Zan asked: > Is it just for the "coolness factor" of the setting that the ship AI is > housed in a robot instead of being a part of the ship itself? > > I know it was cool in TV shows like Andromeda (seasons 1 and 2 only > please) to have the ship personified. So it is neat in games too. > > But, absent that is there a real-world-ish reason to do it?
Hello Zan, there are a number of different issues: * I was barely able to fit a C11 microframe (IQ 16) into the humanoid robot. The TL15 cruiser (vehicle of the week 808) had plenty of C13 macroframes, which could have been IQ 18 if they had been sentient. Andromeda had both the central ship's AI and an avatar capable of independent thought, but the shipboard computer was in charge, right? (I could have used genius computer for +1 to IQ, but that cuts both ways. UTT32 has parallel computer rules which could have given the ship another +1, for a total IQ 20.) The introduction for this robot carefully avoids statements regarding the main computer. * As written, the main shipboard computer is not sentient. An IQ 18 robot in direct control of the starship system would probably overshadow all other characters -- "Where does the 4,000,000-ton character go? Anywhere she wants. Unless they want to avoid collateral damage, then she can go nowhere at all." With enough points, a biological PC might rival the robot, with a slightly different focus (psionics? focus on social skills?) and the robot can go to the same places as the rest of the party. * The mobility issues applies not just for game balance but also in-game. * AIs going mad are a cinematic stereotype. But who says that this robot would have the command codes for the ship's guns and the security systems? As written, the robot assists the command crew, it is not necessarily the ship's AI in a mobile shell. * A mobile command robot could have been one of the tentacled eggs which you'll see over the next week, but here the ease of interaction with biological crew might be an issue. The robot has an attractive living flesh shell. It could have been very beautiful for a relatively minor cost increase, but I thought that attractive gives the best comfort level. * Ignoring the description, you could use this robot as an alien robotic spy on present-day Earth, or a Terminator- clone, or whatever. But all being said, TL15 is the setting for cinematic space opera, and a humanoid robot just feels right. Regards, Onno _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
