Impulse-based turn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An impulse-based turn system is a game mechanic where a game turn is broken up into a series of discreet, repeating segments, or impulses. It can be considered a fairly complex mechanic, but has been used in two games that have enjoyed long-term success: Star Fleet Battles, and Car Wars.
It is most often seen in games that feature high-paced combat where units can move much further in one turn than common effective weapons ranges. (In Star Fleet Battles, a ship may move as far as 31 hexes in a single turn, and can usually move 20. 'Effective' weapon's range is generally 4-8 hexes at best.)
An obvious alternative would be to make the impulses into full-fleged turns. However, this will generally cause a lot of extra bookkeeping, as things that are abstracted for the full turn (like acceleration), get repeated in every former impulse (now turn). Instead, impulses allow for movement to be spread out across the impulses with each player acting simultaneously and reacting to the situation (with maneuver or weapons fire), with minimal interference from the other systems in the game.
