than anything else.  I'm hoping to take the ship design I already have and pull it into the third dimension.  If I manage to get that done in time for publication, this will be the first CG spacecraft we've offered.  All in all, it looks to be an exciting month.

The Inside.

The Outside.

A Thank You to All RocketFans

A Thank You to All RocketFans

            I had intended to post earlier in the week about the wild success we've had with The Pumpkin-Suit's Manual - which has easily broken all sales records among The Black Desert products - but I was delayed.  As I've mentioned a few times, the largest stumbling block on the project was the lack of processing power my computer had and the difficulties this caused on making artwork for the P-SM.  In addition, I also had a lot trouble getting the PDF uploaded to RPGNow, so I had to resort to personally emailing copies from the master files to those who couldn't download the product during it's first days on sale.  Fortunately, these problems have been resolved, and everyone who bought a copy of The Pumpkin-Suit's Manual has now received one.

           Anyway, the reason I hadn't posted this week is because of all of you.  That isn't a blame thing, let me assure you; it is in fact a sincere thank you.  You see, with the money I made off of the sale of the P-SM, I was able to purchsce a new computer.  It's just a simple e Machine, nothing fancy, but the processors are more than powerful enough to let me continue making 3D artwork for future projects.  This also means that I now have Windows running on my primary computer again.  Not that I have any loyalty to the brand, but since I have a couple of grand worth of top-shelf programs I got for free  (Thanks Daz Studio!) It means I can actually run them on my main computer, along with everything else.

           What all of this means is that I'm able to expand and increase the quality of my work because of the support of my fans.  We're reaching the kind of symbiotic relationship that an artist has with their patrons, and I am very thankful for that support and proud that you think so highly of my work.

            Thing are going to be smoother, faster, and fancier from here on out.   You made it happen.  Thanks again.

 

Pumpkin-suit's Manual Officially on Sale!

Finally!

EVA Combat

Day Officially Ruined.

          It took all day and about three computer crashes, but I finally got this pic finished!

           You'll notice that the woman looped her adversary's tether around her leg to get the leverage to crack his visor.  This kind of thing is important in Hard SF.  More about free-fall combat can be found here.

Honorable Mention

...and this is just a thumbnail.

         Yesterday, I recieved an unexpected email from friend and RocketFan Winchell Chung, master of the essential website for hard SF speculation, Atomic Rockets.  He is putting out a new poster of Tom Corbett's ride of choice, the Polaris.  Winch (known on-line as "Nyrath the Nearly Wise") has taken this venerable retro rocket, scraped the zeerust off, and tuned out a set of schematics that are as hard as cider in the back woods.  This rocket poster is definitely worth a second look, and then a third, and can be found here.

         What makes this particular offering from Nyrath so personally gratifying is that he found my Mission Control model for spacecraft crew useful enough to include in this latest iteration of the Polaris.  In fact, if you look hard enough, you can see that he included Blue Max Studio's URL on the poster!  It's funny; when I was starting out on this website, I made extensive mention of Atomic Rockets (and still do), and now, I'm getting my stuff mentioned on that same website, and other products from Chung.  It's the kind of recognition that really makes me feel like I'm doing something right.  That, of course, and all of your comments.

        Speaking of doing something, I need to get back to editing the Pumpkin-Suit's Manual. See you all tomorrow!

Who Owns Your Rocket?

Rocket Shares: UR doin it rong

The Black Desert: Space Travel and Combat
Who Owns Your Rocket?

    Proofreading and art work continue on The Pumpkin-Suit's Manual, and I have no doubt that the extra time I'm taking to get it done will make for a much better, and much prettier book.  None of this extra time will slow down our March 16th release of Ships of the Black Desert:  The Alan B. Shepard-Interplanetary Vehicle, because much of the deckplans and other art is already done.  So, with much of the fun, creative stuff for both of the above projects either mapped out completely or at least underway, my fevered mind turns to ruminations on April's The Black Desert: Space Travel and Combat which will basically cover everything the Pumpkin-Suit's Manual doesn't, including the business of buying rockets when you're a dead broke starting Character.

    I wanted to visit this topic because, frankly, I think it's treated far too lightly in most of the SF I've seen and read.  The issue of buying a spacecraft, far and away the most expensive engineered artifacts for their size ever created by H. sapiens, is usually glossed over completely or at most treated as a transaction similar to buying a car.  Even the venerable Traveller RPG franchise, which prices spacecraft in Mega-Credits and provides rules for paying it off, treats this as a simple mortgage transaction with simple interest, and something that requires every PC spacecraft to be an aging wreck, a give-away from the Scout Service, or impossible to afford.  Not that this is a bad set of options - I rather like all of these ideas – but there are other ways to finance new rockets that even PCs could afford, if we use some options from history.

You're Financing a Rocket: Not a Car

    First of all, I would think that a spacecraft would at least, given it's cost, be on the order of buying an aircraft (hence the rocket repos article) but probably even more complicated, more on the order of building a clipper in the Age of Sail.  I am usually loathe to make Age of Sail analogies to spacecraft, for reasons that can be found here, but this isn't about the technology or tactics of sailboats, this is about their financing.  This link to the past through the pocket-book and not the rocket...ook.... is, in my opinion, a nice way to use the romantic era of the Yankee Clipper for a little flavor without making our SF physically impossible. 

    So anyway, rather than go into a long exposition about how they financed boats back in the day, let's cut to the chase and look at an example that will, hopefully, explain the system without boring anyone to death.

    For this example, let start with an AI named Annabelle Li.  Annie was a Ship's Officer/EW expert for Brazil during the war and retired with an honorable discharge in 2195, and worked for awhile as a shuttle pilot, traffic controller and other jobs that made her a lot of contacts and gave her the idea of going into business as a cargo rocket long enough to buy a spacecraft and at last have a permanent body again.  Annie puts together a list of people she knows and cross-references all of their personality and psychological data, finally arriving at a decent crew mix that won't kill each other and can perform well together in a crisis as well as during monotonous routine.  I imagine this crew selection step, an under-served part of most of the SF I've read (Stranger is a good example of what happens when the crew are too compatible) would be a big part of rocket crew selection in any realistic future, so don't skip it.

    So anyway, Annabelle and her friends/crew decide to go into business together and get a rocket.  This involves a bit of hanky, and maybe even some panky, as the question of who actually owns a rocket is as easy to answer as who “owns” a publicly traded corporation.

Old Business for New Rockets

    A modern, reusable, commercial command module (in this case, an Embraer knock-off) capable of lifting 250 tons to LEO costs about $24,000,000 fresh off the line at the Space Composites Assembly Facilities in Luverne Alabama, where the fabricated components from hundreds of small garage-shops are carefully inspected and integrated.  This new spacecraft was financed by selling shares to interested parties.  The relevant data are in Table 1:

Table 1: Rocket Shares and Financing

Rocket Financing	Cost
Avg. New	$24,000,000
Mortgage %	20%
Shares	64
Value/share	$375,000
Financier's	≈13
Owner of record	25
Other investors	24
F-COM	1
Crew	¼ of 1

    Like Ye Olde Shipps of Olde, a rocket is divided into 64 shares that are bought by banks, private investors, shipping companies, and even individuals if they can afford it.  The party with majority of the shares is the Owner of Record, and is usually a shipping concern looking to increase its slice of the space-imports pie.  They may have to get a loan from a bank, but instead of charging interest and demanding payments like usual, the bank is given 13 shares, or about 20% of the rocket's value.  The bank likes this arrangement, because it can trade, sell or award the shares as they see fit, and those shares will earn money as long as the rocket is in commission.

    With me so far?

    So our intrepid crew, led by Annabelle Li, approach a shipping company   and apply for a position on a profit-share payment schedule instead of regular salary.  The Shipping company prefers this arraignment for crew and requires a profit-share with Flight Commanders, as an incentive to work hard.   Annabelle and the crew sign what is known as a Spaceframe Charter, which makes Annie and the crew employees of the company for two years.  In exchange, ownership of 2 shares of the rocket (henceforth also known as Annabelle Li) are assigned to the the spacers, one for Annie as F-COM, and one for the crew, meaning they each get a quarter-share of the profits from the rocket's business.


The (Twice) Daily Grind

    Just what is this business, you may ask?  In our look at Space Infrastructure awhile back I described a set-up where these little Liberty Bell rockets (Annabelle Li is the Brazilian equivalent) schlep cargo up to a commercial hub in orbit for trans-shipment to the moon or interplanetary vehicle.  This kind of work involves two flights a day, six days a week, for 50 weeks out of the year.  The two-week's vacation time is a federal requirement; all spacecraft must have a bi-annual, week-long overhaul in order to keep their licenses.

    In the holds of these little freighters, there may be tons of dairy products from Terra (something even Mars can't make yet) that cost $12.00/kg before shipping and sell for twice that in space.  There may be small consignments of hafnium, platinum-group metals, or even helium from the Aldrin Node that sell for tens of thousands per kilo on Terra.  My point is, it doesn't matter, because Annie and her crew will never see a dime of the treasure in their holds – it belongs to whoever hired the shipping company to transport it.  The shipping company charges anywhere from a 5-15 cents a kilogram to haul the stuff, on top of the ten bucks/kg it takes to put anything into space, and this amount is the sole profit made by the rocket on a trip.     How much profit is that?  Let's take a look at the second table to find out:

Table 2: Rocket Profit and Expenses

Rocket Daily Expenses:	Cost:
Launch	$100,000
Inspection	$60,000
Vehicle Assembly	$100,000
Propellant	$210,000
Battery Charge	$10,500
Hanger	$8,333
Certifications	$33
Consumables	$460
Crew Salaries (if any)	$500
Orbital Docking	$400,000
Orbital Fueling	$4,202,000
Mortgage	$2,740
Total:	$5,089,840
Gross Cost/kg:	$10.17
Avg. Shipping Cost/kg:	≈ 0.10
Profit:	$50,000

    As you can see, It takes a lot of scratch to get a rocket into orbit at all – even in a setting that is as space-friendly as The Black Desert.  Orbital re-fueling is, of course, the largest expense, because every drop of that methane or LH2/LOX must be hauled into orbit by a tanker, which itself must pay for every expense on the list, with the exception of the refueling cost.  Tankers don't carry cargo back to Terra from orbit, so they can land using only the ambient atmosphere and their L-Drive.  Even with this savings, The orbital depots that accept shipment of the juice must be maintained and have their own expenses, so the “cost at the pump” is still way up there. 
    The table shows that the break-even cost of shipping into orbit, minus profit, is $10.17.  This is, however, not the usual price of doing business, as any shipping company worth it's charters will use discounts, bonuses, bulk rates and whatever other tricks it can think of to keep the price lower than its competitors. This is why, like in the real world, privately owned freighters are at a disadvantage, because they can't afford to post shipping rates under cost.  They get by with razor thin profits – sometimes only a couple of cents a kilo – in order to make up for this.  The only ways a independent trader can get a decent amount of business is to find a niche that isn't served by the big companies, such as offering transport to orbital hotels, smaller stations, or resupply of corporate/ military assets away from the central hub.  Independent merchants can expect to have to push themselves and their rockets to the limit in order clear expenses and keep the majority shareholder – the bank – from calling the repo men.

Ownership is a Many-Splendoréd Thing

    All that being said, a Corporate-owned rocket is still, in the eyes of the law, practically yours anyway.  This is because of legal mumbo-jumbo meant to screw the Captain of a rocket, but also giving said Captain some very important rights that a savvy F-COM can use to their advantage.
   
    It's like this: There are many legal types of ownership, and just about all of them will be used in this rocket scenario.  There is owner-of-title, or record, which is the majority shareholder in the rocket.  This is usually the shipping company we've already mentioned, but it doesn't have to be.  There are also owners-of-possession, which is precisely what the F-COM of a rocket is.  The owner-of-possession has at least one share of the rocket, and receive all dividends and bonuses from that share to use as they wish.  In exchange, all liability is on them, and all responsibility to the other shareholders.  This means that the F-COM is at fault for any damages, delays or other issues that result in a loss of profit for the rest of the shareholders.  While only getting one-sixty-fourth of the profits, the F-COM gets 100% of the responsibility, the only exceptions being whatever deals the shipping can make in the rocket's favor that are in their best interests, as the ones who get all the cash.   The last type of owner, the owner-of-benefit, isn't really an owner at all but a group of people that split up the profits of one or more shares, like the rest of the crew.

All this could be yours...after about 14 years.

Kind of Like Rent-to-Own, but Not Really


    So why, you may ask, would an F-COM accept this kind of headache in exchange for one lousy share?  For one thing, the share is free.  As we can see in Table 2 above, a single share costs three hundred and seventy-five thousand, which is beyond the buying power of the average Terran citizen.  In fact, at a median income of just 20,000 annually, one rocket share represents nearly eighteen years of earnings, with no money left over to live on.  Needless to say, this is all but impossible for the average Terran.   If that citizen is an F-COM, however, they stand to make almost a quarter-million a year.  Even the crew of a rocket, if they choose to enter into a profit-share contract, can make nearly three times a Terran's median income.

Table 3: Profits per Share

Earning Potential
Avg. Daily Profit/Share	$781
Annual Operation Days	300
Avg. Annual Profit/Share	$234,300
F-COM Earnings	$234,300
Crew Earnings	$58,575

  

    As with all business deals, there are caveats that the F-COM must be aware of.  For one thing, the contract for an F-COM is typically two years long, in exchange for one share.  For that two-year period, this means that the Shipping company get pretty much five months free labor from the skippers of their rockets.  Even with this hefty tariff on their share, in order to be liable for the rocket, the F-COM must be a titled co-owner as well as owner-of-possession.  So after the two year contract, that single share is theirs; they could retire and still make six-figures a year in dividends.

    Most F-COMs do not retire.  For one thing, space gets into your head; ask any astronaut and they'll tell you.  For another, An F-COM in good standing can re-up their contract and earn a second share over two years, taken from the bank's thirteen as payment of the mortgage.  The Shipping Company will continue to have the majority, but as the number of shares builds up, so do the profits and an F-COM interested in owning their rocket outright can keep buying shares.  After their second contract, they have two shares; after their third, they can have four, and they own eight shares after the fourth.  By the time an F-COM has been with the company for ten years, the bank is paid off and the F-COM owns 16 shares.  After a twelve-year tenure, the F-COM has half the shares of the rocket and is no longer the minority shareholder.  One more contract, and the rocket is theirs outright, with just over half of its operational life left.   The shipping company, of course, uses part of the F-COMs payout to buy another rocket, and the cycle begins again.  Smart F-COMs sell shares to their crew, this gives them a vested interest in the rocket and also spreads the liability around a bit.  The crew starts making as much as a first-contract F-COM, and they in turn can buy more shares in the rocket from their boss, or start buying shares on their own rockets.  New shipping companies can start this way, with one loyal crew and a lot of dedication.

    I hope you've found this exploration into the economics of rocket ownership as fascinating as I have; it's this kind of speculation that breeds the really good adventure ideas for games and gives a party of PCs a way to own their own ship without dealing directly with the bank, or with a Jabba analog. 

    Remember, comments are always welcome.  See you later, RocketFans!

More Pumpkin-Suit's Manual Artwork

Uh-oh...

Here's another preview of the new 3D modeled art you'll see in The Pumpkin-Suit's Manual.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin-suit's Manual Artwork

His friends call him "Tusk"

 Meet Tuskegee, a Nurilla COMM/AST Specialist

That RAM upgrade I said I was going to get turned out to be unnecessary; what I need was a full-on virus/malware scan and to de-frak de-frag my hard drive.  That took a good bit of time.  In addition, The processor on my now four-year-old Acer Aspire laptop is not the fastest gun in the west by any far stretch of the imagination, so making 3D models takes some time.  This is my first attempt at a full image, but even so I am pleased.

I hope you are too. I will be including a few more of these in the Pumpkin-Suit's Manual, which should really make the miles of rules mechanics more interesting.

Anyway, I go now to do art at my 'puter.  See you later.

Pumpkin-suit's Manual Update

          Happy Monday, RocketFans!  I'm pleased to say that I finished the main text for The Pumpkin-Suit's Manual this weekend!  I now have rules and mechanics for pretty much every major maneuver and hazard a spacecraft can get into from launch to recovery, and I've got it in my own BD6 system as well as Classic D6 and D20.

          That's the good news.  What I don't have is any artwork.  The appendices are not done either.  And this massive, 38 page document has not been proofread yet.  In short, the main text may be finished, but that's all that is.

          Therefore, I am officially moving back the date of release for The Pumpkin-Suit's Manual to March the first.  This will give me time to get the copy up to a professional level, include the Character Templates I had planned on, and include artwork similar to what you saw on the Spacesuits post the other day.  In fact, I'm getting a 4GB RAM upgrade for my  'puter this afternoon especially for making CG modeling part of the art of The Black Desert.  I'm excited about that, it should be fantastic! ...In a totally plausible, Hard SF sort of way of course.

           Hopefully I'll be able to preview some of this new art by tomorrow.  Here's hoping, anyway. 

Pumpkin-suit's Manual Preview #6

This...

Decompression

At the opposite end of the spectrum is when damage to a spacecraft is so severe that the habitat loses pressure. Explosive decompression, while not as severe as the term suggests, is still a race against time that ends in either a successful repair of the hull, or death for any astronauts unlucky to be trapped inside the compartment.

Description: “It's the worst feeling in the world – the gentle breeze of vital atmosphere bleeding away out of the punctured hull. You immediately grab for a DC kit; hoping to get a mask over your mouth in time to find the leak and repair it. As the door behind you automatically shuts against the loss in pressure, your frantic search becomes a race against time, with death the prize for second place.”

Decompression (Hazard)

BD6:

Skill: Space Transport Repair

Effected System: Hull

Detection Difficulty: Moderate

Time: Fast (1D6 rounds)

Special: Please refer to the rules for Hull Breaches in the Appendix for calculating the time it takes for a compartment to decompress.

Characters do not suffer damage until the pressure in a breached compartment reaches half it's starting pressure.

At one-half pressure, Characters must Make a Stamina Skill Check for every round they are without supplemental air in a decompressing compartment. The Diffficulty is Moderate, increasing +1 every round there after until the compartment is completely depressurized.

If the Character fails one of these Stamina Checks, they suffer 1D damage every round until they receive oxygen or die. 

...leads to this.

* * *

Decompression (Spacecraft Damage)

For every point of damage done to a spacecrafts resulting in a loss of the Hull System, assume a 2 cm puncture in the spacecraft's hull.

A 2 cm breach in the hull of a spacecraft will decompress the life-system to half-pressure at a rate of 1square every 3 rounds.

Pumpkin-suit's Manual Preview #5

This. Is. DUMB.

Rendezvous with a rotating target (“FU-bar”)

This type of maneuver – attempting to dock with a rotating target – is only for the insane or desperate. Trying to safely attach to a target moving at 3 meters per second not only incredibly difficult, it's incredibly dangerous. Even when dire emergency requires such an expedient, it is best attempted by a un-crewed vehicle that is remotely operated.

Executing a docking maneuver with a rotating target (known both humorously and seriously as a “FU-bar” approach) must be done from either a + or - R-bar approach, which must be successfully made prior to the “FU-bar” attempt. The approaching spacecraft must then attempt to capture the target with a cargo arm or other remote manipulator and then instantly correct its trajectory in order to follow the direction of spin. This requires constant correction until the cargo arm pulls the spacecraft close enough to successfully dock. Fortunately, a Payload specialist than can capture a moving target all can usually make the final docking maneuver in a few seconds, meaning that the maneuver can be accomplished in one round, with one set of Skill Checks.

“FU-bar” Orbital Approach

BD6

Skill: Spacecraft Operations: COMM/AST; Teleoperation: Cargo Arm

Difficulty: Impossible

Special: This type of maneuver must be attempted with both of the above Skill Checks.

Natural failure results in 2D damage to the cargo arm.

A Confirmed Penalty on the Wild Die results in 2D damage to the both the spacecraft and the target vehicle. Both suffer damage to their docking rings making further attempts impossible.

An Automatic Failure on the Wild Die results in 4D damage to both the spacecraft and the target. The airlock and docking rings are destroyed, and the hull is breached (see below).

On Spacesuits...

Skinsuit.

         So RocketFan Strannik made a rather pithy comment on yesterday's blog post, wanting to know more about the spacesuits available in The Black Desert.  Fair enough.
        The thing is, that info is meant for June's Weapons and Gear supplement.  This means that official stats and stuff won't be available for another four months or so.  I understand that this is a pretty long wait, so I've put together a small table based on my notes for this type of equipment.  There's some flavor text available in last July's blog post, "Stuff and Guns and Stuff", if you wanna check that out.  Anyway, here's the table.
          Remember, these are not official numbers, so don't be surprised if they change between now and June 16th.

Spacesuits	Skill¹	Difficilty² Modifiers	Stamina Modifier	Endurance	Cost
Skinsuit	-	-	-	4 hours	L$U5,000
Hardsuit	:Hardsuit	+1 Physical	-1	8 hours	L$U10,000
Locksuit	:Locksuit	+1 Agl	-	12 hours	L$U12,500
Eapatier Armor	:Powered Armor	+1 Agl / -1 Str	-2	18 hours	L$U125,000

Espatier Armor.

¹ All spacesuits use the Spacesuit Operation Skill. Entries reflect appropriate Focused Skills.

² In the BD6 system, Difficulty Modifiers are used instead of Dice Pool Modifiers. Therefore, +1 Physical, for example, means that all Agility- and Strength-based Skill Checks are one Difficulty Level higher than normal.