I've always thought that the way computers work in SF is a little... clunky. It seemed that way in the 80s when I first started playing and running the game, and it still seems that way now. The rules I've been working on for a Void drive have led to some tweaking of some of the ways computers work with ships, but I think this can translate across to other computers in general use on the Frontier. So I'm going to open up a discussion about this by proposing a different way of doing things.<br /><br />It seems to me that it might better to not use the sort-of backward system for building a computer as per the SF rules in Alpha Dawn. I think it might better that the deciding factor about any given computer is its level. In this sense, level denotes how powerful it is at running programs - raw CPU power (and perhaps also GPU, but mostly CPU). <br /><br />Function points (FP) could remain, but ostensibly they just denote how much memory they take up (eg something akin to hard-drive space). A computer of any given level comes with X amount of FP as standard. But it can be upgraded.<br /><br />In turn, some programs need to be run on a computer of a certain level to work at their optimum - it perhaps needs a base level and otherwise cannot run. At the same time, some programs are fairly simple and can run on quite low level computers and always work on higher level computers. <br /><br />Programs require a certain amount of FP to work and so any time they're installed on your computer, they use up their FP in space.<br /><br />Levels also go in some way to denote how powerful that computer is, but this is limited by a maximum possible level for any given computer.<br /><br />So, say I buy a level 4 computer that has 50 FP. This computer can run any program of level 4 or lower, and can store those various programs as long as their total FP does not amount to more than 50. I could possibly buy more FP, which would allow me to store more programs of levels 1 to 4 on my computer.<br /><br />If I want to upgrade the level of my computer, I can spend money on doing so. However, as it is my computer cannot be upgraded past, say, level 6. If I want to get anything of a level higher than that, I need to buy a new computer.<br /><br />FP and programs can be copied over to this new computer if I require. I can also start running programs of levels 6 and 7, as well as those of levels 1 to 4 (either ones I already own, or new ones).<br /><br />Note that in all of the above cases there is a single operating system for all computers. Maybe very powerful computers need a different type of operating system, but that's open to discussion. Either way, if I have a small tablet-like or laptop-like computer, or a body comp, or PC-like computer they all run on the same operating system. All that divides them is:<br /><br />- their initial level<br />- their initial FP<br />- the max level up to which they can be upgraded<br />- the extra FP a user may have installed<br /><br />I think that covers a fair few things. Let me know what you think.
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