<html>
At 04:05 PM 7/28/05 -0400, you wrote: <br>
<br>
<font color="#000080"><blockquote type=cite cite>I agree on the data
gathering part. During our various discussions here I have tried to find
things like time to create a bow or armor in medieval times and price
info myself. The problem is not everything we need has been converted
from dead-tree sources. :P<br>
</font><br>
So, in a lot of my sources I have also looked at other games to see what
they have done, hoping that THEY have done some sort of research with
offline sources, then reinterpret their rules with what I can find online
and rework those into our frameworks.<br>
<br>
HARN is an example of this. Their prices seem at least somewhat
reasonable (their ship costs are somewhat formulaic, but produce a high
(and not extreme) cost. I mean, look at the number you gave before 29k
GOLD that is basically 30 GNI. Are you saying that if the Korchi threw
EVERYTHING they had at it they could build about 14 of these ships per
year? Presumably GNI would go toward maintenance of existing fleets and
armies, so it would have to be fewer then that.<br>
<br>
Nearly 30 thousand gold seems a bit high to me...<br>
</blockquote><br>
<font color="#FFFFFF">Should've told me :) Last night saw a link
for medieval armor and weapons that included build times and costs for
France/Germany. Darn. What was that keyword I
used..."Ancient Building Costs" I think. But can't recall
now it was like 2am :) As to the high costs. It does sound
high. But its a start. I mainly wanted to figure out the BF
per Hectare since I have a figure that tells how many BF ACTUALLY existed
in a galley. From that data I can then figure BF estimates for
ships higher and lower. Then that gives a basic cost for the wood
and then just have to figure out the BF base cost. But when you
look at the FACTUAL figure even if you give .1 bb per board that's still
alot o gold. Ships are expensive that's a fact. But how far
do we go down? .00001 BB per BF? :) I'll have to figure this
out. <br>
<br>
<br>
</font><font face="arial" size=2 color="#000080"><blockquote type=cite cite>Expenses
are most likely a power factor over materials. The raw materials
themselves are fairly cheap (otherwise a peasent could keep himself fed
by trading in 3 1 x1 planks each day). So you have the cheap labor cost
to produce/gather the raw materials. Add another cost for cheap labor to
transport it to the drydock area. Then comes the expensive labor to put
it together so it won t sink on you. Layer another MORE expensive labor
cost for each level of finish to the boat (your basic boat being good ).
A Fine ship requires artisans and engineers to turn the basic utilitarian
structures to a more attractive or desirable (or tougher) boat. Superior
boats require artisans put in the gold leaf on the figurehead, and all
the fluff.<br>
</font><br>
So basically, materials are cheap, because you pay Joe Peon crap wages to
cut or haul it. When it comes to making use of the materials you need
the engineers, artisans and craftsmen, and their labor isn t cheap.<br>
<br>
While we might be able to determine how long it takes to turn a 1000BF
oak tree into usable lumber by how many men (and thus pro-rate the cost
based on daily wage per man to determine the cost per board foot), the
harder research is how long it takes to put-together a ship that requires
100,000 board feet of wood, as well as for larger or smaller ships. With
luck we can find such data, make a few data points and perhaps make a
formula that will work as a rule of thumb (like they use for HARN).<br>
<br>
</blockquote><br>
<font size=3 color="#FFFFFF">Actually I think I already have that
data. In my notes from the 2 books I read and websites
recently. I just have to wade through that material. I've
about 15 iles (a meg o text) to go through likely tonight. <br>
<br>
If I figure timber is free (say the kingdom cuts it and uses labor costs)
then something will have to increase in terms of other areas. So I
dunno. I'll have to decide on a balance. <br>
<br>
If only I could time travel and get the data ? :)<br>
<br>
</font>
<BR>
<div>Longshot - ZC of AdventureNet International Echomail Network</div>
<div>Fringe BBS - EWOG II - 904-733-1721</div>
<div>Telegard / Allfix Beta Site</div>
<div>Website:
<a href="http://users.cybermax.net/~longshot" EUDORA=AUTOURL>http://users.cybermax.net/~longshot</a></div>
<div>ICQ: 24436933</div>
</html>