--- artemis.txt	2013/06/13 00:51:29	1.4
+++ artemis.txt	2013/06/20 16:21:13	1.5
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@
 for the beams to cycle. Once Science has scanned everything once their
 role should be to provide updates on shield strength and internal
 damage on the current target, to aid Comms; Comms will also have more
-work to do in monitoring station ordnance stocks.
+work to do in monitoring station ordnance stocks. 
 
 Weapons should be given more discretion about firing ordnance than in
 a normal ship. One of our major problems was that at first Weapons
@@ -205,7 +205,10 @@
 
 More so than any other ship, the Missile Cruiser should hit and run,
 redocking for resupply. A Battleship or a Dreadnought can fight on
-without ordnance stores; a Missile Cruiser is useless.
+without ordnance stores; a Missile Cruiser is useless. It may actually
+be desireable to convert energy to homers while docked; if so, Helm
+should coordinate with Weapons so that the ship does not undock an
+instant before Weapons scoffs 900 energy for torpedoes.
 
 Captain
 =======
@@ -241,7 +244,10 @@
 
 If there is no jump drive, there is no need to give an order to
 undock; the ship can do anything else while docked, and staying docked
-until the ship actually moves away conserves power.
+until the ship actually moves away conserves power. However, it is
+useful if the Captain can hint which vector will be wanted after
+undocking (or a jump); it takes time to turn the ship around with
+normal maneuver power.
 
 I think the Captain should give Weapons a standing order to convert
 homing torpedoes to energy when below 300 energy, and recognise that,
@@ -281,6 +287,10 @@
 both Helm and Weapons go to raise shields, they don't toggle them on
 and off, resulting in comedy. Don't wait for orders to raise shields
 when entering combat; but the Captain should give such orders anyway.
+The ship burns significantly less (2/3?) power when warping if the
+shields are down; if Helm is feeling flashy they can turn them off (L)
+during warp travel, as long as they don't forget to turn them back on.
+Try not to get unexpectedly ganked by decloaking Skaarans.
 
 The shortcuts for zooming in and out are T and Y.
 
@@ -349,6 +359,10 @@
 officers like the Main Screen, and if so, should consider running two
 clients as discussed under Captain.
 
+If a station is nearby when the scenario begins, I think Helm should
+dock immediately without orders. That way the ship will be full of
+energy when the Captain has decided what to attack first.
+
 Weapons
 =======
 
@@ -449,7 +463,10 @@
 nukes or ECM than it was with the default useless option to build
 homers. If the Captain has specific requirements, Comms can implement
 those later; at the start of the scenario the Captain has a lot on
-their plate anyway.
+their plate anyway. An active Comms will monitor station stocks,
+ensure that what's being built matches what the ship is using, and
+advise the Captain as to which stations have ample supplies, freeing
+the Captain of any need to give orders.
 
 The "fetch quests" you get from stations are not as much use as you
 might think - if the Artemis has the situation well enough under
@@ -460,20 +477,30 @@
 do the quest.
 
 An important role for Comms, though, is to spam surrender requests.
-Encourage Weapons to tell you when a target is taking internals and
-ripe for surrender; I think the "enemy ships" are sorted by proximity,
-so it is usually easy to find the current victim in the list.
-However, it's worth remembering that when an enemy surrenders, it is
-because they were close to destruction anyway; the advantage is not as
-great as it seems.
+Encourage Weapons/Science to tell you when a target is taking
+internals and ripe for surrender, or look out the window for the
+absence of a shield bubble as the enemy takes fire; the "enemy ships"
+are sorted by proximity, so it is usually easy to find the current
+victim in the list. However, it's worth remembering that when an enemy
+surrenders, it is because they were close to destruction anyway; the
+advantage is not as great as it seems.
 
 Comms can taunt enemies, which may pull them off stations under
 attack; the Captain should remember the possibility exists. Likewise
 when the Artemis is coordinating operations with friendly ships as
 discussed in Strategy the Comms officer may be in for a busy day.
+Comms also can monitor shield strength on a station under attack,
+making it clear when a crisis is developing.
 
 Comms can hail a friendly station to stand by for docking, increasing
-resupply rates for the next 30 seconds.
+resupply rates for the next 30 seconds. As far as I know there is no
+penalty for sending bogus docking requests, so Comms should try to
+anticipate the Captain's orders.
+
+Unless forbidden, Comms should probably do some of this stuff pre-
+emptively.  Taunting enemies off a station that would otherwise be
+destroyed is probably OK; absent orders, trying to route the friendly
+ships somewhere useful where they can assist the Artemis is no bad plan.
 
 Engineering
 ===========
@@ -530,6 +557,62 @@
 Science/Captain (the Captain's Map is more or less the Science map
 anyway).
 
+Tactical on Main Screen
+=======================
+
+This section is definitely under active discussion.
+
+It's been suggested that the Main Screen should almost always display
+Tactical. Conventional practice has been to leave it up to the whim of
+the Captain, with some preferring Front View and some Tactical - and
+then with some officers requesting specific displays.
+
+However, on any client where you can view the Main Screen, you can
+also switch to VIS; you can also take the Observer chase camera and
+view that. Of course, Artemis imagines we are all sitting in a room
+together, with the Main Screen on a big TV in front of us and the
+Captain having only that and a Captain's Map, and then if the Captain
+wants to see out the window they've got to switch the Main Screen -
+but that isn't how we actually play it; if the Captain can see a Main
+Screen, it's on their own personal display they can switch for their
+own requirements, or at most they're at Nerdvana with Captain's Map,
+standing behind someone with a widescreen monitor showing station +
+Main Screen - but even then, asking that person to switch that second
+client to VIS is no worse than putting Front View on Main Screen.
+
+Conversely, the Tactical display is not available anywhere else. It's
+especially valuable to Engineering and Comms, who don't have the
+top-down displays of Helm and Weapons; if Engineering wants to know if
+the ship is engaged in close-in maneuvering or a retrograde, or
+travelling at high warp, that is immediately obvious from the Tactical
+display.
+
+Some of these things are obvious from looking out the window, but of
+course as discussed above anyone can look out the window if they want
+to.
+
+Helm and Weapons can also benefit from the medium-range display on
+Tactical. Regardless of display size, units only show up on their own
+displays when actually in the ~4000-unit range of torpedoes - if
+arriving at high warp, this can lead to an uncomfortably cozy
+encounter with enemy ship or asteroids. It also means that Helm finds
+it easier to vector in on targets without flipping between LRS and
+Helm, or to plot medium-range hops to stations etc without assistance.
+
+It also provides the Captain and Science with a medium-range view
+without zooming in the Captain's Map or Science display (losing
+overall situational awareness).
+
+The real point is that having the front view on Main Screen achieves
+nothing; anyone can see the front view anyway. Conversely, only one
+officer has to find Tactical useful for there to be an advantage. This
+also isn't mean to say "don't put Status on Main Screen"; like
+Tactical, this provides information which is not generally available.
+
+There's also an issue at present that the 3D graphics cause some
+people's machines to choke badly. In an ideal universe this wouldn't
+be true, but...
+
 Specifics of Engineering Presets
 ================================