Subject: Re: MN: help!

From: "Dunx (Duncan Ellis)" <DELLIS@U...>
Date: 07 Oct 98 14:01:50 +0100

>>> A Player may play the Action [Opening MC] for no cost if the Charge of 
eir 
>>> Piece matches the Current of Mornington Crescent Station at the point
at 
>>> which eir Piece enters the Station. 
>> 
>>The piece's charge 'at the point of entering the station' depends on when
you 
>>do the calculation -- is the working out of the piece's new charge done
pre- 
or 
>>post-move? If, as I intuitively assume is the case, it's post-move, then 
>>effectively you're saying the charge needs to match the MC current at the 
start 
>>of the move, ie it's the same as your new charge calculated at the end of 
your 
>>previous turn. Am I correct in assuming this? It's just that the
roundabout 
>>wording of the rule suggests that it intends to mean something else. 

>Well, it says "Charge is modified by passage along LU network Lines", so
"the 
>Point at which eir Piece enters the Station" means that you'd have to have
the 
>correct Charge at the end of your Winning Move. 

Indeed - or if you were Straddling (or whatever) onto MC, then your Charge 
must match before you Straddle. 

>But, er, if you can't play the Action until you get there, and you need to 
>play the Action to be *able* to get there, er, it all gets a bit Zen. I
think 
>"...if the Charge of eir Piece would match the Current of Mornington
Crescent 
>Station at the point at which eir Piece would enter the Station." would
make 
>more sense, really. 

Er... yes, I suppose so. I seem to recall trying to avoid conditional terms 
like 'would' in the wording but, as you point out, the current form (IYPTP) 
is more confusing if anything. 

>Am I completely missing the point, by the way, or is there only possible
way 
>to Win with a Charge - to start the Game at Tottenham Court Road with a
Charge 
>of zero (or to do some very, very, very clever Shunting, I suppose)? Or
does 
>Dunx plan other ways for Charge to be altered? 

Not at all, not at all - the intention is that only normal Moves modify 
Charge, whereas Straddles, Wilds, and other types of movement don't. 

And yes, I do plan other Charge tweaking (as I said in the Proposal, I 
think there's plenty more scope). 

>As someone who's submitted a Turn involving Charge, though, I'm beginning
to 
>have my doubts about it. Having another document to refer to when I make my 
>move is slightly irksome. I float once more my "Venbacker numbers extracted 
>from the Station name" musing, but not very enthusiastically. 

Hmm. I don't really know what to say - granted that it is undoubtedly 
another document to look at, but it's quite a simple one. And, to be 
honest, I'd probably want a Venbacker lookup table anyway... 

-- 
Dunx 
IRL: Duncan Ellis, Senior Software Engineer, Business Modelers, Oracle 
URL: http://ukp6612.uk.oracle.com/dunx/index.html 
<I work for Oracle, I don't speak for them>