Editing FederalSpace:Technology
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Projected holograms—mere images—seem both cool and harmless to me, though, so I'll permit this minor bending of the laws of physics. Realistically, it's probably pretty easy to detect the trick except under controlled circumstances—outside of a holodeck or holotank, you'd likely see the light beam, for example—so we won't have invisibility cloaks or scare-the-natives god displays, but it's a fun detail for control rooms and R&R. | Projected holograms—mere images—seem both cool and harmless to me, though, so I'll permit this minor bending of the laws of physics. Realistically, it's probably pretty easy to detect the trick except under controlled circumstances—outside of a holodeck or holotank, you'd likely see the light beam, for example—so we won't have invisibility cloaks or scare-the-natives god displays, but it's a fun detail for control rooms and R&R. | ||
− | There's no matter-energy conversion. The transporter just moves stuff, nothing else. "Replicators" are physical manufacturing units requiring materials and time, not anything-out-of-thin-air devices. Holodecks just make images and sounds (and maybe scent, from little chem units)—no manipulation of physical objects. | + | There's no matter-energy conversion. The transporter just moves stuff, nothing else. "Replicators" are physical manufacturing units requiring materials and time, not anything-out-of-thin-air devices. Holodecks just make images and sounds (and maybe scent, from little chem units)—no manipulation of physical objects. |
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=== Physical Tech === | === Physical Tech === | ||
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'''Shadowjack:''' Micro-wormholes is as good an explanation as warp bubbles, actually. I suppose the player-level physics works out about the same, and that more elegantly combines the FTL comm with the technology. Food for thought. | '''Shadowjack:''' Micro-wormholes is as good an explanation as warp bubbles, actually. I suppose the player-level physics works out about the same, and that more elegantly combines the FTL comm with the technology. Food for thought. | ||
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=== Stardrives === | === Stardrives === | ||
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'''Version One:''' Spinning off of the warp drive idea, and the "spatial sensors" idea. Let's say there's a warp-drive spin-off that can make some big spatial pulse, refracting off of a large gravity well—i.e. a planet or a sun. Anyone in range with a warp-drive and/or spatial sensors can pick up this signal. But they can't ''reply'' unless they're also in a gravity well. And this would suggest a rather low bandwidth signal device. Thus, we get the submarine model: slow VLF radio, lots of codes; you can signal your ships, but they need to make landfall to respond. Inspired by but nowhere near as badly-off as the crew in ''Forbidden Planet'', who had to ''unship'' most of the drive and electronics systems and ''build'' an FTL signal tower, right there on the planet, in order to call in for orders. And ''detailed'' orders need to be hand-delivered—or rather, transmitted from a friendly ship. | '''Version One:''' Spinning off of the warp drive idea, and the "spatial sensors" idea. Let's say there's a warp-drive spin-off that can make some big spatial pulse, refracting off of a large gravity well—i.e. a planet or a sun. Anyone in range with a warp-drive and/or spatial sensors can pick up this signal. But they can't ''reply'' unless they're also in a gravity well. And this would suggest a rather low bandwidth signal device. Thus, we get the submarine model: slow VLF radio, lots of codes; you can signal your ships, but they need to make landfall to respond. Inspired by but nowhere near as badly-off as the crew in ''Forbidden Planet'', who had to ''unship'' most of the drive and electronics systems and ''build'' an FTL signal tower, right there on the planet, in order to call in for orders. And ''detailed'' orders need to be hand-delivered—or rather, transmitted from a friendly ship. | ||
− | '''Version Two: | + | '''Version Two:'' We've got the World Wide Web now, and if we're doing social commentary, we need to keep that relevance for this version. So we need a Galaxy Wide Web of some sort. Wormhole server nodes makes as much sense as anything, I guess. On the other hand: I ''do'' love LeGuin's word ''ansible''. |
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'''Shadowjack:''' Probably the best compromise: beyond the frontier, you have to wait for the mail. | '''Shadowjack:''' Probably the best compromise: beyond the frontier, you have to wait for the mail. | ||
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=== Space Warfare in the Eight-and-Twenty === | === Space Warfare in the Eight-and-Twenty === | ||
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'''Shadowjack:''' I do like robots as NPCs, that works well! I hadn't thought of that. It also provides an opportunity for extra hand-to-hand combat practice for the Marines. And malleable smart materials aren't setting breaking, I'll have to think about fun uses for those. | '''Shadowjack:''' I do like robots as NPCs, that works well! I hadn't thought of that. It also provides an opportunity for extra hand-to-hand combat practice for the Marines. And malleable smart materials aren't setting breaking, I'll have to think about fun uses for those. | ||
− | But if I have force fields in the holodeck, I have to have them other places. And combined with smart materials and such, we could end up with a smart configurable machine shop, that extrudes and retracts new tools as necessary, or a smart defense station, that warps itself to confine and hold intruders, or a smart bedroom whose bed adapts itself to your activities (;)), or a smart configurable ''ship'', even. Now, these are all ''awesome'', but they're the wrong kind of awesome for this setting riff. I want to keep things more ''physical'' | + | But if I have force fields in the holodeck, I have to have them other places. And combined with smart materials and such, we could end up with a smart configurable machine shop, that extrudes and retracts new tools as necessary, or a smart defense station, that warps itself to confine and hold intruders, or a smart bedroom whose bed adapts itself to your activities (;)), or a smart configurable ''ship'', even. Now, these are all ''awesome'', but they're the wrong kind of awesome for this setting riff. I want to keep things more ''physical''. |
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==== Sensors ==== | ==== Sensors ==== | ||
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One compromise is the airgun—it's easy enough to make 'em almost as powerful as chemical firearms (some exist today), and the ammo supply train is simpler. I envision the Federal Starfleet making wide use of airguns when it needs to deploy special ammo types (darts, grenades, etc.). The Alliance and the Empire prefer firearms, both from tradition, and also because they consider the need for a full ammo train an acceptable exchange for the increase in punch. | One compromise is the airgun—it's easy enough to make 'em almost as powerful as chemical firearms (some exist today), and the ammo supply train is simpler. I envision the Federal Starfleet making wide use of airguns when it needs to deploy special ammo types (darts, grenades, etc.). The Alliance and the Empire prefer firearms, both from tradition, and also because they consider the need for a full ammo train an acceptable exchange for the increase in punch. | ||
− | '''Pilgrim:''' Also, this may break the feel, but smart/guided/homing bullets may be possible under this. With the right payload, this can open up some ''neat'' less lethal options (stun bag expands just before impact, or tase the target into unconsciousness, darts with a drug, etc.) | + | ['''Pilgrim:'''Also, this may break the feel, but smart/guided/homing bullets may be possible under this. With the right payload, this can open up some ''neat'' less lethal options (stun bag expands just before impact, or tase the target into unconsciousness, darts with a drug, etc.) |
'''Shadowjack:''' I do think that various stun munitions are a good idea—a way to handle those pesky aliens who happen to be immune to whatever setting your phasers are tuned to, or to more carefully control dosage… I suppose someone out there is using gyrojets, no?] | '''Shadowjack:''' I do think that various stun munitions are a good idea—a way to handle those pesky aliens who happen to be immune to whatever setting your phasers are tuned to, or to more carefully control dosage… I suppose someone out there is using gyrojets, no?] | ||
I don't know about gauss guns—I may do with them as with blasters, limit them to large vehicles. | I don't know about gauss guns—I may do with them as with blasters, limit them to large vehicles. | ||
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Missiles and hand grenades, oh my. One trick I think would be fun: hand grenades that function as a LAW or similar weapon. You can throw them around a corner, and their rocket motor activates, and they guide themselves toward the target. | Missiles and hand grenades, oh my. One trick I think would be fun: hand grenades that function as a LAW or similar weapon. You can throw them around a corner, and their rocket motor activates, and they guide themselves toward the target. | ||
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Cops will still have riot batons, just in case—probably electrically-charged. | Cops will still have riot batons, just in case—probably electrically-charged. | ||
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==== Armor and Defenses ==== | ==== Armor and Defenses ==== | ||
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The warp bubble itself collapses under attack, but the dispersal idea is worth considering… if only there was a decent physical way to achieve it.] | The warp bubble itself collapses under attack, but the dispersal idea is worth considering… if only there was a decent physical way to achieve it.] | ||
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==== Medical Tech ==== | ==== Medical Tech ==== |