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

[Wolfrica]

I feel like this question got buried so here it is again, what kind of crew accommodations do you guys use?

Our crew accommodations are actually very extensive. As most of our capital ships are large enough that entire generations of Pords call them home, great lengths have been taken to make them exceedingly comfortable. You will likely find all the same amenities that one would find in a city aboard one of these vessels, while crew compartments - the actual places they live - while scaled according to the importance of the individual, can range anywhere from 50m² to 150m².

Im not very good with math but how do yuo fit that much living area in a ship

[The United Dominion]

Our crew accommodations are actually very extensive. As most of our capital ships are large enough that entire generations of Pords call them home, great lengths have been taken to make them exceedingly comfortable. You will likely find all the same amenities that one would find in a city aboard one of these vessels, while crew compartments - the actual places they live - while scaled according to the importance of the individual, can range anywhere from 50m² to 150m².

Im not very good with math but how do yuo fit that much living area in a ship

You're not off in questioning it, though. It's a tremendous waste of space, providing individual crew members quarters the size of a whole apartment or even house. So, the answer to your question would really be "by building a ship that's far larger than it really has any reason to be."

[Sunset]

Having something of an interest in both architecture and in interior design, I shall venture forth on the subject of crew accommodations...

It's not about the size, it is how well you use it.

Some of this is going to depend on the species in question of course, as well as the temperament of the individuals. While not the primary factor, how well an individual can get along with and tolerate others in close/medium/large confines is a factor in how the Sunset Defense Force determines placement for a graduating candidate. If they do not handle working well with fourteen other people in a ship the size of my apartment block (3600 sq feet) then they would more likely end up assigned to a larger vessel with more spacious or at least sprawling crew accommodations. The same is also true of the various species - I tend to collect a lot of refugees from multiple species and whatnot and they disproportionately enlist - and their physical needs. Sometimes we can work around these, sometimes we can't. Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't.

This also falls into the Holy Triad: Fast - Good - Cheap (Pick Two). Cheap ships with good accommodations would be produced slowly, or expensive ships with good accommodations are produced quickly. Where does your particular civilization fall on the 'fast - cheap - good' triad? And after having been in IT/Customer Service/Management for 20 years now... You only get to pick two. Trying to do all three ends up with all three being either mediocre or terrible. Though that could also be appropriate for some particularly incompetent/corrupt civilizations, but I'm rabbit trailing a bit here.

Back to accommodations, it then depends on how clever you are about it - or at least how clever your designers are. If you want to get into the details, there are a lot of sites out there about small-scale living where all of the features and functions one can expect in a modern apartment are packed into a single very flexible room - or smaller! There are also some very good compromise designs - which is where the majority of the Defense Force starships would fall - that mix reasonable spaces with clever design and high-end furnishings. Let's face it; A three-thousand couch is nothing compared to the overall cost of a eight-hundred starship. If you don't want to be clever or just aren't... That's what adjectives are for.

[Dooom35796821595]

Our crew accommodations are actually very extensive. As most of our capital ships are large enough that entire generations of Pords call them home, great lengths have been taken to make them exceedingly comfortable. You will likely find all the same amenities that one would find in a city aboard one of these vessels, while crew compartments - the actual places they live - while scaled according to the importance of the individual, can range anywhere from 50m² to 150m².

Im not very good with math but how do yuo fit that much living area in a ship

It does seem wasteful to give each crew member more personal space then an admiral would get, but it depends on how many crew you have since high FT could have high levels of automation. My workaround is to give crew members virtual reality quarters, meaning that while they get fairly little physical space, they can plug into the ships VR access and have a luxurious virtual apartment.

[The United Remnants of America]

Congrats on the new color, Kyrusia. Orange looks different on you.

[Kassaran]

*NOTE: I'm using the term 'dimension' to mean 'plane of existence'. If this annoys you, then I apologize, but have no intention of altering the phrasing.

So, I've been wanting to make some FT-versions of my nation to interact with my current PMT nation, the main thing being that we run off of the Titor-Timeline System so this future Kassaran wouldn't be altering itself in any way in interfacing with us. They sit within a .000001% discrepancy range of us though so it makes it easy for them to determine what might happen in the next few years for us. In a recent RP I was in, I had my Prime Minister/Lead Chariman (we're a Corporate Confederacy), become informed of successful contact with this future iteration of Kassaran. The main idea is for the Federal Government to usher itself as easily as possible into the future space-age as easily as possible, but my main thing coming up is the procurement of a single future warship for the exclusive use of my nation and I want it to look cool of course, but be that perfect blend of sleek while not losing the practicality of clunk.

The main thing is that my nation uses a form of hyper-light materials generated through pushing the actual mass of the materials across multiple parallel dimensions within a 1-to-the-infinite power of discrepancy to ensure no loss of cohesion. I'm not saying we can access an infinite amount of dimensions in our current PMT state, but we can access about eight or so right now. Kassaran runs circa 2026, so over seventy or so years of development and prototyping, we've obtained this much, but it will plateau at about twenty with dimension twenty being obtained for dimensional phasing by 2300 or so. Beyond that, not much can be done, with this said, future warships are almost all designed atmospheric-rated, being able to support their own weight and often push themselves through the air quickly. Electro-magnetic fields and gravity fields of extreme density or frequency (whichever term is more accurate) are capable of disrupting the phased materials so that also has been taken into account with many small probes being across various hardpoints of the vessel's external shell.

Besides that, most of the clunk would be within the aerodynamic shell designed to sit primarily in higher altitudes bordering on the edge of space for the primary purpose of deploying either our equivalent of ODST's or the Starship Trooper Orbital Drop exosuits if not a planetary assault/invasion force. I'm thinking that within this aerodynamic shell, the core vessel is roughly a series of modular sections placed together as best fitted with rotating sections moving around them to simulate artificial gravity, so the shell is going to be large. I'm guessing that the shell itself is exactly that, proving to be where most of the craft's escort/patrol fighters or corvettes dock and rest while either in the Void (hyperspace) or waiting to be otherwise deployed.

[Valefore]

I've been working on a military doctrine lately... I like what I have so far, but I'd like some opinions as to whether its OK and/or if it could be improved a bit. Thanks for the feedback in advance.

Military forces in the Dominion are extremely fluid and highly mobile though for the most part, they are somewhat lacking in heavy hitting units. Generally, the Dominion utilizes smaller, high speed forces to maintain a mobile style of warfare that utilizes hit-and-fade attacks to wear down an enemy before launching a finishing attack.

While the Dominion may lack heavier hitting ships and ground units, they make up for it with a fully atmospheric capable fleet of ships that gives the Dominion an extensive and largely overpowered air superiority capability. This also allows for wide spread use of drop tactics where forces can make a combat drop directly into a target area from supporting ships that can provide heavy covering fire, and generally, more than make up for a lack of heavier ground units in the Dominion's military.

Defensively, the Dominion combines their highly mobile assets with numerous static defenses such as armed space stations, armed weapon satellites, minefields, and ground based installations and supply dumps. In the Dominion, it is believed that it is better to be safe than to be sorry... As such, the Knight Houses are always prepared for the worst possible outcome, although they typically hope for the best.

Intelligence also plays a major role in Valeforean warfare. The Knight Houses place a heavy influence on gaining useful information on possible enemies and their military capabilities. Typically, this includes attempts at cracking enemy encryption protocols and communications channels to setting up intelligence gathering networks and spy rings.

[Neornith]

*NOTE: I'm using the term 'dimension' to mean 'plane of existence'. If this annoys you, then I apologize, but have no intention of altering the phrasing.

So, I've been wanting to make some FT-versions of my nation to interact with my current PMT nation, the main thing being that we run off of the Titor-Timeline System so this future Kassaran wouldn't be altering itself in any way in interfacing with us. They sit within a .000001% discrepancy range of us though so it makes it easy for them to determine what might happen in the next few years for us. In a recent RP I was in, I had my Prime Minister/Lead Chariman (we're a Corporate Confederacy), become informed of successful contact with this future iteration of Kassaran. The main idea is for the Federal Government to usher itself as easily as possible into the future space-age as easily as possible, but my main thing coming up is the procurement of a single future warship for the exclusive use of my nation and I want it to look cool of course, but be that perfect blend of sleek while not losing the practicality of clunk.

The main thing is that my nation uses a form of hyper-light materials generated through pushing the actual mass of the materials across multiple parallel dimensions within a 1-to-the-infinite power of discrepancy to ensure no loss of cohesion. I'm not saying we can access an infinite amount of dimensions in our current PMT state, but we can access about eight or so right now. Kassaran runs circa 2026, so over seventy or so years of development and prototyping, we've obtained this much, but it will plateau at about twenty with dimension twenty being obtained for dimensional phasing by 2300 or so. Beyond that, not much can be done, with this said, future warships are almost all designed atmospheric-rated, being able to support their own weight and often push themselves through the air quickly. Electro-magnetic fields and gravity fields of extreme density or frequency (whichever term is more accurate) are capable of disrupting the phased materials so that also has been taken into account with many small probes being across various hardpoints of the vessel's external shell.

Besides that, most of the clunk would be within the aerodynamic shell designed to sit primarily in higher altitudes bordering on the edge of space for the primary purpose of deploying either our equivalent of ODST's or the Starship Trooper Orbital Drop exosuits if not a planetary assault/invasion force. I'm thinking that within this aerodynamic shell, the core vessel is roughly a series of modular sections placed together as best fitted with rotating sections moving around them to simulate artificial gravity, so the shell is going to be large. I'm guessing that the shell itself is exactly that, proving to be where most of the craft's escort/patrol fighters or corvettes dock and rest while either in the Void (hyperspace) or waiting to be otherwise deployed.

It's all interesting, very solid and consistent, I'm not entirely sure what exactly your asking though could you please clarify

[Kassaran]

*NOTE: I'm using the term 'dimension' to mean 'plane of existence'. If this annoys you, then I apologize, but have no intention of altering the phrasing.

So, I've been wanting to make some FT-versions of my nation to interact with my current PMT nation, the main thing being that we run off of the Titor-Timeline System so this future Kassaran wouldn't be altering itself in any way in interfacing with us. They sit within a .000001% discrepancy range of us though so it makes it easy for them to determine what might happen in the next few years for us. In a recent RP I was in, I had my Prime Minister/Lead Chariman (we're a Corporate Confederacy), become informed of successful contact with this future iteration of Kassaran. The main idea is for the Federal Government to usher itself as easily as possible into the future space-age as easily as possible, but my main thing coming up is the procurement of a single future warship for the exclusive use of my nation and I want it to look cool of course, but be that perfect blend of sleek while not losing the practicality of clunk.

The main thing is that my nation uses a form of hyper-light materials generated through pushing the actual mass of the materials across multiple parallel dimensions within a 1-to-the-infinite power of discrepancy to ensure no loss of cohesion. I'm not saying we can access an infinite amount of dimensions in our current PMT state, but we can access about eight or so right now. Kassaran runs circa 2026, so over seventy or so years of development and prototyping, we've obtained this much, but it will plateau at about twenty with dimension twenty being obtained for dimensional phasing by 2300 or so. Beyond that, not much can be done, with this said, future warships are almost all designed atmospheric-rated, being able to support their own weight and often push themselves through the air quickly. Electro-magnetic fields and gravity fields of extreme density or frequency (whichever term is more accurate) are capable of disrupting the phased materials so that also has been taken into account with many small probes being across various hardpoints of the vessel's external shell.

Besides that, most of the clunk would be within the aerodynamic shell designed to sit primarily in higher altitudes bordering on the edge of space for the primary purpose of deploying either our equivalent of ODST's or the Starship Trooper Orbital Drop exosuits if not a planetary assault/invasion force. I'm thinking that within this aerodynamic shell, the core vessel is roughly a series of modular sections placed together as best fitted with rotating sections moving around them to simulate artificial gravity, so the shell is going to be large. I'm guessing that the shell itself is exactly that, proving to be where most of the craft's escort/patrol fighters or corvettes dock and rest while either in the Void (hyperspace) or waiting to be otherwise deployed.

It's all interesting, very solid and consistent, I'm not entirely sure what exactly your asking though could you please clarify

I'm wanting general large-scale semi-atmospheric-rated capital ship designs based around those specifications. I'm trying to see what is in use to get a better idea of what I'm going for, for starters Kassaran FT-era capital vessels are very much into utilizing charged-energy particle weapons, but these are primarily large-scale devices as their usage with infantry never really fell into practice. We're more missile/drone/shuttle-minded. So no true starfighters, but definitely defensive drones with their designs being atmo-rated as well. I've got a general design in mind, but wanted to see if there were any decent ones others could come up with before I began.

[Neornith]

It's all interesting, very solid and consistent, I'm not entirely sure what exactly your asking though could you please clarify

I'm wanting general large-scale semi-atmospheric-rated capital ship designs based around those specifications. I'm trying to see what is in use to get a better idea of what I'm going for, for starters Kassaran FT-era capital vessels are very much into utilizing charged-energy particle weapons, but these are primarily large-scale devices as their usage with infantry never really fell into practice. We're more missile/drone/shuttle-minded. So no true starfighters, but definitely defensive drones with their designs being atmo-rated as well. I've got a general design in mind, but wanted to see if there were any decent ones others could come up with before I began.

Ah well then, ship design is about everything you can imagine in FT Prime and while I imagine there are similarities out there most of the players in FT have fairly unique designs due to several factors that include but are not limited, tech level, species requirements, and just player bias. Capital ship sizes also runs the gamut from a few hundred meters to several kilometers, so it's really up to you on what you want. There's really no rule in FT on what ships should look like or what they should be like. Judging from your post though I would suggest something sleek and light, probably light on armor to keep it's overall mass down, but it would make up for that with more efficient energy shield ( but not invulnerable obviously) and an energy plant to power that has copious amounts of energy output so it's not starving your shield or your weapons (unless you wanted to write that defect in, there's a Avan frigate class that has issues with missile bay doors that's keep hush hush ICly)

If I didn't answer your question I apologize, but in my defense there really is no simple answer but I hope this helps.

[The Uthani Imperium]

I've been working on a military doctrine lately... I like what I have so far, but I'd like some opinions as to whether its OK and/or if it could be improved a bit. Thanks for the feedback in advance.

Military forces in the Dominion are extremely fluid and highly mobile though for the most part, they are somewhat lacking in heavy hitting units. Generally, the Dominion utilizes smaller, high speed forces to maintain a mobile style of warfare that utilizes hit-and-fade attacks to wear down an enemy before launching a finishing attack.

While the Dominion may lack heavier hitting ships and ground units, they make up for it with a fully atmospheric capable fleet of ships that gives the Dominion an extensive and largely overpowered air superiority capability. This also allows for wide spread use of drop tactics where forces can make a combat drop directly into a target area from supporting ships that can provide heavy covering fire, and generally, more than make up for a lack of heavier ground units in the Dominion's military.

Defensively, the Dominion combines their highly mobile assets with numerous static defenses such as armed space stations, armed weapon satellites, minefields, and ground based installations and supply dumps. In the Dominion, it is believed that it is better to be safe than to be sorry... As such, the Knight Houses are always prepared for the worst possible outcome, although they typically hope for the best.

Intelligence also plays a major role in Valeforean warfare. The Knight Houses place a heavy influence on gaining useful information on possible enemies and their military capabilities. Typically, this includes attempts at cracking enemy encryption protocols and communications channels to setting up intelligence gathering networks and spy rings.

First and foremost, and I'm not saying you don't know this, but I'd just like to clarify that in your average NSFT roleplay military stratagem takes a back seat (and in many roleplays is completely irrelevant) to the broader story. I can say that, in my personal experience, the vast majority of the NSFT roleplays I've been involved in have been primarily character driven and have not involved large scale maneuver warfare or strategic planning. All that being said, figuring out the way your military conducts itself is a legitimate way to explore your culture and there's nothing inherently wrong with.

So to get back on topic:

What you're describing here is a very light (ie lacking integrated armored support) form of Air-Mobility warfare. The way you're describing this, I would assume that the vast majority of your forces operate in the FT equivalent of APCs and IFVs, allowing you to focus on quick movement and primarily infantry-oriented combat. Combining this with the FT-equivalent of Air Cavalry (your drop troops), you have effectively created a suitable air-mobile formation that could function in the role that you desire. This type of force has many advantages (speed being the biggest one) but it does lack one major component that is greatly disadvantageous: armor. In the modern day (note that warfare could have completely changed by the time we hit FUTURE, but at the moment this is the only thing I have to compare your theory to) the tank is the fundamental backbone of any mechanized force. Modern mechanized units rely on armor to act as both their primary offensive and defensive unit, acting as a break through unit on offense and a strong point on defense. That's not to say infantry isn't important (modern formations rely on balance, a tank can't operate at maximum efficiency without infantry and vice versa.), but lacking armor is a huge problem for any mechanized force.

All that being said, I like your theory, and in truth my own is very similar (primarily because while I find tanks quite neat, I hate writing about them since I have a hard time characterizing them in stories). So I'm not telling you to change it or that it's wrong, I just figured you should be aware of the problems lacking heavy and integrated armor creates in modern mechanized formations. And again, strategic warfare isn't super important in NSFT, and extrapolating on these problems in RP could lead to some really interesting opportunities. (Problems and flaws make everything more interesting, perfection is boring.)

Hope that was helpful.

[Sunset]

I'm wanting general large-scale semi-atmospheric-rated capital ship designs based around those specifications. I'm trying to see what is in use to get a better idea of what I'm going for, for starters Kassaran FT-era capital vessels are very much into utilizing charged-energy particle weapons, but these are primarily large-scale devices as their usage with infantry never really fell into practice. We're more missile/drone/shuttle-minded. So no true starfighters, but definitely defensive drones with their designs being atmo-rated as well. I've got a general design in mind, but wanted to see if there were any decent ones others could come up with before I began.

Ah well then, ship design is about everything you can imagine in FT Prime and while I imagine there are similarities out there most of the players in FT have fairly unique designs due to several factors that include but are not limited, tech level, species requirements, and just player bias. Capital ship sizes also runs the gamut from a few hundred meters to several kilometers, so it's really up to you on what you want. There's really no rule in FT on what ships should look like or what they should be like. Judging from your post though I would suggest something sleek and light, probably light on armor to keep it's overall mass down, but it would make up for that with more efficient energy shield ( but not invulnerable obviously) and an energy plant to power that has copious amounts of energy output so it's not starving your shield or your weapons (unless you wanted to write that defect in, there's a Avan frigate class that has issues with missile bay doors that's keep hush hush ICly)

If I didn't answer your question I apologize, but in my defense there really is no simple answer but I hope this helps.

If I could borrow a C - maybe a couple of them - what your idea smacks of is both Creativity and Consistency. You have a specific vision for your military and it is your own and thus Commendable. If I were to then Challenge you; Add some Characters and some Cause. Who came up with these ideas and why? Certainly it can be as simple as 'A group of military engineers' but you could toss in all kinds of details from specific important figures (The Mikhail Kalashnikov of your nation) to events surrounding certain developments. This could incorporate friend as well as foe and help to make your nation and its place in the galaxy come alive!

As a somewhat brief example;

viewtopic.php?p=25764333#p25764333

[Valefore]

I've been working on a military doctrine lately... I like what I have so far, but I'd like some opinions as to whether its OK and/or if it could be improved a bit. Thanks for the feedback in advance.

Military forces in the Dominion are extremely fluid and highly mobile though for the most part, they are somewhat lacking in heavy hitting units. Generally, the Dominion utilizes smaller, high speed forces to maintain a mobile style of warfare that utilizes hit-and-fade attacks to wear down an enemy before launching a finishing attack.

While the Dominion may lack heavier hitting ships and ground units, they make up for it with a fully atmospheric capable fleet of ships that gives the Dominion an extensive and largely overpowered air superiority capability. This also allows for wide spread use of drop tactics where forces can make a combat drop directly into a target area from supporting ships that can provide heavy covering fire, and generally, more than make up for a lack of heavier ground units in the Dominion's military.

Defensively, the Dominion combines their highly mobile assets with numerous static defenses such as armed space stations, armed weapon satellites, minefields, and ground based installations and supply dumps. In the Dominion, it is believed that it is better to be safe than to be sorry... As such, the Knight Houses are always prepared for the worst possible outcome, although they typically hope for the best.

Intelligence also plays a major role in Valeforean warfare. The Knight Houses place a heavy influence on gaining useful information on possible enemies and their military capabilities. Typically, this includes attempts at cracking enemy encryption protocols and communications channels to setting up intelligence gathering networks and spy rings.

First and foremost, and I'm not saying you don't know this, but I'd just like to clarify that in your average NSFT roleplay military stratagem takes a back seat (and in many roleplays is completely irrelevant) to the broader story. I can say that, in my personal experience, the vast majority of the NSFT roleplays I've been involved in have been primarily character driven and have not involved large scale maneuver warfare or strategic planning. All that being said, figuring out the way your military conducts itself is a legitimate way to explore your culture and there's nothing inherently wrong with.

So to get back on topic:

What you're describing here is a very light (ie lacking integrated armored support) form of Air-Mobility warfare. The way you're describing this, I would assume that the vast majority of your forces operate in the FT equivalent of APCs and IFVs, allowing you to focus on quick movement and primarily infantry-oriented combat. Combining this with the FT-equivalent of Air Cavalry (your drop troops), you have effectively created a suitable air-mobile formation that could function in the role that you desire. This type of force has many advantages (speed being the biggest one) but it does lack one major component that is greatly disadvantageous: armor. In the modern day (note that warfare could have completely changed by the time we hit FUTURE, but at the moment this is the only thing I have to compare your theory to) the tank is the fundamental backbone of any mechanized force. Modern mechanized units rely on armor to act as both their primary offensive and defensive unit, acting as a break through unit on offense and a strong point on defense. That's not to say infantry isn't important (modern formations rely on balance, a tank can't operate at maximum efficiency without infantry and vice versa.), but lacking armor is a huge problem for any mechanized force.

All that being said, I like your theory, and in truth my own is very similar (primarily because while I find tanks quite neat, I hate writing about them since I have a hard time characterizing them in stories). So I'm not telling you to change it or that it's wrong, I just figured you should be aware of the problems lacking heavy and integrated armor creates in modern mechanized formations. And again, strategic warfare isn't super important in NSFT, and extrapolating on these problems in RP could lead to some really interesting opportunities. (Problems and flaws make everything more interesting, perfection is boring.)

Hope that was helpful.

Indeed, I am aware that military stratagems would be secondary to telling a story, and I may or may not ever get the chance to fight a large scale war where it could be utilized anyway. I just wanted to have it in my factbook for reference.

As to the actual topic, you were pretty close... The only thing that you were off on was the bit about them riding around in APCs and IFVs... At least I'm not planning for that to be the case ATM. Instead they'll use their ships to get them into position before dropping in among an enemy (I hope). If they need mobility on the ground, their power armor should be able to provide plenty via the use of an advanced antigravity system that will allow them to move somewhat like Warhammer 40K assault marines with jump packs equipped. I think that this should keep them mobile enough for what I envision for them. As for armor, so far, the only tank I have planned for them is a relatively light but high speed hover tank that I'm planning to make AI operated to cut down on crew requirements.

I'm hoping that with support from their ships they won't need more ground units like artillery and an actual heavy duty tank as their ships will fulfill the firepower requirement from the air, and I see them preferring to stay mobile rather than hunkering down with tanks at a strongpoint if the situation gets that bad for them.

Also, as you said, it does have its drawbacks, but I intended for it to be like that on purpose so they could develop further in the future. So basically it was intentional on my part... It is useful to me to note that you picked out the weaknesses as I did though. It lets me know that others can and should be able to see it for what I intended it to be; even with a somewhat minimalist description of what I was going for.

[The Uthani Imperium]

-Snip-

You seem informed on the subject, so I probably don't need to tell you that the USAF had the same idea and it went to shit, but I'm going to anyway (any chance to make fun of the Air Force, Muhleens4lyf.) Generally speaking the idea of "Air Power wins wars" or "Air Power is a substitute for armor and artillery," in a practical sense has been proven wrong and is something that the the AF throws at uneducated politicians to ensure their massive budget. That's not to say there aren't theorist out there who like to tout the theory, but generally speaking it's just not true. Again though that's not to say you should change it. If anything I think it'd be a great Roleplay opportunity if you ever got the chance to explore it, if only because cataloging the changes in your military's thinking (as Sunset mentioned above) is really an interesting thing to do, and helps give character to an institution that is more often than not sold short as "Guys with guns who go pew." So yeah, I definitely say give it a go, and really if you enjoy writing your military in this manner as opposed to a more traditional or balanced force, by no means should you change it. In these circumstances, and I say this in complete seriousness, your desire and ability to tell a compelling story shouldn't be restricted by things like military stratagem or real-world warfare theories. This is Future Technology after all, we're all dealing with things that doesn't exist, we might as well have a boat load of fun while we do it.

[Kassaran]

Ah well then, ship design is about everything you can imagine in FT Prime and while I imagine there are similarities out there most of the players in FT have fairly unique designs due to several factors that include but are not limited, tech level, species requirements, and just player bias. Capital ship sizes also runs the gamut from a few hundred meters to several kilometers, so it's really up to you on what you want. There's really no rule in FT on what ships should look like or what they should be like. Judging from your post though I would suggest something sleek and light, probably light on armor to keep it's overall mass down, but it would make up for that with more efficient energy shield ( but not invulnerable obviously) and an energy plant to power that has copious amounts of energy output so it's not starving your shield or your weapons (unless you wanted to write that defect in, there's a Avan frigate class that has issues with missile bay doors that's keep hush hush ICly)

If I didn't answer your question I apologize, but in my defense there really is no simple answer but I hope this helps.

If I could borrow a C - maybe a couple of them - what your idea smacks of is both Creativity and Consistency. You have a specific vision for your military and it is your own and thus Commendable. If I were to then Challenge you; Add some Characters and some Cause. Who came up with these ideas and why? Certainly it can be as simple as 'A group of military engineers' but you could toss in all kinds of details from specific important figures (The Mikhail Kalashnikov of your nation) to events surrounding certain developments. This could incorporate friend as well as foe and help to make your nation and its place in the galaxy come alive!

As a somewhat brief example;

http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic ... #p25764333

Well, right off the top of my head, I know the how they went to the sky and the general design elements. The materials in use are light but hyper-durable, no energy shielding as it would disrupt the multi-phasic aspects of the armor, so burst-heat resistant and kinetic resistant armor is what I'm limited to. I guess I am the only one who does know what I'm looking for in the end, the main idea being that the Kassaran vessel in question would be something on the order of 500-700 meters in length. Oh well, thanks anyways folks, hopefully I can get to designing it, am I allowed to showcase it here when I near completion, just for suggestions or possible refinements of the designs or to help figure out what I should flesh out about it?

[Neornith]

If I could borrow a C - maybe a couple of them - what your idea smacks of is both Creativity and Consistency. You have a specific vision for your military and it is your own and thus Commendable. If I were to then Challenge you; Add some Characters and some Cause. Who came up with these ideas and why? Certainly it can be as simple as 'A group of military engineers' but you could toss in all kinds of details from specific important figures (The Mikhail Kalashnikov of your nation) to events surrounding certain developments. This could incorporate friend as well as foe and help to make your nation and its place in the galaxy come alive!

As a somewhat brief example;

viewtopic.php?p=25764333#p25764333

Well, right off the top of my head, I know the how they went to the sky and the general design elements. The materials in use are light but hyper-durable, no energy shielding as it would disrupt the multi-phasic aspects of the armor, so burst-heat resistant and kinetic resistant armor is what I'm limited to. I guess I am the only one who does know what I'm looking for in the end, the main idea being that the Kassaran vessel in question would be something on the order of 500-700 meters in length. Oh well, thanks anyways folks, hopefully I can get to designing it, am I allowed to showcase it here when I near completion, just for suggestions or possible refinements of the designs or to help figure out what I should flesh out about it?

Absolutely, if you have anymore questions please ask and again sorry for not being more helpful

[Kassaran]

Don't worry about it.

[Dooom35796821595]

I found this image on the BSG website, it's something that shows the rough internal structure of the Battlestar, but I was wondering if anyone knows why it has two FTL drives. One's Called the FTL drive core, the other is an FTL drive sink.

http://media.battlestarwiki.org/images/ ... prints.png

[Red Talons]

I found this image on the BSG website, it's something that shows the rough internal structure of the Battlestar, but I was wondering if anyone knows why it has two FTL drives. One's Called the FTL drive core, the other is an FTL drive sink.

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If I recall, they had a capacitor to hold the power until they wanted to jump, probably the sink. The other would be the drive itself, probably the core.

[Genomita]

On the subject of military doctrine, how much would a species' FT combat doctrine be influenced by their culture and physiology? For example, how much would the fact that the people who founded my nation are four-armed ectothermic nocturnal amphibians influence their army? While they have developed a type of symbiotic uniform specifically so they could remain hydrated and warm enough even under inhospitable conditions and staying up during the day would be a matter of discipline and willpower more than anything, it would probably still influence their combat doctrines. As other species joined my nation their combat doctrines would likely have influenced things with new skills, insight and equipment, but I'm sure there would always be a certain slant towards a certain combat style, both defensively and offensively.

[Kassaran]

On the subject of military doctrine, how much would a species' FT combat doctrine be influenced by their culture and physiology? For example, how much would the fact that the people who founded my nation are four-armed ectothermic nocturnal amphibians influence their army? While they have developed a type of symbiotic uniform specifically so they could remain hydrated and warm enough even under inhospitable conditions and staying up during the day would be a matter of discipline and willpower more than anything, it would probably still influence their combat doctrines. As other species joined my nation their combat doctrines would likely have influenced things with new skills, insight and equipment, but I'm sure there would always be a certain slant towards a certain combat style, both defensively and offensively.

On weaponry, you'll likely have much different from what Humans have, and the resilience of your species might change how combat is dealt with. Even more so, we have the issue of your species' view on war in the first place and their contributions to their own war machine efforts. I really can't say much though without reading up on your entire species and the conglomerate of other creatures beneath them.

[Sunset]

On the subject of military doctrine, how much would a species' FT combat doctrine be influenced by their culture and physiology? For example, how much would the fact that the people who founded my nation are four-armed ectothermic nocturnal amphibians influence their army? While they have developed a type of symbiotic uniform specifically so they could remain hydrated and warm enough even under inhospitable conditions and staying up during the day would be a matter of discipline and willpower more than anything, it would probably still influence their combat doctrines. As other species joined my nation their combat doctrines would likely have influenced things with new skills, insight and equipment, but I'm sure there would always be a certain slant towards a certain combat style, both defensively and offensively.

On weaponry, you'll likely have much different from what Humans have, and the resilience of your species might change how combat is dealt with. Even more so, we have the issue of your species' view on war in the first place and their contributions to their own war machine efforts. I really can't say much though without reading up on your entire species and the conglomerate of other creatures beneath them.

I think that has really hit the nail on the head. Putting aside physiological differences, military and indeed national strategic doctrine does not evolve in a vacuum. Instead it is a living thing that had its own parents and grandparents. Republic strategy was the product of a lengthy cold war where mutually assured destruction was a very real thing and both the surety of that destruction and our quest to shield our citizens from it were our goals. Thus Republic doctrine is now markedly different than most encountered. Look at your own history or create one - and fighting yourselves counts. An aggressive species with little care for loss of life is going to build and arm and fight differently, you are going to counter them differently, and then your next foe or potential foe informs that.

Paper Exercise:

Draw a Family Tree of Conflict for your Nation. Start with your first conflict, pull out a single or multiple 'children' with a 'lesson learned' from that conflict. Move up a stage, add another conflict and grandchildren. What happened to those lessons? Good or bad? Keep things simple, of course, and I wouldn't go more than 3-5 conflicts deep.

[Genomita]

I think I'll do just that. As for having different weapons than humans, they will definetly need weapons that will function both in and out of water or submerged in mud, perhaps a variant of underwater needle guns. Harpoon and/or net guns might also be an option to restrain or drag enemies into vulnerable positions even while harming them. Since my tech is largely organic, it might be possible to let my guns slowly regrow their ammo over time, not enough to keep on firing all day, but enough to keep the weapon useful in a pinch as long as the soldiers supplies it with the required nutrients. Of course, this would mean my soldiers would have to carry nutrient packs for their weapons as well, which in a pinch could also be used as emergency rations for the soldier (though I doubt they would taste very well).

But I digress. Physically speaking I picture the 'average' Niuti (the amphibians I mentioned earlier) to be wiry and flexible, with a higher ratio of cartilage to bone than humans. While Genomitan symbio-armor is potent enough and they have access to biomods to increase toughness, most Niuti would prefer to evade or turn a blow rather than block it. Their opinion of war is that is an unfortunate thing only to be sued as a last resort, but that it should be finished quickly and with as little collateral damage to both civilians and the planet/habitat it takes place on. They are also firm believers in the laws and customs of war, even though they prefer to approach enemies from unexpected angles.

While they may not have a great many soldiers compared to more warlike nations, the military arm of the protector caste provides highly trained and augmented soldiers capable of fighting even in the most hostile surroundings and focus on speed, precision and maneuverability, though they tend to be quite specialized compared to some other nations' units. IFVs are more common than APCs and are usually equipped with countergrav abilities, providing the smaller squadrons of Genomitan soldiers with highly mobile and accurate fire support. Meanwhile genetically engineered exobeasts with neurally bonded pilots inside them fulfill the role of battle tanks, their formidable physiques further augmented by the addition of long-ranged weapons the pilot can fire with a thought as well as advanced armor and sensor equipment.

How does that sound so far?

[Senkaku]

On the subject of military doctrine, how much would a species' FT combat doctrine be influenced by their culture and physiology? For example, how much would the fact that the people who founded my nation are four-armed ectothermic nocturnal amphibians influence their army? While they have developed a type of symbiotic uniform specifically so they could remain hydrated and warm enough even under inhospitable conditions and staying up during the day would be a matter of discipline and willpower more than anything, it would probably still influence their combat doctrines. As other species joined my nation their combat doctrines would likely have influenced things with new skills, insight and equipment, but I'm sure there would always be a certain slant towards a certain combat style, both defensively and offensively.

I think I'll do just that. As for having different weapons than humans, they will definetly need weapons that will function both in and out of water or submerged in mud, perhaps a variant of underwater needle guns. Harpoon and/or net guns might also be an option to restrain or drag enemies into vulnerable positions even while harming them. Since my tech is largely organic, it might be possible to let my guns slowly regrow their ammo over time, not enough to keep on firing all day, but enough to keep the weapon useful in a pinch as long as the soldiers supplies it with the required nutrients. Of course, this would mean my soldiers would have to carry nutrient packs for their weapons as well, which in a pinch could also be used as emergency rations for the soldier (though I doubt they would taste very well).

But I digress. Physically speaking I picture the 'average' Niuti (the amphibians I mentioned earlier) to be wiry and flexible, with a higher ratio of cartilage to bone than humans. While Genomitan symbio-armor is potent enough and they have access to biomods to increase toughness, most Niuti would prefer to evade or turn a blow rather than block it. Their opinion of war is that is an unfortunate thing only to be sued as a last resort, but that it should be finished quickly and with as little collateral damage to both civilians and the planet/habitat it takes place on. They are also firm believers in the laws and customs of war, even though they prefer to approach enemies from unexpected angles.

While they may not have a great many soldiers compared to more warlike nations, the military arm of the protector caste provides highly trained and augmented soldiers capable of fighting even in the most hostile surroundings and focus on speed, precision and maneuverability, though they tend to be quite specialized compared to some other nations' units. IFVs are more common than APCs and are usually equipped with countergrav abilities, providing the smaller squadrons of Genomitan soldiers with highly mobile and accurate fire support. Meanwhile genetically engineered exobeasts with neurally bonded pilots inside them fulfill the role of battle tanks, their formidable physiques further augmented by the addition of long-ranged weapons the pilot can fire with a thought as well as advanced armor and sensor equipment.

How does that sound so far?

It sounds very interesting.
This is actually something I've been considering as well, given that I'm working with cephalopods who have only limited abilities to be active out of the water. Before they began to develop more technology while working on land, my people were probably pretty much limited to nets and spears, which means that besieging an atoll with a populated reef and lagoon, for example, would've been quite difficult (you basically have to swim up and over the surf line, into a warren of coral, with enemy spears and nets coming from all sides). My species themselves are not exactly the most resilient, they're not very large and rather squishy, so a good stab would probably kill one. Their siege weapons would basically have been rafts that they sailed over the enemy and dropped heavy rocks from, hoping to crush things or soldiers, and these factors would mean their wars would be all about attrition and numerical superiority- you just have to grind the enemy down with manpower, since you can't really break them in a single swift stroke.

I'm thinking once they develop quicklime, they'll begin using it (and later, other chemicals) to create primitive bombs and torpedoes, which will eventually turn into a sort of undersea musketry and artillery, launching grenade-sized bombs or larger bombs with quicklime "rockets". As better systems are developed, quicklime will be passed over for more energetic and useful compounds. They'll also develop new technologies to fight each other on land, and then in the air and in space, which can then have applications for undersea warfare (supercavitating weaponry will be a big breakthrough). I think a lot of their weapons will probably be rocket-based, much as humans seem to have moved outwards from gun technology, since they started with rocket/torpedo-like systems as their "game-changer."

[Laerul]

I feel like this question got buried so here it is again, what kind of crew accommodations do you guys use?

My aliens are naturally inclined to group housing and most of their architecture focuses around a centralized den where they live, with other 'areas' of the living environment either a cordoned off section of the main den or a connected room. This can easily be applied to space ships and space stations, so crew accommodations are very close to what my people will find on their planets. The biggest issue with the Arul is making sure they do get enough socialization so by giving them a community living area there is a much better chance they will get their daily amount of socialization.

As for the actual accommodations this generally depends on the ship and its purpose, but it typically includes a living area with a separate quarters for waste, an area to cook with the workers permitted to eat wherever they find a seat in the commons/den. Entertainment is provided by simply being networked to social media and the internet, which is enough for most Arul. Commanders or chiefs are not normally given separate quarters and they live with the general crew, their rank being a matter of merit rather than class or training.