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BACKGROUND
Despite the adventure and romanticism of sci-fi media, space can be a very boring place. This is especially dangerous for emigrant missions, where
millions of soldiers and civilians are crammed into starships facing an unknown and uncertain future. In addition to food, water, and air, the shipboard emigrants need a wide variety of entertainment to keep their morale up and keep them distracted from the possible danger they may be in. This is the justification for the Amusement Ships.
Amusement Ships are immense starships. Based on an older Emigrant vessel design, they do not have a transparent dome like the Ocean and Restort Ship or the New Macross class City class section. Instead, the spherical vessels are divided into three sections. The first section, located in the top part of the ship, contains a complete amusement park for the benefit and entertainment of the emigrants. This park contains the latest in rides, games, shows and other diversions one would typically find in a theme park on Earth. In addition, the park contains holographic virtual reality centers where people can star in their own movies, playing the part of a formula 1 racer or a Variable Fighter pilot without being in danger. There are also cinemas, nightclubs, bars, restaurants and other facilities for visitors who prefer a slightly slower pace to their entertainment.
The middle part of the emigrant sphere contains the engines and power systems for the vessel, plus the living quarters for the 200,000+ emigrants permanently living on the ship. The third section of the ship represents the most important function of the Amusement ship, however. The entire lower half of the sphere is dominated by sound stages, recording studios, costume and prop shops, special effects computer editors and all other equipment necessary for producing audio and video (both 2D and 3D) entertainment. This part of the Amusement ship constantly produces new films, records and features for the emigrant fleet. In addition, the Amusement Ships also use their hyperspace communicators to keep in touch with other emigrant missions around the galaxy, allowing them to exchange their productions, sharing ideas and entertainment. This communications link between colony missions is called the Galaxy Network, and has become the initial starting point for stars and idol singers around the galaxy for almost 20 years.
Like most other emigrant fleet vessels, the Amusement ships are unarmed and have only modest defensive systems. Instead, they rely upon an Uraga class Escort Battle Carrier that is docked to the front of the ship for protection, similar to how the New Macross class's Battle class and City class sections combine for mutual protection. Hollywood vessels are controlled from the bridge of the docked carrier, and the carrier's VF squadrons provide protection for the colony vessel in case of attack. The carrier can disconnect from the Amusement Ship if necessary, and the vessel is equipped with an emergency bridge to control the ship when the carrier is detached. Amusement vessels are considered an essential part of UN Spacy emigrant missions, and at least one of these vessels has accompanied every emigrant fleet since 2026. Although the design is somewhat dated, the vessels are still being constructed and will still be in use for many years to come.
NOTE: The theme park interior of the Amusement vessels contains miniature replicas of famous monuments from Earth, including the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben and others. In this respect, the vessels are very similar to "Culture Park" from Macross II. The Culture Park maps from "Macross II Deck Plans Volume III" can be used to represent the interior of Amusement vessels for encounters within these massive ships.
RPG STATS
Government: Unified Government (Earth)
Ship Type: Super Long Range Distance Emigrant Amusement Vessel
Manufacturer: OTEC Company/Three Star Heavy Industries/UN Spacy
Crew (not including Escort Carrier): 212,500 total (plus tourists)
Military Crew: 1,500
Civilian Crew: 8,000
Police/Civil Defense: 3,000
Permanent Civilian Populace: 200,000
Visitors/Tourists: up to 100,000 max
MDC BY LOCATION:
(1) Main Body 80,000
Connection Joint/Engineering Section 3,000
(2) Main Engines/Power Plant (2) 25,000 each
(2) Auxiliary Engines (4) 2,500 each
Upper Sensor/Transmitter Cluster 800
Lower Sensor/Transmitter Cluster 800
Small Airlocks/Access Hatches (400) 250 each
Main Airlocks (2) 800
Outer Hull (per 40ft area) 120
Interior walls (per 20ft) 15
(3) Pin Point Barriers (4) 5,000 each
NOTES:
- Depleting the MDC of the main body will essentially destroy the vessel. All internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity. The emigrant ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck, and any surviving emigrants must be rescued quickly or will die from asphyxiation as the remaining atmosphere drains into space.
- Depleting the MDC of the main engines will force the ship to rely on its auxiliary engines. Depleting the MDC of the main engines AND auxiliary engines will leave the emigrant ship adrift in space. If in an atmosphere, the colony will crash (destruction of the main engines will render the antigravity system useless due to loss of power).
- The Pinpoint Barriers regenerate at a rate of 1,250 MD per second (2,500 MD per melee round). If destroyed, a barrier will completely regenerate within four seconds (2 melee rounds). See the Pinpoint Barrier System entry for details.
SPEEDS:
Speed(sublight): 0.16 speed of light (25,600 miles per second)
Speed(Auxiliary Drives): Mach 3
Space Fold: Range Unlimited (1 light year every 6 minutes)
Planet bound: Designed to land in a planetary ocean when necessary but not designed to maneuver in an atmosphere. Amusement vessels are NOT designed to land on the ground. If they do so the landing will inflict 3D6x1000 MD damage to the main body of the spacecraft (the lower sensor/transmitter will be automatically destroyed).
Maximum Range: Unlimited (estimated 30 year life span)
STATISTICAL DATA:
Length (main body): 1,650 mm
Height (main body): 1,800 m
Length (connector/engineering section): 60 m
Length (overall, including Uraga): 2,260 m
Weight: Approximately 177,000,000 tons standard
Power System: OTEC/General Galaxy Main Reactor
Fold System: OTEC/Shinnakasu/General Galaxy Advanced Fold System Cluster
Sublight Drive: OTEC/Centinel Impulse Drive Cluster
Gravity Control System: Internal
Auxiliary Engines: Shinnakasu/Shinsei Industries/Agar Nuclear Pulse Rocket Motor Clusters
Sensors: Standard plus Subspace Mass Detector
DEFENSE SYSTEMS:
1. PINPOINT BARRIER DEFENSE SYSTEM:
Originally developed by researchers onboard the SDF-01 Macross during Space War One, the Pinpoint Barrier System is a standard defense system on board all UN Spacy starships and colony vessels, including the Amusement Ships. The system generates four small disc-shaped force fields that can be positioned anywhere along the ship to deflect missiles, energy beams or projectiles. Each pinpoint barrier is about 61 m in length and can absorb up to 5,000 MD in damage, which then regenerates within four seconds (2 melee rounds). The barriers can also be layered on top of each other to generate a field which provides 20,000 MDC and can even deflect heavy particle beams (usually).
The four barriers are controlled by operators in the command tower of the ship. These operators are instructed to defend (1) any breaks or weaknesses in the main hull, (2) the main and auxiliary engines, and (3) the engineering section/battle carrier docking section, in that order. The operators primarily concentrate on defending the ship against larger spacecraft and leave defense against attacking mecha to the VF pilots from the battle carrier.
- PRIMARY PURPOSE: Defense (the pinpoint barrier system cannot be used as a weapon)
- RANGE: Up to 91.5 m from the surface of the vessel.
- DAMAGE CAPACITY: Can sustain up to 5,000 MD per round. Regenerates at a rate of 2,500 MD per melee round.
- RADIUS: 61 m
- DEFENSIVE MOVEMENT: Can move from one end of the vessel to the other in less than a single round. Trained operators can attempt to block attacks up to 8 times per melee (counts as a parry) and are at +7 to block. Untrained characters can parry up to their number of hand-to-hand attacks with their normal parry bonuses only.
- PAYLOAD: Nearly inexhaustible. Will work as long as system is functional (see below) and engines are intact. If main engines are destroyed, the barrier will loose power and not function.
- NOTE: If all four barriers are grouped in a single spot they can deflect a heavy particle beam attack, such as the one generated by the Macross Cannon, Zentraadi/Varohta command warships, and some Protodeviln. However, the beam will completely destroy all four barriers and put incredible strain on the pinpoint barrier system, to the point where it may short out. After deflecting an energy beam, roll percentile dice on the table below to determine additional effects/damage.
- 01-15: Lucked out, system will be operational in 1D6 hours.
- 16-30: Minor damage, system will require 4D6 hours to repair.
- 31-45: Major damage, system will require 2D6x10 hours to repair (yes, DAYS of work).
- 46-60: Completely destroyed! System can be rebuilt, but will require new parts and 2D6 DAYS of work to replace.
- 61-75: Major damage, system will require 2D6x10 hours to repair.
- 76-90: Minor damage, system will require 4D6 hours to repair.
- 91-95: Lucked out, system will be operational in 1D6 hours.
- 96-00: It's a miracle! Trivial damage only, system will be operational again in only 4D6 melee rounds!
SYSTEMS OF NOTE:
- ANTIGRAVITY PROPULSION SYSTEM: The Amusement Ships are equipped with an anti-gravity propulsion system used for planetary landings and liftoffs. The system is good for vertical ascent/descent only and can lift the ship at speeds of up to 400 m per minute. The system will function so long as the main engines can supply energy to it.
- HOLOGRAPHIC PROJECTION SYSTEM: The "open sky" levels within the huge emigrant vessel are equipped with a sophisticated holographic projection system which is used to generate images of terran skies. These images help to calm colonists and make them feel like they are living in a city on Earth and not on a ship voyaging through space. The holographic system is often used to divide time on the vessel into day and night segments. Note that the hull of Amusement Ships is NOT transparent, so during night periods the holographic system projects a fake starry sky rather than a real view of the passing galaxy.
- HYPERSPACE COMMUNICATIONS: Based on the same technology as the space fold system, the hyperspace communications relay allows faster-than-light communication between the Ocean and Resort Ships and other vessels or planetary bases. Hyperspace communications are still not instantaneous, however. Audio/video communication travels through hyperspace at a rate of about 1 second per 4,000 light years, so messages communicated over vast distances can still take seconds or minutes to arrive. Amusement Ships have large complex communications that can simultaneously transmit and receive over 10,000 different AV signals at the same time to other emigrant missions around the cosmos, thus forming the "Galaxy Network".
- LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS: The Amusement Ship has sufficient life support to provide breathable air and comfortable temperatures for 350,000 people for up to 30 years. In an emergency the life support system can support up to 500,000 people for a short time.
- LONG-RANGE LASER/SATELLITE RELAY COMMUNICATIONS: Amusement Ship has advanced communications facilities that can communicate with up to 1,000 craft simultaneously at ranges of up to 1,440 km. This range can be boosted indefinitely by using satellites or other spacecraft as to relay communications.
- LONG-RANGE RADAR: The radar array of Hollywood vessels is modest compared to the communications systems. The radar can track and identify up to 500 craft simultaneously and has a 320 km range.
- SPACE FOLD SYSTEM: For FTL propulsion, the vessel is equipped with an OTEC/Shinnakasu/General Galaxy Advanced Fold System Cluster, capable of propelling the ship through hyperspace at speeds up to 3.28x10^10 mps (5.25x10^10 kmps), or 1 light year per 6 minutes. The range of the fold drive is theoretically unlimited except by the life expectancy of the spacecraft. The fold drive is powerful enough to propel both the Uraga carrier and Amusement Ship through hyperspace when they are connected.
- SUBLIGHT ENGINES: As a backup to the Fold System, the emigrant vessel is equipped with OTEC/Centinel Impulse Drive Cluster engines that can propel the craft at speeds up to 0.16 speed of light (25,600 miles per second) in space. Note that these engines are mainly intended for rapid movement inside a planetary system and are not suited for long voyages between star systems. In a planetary atmosphere the carrier is limited to speeds of Mach 1 maximum due to hull stress. As with the fold drives, the engines are powerful enough to propel the craft when the Uraga Carrier is attached.
- SUBSPACE MASS SENSORS: Like the Uraga Carriers, Amusement Emigrant Ships vessels are equipped with subspace sensors for early warning of approaching objects and navigation at sublight speeds. These sensors can almost instantly detect mass readings and movement of objects up to 1 AU (93 million miles) distant from the carrier which are above 60,000 kg in mass (which means that the sensors usually cannot detect objects as small as variable fighters). Readings taken with the subspace sensors are not very detailed (-25% penalty when trying to identify a detected object) and are usually used for tracking purposes only.
Ship-borne Vehicles (STANDARD):
- Variable Fighters: NONE! However, the landing bays in Hollywood vessels have enough room and resources to adequately support up to 6 squadrons (72 fighters) of VFs if necessary.
- Numerous Liason and Shuttle craft
REFERENCES
© Aaron Sketchley