[member="Lily Kirsche Kuhn"]
Well... Aquatic Vehicles should have their own section, instead of being lumped into Misc Vehicles.
Other than that... I'm not seeing much variation between the templates that would justify having multiple individual templates instead of a single catch-all template.
For the Starship Templates, most ships have the same template. However, they are separated by size and have specific examples of ships in that size range and the length/width/height of those ships.
Each ship category, based on size, has its own armament rating and has links to examples for 'standard' loadouts. As well as having a specific limitation to squadron capacity.
Each Template provides about 20 links to various helpful sources to help writers research a specific section of the template before coming up with their own numbers.
And then we have the separate, stand alone image that we use as a guideline for determining appropriate speed and maneuverability for each ship class.
For the Technology Templates, there is much less overall information to go through... but the natural differences between a gun and a sword or a suit of armor produces some very different and specific templates that do exactly what they need to do for the Technology Factory.
So... Looking at this... The first thing I'd want to see, but I don't, is that there is no links provided. A list of a couple materials is nice, as is telling someone that Durasteel or Alusteel is a common metal to use and glasteel or transparisteel is a common glass to use, but I'd want this section to contain a few links to a wider selection of appropriate materials to use.
Next thing I'd look for, but am not seeing, is a list of examples for the Height, Length, Width, and Weight of any vehicle. Providing a link to an example of the high end, low end, and average example of a given vehicle goes a long ways towards helping submitters understand what is considered acceptable.
While the minimum and optimal crew would seem like a -duh- thing to any of us, it would probably be helpful to include a quick example in here as well. Such as how a Sherman Tank would require a minimum crew of a Driver and a Gunner to operate at all, but that a fully functional crew would consist of a Driver, Co-Driver, Gunner, Loader, and Commander.
You provide a speed limit for a vehicle using a specific type of locomotion. But a speeder-bike and a 90-ton hover-tank are going to have a very different acceptable top speed. This should probably be reflected in the template.
Many people feel that the Armament section of a vehicle or starship submission is the most important. From what I hear, a submission with a too-large armament is more likely to hear complaints than a vehicle that goes too fast, carries too much, or comes in too large of a squadron. So, you'd probably want the Armament section to be a little more detailed. Such as; What's an appropriate primary weapon for a tank? What are some appropriate anti-infantry weapons? Is there a limit to what I can put on my vehicle? Can I put a Turbolaser on a Speeder Bike?
Speaking of Squadron count... The Squadron Count question makes no sense. It sounds like you're trying to say that a 3-meter long vehicle would have a squadron count of 3 and anything larger than 10 meters must have a squadron count of 1. How about just giving some examples? Tanks typically come in squadrons of 3-5 with a Company of tanks being 12-15 vehicles. Infantry come in squads of 10-12, Platoons of 50-60, and Companies of 100-500. Using these two lists as an example, (3-5 Tanks in a Squadrons and 50-60 Infantry in a Platoon) what size squadron would your vehicle come in?
Also. You can separate this further. Typically... You get Heavy, Medium, and Light/Recon vehicles. A Heavy Tank is going to come in a squadron of 1-3 depending on how big it is. A Medium Tank is going to come in a squadron of 3-5. Though, this typically has as much to do with doctrine than anything else. 3 squadrons of 5 tanks and five squadrons of three tanks both make a Company of 15 vehicles. And smaller vehicles come in even larger squadrons. A 'car' type vehicle is going to come in larger squadrons than a tank, and a speeder-bike is going to come in... pretty much the largest squadron acceptable for a vehicle submission.
On the whole though.... I really don't see any difference between the currently used "catch all" template and what you've got going on here other than listing a minimum number of wheels, tracks, and legs for a given vehicle and listing a maximum speed for a type of locomotion. I understand that you're saying you're only 1/3rd done... But this initial view leads me to believe that we should not be classifying vehicles based on their chosen means of locomotion. If we want sub-classes of vehicles, that's perfectly fine and I'd support that. But I think that the type of locomotion should be a sub-class for a specific size-range of vehicles, and not the other way around.
Why?
Because if I'm submitting a Bike... I should use a template specifically designed for a bike, not one specifically designed for wheels, tracks, repulsors, or legs.
I can make a bike-like vehicle that uses legs just as easily as I could make one that uses tracks or wheels. I could even make an aquatic bike.
So... Here's my alternate proposal. Why don't we instead take the limit on legs, tracks, wheels, and top speed that you've come up with for these templates, and work them into a more specific list of templates that's based on the type of vehicle being submitted?
- Bike
- Car/Speeder
- Light Armored Vehicle (Tank, APC, Artillery Platform, Armored Car, exc)
- Medium Armored Vehicle (Tank, APC, Artillery Platform, exc)
- Heavy Armored Vehicle (Tank, APC, Artillery Platform, exc)
- Mobile Fortress
- Submersible Vehicle
Notes on Submersible Vehicles: They are only for use on vehicles designed primarily to operate under the water, and not for vehicles "capable of being submerged". Additionally, I don't think that 'surface vehicles' should be tossed into this category. A Jet Ski would be a Bike, a Speed Boat would be a Speeder, a "Battleship" would be a Mobile Fortress, and everything between would be some form of Armored vehicle. Only honest to god submarines belong in the Submersible Vehicle category.
