Future Tech Advice and Assistance Thread [O.O.C.]

[Tierra Prime]

Okay, so I decided to replace the ion weapons on my ships with rail guns, because I think they better complement the lasers my ships also use. Now, when I added said rail guns, I simply replaced the ion weapons I was using, without adjusting the number of guns which are on my ships. As a result, my ships have around twice the numbers of lases than rail gun. Since a rail gun is a kinetic weapon, I assumed it's going to use less energy than a laser weapon. I needed some way, then, to justify why my ships carry more lasers than rail guns. So I thought to myself, what do rail guns use that lasers do not? Well, ammunition. My question is, taking into account the space needed for magazines, as well as the size and calibre of the guns, does it make sense that my ships have more lasers than rail guns? This is ignoring factors like the accuracy and range of lasers compared to rail guns (Which makes them more attractive for my nation) and focusing just on space and efficiency.

[Vocenae]

Railguns are fine, and ammo wise it's all just down to the type, really. For a easy franchise example, you could have the smaller Mass Effect style railguns (complete with obligatory video ). Ease of storage but in general requires more barrages because of how small each individual shot it.

You could also go Halo style, in which you have sizable metal slugs being loaded up. Larger and requires more internal mechanics, but typically powerful enough to split a huge Covenant ship in half within it's canon. In the first link, there's also smaller, ground based cannons like the one at the end of Halo Reach, smaller broadside cannons found on the Infinity in Halo 4, etc.

All comes down to the size of the your ship and your combat style. There's also plenty of other examples like the railguns in The Expanse, but the above two are the ones I'm most familiar with. I prefer the Halo style, myself.

[Bakra]

So, we know the galaxy is an interesting and unforgiving place. Planets are rarely perfect enough to all look, feel, and are as hospitable as Earth. What are some planets or ideas you have about freaky places to colonize or use as part of a setting?

To name some ideas: tidally locked planets (one side is burning and the other is freezing), desert planets, arctic worlds, radioactive worlds (nuclear warfare is a bitch), and planets that spin very fast (mountain ranges would be prevalent on the equators).

[SquareDisc City]

My question is, taking into account the space needed for magazines, as well as the size and calibre of the guns, does it make sense that my ships have more lasers than rail guns?

It seems reasonable, and if it's the argument you want to use you can use it.

Another possible argument. If I have ten small lasers I can either target ten different things, or I can focus them all on one target and expect ten times the damaging power. (This makes good sense if the lasers have the role of shooting down hostile missiles and fighters). But if I have ten small railguns, firing them all at one target isn't going to produce the same effect as one big railgun firing a bigger slug.

Equally, you can argue it the other way. If I have one big laser, a wider aperture will give it a greater effective range than ten small ones. If I have one big railgun, it might just be firing a heavier slug at the same speed therefore having the same range.

[Auman]

So, we know the galaxy is an interesting and unforgiving place. Planets are rarely perfect enough to all look, feel, and are as hospitable as Earth. What are some planets or ideas you have about freaky places to colonize or use as part of a setting?

To name some ideas: tidally locked planets (one side is burning and the other is freezing), desert planets, arctic worlds, radioactive worlds (nuclear warfare is a bitch), and planets that spin very fast (mountain ranges would be prevalent on the equators).

Aye, lad... There be tales of a world in the Gamma quadrant that actually be a giant tortoise.

[Bakra]

So, we know the galaxy is an interesting and unforgiving place. Planets are rarely perfect enough to all look, feel, and are as hospitable as Earth. What are some planets or ideas you have about freaky places to colonize or use as part of a setting?

To name some ideas: tidally locked planets (one side is burning and the other is freezing), desert planets, arctic worlds, radioactive worlds (nuclear warfare is a bitch), and planets that spin very fast (mountain ranges would be prevalent on the equators).

Aye, lad... There be tales of a world in the Gamma quadrant that actually be a giant tortoise.

I hope that's a Discworld reference because it's not often I get them

[Kyrusia]

So, we know the galaxy is an interesting and unforgiving place. Planets are rarely perfect enough to all look, feel, and are as hospitable as Earth. What are some planets or ideas you have about freaky places to colonize or use as part of a setting?

To name some ideas: tidally locked planets (one side is burning and the other is freezing), desert planets, arctic worlds, radioactive worlds (nuclear warfare is a bitch), and planets that spin very fast (mountain ranges would be prevalent on the equators).

Emphasis my own.

You know, as amusing as that mental image is (HOOLA-HOOP PLANET!), that could lead to some potentially interesting niche ecosystems, north/south of the circumferential mountain range, relatively speaking. I may have to do some added research on this, because that sounds interesting...

[Bakra]

So, we know the galaxy is an interesting and unforgiving place. Planets are rarely perfect enough to all look, feel, and are as hospitable as Earth. What are some planets or ideas you have about freaky places to colonize or use as part of a setting?

To name some ideas: tidally locked planets (one side is burning and the other is freezing), desert planets, arctic worlds, radioactive worlds (nuclear warfare is a bitch), and planets that spin very fast (mountain ranges would be prevalent on the equators).

Emphasis my own.

You know, as amusing as that mental image is (HOOLA-HOOP PLANET!), that could lead to some potentially interesting niche ecosystems, north/south of the circumferential mountain range, relatively speaking. I may have to do some added research on this, because that sounds interesting...

For kicks and giggles, you could imagine a pre-modern civilization not knowing what is on the other side of the equator cause those mountains are so damn large. Granted, the mountains would have to be Himalayan-level and not waterways going from the northern hemisphere to the southern, but these are just semantics.

[Kyrusia]

Emphasis my own.

You know, as amusing as that mental image is (HOOLA-HOOP PLANET!), that could lead to some potentially interesting niche ecosystems, north/south of the circumferential mountain range, relatively speaking. I may have to do some added research on this, because that sounds interesting...

For kicks and giggles, you could imagine a pre-modern civilization not knowing what is on the other side of the equator cause those mountains are so damn large. Granted, the mountains would have to be Himalayan-level and not waterways going from the northern hemisphere to the southern, but these are just semantics.

I mean, there are "planets" made of carbon compressed to the point it may as well be diamond. I no longer am too suspicious of these sort of miraculous circumstances coming into existence in reality, much less in fiction. Strictly speaking, you could have a circumstance where at some previous point in the planet's history, there were passes between the two hemispheres in some form, allowing for trans-equatorial travel; at some point, these became cut off, disconnecting two groups of nominally the same species that have sense diverged into distinct sub-species - or possibly even entirely new species, depending on the level of convergence rising out of the unique, environmental conditions with respect to each hemisphere. That'd be freaky, in a good way.

[Bakra]

For kicks and giggles, you could imagine a pre-modern civilization not knowing what is on the other side of the equator cause those mountains are so damn large. Granted, the mountains would have to be Himalayan-level and not waterways going from the northern hemisphere to the southern, but these are just semantics.

I mean, there are "planets" made of carbon compressed to the point it may as well be diamond. I no longer am too suspicious of these sort of miraculous circumstances coming into existence in reality, much less in fiction. Strictly speaking, you could have a circumstance where at some previous point in the planet's history, there were passes between the two hemispheres in some form, allowing for trans-equatorial travel; at some point, these became cut off, disconnecting two groups of nominally the same species that have sense diverged into distinct sub-species - or possibly even entirely new species, depending on the level of convergence rising out of the unique, environmental conditions with respect to each hemisphere. That'd be freaky, in a good way.

I like the idea of something cutting them off. Almost like some nigh-immortal scientists did it to observe them while in orbit for millions of years, or simply a sadistic vagabond intent on spreading a little bit of chaos wherever he went. Heck to make the process go faster someone could even manipulate some genes for increased metabolism and extremely quick mating cycles.

[Kyrusia]

I mean, there are "planets" made of carbon compressed to the point it may as well be diamond. I no longer am too suspicious of these sort of miraculous circumstances coming into existence in reality, much less in fiction. Strictly speaking, you could have a circumstance where at some previous point in the planet's history, there were passes between the two hemispheres in some form, allowing for trans-equatorial travel; at some point, these became cut off, disconnecting two groups of nominally the same species that have sense diverged into distinct sub-species - or possibly even entirely new species, depending on the level of convergence rising out of the unique, environmental conditions with respect to each hemisphere. That'd be freaky, in a good way.

I like the idea of something cutting them off. Almost like some nigh-immortal scientists did it to observe them while in orbit for millions of years, or simply a sadistic vagabond intent on spreading a little bit of chaos wherever he went. Heck to make the process go faster someone could even manipulate some genes for increased metabolism and extremely quick mating cycles.

Do you want a planetary-scale petri dish? 'Cause that's how you get a planetary-scale petri dish...

Kidding aside, now the mental image is stuck in my head. Though I haven't done much research on it yet, I'm mentally picturing a planet where, as noted, a central, equatorial mountain ridge rings the planet; this leads to a situation where land surface is also predominantly in the equatorial regions, likely forming a singular, circular continent. These leads me to imagine either polar oceans of significant size devoid of further land features and capped with sea ice, or much the same, but with significant archipelago forms along the periphery of the equatorial super-continent.

</thinking out loud>

[Ahkhnet]

It is rather difficult to design a nation into a FutureTech civilization using the Egyptian culture. However, I have been wanting to know a question that has been on the top of my head: would using advanced weapon to, say, plague a planet, be too overbearing? I have no issue making up flaws for it, I just need to know if it would be too much to ever use something like that.

[Kyrusia]

It is rather difficult to design a nation into a FutureTech civilization using the Egyptian culture. However, I have been wanting to know a question that has been on the top of my head: would using advanced weapon to, say, plague a planet, be too overbearing? I have no issue making up flaws for it, I just need to know if it would be too much to ever use something like that.

Ever? No. Just depends on who you're roleplaying with and the execution thereof, really. Weaknesses, flaws, etc. are a good way to help establish balance, as is being consistent with the methods, mechanisms, and the rules (in general) of the system. Spontaneously switching things up ("Surprise!") has its role to play in any given narrative, certainly, and this is where foreshadowing becomes your friend, but that still implies a necessity for development - development and justification beyond, "Well, I didn't like how it was going before! So, now it's different!" mid-roleplay, if you catch my drift.

(Not to mention, in general, who doesn't love ortillery? )

[Ahkhnet]

It is rather difficult to design a nation into a FutureTech civilization using the Egyptian culture. However, I have been wanting to know a question that has been on the top of my head: would using advanced weapon to, say, plague a planet, be too overbearing? I have no issue making up flaws for it, I just need to know if it would be too much to ever use something like that.

Ever? No. Just depends on who you're roleplaying with and the execution thereof, really. Weaknesses, flaws, etc. are a good way to help establish balance, as is being consistent with the methods, mechanisms, and the rules (in general) of the system. Spontaneously switching things up ("Surprise!") has its role to play in any given narrative, certainly, and this is where foreshadowing becomes your friend, but that still implies a necessity for development - development and justification beyond, "Well, I didn't like how it was going before! So, now it's different!" if you catch my drift.

Mmm. I understand what you mean, I come from a veeeery long way of Fantasy narratives from other sites. I asked because it was just some idea I had in mind. Nonetheless, I appreciate your answer and will take that in. I will be back sometime should I need assistance again. My gratitude.

[Kyrusia]

Ever? No. Just depends on who you're roleplaying with and the execution thereof, really. Weaknesses, flaws, etc. are a good way to help establish balance, as is being consistent with the methods, mechanisms, and the rules (in general) of the system. Spontaneously switching things up ("Surprise!") has its role to play in any given narrative, certainly, and this is where foreshadowing becomes your friend, but that still implies a necessity for development - development and justification beyond, "Well, I didn't like how it was going before! So, now it's different!" if you catch my drift.

Mmm. I understand what you mean, I come from a veeeery long way of Fantasy narratives from other sites. I asked because it was just some idea I had in mind. Nonetheless, I appreciate your answer and will take that in. I will be back sometime should I need assistance again. My gratitude.

Not a problem. o7

[Tierra Prime]

Railguns are fine, and ammo wise it's all just down to the type, really. For a easy franchise example, you could have the smaller Mass Effect style railguns (complete with obligatory video ). Ease of storage but in general requires more barrages because of how small each individual shot it.

You could also go Halo style, in which you have sizable metal slugs being loaded up. Larger and requires more internal mechanics, but typically powerful enough to split a huge Covenant ship in half within it's canon. In the first link, there's also smaller, ground based cannons like the one at the end of Halo Reach, smaller broadside cannons found on the Infinity in Halo 4, etc.

All comes down to the size of the your ship and your combat style. There's also plenty of other examples like the railguns in The Expanse, but the above two are the ones I'm most familiar with. I prefer the Halo style, myself.

I think the Halo style rail gun is what I'm thinking of. I wanted to replace the ion weapons on my ships because I thought it no longer fit my internal vision, and I had been reading a lot about the development of navies in the early 20th century, so rail guns is what I settled on. Plus, if I really want to disable a ship rather than destroy it, I can just load ion shells. I already use plasma shells (As in slugs with an internal charge), so negatively charged ion shells aren't that big of a jump.

My question is, taking into account the space needed for magazines, as well as the size and calibre of the guns, does it make sense that my ships have more lasers than rail guns?

It seems reasonable, and if it's the argument you want to use you can use it.

Another possible argument. If I have ten small lasers I can either target ten different things, or I can focus them all on one target and expect ten times the damaging power. (This makes good sense if the lasers have the role of shooting down hostile missiles and fighters). But if I have ten small railguns, firing them all at one target isn't going to produce the same effect as one big railgun firing a bigger slug.

Equally, you can argue it the other way. If I have one big laser, a wider aperture will give it a greater effective range than ten small ones. If I have one big railgun, it might just be firing a heavier slug at the same speed therefore having the same range.

I'm not sure about whether I want to use lasers or rail cannons in my ship's primary batteries. I've been using lasers as primary weapons up until now, and when I decided to add in rail cannons they were a replacement, as I said, for the ion cannons I was using, which were secondary weapons. I like the idea of a large battery of rail cannons capable of using different ammunition types (So far I have armour-piercing plasma, high explosive plasma, anti-aircraft plasma, and anti-electronic plasma), but I also like the idea of a large battery of long range laser weapons. I have been considering mixing both through having a main battery of rail cannons which are complemented by a spinal laser.

[New West Leas Oros]

Lately I’ve been seeing the terms FTLi and STL pop up. What do these terms mean?

[Lubyak]

Lately I’ve been seeing the terms FTLi and STL pop up. What do these terms mean?

STL = Slower than Light, i.e. travelling 'normally'.
FTLi = Faster than Light Interdiction, usually some kind of tech that force people to exist FTL travel, or prevents them from doing so. Think Interdictor Cruisers from Star Wars.

[New West Leas Oros]

Lately I’ve been seeing the terms FTLi and STL pop up. What do these terms mean?

STL = Slower than Light, i.e. travelling 'normally'.
FTLi = Faster than Light Interdiction, usually some kind of tech that force people to exist FTL travel, or prevents them from doing so. Think Interdictor Cruisers from Star Wars.

So FTLi is used to “justify” FTL travel? Or no?
Or is it more like a reason to why FTL isn’t possible?

[Olimpiada]

STL = Slower than Light, i.e. travelling 'normally'.
FTLi = Faster than Light Interdiction, usually some kind of tech that force people to exist FTL travel, or prevents them from doing so. Think Interdictor Cruisers from Star Wars.

So FTLi is used to “justify” FTL travel? Or no?

It's used as a way to prevent people from FTLing an entire fleet above someone's capital, or constantly using tiny jumps to flank behind fleets. It's a bit controversial, as many players regard it as godmodding, and others see it as technologically infeasible due to scale, but it's ultimately up to player caveat.

[Lubyak]

STL = Slower than Light, i.e. travelling 'normally'.
FTLi = Faster than Light Interdiction, usually some kind of tech that force people to exit FTL travel, or prevents them from doing so. Think Interdictor Cruisers from Star Wars.

So FTLi is used to “justify” FTL travel? Or no?
Or is it more like a reason to why FTL isn’t possible?

I'm not sure what you mean by justify. FTLi isn't really something that effects the nature of FTL travel.

Though I see I made a typo. I meant to write 'exit' FTL travel, not exist. Basically, the idea is that someone uses FTLi tech to bring another ship from FTL to STL, usually to prevent them from escaping or slipping past a blockade. As I said, Star Wars is a good example of this.

[Valefore]

FTLi is only necessary as more than factbook window dressing if you deal with people who like to "cheat" as it were... It also prevents such lovely thing as enemies ramming FTL munitions into your ships or planets, or appearing out of nowhere and bombing your capitol back into the stone age in a single post, and so on [along with other things mentioned by others]... For the most part, it's the same principle as having a condom in your wallet, or carrying a gun for self defense... Its better to have it, and not need it, than to need it, and not have it.

For the most part, you should be able to RP without it ever even coming up unless you're dealing with with a tryhard who's more interested in winning than telling a story... I've been around for years [as several different nations], and I've never once had to use FTLi against someone... Of course, good OOC communication helps in this.

[Lubyak]

FTLi is only necessary as more than factbook window dressing if you deal with people who like to "cheat" as it were... It also prevents such lovely thing as enemies ramming FTL munitions into your ships or planets, or appearing out of nowhere and bombing your capitol back into the stone age in a single post, and so on [along with other things mentioned by others]... For the most part, it's the same principle as having a condom in your wallet, or carrying a gun for self defense... Its better to have it, and not need it, than to need it, and not have it.

I would say its also useful for setting up scenes and resolving questions. "Why don't the ships just FTL past the blockade?" "FTLi" "Why don't the plucky rebels just run away?" "FTLi".

Like most things, FTLi has a fully legitimate use within storytelling in NSFT, and can be used to great effect when it comes to setting up the plotline of a scene. I'd encourage people to think more of that than as using it as a form of counter-wank.

[Valefore]

FTLi is only necessary as more than factbook window dressing if you deal with people who like to "cheat" as it were... It also prevents such lovely thing as enemies ramming FTL munitions into your ships or planets, or appearing out of nowhere and bombing your capitol back into the stone age in a single post, and so on [along with other things mentioned by others]... For the most part, it's the same principle as having a condom in your wallet, or carrying a gun for self defense... Its better to have it, and not need it, than to need it, and not have it.

I would say its also useful for setting up scenes and resolving questions. "Why don't the ships just FTL past the blockade?" "FTLi" "Why don't the plucky rebels just run away?" "FTLi".

Like most things, FTLi has a fully legitimate use within storytelling in NSFT, and can be used to great effect when it comes to setting up the plotline of a scene. I'd encourage people to think more of that than as using it as a form of counter-wank.

I'm not denying that it has legitimate uses in storytelling... It is, however, unfortunately attached to a history of wanky RPing practices, and as such, one should be careful when using it.

[Sunset]

I would say its also useful for setting up scenes and resolving questions. "Why don't the ships just FTL past the blockade?" "FTLi" "Why don't the plucky rebels just run away?" "FTLi".

Like most things, FTLi has a fully legitimate use within storytelling in NSFT, and can be used to great effect when it comes to setting up the plotline of a scene. I'd encourage people to think more of that than as using it as a form of counter-wank.

I'm not denying that it has legitimate uses in storytelling... It is, however, unfortunately attached to a history of wanky RPing practices, and as such, one should be careful when using it.

FTLi is one of those things where I would - me, personally - would do some groundwork beforehand. For instance, if I were to put up some kind of FTLi 'minefield' in my home systems I'd do a reasonably sized Maintenance post where the Admiralty considers the idea, gives their justifications, and decides to do it. Then I'd do another post where the field is manufactured or at least mentioned, then another with it being deployed with a mention of when it will be completed; "Blah blah, we'll be done in two weeks blah blah." Ideally all this would be done at some point in the past and when someone decides to launch an attack and gets trapped in said minefield... Well, they should have done their research. And honestly? I'd expect someone who wants to go to war with me to -really- be ready to both do their research and to be ready to do a lot of writing. Again; Me, personally - I don't consider war a small thing. It is something to be undertaken with only the utmost seriousness and that is as much a part of Sunset's national character as my personal character.

Which doesn't mean 'you' have to, but in a cooperative, collaborative role-playing environment 'you' should be ready for your partner-opponent to have an entirely different take on how seriously or not events should be. Still, it can't hurt to write things down...