[LooseAlliances] Satelite, Matrix access and Rigging Options Track this topic Email this topic Print this topic Download this topic Subscribe to this forum Display Modes Switch to: Outline Standard Switch to: Linear+

[Stormdrake]

Was reading Loose Alliances and they mention a group of runners using a rogue satellite to connect to the matrix. Apparently this makes it very difficult for people to track. So my question is could some one use such a set up to rig drones from across a continent?

[Ancient History]

Sure, if you don't mind the lag.

[Nikoli]

Honestly, I've been thinking about the lag, which only seems to apply for decking, and why that is. Then it hit me. Decking is happening at a much higher speed than other actions, the milliseconds of latency is a big impact there, but undetectable in phone and video transmission. There should be no lag for rigging as it is considered real-time. The only time there should be latency is if a decker is fiddling with the transmission.

[SL James]

Well, how much lag do Predators currently suffer?

[Raskolnikov]

A few seconds, but it's not too bad in their mission. Even fire missions don't require the split-second realtime response.

[Stormdrake]

Thought about the predators and if we can do that now, in 2064 or what ever it should be just that much better. The other thing is that Magestone, the team written about in Loose Alliances using the satellite did not seem to suffer from any lag or are they just supposed to be that good?

[Raskolnikov]

It's a speed of light issue. No matter how good the equipment, it's going to take a noticeable time to go up and come back down, even if there is a non-significant amount of processing and relay time in between. Jumped-in rigging should suffer a considerable initiative penalty over a sat, the best option would be to control the entire operation through the captain's chair. However, remember that sat links are easy to block. An appreciable amount of cover and you lose signal; you need relays on the ground to control an operation of multiple drones via sat.

The network, security, and logistics are not simple to set up without having gaping weak points, but you can do a goodly amount of work from across the globe. I haven't read the LA section you speak of, so I'm unsure if this team is hilariously incompetent or professionally decent.

[Nikoli]

Today's switching tech and you are right, SR operates on "Optical Computers" which seem to have near mystic powers of processing yet audio compression is so bad that 1 minute of sound is the same size as 1 minute of high definition video. The transmission speed is SoL, so no human perception can detect the up over and down paths

[Stormdrake]

Magestone reads as very competent and hungry. They crashed the election in California according to LA. They also indicate that because they uplink to the Matrix via the satellite it is virtually impossible to find their jack in point but they do not mention any kind of lag from doing such. Granted this may just be a case of common sense needing to be applied but if a team of deckers did suffer such a lag by using a satellite I really can't see them using it. Just a thought.

[Nikoli]

Yet the rules state there is lag for decking over satelites.

[SL James]

[Raskolnikov]

It's a noticable distance from ground to orbit and back again. At the speed of light, there accumulates a decent amount of latency (relative for split-second reactions like rigging a drone blasting through city streets at 200 mph).

[mfb]

maybe that's why rigging and decking are so incompatible, in SR3. riggers use unobtanium rays to communicate with their drones; deckers depend on standard radio/microwave/laser/etcetera.

[Raskolnikov]

There are no rules for rigging via sat. There are, however, rules for decking via sat link. There are also rules for rigging in captain's chair mode via a matrix connection and emulation program. Ergo you can "rig" via sat, but you can't assume body, the latency is too high.

[NeoJudas]

And while what I'm about to say is personal, please remember that Rigging Interfaces are carrying *more* data than a purely Matrix one in the SR3 rules. Real Time interfaces should be, purely IMO, possible but with the same kinds of reaction reductions as Matrix over Satellite is. Additionally, please keep in mind that the over-satellite adjustment is a-2 to Reaction. It could readily be argued that "reaction" is the adjustment being made to the person and not to the hardware (deck or drone/vehicle). There could easily be a response buffer/cache that keeps simsense running smoothly in order to compensate for minute, but always occurring, variations in latency.