Just Add This One Tiny Item

This is Steven Petrick Posting.

One of the nightmares facing a game with thousands of pages of SSDs is the idea of adding something new. The person wanting the new thing may be convinced that it is a simple thing that his computer can do in seconds. The problem is that a lot of SSDs are very, very crowded already. Adding the new piece of information can result in having to move things all over the SSD to make the space for the new item to fit. In some cases the only solution is to "shrink" the SSD (most SSDs are reduced by 64%, the most crowded with the biggest ships are often reduced by 52%). So sometimes an SSD that used to be 64% has to be reduced to 60% to add a net item. Sometimes an SSD that was 60% is pushed to 56%, and sometimes 56% is pushed to 52%. We do not, currently, go any smaller than 52% (So you never see a Star Base on just one sheet of paper). Once you have shrunk an SSD to fit the new piece of information, you then have to spread out not just enough space for the new piece of information, but the entire SSD (so that it is not surrounded by massive borders of white). Dealing with this gives me a headache and lots of stress, most because I am trying to avoid shrinking the SSDs as I think the players prefer them to be the larger size (easier to read, easier to mark off boxes for damage, etc.). But I have to do what I can.

It is not just a case that an SSD for a Police Cutter has just oodles of room to add a new piece of data, which might require just slightly nudging one small thing to make the room, it is matter that a Carrier is already very crowded, and adding that information may leave you know choice but to shrink the SSD, which as noted means a lot more work (spreading things back out on the now wider sheet).

So, yes, at the end of a day of hammering things I can be pretty badly drained.