Orbits?

Nerroth · Post by **Nerroth** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 6:01 pm

Can a ship or base be set in orbit of a planet or moon, or not?

(In the case of a base, if there are no orbits, would it be considered to remain at a stationary location relative to the moon or planet it may be placed alongside?)

mjwest · Post by **mjwest** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 7:49 pm

There are no "orbits" in Federation Commander. Bases are stationary. DefSats are stationary.

(Now, obviously, they do orbit. But, at the time scale implied by the game, they are comparatively stationary. If the scenario is played again, the station could be anywhere around the planet the next time.)

Nerroth · Post by **Nerroth** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 7:54 pm

Thanks for the clarification, Mike.

*makes note for future scenario use*

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 2:58 am

MJWest,

Was there ever a statement that players could experiment with allowing bases or DefSats to move? My memory may be faulty on this one, but it sure seems as if I remember reading something that players could experiment with allowing a base to actually move in an orbit around a planet. Maybe that was SFB I was thinking of. Does SFB allow it?

mjwest · Post by **mjwest** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 4:20 am

SFB has the concept of a "standard orbit". Once established by a base, defsat, ship, or whatever, the unit will rotate around the planet in a set pattern without using any energy. However, it is a really fiddly rule (especially for ships) and was not included in Federation Commander.

If you wished to experiment, and if you have access to the SFB rules, it would not take a lot of effort to simply adapt the SFB rules to FC. But, that just isn't something that is needed in FC, and it is highly unlikely to be added.

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 11:59 am

Okay, I thought I remembered it from somewhere. It was SFB.

Thanks!