Sunday, May 31, 2020

Criteria to make my Careers Consistent.


I realize that anyone can tinker with this, and change the "Controlling Stat" depending on the "Culture" of the Entity/Institution. Someone can just change the INT to a CON and say this group doesn't innovate and they simply pour ungodly amount of hours to their work. Or they don't use CON, they use CHA instead because there is enough skill and resources and coordinating these (with relationships) is what determines Survival or Advancement. 

Its world building when the Player or GM decides to change the values. 

Note I'll be using 3d6 instead of 2d6 and Using 8 instead of 7 stats. Str, Dex, End, Int, Edu, Soc and Psi is replaced with Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, Cha, Soc and Psi. 

Actually I just realize I can just roll a d6 to choose the Stat with this criteria when I'm stuck, this Criteria can be used as a justification. Navy is... rolling 1d6, 3 = Con to survive. naval security operations is a lot of long hours of inspections, checking and maintenance in distant outposts with a lot of DIY. or I can roll a 6, its Cha - and Navy is about cultivating a team/schmoozing to survive. 

Qualify
NOTESWhat the job tends to look for as its minimum requirement.
STRPhysically Impressive Specimen.
DEXImpressive Reflexes and Coordination.
CONAble to withstand hazing and difficult physical conditions
INTTesting high in IQ and Aptitudes.
WISManagement of weaknesses and behavior in very stressful environments.
CHAMaking and managing relationships
SOCBelongs to the right clique, circles, and privileged group.

Survive
NOTESWhile all jobs can be all these different challenges at different times, which is the reason that determines the person survives or how they typically fail to survive.
STRif survival is determined by how big and strong the character is compared to the rest of the population. if the amount of work cannot be broken down into smaller chunks.
DEXif survival is determined by constantly having reflexes and precision tested. Data Entry and Controls fall under Dex, drone operators, gunners, pilots fall under dex.
CONif the job requires doing the long hours (80-100 hour weeks) or working in punishing conditions (a lot of EVA work; Hazardous Environments).
INTif the job has a lot of Technical sophistication and acquiring key skills.
WISif the job has a very Stressful environment and High commitment work.
CHAIf survival depends on relationships made along the way and getting along.
SOCIf survival is about resources and privileges.

Advancement
NOTESHow do you stereotype the people who advance in the job?
STRWhen the leaders are the biggest and baddest. An example would be Low-Tech Warriors or Marines.
DEXWhen those with seniority have the best reflexes - and best in manipulating controls. Bridge Crew and Operators.
CONWhen the seniors or leadership are known for the hostile environment or stim-laced weeks of work.
INTWhen the seniors have "Built" new techniques, practices, and tools.
WISWhen those in who advances are characterized by their Commitment, Balance, or Self-Control.
CHAWhen leadership is charming, highly likable, or commanding.
SOCWhen leadership positions are "Inherited" or by their legitimacy.




Shameless Plug

I dont know who still reads Gaming Blogs or listens to them using Text-to-Speech Apps. I think people my age are into podcasts now, but sometimes prefer blogs when they dont have the time and want to skip tot he meat by scanning for key words. 

https://tryingtogamework.blogspot.com/ Is the overlapping Blog where I go to far outside Gaming and tend to talk about work and how I see work with the lens of a gamer. 

Know that I’m in my 40s and this is the same thing to me - its like I didnt grow up - I’m still a kid with just better toys or more experience with the toys I have now. All these skills are toys - to make a better game experience and gamify life to create a sense of agency, control, and acceptance of all things that dont make sense. 

I also have a youtube channel when I do gaming and work rants. I try to structure it - but I really have terrible working memory and my priorities are tangled with the need to make money and the needs of my attention to do only things my attention wants to do. The mess that is my skillset and perspective is the mess of being lucky enough to have enough and surviving to cultivate skillsets that are useless in the market - Gaming skills. 

Saturday, May 30, 2020

Distraction in my Alternate Cepheus Engine writing - How to rewrite the Introduction

I got distracted writing my Game Prep. After some thought while I stretched and hygeine I realize I can break the problem down by approaching it Iteratively. This follows the Principle - that I can have more words in a digitial format as long as I have usable indexing and organizing. I can have a lot of Data and Information, as long as Visually the Reader knows to Check the outline and Scan the indexes for key words they want to jump to. 

My distraction is the Variance between Rules as Written and my own mental procedures. 
Rules as written: Roll Dice + Characteristic Modifier + Skill vs 8. 
My Mental Proceedure is: How does this Roll push the story Forward? Then Roll Dice + Modifiers vs 8. I want to explain Roll vs Modified Roll. I want to explain Scale, Scope, Competence and Function etc... 

So I realize I should Organize Information in this way Instead. 

Basic → Intermediate  → Advance. 

Basic: Roll Dice + Modifiers vs Difficulty. 
Intermediate: How does the story go forward with a Roll? Then Roll. 
Advance: How the story goes forward and Break this down to a 3 Part Tension Build Up: Expectation/Desire, Conflict/Unexpected Outcomes, and Closure/Resolution/Tension Release. Then Roll. 

Basic  → Intermediate  → Advance. focus on User/Player Experience. 

You can play at any level, and fudge everything when you hit a problem. The difference of each level and sub-element is how satisfying it is to everyone in the game and the Technical Debt it creates. In the game we are trying to Withold our Disbelief or Keep Immersed.  Inconsistency is what rules and standards try to manage, what was easy or hard in one point of the game cannot change without violating the expectations. 

The Terms Basic or Advance deal with the level of Difficulty and how much it affects technical debt build up in  game. You can always run games fast and lose, but there is a trade off when the world is not consistent and without consistency - there are no stakes. (rant of many regarding Starwars and Rick and Morty Story Lord episode - when deus ex machine removes the stakes). 

Basic is the Rules and Framework of the System. Basics can easily change and may change often because some mechanics may be better for Intermediate and Advance Conce. 
Basic 1: Limited Modifiers
  • Modifiers are Typically Comptence: Stat + Skill modifier. 
  • Limited Modifiers - Only what matters, assumption the we know all variables in the game and the roll is the variable that matters. 
  • Difficulty Benchmarks.   
Basic 2: There are only a Limit of Modifiers: 
  • Competence: Stat + Skill
  • Condition: Wounded, Tired, Dazed, Enhanced, etc... 
  • Advantage or Disadvantage. How we always simplify Adv/Dis, that it always negates each other, and either only exists int he absence of any competing or contradicting modifiers. The GM/Ref having perfect knowledge is the final arbiter.
Intermediate is Bigger Picture/1000ft view used to navigate the game if its going to the right direction. These techniques are supposed to let Players and GMs move to Big Picture or to Details. 
Intermediate Techniques is Analysis, Decision Making, and Problem Solving

Intermediate 1: Difficulty and Scale.
  • Scale. The concept of Scale (tackeled briefly by Kenneth Hite in GURPS Horror notes from my 2015 gaming ideas repository ) - this is the limitations and capacity of a given Character or Situation. 
    • This models if a Character is against Many. 1 man vs 1 team of 5. 
    • This models resources, time, tools, and output. 1 man with 30 days to prepare vs 1 team of 5 with a week to prepare. 
    • It modes tools allowing a Character to manage an organization of 1000 or an army of 10,000, against different scales of challenges. 
  • Scale is being able to identify where in a Big picture is the character, then Zoom in or Scale down to a Challenge suitable to Push the story forward. 
  • Scale is the ability to Reference back to Goals, Objectives, Criterias if we are going the right direction Technically. Being able to gauge player satisfaction or engagement is an Advance concept. 
Intermediate 2: 5Y, 5W, Pre-Mortem, Visualization, and Chain of Outcomes. I wont go into details of using these all for games and work. Lets just say Its easy to go endlessly in how these skills are all used, and we keep a collection of skills we can consistently depend on for solving these elements in the game. 

Advanced. These are a collection of Storytelling Devices, Framing Techniques, Active Listening, Empathy Aids, Interpersional and Team Skills and Conflict Management Skills. Advance techniques are difficult to Juggle while performing Basic and Intermediate processes 

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Ships and Dimensions. Relearning Blender and some basic flight science.



I was really distracted wanting to know what the layout would be if the ship was blended wing and if it was a hex tube. I got influenced by "The Wind Rises" by Studio Ghibli and the Space X landings so I had to see if I can fit in Fins and Wings for atmospheric Travel. 

Lessons are as follows
  1. Hex Tube or Cylinders are a great shape even for atmospheric flight. Just stick some fins and wings. Handwave the lift assuming high tech composites that can reshape the fins to create lift. 
    1. You can have the wings open up like X-wings as landing struts. 
    2. I wonder how to make rules for 250dtons, adding another Teal Module? Or adding 25dtons?
    3. A 300dton would be relatively easy to build with a Hex Tube but with wing body it would be really hard. I need to learn to break it down to a Ratio Its easy to scale its hard to check the volume with the 3d-printer tool. 
  2. These are made with a 2800 cubic meter budget or a 200Dton ship. So many ways to create varieties - the swept-back wing, smoother rounded lines, armoring in various points. I can lose days just fiddling with the design. 
    1. Its not hard to imagine the various Hex Tube and Wing Body designs. from 100 to 800dtons would look pretty much the same. the 400 and up would be much bigger and bulkier in dimensions - basically more complicated designs - unlike the 100-400 which are scaled up or down designs. 
      1. Wing or Wedge designs - like the supremacy is an interesting design choice even with the thrust as gravity and no inertia hand wave. The profile allows for more "broadside" weapons for both Tail and Front engagements but presents a much LARGER target. Such a large profile hurtling through space would probably blasting point defense lazers constantly to knock off micrometers Still it would not be odd that such ships would still serve a specialized role. Some Destroyers with this profile would be interesting scenery. 
    2. Some frigate and corvette capital Ships with the ability to land (Vertical Landing) comes to mind, the design begins to get a little more complicated. 
    3. Capital Ships at 1000dtons 15-20k cubic meters and up will probably mostly various styles of Tubes - a difference of Length to Diameter Ratio and a preference for types of tubes: hex, octagonal, pentagonal, cylinder etc... with maybe Hammer-head ends (remembering honorverse) or barbetes. But these are things I probably just need to model and create extrapolations and never go into details.  
  3. A stateroom is BIG, and assuming a 14 cubic meters x 4 = 2.5m elevation and about 50sqm of space (See the life support in orange). A cabin of 2.5m elevation and 5.6 sqm is not that bad if its just a Head, Bed, and belongings.  http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/habmod.php
    1. The world-building - the life support systems - reminds me of plumbing and the discipline we dont have in our interior construction company (we are not structural). I need a ratio how much this occupies per Capacity it is designed for. 
  4. The spheres don't need to be 2m diameter I forgot sitting we have a smaller profile. 
  5. Next action would be how to make layout of this?  Or figure out how to keep it abstract. 

Category
SUM of IFDTONS
Controls12.00 DT
Defenses2 DT
Engineering24.00 DT
Hull10.00 DT
Lifesupport54.00 DT
Load97.40 DT
Grand Total199.40 DT

CategorySUM of IFCOST
Controls$2,200,000
Defenses$4,700,000
Engineering$30,000,000
Hull$8,133,334
Lifesupport$11,450,000
Load$40,000
Grand Total$56,523,334


I'm remembering the Nausica Comics and Movie air ships.