Argument Thread OOC Future Tech Only

[Red Talons]

Shameless tag... >.>

Also, I chalk my vote to tanks and mecha for a balanced ground force.

[North Calaveras]

Shameless tag... >.>

Also, I chalk my vote to tanks and mecha for a balanced ground force.

The Utopia has also introduced a medium sized mech, but we usually use tanks, but it can't hurt to experiment with different things, i think balance is good like you said.

[OMGeverynameistaken]

How can you crush the skulls of your foes beneath your armored jackboots if you don't have mechs or powered armor? Armored jackboots are really quite heavy and effectively crushing skulls for long periods with them would be very tiring even for trained soldiers. By this logic, I conclude that legged vehicles are a necessity in any modern army.

[Vernii]

How can you crush the skulls of your foes beneath your armored jackboots if you don't have mechs or powered armor? Armored jackboots are really quite heavy and effectively crushing skulls for long periods with them would be very tiring even for trained soldiers. By this logic, I conclude that legged vehicles are a necessity in any modern army.

I suppose the logical conclusion would be some sort of caterpillar system composed of armored jackboots. [Farnsworth] A 10 meter tall atomic powered construct for crushing the skulls of those who dare oppose me![/Farnsworth]

[OMGeverynameistaken]

How can you crush the skulls of your foes beneath your armored jackboots if you don't have mechs or powered armor? Armored jackboots are really quite heavy and effectively crushing skulls for long periods with them would be very tiring even for trained soldiers. By this logic, I conclude that legged vehicles are a necessity in any modern army.

I suppose the logical conclusion would be some sort of caterpillar system composed of armored jackboots. [Farnsworth] A 10 meter tall atomic powered construct for crushing the skulls of those who dare oppose me![/Farnsworth]

Yes, but the ground pressure from such an arrangement would mean that the vehicle would only be capable of crushing skulls on a paved road.

[Feazanthia]

I guess I should make a post for posterity.

Also - damn, I thought we were beyond the gaze of the mods.

Edit: And are we really having the mech debate again?

[G-Tech Corporation]

Shameless tag for posterity.

And I'm also of the opinion that mechs are a viable weapons-system: I just don't make mine bipedal, or quadrepedal, or even sextapedal for that matter. Moar legs = moar stability.

Plus it makes it harder for the squishies to track all of them in their limited cerebral cortexes and thus avoid being stomped.

[The Fedral Union]

Shameless tag... >.>

Also, I chalk my vote to tanks and mecha for a balanced ground force.

Hover AT units, drones and tanks all work nicely together, I don't see the point in huge legged mecha anymore... My forces are becoming less and less biological dependent and more drone dependent for most ground operations... Ofc to keep story I do still use Power armored troops with all sorts of gear.. That and its easier to peace keep with a friendly face rather than a faceless drone.. (keeps people calmer)

Legged mechs are good if they're bellow a certain size.. Eight legged spider drones FTW.

[The Solarin League]

I've been considering starting to deploy some lolmechs of some sort. If I ever did it though, I' d have to make them Titan hueg, just because.

[Axis Nova]

Good riddance to the old thread.

[OMGeverynameistaken]

Shameless tag... >.>

Also, I chalk my vote to tanks and mecha for a balanced ground force.

Hover AT units, drones and tanks all work nicely together, I don't see the point in huge legged mecha anymore... My forces are becoming less and less biological dependent and more drone dependent for most ground operations... Ofc to keep story I do still use Power armored troops with all sorts of gear.. That and its easier to peace keep with a friendly face rather than a faceless drone.. (keeps people calmer)

Legged mechs are good if they're bellow a certain size.. Eight legged spider drones FTW.

The point of huge legged mecha is to be awesome:


I rest my case.

[Bajireyn]

Hover AT units, drones and tanks all work nicely together, I don't see the point in huge legged mecha anymore... My forces are becoming less and less biological dependent and more drone dependent for most ground operations... Ofc to keep story I do still use Power armored troops with all sorts of gear.. That and its easier to peace keep with a friendly face rather than a faceless drone.. (keeps people calmer)

Legged mechs are good if they're bellow a certain size.. Eight legged spider drones FTW.

The point of huge legged mecha is to be awesome:


I rest my case.

What are those green turrets ontop the tripod?

[Inutoland]

The point of huge legged mecha is to be awesome:


I rest my case.

What are those green turrets ontop the tripod?

Giant TV screens playing Lady Gaga music videos. The Ultimate Weapon.

[OMGeverynameistaken]

What are those green turrets ontop the tripod?

Microwave projectors. To turn our enemies crispy.

[Inutoland]

Moar legs = moar stability.

The Type III Legged Tactical Vehicle, commonly known as "Kugelmecha", is an orbital-droppable mech unit whose configuration is based on the Earth arthropod known as a "pillbug". The spheroidal configuration is used for deorbital planetary insertion, as the outer layers of the Kugelmecha's armour are designed to resist both the heat of re-entry and some of the thermal effects of energy weapons. The mecha unrolls upon landing for combat.

[New Amerik]

I must say, on the topic of legs versus treads versus everything else:

Treads are pretty cool. Hovering is pretty cool. Legs are pretty cool too. But look at the octopus. Those suckers are badass.

Why don't we argue about the validity of tentacle propulsion vehicles?

[Inutoland]

On land, tentacles = flexible legs

An aquatic octopus-mecha would be pretty badass, though.

[Ularn]

On land, tentacles = flexible legs

An aquatic octopus-mecha would be pretty badass, though.

I remember seeing an exhibit at a museum once which compared the energy efficiency of ship propellers compared to fish tails as a method of aquatic propulsion. It was a fishtank containing two model submarines, each about a foot long, with one using a conventional propeller and the other having a sort of fish-tail set up. Surprisingly, at least for me, the fish tail was more energy efficients, although I suspect the engine took up more space and probably required more regular course correction.

Anyway, if tails beat propellers, I'd be interested to see how squid or octopus tentacles might compare...

[The 44th Indp Legion]

Shameless tag... >.>

Also, I chalk my vote to tanks and mecha for a balanced ground force.

Chalk mine down as well.

[Arteria Zoness]

Why don't we argue about the validity of tentacle propulsion vehicles?

An aquatic octopus-mecha would be pretty badass, though.

Anyway, if tails beat propellers, I'd be interested to see how squid or octopus tentacles might compare...

Yes.

It's been a long time since I've had a reason to log on. And this is a good one, eh?

As noted, tentacles are ridiculously flexible (Was that a pun? I hope it wasn't.) As propulsion, they can achieve pretty ridiculous speeds, as only a few actually need to be in contact with the ground at any given time while the rest could be in various stages of motion E.I supporting weight, just finishing pushing forward, shifting into ready position, ready to shift weight and push,... They're also quite strong when built properly, and combined with their small size (relatively) as compared to regular legs make them damn near impossible to hit with any remote measure of accuracy. Toss in the ability to cover literally any terrain without hindrance and you've got pretty much the world as your highway. Then there are plenty of other obvious and even many more unconventional uses for them too, making them infinitely more adaptive than anything else that could be deployed.

Their only problems are engineering and mobility. Tentacles are ridiculously mobile,... too mobile. Lot's n' lot's n' lot's of joints (If any! The whole thing could be one big joint!) all with universal flexibility would be a nightmare to design, let alone actually build and maintain on a battle field where parts and indeed entire tendrils would wear out and break down with horrendous ease and frequency. Then you have to actually control the damn things. Where the tendril should flex, how much, at what exact angle? Does it need to twist at any point on it's length? How much force needs to be brought to bear? Tentacles could not realistically be controlled by pilots period. There's just far too much work for even maneuvering one, let alone six, eight, even twelve. Any machine utilizing tentacles will be delegated to neural interface weapons, automated drones, etc.

Tentacles underwater however face a unique set of problems and solutions as well. Or, well,... one problem and a billion different solutions. When it comes to propulsion, octopi and squids use a sort of jet burst, kinda like jelly fish (Speaking of which, they are both delicious and bad ass as bio weapons.) which sadly would produce absolute metric shit tons of noise that could be picked up with relative ease. But it doesn't make a single damn difference.
If you have a world like mine, you've got a lot of water. And evolution says sea life will be freaking crazy! Schools with countless members, horrors unimaginable, leviathans forming pods like whales,.... you've got it all. Point is, the ocean will already be noisy as hell, so there is no point in hiding. And since this is FT, things like screw noise are the least of your problems. So use something else that's much more efficient, unless you just absolutely need a ridiculous burst of speed. Which you probably will,...

Fortunately, your (squid/jelly fish/shark/nautilus(please don't?)/lobster/whale) inspired submarine will probably blend in a little better with the natural wild life. Then there's also the fact that- OMFG COMBAT TENTACLES! Yes,... YES!!! Combat has been revolutionized! Fuck your torpedoes! Dodge and grab those little pricks and throw them back! Choke an enemy submarine to death! Break that vertebra'ed sucka in half! Poke hulls in the underside of enemy shipping! SAVE MORE AMMO! Wave your arms in the air like you just don't care! Pirate all the goods off of all the ships! Play rock paper scissors to determine who wins naval engagements! Fight Lovecraftian horrors! Pull yourself around without burning fuel and making absolutely no noise what so ever! GO FISHING! YYEEEESSS!!!!

So anyway what, what I was saying- huh, what? What happened? What was that? Errr, what ever. Now where was I?
So yeah, tentacles are freaking awesome and can do anything despite a handful of glaring logistical problems.

Seriously, just imagine a submarine cruising by a reef, when out of fucking nowhere another sub hauls itself out of a dark cave, grabs the first sub and destroys it's engines and conning tower, then putting holes in it's ballasts before just leaving it there to down and sailing off to go do that to another ship just as easily!

Or what if two of these things went head to head! It'd be epic!

[Valinon]

Hover AT units, drones and tanks all work nicely together, I don't see the point in huge legged mecha anymore... My forces are becoming less and less biological dependent and more drone dependent for most ground operations... Ofc to keep story I do still use Power armored troops with all sorts of gear.. That and its easier to peace keep with a friendly face rather than a faceless drone.. (keeps people calmer)

Legged mechs are good if they're bellow a certain size.. Eight legged spider drones FTW.

The point of huge legged mecha is to be awesome:


I rest my case.

My God! The Russians have built a Mobile Oppression Palace!

[Demigueris]

My God! The Russians have built a Mobile Oppression Palace!

Russia takes their oppression very seriously - really elevating more to an artform.

[Strykla]

Snip

Noooo tentacle hentai

[Red Talons]

Why don't we argue about the validity of tentacle propulsion vehicles?

An aquatic octopus-mecha would be pretty badass, though.

Anyway, if tails beat propellers, I'd be interested to see how squid or octopus tentacles might compare...

Yes.

It's been a long time since I've had a reason to log on. And this is a good one, eh?

As noted, tentacles are ridiculously flexible (Was that a pun? I hope it wasn't.) As propulsion, they can achieve pretty ridiculous speeds, as only a few actually need to be in contact with the ground at any given time while the rest could be in various stages of motion E.I supporting weight, just finishing pushing forward, shifting into ready position, ready to shift weight and push,... They're also quite strong when built properly, and combined with their small size (relatively) as compared to regular legs make them damn near impossible to hit with any remote measure of accuracy. Toss in the ability to cover literally any terrain without hindrance and you've got pretty much the world as your highway. Then there are plenty of other obvious and even many more unconventional uses for them too, making them infinitely more adaptive than anything else that could be deployed.

Their only problems are engineering and mobility. Tentacles are ridiculously mobile,... too mobile. Lot's n' lot's n' lot's of joints (If any! The whole thing could be one big joint!) all with universal flexibility would be a nightmare to design, let alone actually build and maintain on a battle field where parts and indeed entire tendrils would wear out and break down with horrendous ease and frequency. Then you have to actually control the damn things. Where the tendril should flex, how much, at what exact angle? Does it need to twist at any point on it's length? How much force needs to be brought to bear? Tentacles could not realistically be controlled by pilots period. There's just far too much work for even maneuvering one, let alone six, eight, even twelve. Any machine utilizing tentacles will be delegated to neural interface weapons, automated drones, etc.

Tentacles underwater however face a unique set of problems and solutions as well. Or, well,... one problem and a billion different solutions. When it comes to propulsion, octopi and squids use a sort of jet burst, kinda like jelly fish (Speaking of which, they are both delicious and bad ass as bio weapons.) which sadly would produce absolute metric shit tons of noise that could be picked up with relative ease. But it doesn't make a single damn difference.
If you have a world like mine, you've got a lot of water. And evolution says sea life will be freaking crazy! Schools with countless members, horrors unimaginable, leviathans forming pods like whales,.... you've got it all. Point is, the ocean will already be noisy as hell, so there is no point in hiding. And since this is FT, things like screw noise are the least of your problems. So use something else that's much more efficient, unless you just absolutely need a ridiculous burst of speed. Which you probably will,...

Fortunately, your (squid/jelly fish/shark/nautilus(please don't?)/lobster/whale) inspired submarine will probably blend in a little better with the natural wild life. Then there's also the fact that- OMFG COMBAT TENTACLES! Yes,... YES!!! Combat has been revolutionized! Fuck your torpedoes! Dodge and grab those little pricks and throw them back! Choke an enemy submarine to death! Break that vertebra'ed sucka in half! Poke hulls in the underside of enemy shipping! SAVE MORE AMMO! Wave your arms in the air like you just don't care! Pirate all the goods off of all the ships! Play rock paper scissors to determine who wins naval engagements! Fight Lovecraftian horrors! Pull yourself around without burning fuel and making absolutely no noise what so ever! GO FISHING! YYEEEESSS!!!!

So anyway what, what I was saying- huh, what? What happened? What was that? Errr, what ever. Now where was I?
So yeah, tentacles are freaking awesome and can do anything despite a handful of glaring logistical problems.

Seriously, just imagine a submarine cruising by a reef, when out of fucking nowhere another sub hauls itself out of a dark cave, grabs the first sub and destroys it's engines and conning tower, then putting holes in it's ballasts before just leaving it there to down and sailing off to go do that to another ship just as easily!

Or what if two of these things went head to head! It'd be epic!

I intend to add tentacles to my PMT subs now... You are a wonderful person.

[Fort Dyson]

I see Zeke has already begun attempting to spread his love of weaponized tendrils.
Anyway, one thing he forgot to mention was their uses on star ships. Moron.

Anyway, yeah, they're good and all, but pretty damn useless as weapons in space (light second/minute ranges and all) But they are also quite versatile as basically USB machines. Instead of having different pieces of equipment for say, scooping fuel, retrieving loose floating debris/items, gangways during docking,... the list goes on. If you're willing to invest in megaton yield infantry weaponry or mecha as so many people are, it might be a good idea to put a little R&D into cramming all of those aforementioned systems into one highly flexible and extremely versatile device. Just be sure to give it a spacious housing with a good deal of armor over it. The space and money it saved would be well worth it for the high(ish) installation cost. Besides, can't have such an awesome piece of equipment getting blown up, now can we?

Noooo tentacle hentai

Didja' have to go there? Don't encourage him man!
Besides, how are you going to fit an anti-ship weapo- Actually,... I'm going to stop right here. With a warning and a ban: This is not Japan. Japan or Japanese nations are hereby banned from using this tech.