Johannes replied to me: > > I was thinking of a "proper" local spaceport/starport that > > is optimized for bulk cargo. Nothing is improvised, except > > for the passenger handling procedures ... > > > > The parking lot needs to be next to the factory, Which usually (exceptions > would be astereoid bases and such) means an investment in real estate on > part of the factory operators. Which can be done, and under some > conditions the investment might be negligable.
Hello Johannes, my point was that there are many marginal planets with small populations and just one significant industry. The planet is just an agricultural world, or just a mining world. The real estate costs are not an issue -- without the downport to export goods, there would be no settlement at all, or maybe an IISS caretaker crew. If it is more efficient to put the downport next to the mine or the grain silo, of course you do it. > A wet/drybulk cargo for a freetrader would usually mean, that the trader > needs to supply suitable containers. Rules for containers including > renting, buying and reselling them are supplied. Then it isn't wetbulk any more. > Alternativly a Beowulf might dedicate part of it's hold as tank or drybulk > area. Buy some transparent aluminium, someone makes a ship > building/engeneer (vehicles) or other suitable skill roll, having the > facilities of a good enough star port at hand is handy. You could fill the lower hold of a free trader. > And while they are cononical i think most if not all traveller freighter > deckplans make no sense at all. I'd build it engine room, bridge, crew > quaters, passanger quaters, cargo hold. In an emergency you can open a > door and shout if internal communications fail, if crew needs to move > between bridge and engeneering (engeneers need extra help for lifting, > engeneers need to repair something on the bridge) it's easier, and a > hijacking attempt can't seperate bridge and engennering. This makes the assumption that the engines _can_ be placed in front, or alternatively that the bridge should be built without forward viewpoints. If the engines are in the rear and the bridge is in front, the crew has to pass through the sections in between. The two classic Traveller deckplans move the passengers to the top deck, where they are out of the way while the crew can move down below. > Traveller has a set of 3 standardized sizes and a number of types (one > wetbulk type for anything from orange juice to petrol) I'm writing these starships to get a better feel for the "historical developments" in GURPS 3E, and to compare it with GURPS 4E. I'm sure there will be more container types than just the plain vanilla bulk containers, but I'm sure you would rather see another starship, not a dozen different containers ... > > You could dock the ship at the factory, not the other way > > around. > > > > If you do it that way round, at least as legal fiction, either the factory > enters the extrality zone, or the extrality line is at the airlock between > factory and ship. That avoids legal issues with the ship leaving the > extrality zone, and you stay compatible with contract types other then ex > works or delivery free domecile (depending if you pick up or deliver). If a ship lands on a SPA downport, it is on Imperial territory. The crew can then decide if they cross the XT line to the planetary territory, or not. Same if a ship docks with a SPA highport. And if a ship lands on a local downport, it is on planetary territory. So there is no extrality line, even if there is possibly a fence around the port. Why would things be different with a local highport? Regards, Onno _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
