.TH Concept "Balloon Types"
The balloons currently available in Empire are:
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.NF +8
balloon
blimp
airship
.FI
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These balloon types differ in their fundamental capabilities;
some can carry guns, other cannot; some are faster than others; etc.
The capabilities of each balloon are given by the \*Qshow\*U command.
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The build data listing looks like this:
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.EX show balloon build
.NF
              lcm hcm avail tech  $     maint
balloon        10   2     3   30 $150    $12
blimp          25   5     8   60 $400    $12
airship        50  10    15  100 $1800   $21
.FI
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.in \w'maint\0\0'u
.L lcm
number of lcms required to build the balloon
.L hcm
number of hcms required to build the balloon
.L tech
the minimum technology required to build the balloon
.L $
balloon construction cost
.L maint
balloon maintanence cost per update
.in \\n(in
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The capability listing looks like this:
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.EX show balloon cap
.NF
              def spd vis spy rng fir mpg tnk pln cargoes & abilities
balloon         1  20  45   2   0   0   0   0   0 1c 1m 10f
blimp           1  25  45   3   0   0   0   0   0 3c 3m 30f 3u
airship         5  25  80   5   1   1   0   0   0 20m 50f 10u 20s 1g spy
.FI
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.in \w'fir\0\0'u
.L def
defensive armament of the balloon
.L spd
the distance/mu for moving (in relative units)
.L vis
how visible the balloon is (in relative units)
.L spy
how far the balloon can see (how good the
communication equipment is) (in relative units)
.L rng
twice the distance the guns can fire,
(assuming a high technology level)
.L fir
the number of guns the balloon can fire at once
.in \\n(in
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The volume listing looks like this:
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.EX show balloon vol
.NF
                         min gas req'd       max     refill
              tech     low alt  high alt   gas vol    rate
balloon         30       500       750      1000      1200
blimp           60      1250      1875      2500      1200
airship        100      2500      3750      5000      1200
.FI
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.in \w'min gas reqxd high alt\0\0'u
.L tech
the minimum tech required to build the balloon
.L " min gas req'd low alt"
the minimum gas volume needed for low altitude flight
.L "min gas req'd high alt"
the minimum gas volume needed for high altitude flight
.L "max gas vol"
the maximum gas volume the balloon can contain
.L "refill rate"
the per-update gas refill rate in a 100% efficient sector
.in \\n(in
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Balloons can be built or scrapped in either harbors or airports.
Because of its fragile construction, however, once a balloon has
been built it can never be upgraded.
Each balloon can carry a certain amount of products and has certain
capabilities. These are listed under the cargoes & abilities section.
The cargoes give the number of each product that can be carried.
The abilities are as follows.
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.in \w'spy\0\0'u
.L spy
The balloon can engage in spying activities
.in
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See also : balloon, coastwatch, fire, load, lookout, navigate, tend, show
