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

[The Fedral Union]

(excuse me making another post I'm not quite sure if editing this in would garner attention since that last post of mine was ages ago)

On the similar subject of habitable worlds, I had a though of how to make a rogue planetoid habitable. Assuming I have the resources would it be worth it to put an artificial fusion light bulb in orbit of a planet with a mirror to focus the light OFC in order to facilitate habitability. Or by this stage would it be cheaper simply to either dig in or build sealed/less than natural construct on the surface/ underground, at this point I'm wondering if it just space being as it is wide vast and filled with resources this decision would be based on culture rather than of resources scarcity, and aside from full terraforming would it really take that long to implement? Like say the light bulb and domes or some hybrid of artificial habitats and simulated natural conditions?

[Oppressorion]

Hi, so I'm designing my first warship and I have an idea of what sort of weapons it has, but not...I guess the role it is meant to fulfil, since I have no experience with this (you can mock me for not making a warship in four years later). I know what the ship can do and the tactics it uses, but not how (or if) it fits into a larger military, what sorts of ships it would have to work with for escorts or support roles, etc. I apologise in advance for including or leaving out details that shouldn't be - it's my first time.

It's a long, cylindrical shape, about 1.5 km by 0.3 (or a fifth wide as it is long), with a 30 degree nose cone. That's necessary because of how my FTL drive works, as it uses stars for power so excess surface area is a bad idea.

It has various turrets spread along the hull, but especially the nose cone for a dense frontal field of fire. The weapons systems use lasers for active defence, kinetic Impact rounds to soften armour, and various Penetrator rounds to puncture and damage the vulnerable inside of an enemy ship once the hull armour has been weakened or breached - high voltages to fry electrical systems, for example, or superheated plasma, or fragmentary explosives. To put it another way, Impacts cut the skin and Penetrators infect the wound. Of course, Penetrators are limited by a compartmentalised superstructure. All kinetic rounds are unguided, but are fired at a very high speed to make them difficult to intercept. I'm assuming that this requires a close range to aim and respond accurately to hits/misses - hopefully you can advise on that.

Defensively, the ship is orbited by a 'drone swam'. Drones are essentially mobile slabs of armour, meant to take hits for targeted or critical areas and can be rearranged as needed around damaged or critical areas. Hull armour is composed of multiple layers of flexible whipple armour between impact gel to absorb impacts and slow down penetrators. The ship rotates to simulate gravity, and this continues during combat to make targeting specific areas difficult, as well as giving time for broadside turrets to cool down or rearm.

[Zepplin Manufacturers]

"It's a long, cylindrical shape, about 1.5 km by 0.3 (or a fifth wide as it is long), with a 30 degree nose cone. That's necessary because of how my FTL drive works, as it uses stars for power so excess surface area is a bad idea. "

Buh wha? This seems backwards? Please if you would be so kind as to expand upon this?

[The Akasha Colony]

It's a long, cylindrical shape, about 1.5 km by 0.3 (or a fifth wide as it is long), with a 30 degree nose cone. That's necessary because of how my FTL drive works, as it uses stars for power so excess surface area is a bad idea.

The optimum surface-area-to-volume ratio in this case would be a sphere. Not sure how using stars for power affects its geometry though.

[Oppressorion]

"It's a long, cylindrical shape, about 1.5 km by 0.3 (or a fifth wide as it is long), with a 30 degree nose cone. That's necessary because of how my FTL drive works, as it uses stars for power so excess surface area is a bad idea. "

Buh wha? This seems backwards? Please if you would be so kind as to expand upon this?

I meant to explain why I used a solid, homogeneous shape instead of getting weird with squids and tentacles and whatnot. The jumping is done while facing the star, so the ship is long and narrow to reduce the surface that is exposed (sorry about not explaining that).

[SquareDisc City]

On the similar subject of habitable worlds, I had a though of how to make a rogue planetoid habitable. Assuming I have the resources would it be worth it to put an artificial fusion light bulb in orbit of a planet with a mirror to focus the light OFC in order to facilitate habitability.

This would work, at least. The chief advantages are that you'll maintain a basically normal climate and day-night cycle. Indeed you could more-or-less pick the day length at will by choosing the orbit of the artificial Sun.

The chief drawback is that in energy terms it may be inefficient because some of the incoming light will be reflected away, and assuming you don't surround the whole planet in a mirror (which is a little silly) it'll be lost to space. How much energy is lost this way depends on the types of surface the planet has. Oceans, vegetation, and urban areas generally don't reflect much, deserts reflect more. Ice and snow are extremely reflective; you might find you need an initial "boost" of your artificial Sun to thaw the planet out, before reducing light intensity to sustain it.

The other main factor to consider is that your artificial Sun is a single object. That may be an advantage - it's one thing, albeit one big thing, to build that at a stroke will ready the rogue planet for colonisation; if it develops a thick enough atmosphere early colonists need only an air supply, not a full spacesuit, to work outside. Or it may be a drawback - should it be out of action for any reason the planet is in big trouble.

[Oppressorion]

As mentioned above, I'm designing a cylindrical ship, that rotates to simulate gravity (with the outermost deck 300m wide). Can someone tell me, would the simulated gravity differ on higher/lower decks, with maybe an estimate on how much? Alternately, pointing me to resources to calculate the same would be great.

[SquareDisc City]

Yes it would vary. The centripetal force to keep an object in circular motion at a given rpm scales linearly with radius. So 10% further (ie a deck at 330 m) will have 10% more gravity. You could probably get a good few decks in within tolerable limits.

Rotational artgrav produces Coriolis forces which can get unpleasant if the ship is spinning at more than 2 rpm. To get 1g without rotating faster requires a radius of 224 m. A smaller ship would have to compromise - use lower gravity, use it only for short exercise periods, or carry only passengers who can tolerate the conditions.

[Doppio Giudici]

Is there an PMT page?

[Vocenae]

The short answer: No.

The long answer: No, but there are stickies at the top of International Incidents that encompass MT and 'PMT'.

[The Legion of War]

Is there an PMT page?

This question raises another question. Since "PMT" is essentially just "near future" tech, couldn't this thread answer questions related to tech?

RPing questions regarding PMT is another matter.

[Kyrusia]

Is there an PMT page?

This question raises another question. Since "PMT" is essentially just "near future" tech, couldn't this thread answer questions related to tech?

RPing questions regarding PMT is another matter.

From the second paragraph of this thread:

As a mechanic, Future Tech has been traditionally divided from "Modern Technology" and/or "Post-Modern Technology" as the moment of the advent of superluminal (faster-than-light; "FTL") travel within the historical continuity of a player's creation. There is some debate as to whether "Post-Modern Technology" constitutes a form of "Future Tech" due to the very necessity of the "Post-Modern" technology grade occurring in the future, but this thread is not a thread meant to address this debate.

This thread is explicitly for advice relating to Future Tech, not Post-Modern Tech nor Modern Tech. In the purely "mechanical" sense, the Diplomacy boards have for years divided "PMT" from both "MT" and "FT". Whether it is constrained to simply "questions relating to technology of PMT" or not is irrelevant; there is a great degree of overlap in technology in PMT and FT, sure, but as this paragraph says, this is not the thread to discuss this degree of overlap or PMT's classification, and by benefit of the title of this thread, this is not a thread for any questions regarding PMT. There are stickies at the top of this board where one can direct those.

Thanks, but questions regarding PMT or the nature of PMT as it relates to FT as a matter of philosophical discourse simply isn't within the purview of this thread.

[Arcerion]

Reposting from TUP. As I feel it is a balanced unit, but your opinion is always welcome.

This took about an hour and a half, but its done. Keeping in mind that there are roughly ten Manpäals to a Kohort, and ten Kohorts to a Legion when you put this in perspective.

I present to you, the 1st Manpäal, 1st Kohort of the Gold Hammer Guards Legion. Behold!

Headquarters has plenty of communications and recce vehicles. Manpäals 1-7 are mechanized infantry, with a mixture of Poema-type APCs and Panter-type IFVs. The 8th Manpäal is the fire support, four Leeuw-type Mobile Missile Platforms. And the 9th and 10th Manpäals are the heavy assault. They are the armoured fist of this unit. They are comprised of Leeuw-type Armoured Fighting Vehicles, my tank and armour killers.

So FT Advice, what do you think of my pretty ORBAT?

[Yalos]

Reposting from TUP. As I feel it is a balanced unit, but your opinion is always welcome.

This took about an hour and a half, but its done. Keeping in mind that there are roughly ten Manpäals to a Kohort, and ten Kohorts to a Legion when you put this in perspective.

I present to you, the 1st Manpäal, 1st Kohort of the Gold Hammer Guards Legion. Behold!

Headquarters has plenty of communications and recce vehicles. Manpäals 1-7 are mechanized infantry, with a mixture of Poema-type APCs and Panter-type IFVs. The 8th Manpäal is the fire support, four Leeuw-type Mobile Missile Platforms. And the 9th and 10th Manpäals are the heavy assault. They are the armoured fist of this unit. They are comprised of Leeuw-type Armoured Fighting Vehicles, my tank and armour killers.

So FT Advice, what do you think of my pretty ORBAT?

As always, Arc, you never cease to impress. Teach me how to do shit like this.

[Arcerion]

Reposting from TUP. As I feel it is a balanced unit, but your opinion is always welcome.

This took about an hour and a half, but its done. Keeping in mind that there are roughly ten Manpäals to a Kohort, and ten Kohorts to a Legion when you put this in perspective.

I present to you, the 1st Manpäal, 1st Kohort of the Gold Hammer Guards Legion. Behold!

Headquarters has plenty of communications and recce vehicles. Manpäals 1-7 are mechanized infantry, with a mixture of Poema-type APCs and Panter-type IFVs. The 8th Manpäal is the fire support, four Leeuw-type Mobile Missile Platforms. And the 9th and 10th Manpäals are the heavy assault. They are the armoured fist of this unit. They are comprised of Leeuw-type Armoured Fighting Vehicles, my tank and armour killers.

So FT Advice, what do you think of my pretty ORBAT?

As always, Arc, you never cease to impress. Teach me how to do shit like this.

Why thank you. Anything you think it needs?

[Yalos]

It probably depends on what you intend to do with this unit. If I'm correct in assuming that your mobile missile units are for anti air purposes, I can't see many holes with this. Again, I've always been a bit iffy on the military building aspect of NS, so don't take my opinion to the bank.

[Thrashia]

So FT Advice, what do you think of my pretty ORBAT?

*cracks knuckles*

Reposting from TUP. As I feel it is a balanced unit, but your opinion is always welcome.

This took about an hour and a half, but its done. Keeping in mind that there are roughly ten Manpäals to a Kohort, and ten Kohorts to a Legion when you put this in perspective.

I present to you, the 1st Manpäal, 1st Kohort of the Gold Hammer Guards Legion.

Headquarters has plenty of communications and recce vehicles. Manpäals 1-7 are mechanized infantry, with a mixture of Poema-type APCs and Panter-type IFVs. The 8th Manpäal is the fire support, four Leeuw-type Mobile Missile Platforms. And the 9th and 10th Manpäals are the heavy assault. They are the armoured fist of this unit. They are comprised of Leeuw-type Armoured Fighting Vehicles, my tank and armour killers.

Based on your stated composition, the entire GHG Legion is expected to be a mechanized infantry force with an unbalanced number of integrated fire support and armored material, it seems. That's kind of a bad thing. Let's break it down.

1) The smallest tactical unit, from what we can see, is your "Lance." Amounting to what is pretty much an under-strength platoon. Even if, as I expect, you say that the Lance can be split into half ("demi-lances"?) and four 5-man fire teams, that still leaves a lot of territory to cover for a unit that should be higher in its body count. So, up the amount of men in each lance and therefore each "Hoofstuk". Otherwise you'll have more units trying to cover the same amount of ground that less units with more bodies could more easily cover -- keeps things more simple and easier for command and control purposes. This also means that missions that would have required the deployment of an entire Hoofstuk, can now be covered by half of that or even by a single Lance.

2) Your "headquarters" unit is way too small. Strange as it might seem, even in the most modern armies, you still require a lot of personnel to keep track of things happening. As such, I went ahead and doubled your HQ section. Still probably need a third more personnel, but at least now you have enough warm bodies to throw at operational problems.

3) Reconnaissance for a unit as large as your "Manpaal" require a LOT more intelligence gathering abilities than the measly 20 men and 4 recce vehicles you gave it. That's just asking for trouble. You need at least an entire company's worth of men and vehicles to cover the kind of territory and recce gathering that this size of a unit requires.

4) For a mechanized infantry unit of this size that is an inadequate amount of support from both artillery and even from armored tanks. In fact, you shouldn't even have armored tanks in a mechanized infantry unit, especially not one this small. Far better to simply have organic units that are attached to the maniple on a mission-requirement basis. As mechanized infantry they shouldn't be having to deal with enemy armor in the first place, except in a defensive or first contact basis. However you do require more artillery support. I've added that in as well.

4.1) Organize a separate Armored Manpaal unit, or even a demi-legion, for armored support.


New and Improved.

[Arthurista]

Hi, I'm a fairly experienced MT player and I want to try FT. Just a couple of questions:

(a) How hard-science/detail-oriented are players on average with regards to tech?

(b) Are there any fictional universes whose tech is considered rather unbalanced or gamebreaking (e.g. would I be able to use post-2003 Honorverse materiel, for instance)?

(c) Which FT groups are relatively sane and reasonable with regards to empire size, tech levels etc.?

[Oppressorion]

While I have been here for a while, there are others more experienced than me so these may not be complete answers.

(a) How hard-science/detail-oriented are players on average with regards to tech?

It's not as much realism as good writing here - if the readers will accept it, then you're good. Hard SF players exist here too, such as myself and SquareDisc City, but it isn't as common as soft (AFAIK).

(b) Are there any fictional universes whose tech is considered rather unbalanced or gamebreaking (e.g. would I be able to use post-2003 Honorverse materiel, for instance)?

Yes, HALO is generally considered to be overpowered - doable with good writing, but very easy to become invincible

(c) Which FT groups are relatively sane and reasonable with regards to empire size, tech levels etc.?

Groups aren't common here due to the small number of players (though they do exist, see GESO), and any regular on this thread will enforce that sort of thing on their RPs. Generally, three systems is the maximum for new players, which gets bigger as you build a good reputation.

Also, this thread advises you to check out the IRC channel #NSLegion, on irc.esper.net.

[Feazanthia]

Yes, HALO is generally considered to be overpowered - doable with good writing, but very easy to become invincible

Halo? As in the console shooter with the somewhat decent book series?

Unless something has drastically changed in the Halo universe since I stopped paying attention (circa. Halo 3), it'd actually be considered fairly low-tech. One of the Super-MAC guns, for instance, would be easily out-ranged by many NSFT warships.

[Vocenae]

Hi, I'm a fairly experienced MT player and I want to try FT. Just a couple of questions:

(a) How hard-science/detail-oriented are players on average with regards to tech?

(b) Are there any fictional universes whose tech is considered rather unbalanced or gamebreaking (e.g. would I be able to use post-2003 Honorverse materiel, for instance)?

(c) Which FT groups are relatively sane and reasonable with regards to empire size, tech levels etc.?

Hello and welcome to the Nationstates Future Tech community! Before we get started, I would like to highly recommend that you read the OP of this thread, as it provides some basic information on the FT community and links to resources that you may find exceedingly helpful as you make the transition to FT.

1: Most players within the FT community play by the general guidelines of the Rule of Cool and the Code of Bro.

From this thread's OP:

• Rule of Cool (See "Code of Bro"): General guideline for conduct within the Future Technology community, generally understood to mean, simply, "Don't be a dick with the application of your respective degree of technological advancement or tech"; guideline defined as encouraging players to be creative by not directly ripping or wholesale copying from existing sources of canon (such as films, novels, and video games) and by being consistent with the application of their degree of technological advancement and the nature of their technology as determined by community standard and internal rules of effect; the rule or guideline within the Future Technology community which states that, in some instances, even due to inefficiency or improbability, some items, ideas, and concepts are used purely for their novelty or "coolness" insofar as they do not approach the absurdly unworkable or otherwise diminish the potential for enjoyment of others; compare to "Rule of Kool".

• Code of Bro (See "Rule of Cool"): General guideline for conduct within the Future Technology community, generally understood to mean, simply, "Don't be a dick"; guideline defined as the willingness of a player to collaborate with other players and agree to compromise for the sake of story and the mutual enjoyment of all parties involved in a particular roleplay, setting, or thread.

2: The answer to this is largely contained within my first answer. Basically I'm just going to state that in FT, your tech's power and it's effects on other players are determined BY the other players, and vice versa. Again, see my first answer (and the thread OP) as the quoted material is pretty much how things work in FT.

3: I'm going to link a much more in-depth guide to you (it is also linked in the OP of this thread), but the TLDR version is that we recommend that players start with three star systems. The home system that is fully colonized, a secondary one that is in the process of becoming self-sufficient, and a third one that has just been colonized. As for large empires in FT, the largest one that the community recognizes is somewhere in the vicinity of twenty-seven star systems.

Here is the link to the more detailed guide on Future Tech nation sizes: viewtopic.php?p=3661471#p3661471

And if you're concerned about 'small small' fear not, the FT community is filled with helpful and mostly friendly players who will never attack or simply go 'I'm bigger and thus I win'. The FT community is a very cooperative group of players who are, in the end, more concerned with telling interesting and entertaining stories. While many do have statistics for their empires, ships, etc, we don't put hard limits or '[X] tech beats [Y] tech because of [Z]'. At the end of the day, our individual 'tech levels' are window dressing and background props.

Also, I highly, highly recommend that you join the FT community's main IRC channels #NSLegion and #NSFT so you can get to know the FT community in real time. All we ask is that you observe the rules for the channel which are again linked in the OP post of this thread.

Thank you, and welcome to FT!

[OMGeverynameistaken]

Yes, HALO is generally considered to be overpowered - doable with good writing, but very easy to become invincible

Halo? As in the console shooter with the somewhat decent book series?

Unless something has drastically changed in the Halo universe since I stopped paying attention (circa. Halo 3), it'd actually be considered fairly low-tech. One of the Super-MAC guns, for instance, would be easily out-ranged by many NSFT warships.

They don't even have proper hats. I mean, really, what do we have to fear from a nation who's hat technology is stuck in the late 20th century?

Nothing, I say.

[Doppio Giudici]

If Halo is really poor tech-wise, then what would be a good place to start for rifles and tanks in the 22nd century? What point in technology would anti-matter and warp-gates exist? What weapons would be used at that point then?

[Huerdae]

Aha! You're here.

So am I. As I said in my TG while we were talking, what tech you use really isn't anything more than cosmetics. It's a way to give a feel for the way your people act and build and see the world. You use what interests you, and people will treat it in accordance to what balances the plot. Voc and some of the others here are more helpful than me on this point, but does that help explain anything?

For reference, I use a 12.7mm (.50 cal) chemical fire-arm as my basic service rifle still. Right alongside what amounts to my DMR, which is a hypervelocity toy created using many of the same ideas used in Mass Effect. These two rifles, regardless of how I explain them, are moderately equal in combat capabilities.

[Rethan]

If Halo is really poor tech-wise, then what would be a good place to start for rifles and tanks in the 22nd century? What point in technology would anti-matter and warp-gates exist? What weapons would be used at that point then?

That's entirely dependent on your society's developmental rate and what they deem important. So it's not easy to say exactly when, by your timeline, these things would have been developed. If you've a general history and culture developed then it's substantially easier to fit these things in to where they belong. A puppet nation of mine, for example, developed anti-matter fairly late in their timeline because they didn't see a use for it. It's not a great energy source, and it's kind of volatile. On the other hand, hundred km long megastructures were developed pretty quickly due to a cultural dislike of developing planets and an overcrowding problem.

Halo, tbf, is only atrociously poor in space. I haven't seen too massive a tech gap between Halo and the average FT state on the ground - assuming we use Spartans as "Halo ground forces", since powered armour seems to be almost mandatory in FT. Unless you're the russians, then it's a matter of hats. In space, however....yeah. Halo is nothing to write home about.

A fairly generic (but with good reason) place to start for rifles and tanks is the usage of coilguns/railguns. They have the potential to be very powerful, and with decent PA (or cybernetic augments) the recoil for your infantry isn't that big a deal. Tanks would be much the same, only bigger. Railguns are a nice 'getting started' FT tech because of their inherent simplicity and yet their ability to be very powerful with enough development. Couple this with (if you have the tech and it fits your theme/flavour) shielding for your tanks and you're off to a decent start.

Ultimately, it's the style you want to go for, more than the tech. We could convince you of an effective, realistic technological progression for your state....and then you'd wind up hating how it feels when you write it. So do you prefer long range engagements where your enemy won't see you? Missiles. Missile everywhere. If you like the visual of something more similar to modern combat, then railguns/chemical arms and what not are all good choices. Some people like to use swarms of expendable (but effective) drones backed up by monstrous missile artillery- if a single drone sees you, the sky itself will fall down on top of your army - others prefer to have flesh and blood organics in heavy armour launching bullets the size of your fist.