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From: erkyrath@netcom.com (Andrew Plotkin)
Subject: Re: Directions in space
Message-ID: <erkyrathE13MFK.AJz@netcom.com>
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Date: Tue, 19 Nov 1996 03:45:20 GMT
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Sourcerer (sourcerer@starbug.49.249.155) wrote:
>     In a game set in a spaceship, directions such as north, south etc don't
> make a lot of sense. Is there any prefered way to handle this? I was
> thinking about assigning directions with north-south along the central axis
> of the ship, with up and down more or less arbitrary.

>     has anybody else come up with a solution to this problem?

I believe _Starcross_ allowed "f", "a", "sb", "p" as abbreviations for 
"fore", "aft", "starboard", and "port". But this was so annoying (and 
irregular, with a two-letter abbreviation) that everyone winds up using 
compass directions anyway. "fore" was north.

If the ship has artificial gravity -- either via rotation or tech-magic 
-- up and down are meaningful. If the ship *sometimes* has artificial 
gravity then up and down are still meaningful. If it never does (a true 
zero-gravity environment) you can probably assign arbitrary directions 
and everyone will be perfectly happy. Or allow "bridge", "engineering", 
etc as single-word movement commands... or maybe "3" to go through hatch 
#3...

--Z

-- 

"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the
borogoves..."
