Interesting line of thought, the USN recently commissioned a new class of ship which is supposed to incorporate the modular idea somewhat ... the module can be specifically designed to support a number of different tasks which effectively modify the ship's capabilities and therefore primary mission. Spec War troop & helo carrier; ASW, mine sweeping etc.
Retro- fitting an existing ship to the modular concept would have limited effectiveness, but a purpose designed ship? That's a different creation all together. One on one vs a purpose designed vessel it may not perform as well in any one capacity, however its overall flexibility would greatly simplify some aspects of the logistics (while at the same wonderful time making it more complex)
Interesting hmmm
Tim
--- On Wed, 8/18/10, roger <> wrote:
From: roger <>
Subject: [Traveller_TNE] Ridge Runner
To:
Date: Wednesday, August 18, 2010, 7:18 AM
DED, I was thinking when I built Ridge Runner that in 1201 that the few ships that existed would be pressed into use for tasks that they were not designed for. As for Ridge Runner I was thinking of an independent ship's crew turning to mining to make ends meet or a small mining company that is using their one ship as a prospector, then miner, then ore hauler.
During the contest I had to go on a road trip and I drove by a construction site and I saw a portable generator. Handy, instant electricity, just tow it with a pickup truck where ever you needed electricity. It got me to thinking (always a bad idea), the Coalition is desperately short of ships, so why not turn every ship in to a potential mining vessel. Design a portable ore processor about the size of a 10 D Ton container. This along with a couple of excavating vehicles and you have a mining ship.
I enjoyed the contest and hope you will come up with others, this one forced me to work within set parameters, usually I just build. Here is a few ideas for more contests: Wilds Trader, Small Arms, Intelligence gathering ship, Small Explorers.