Full Version: New Tech?
| QUOTE (hermit) | ||
Err, no. Virtually all modern aircraft cannot glide below a certain speed, otherwise, they stall and drop t the ground literally like rocks. Helicopters can autorotate, yes, but for all I know, the aircar is no helicopter. |
true that they cant glide below X speed but they do not drop straight down like some coyote the moment the engine cuts out either. i recall hearing about a real life story where a pilot managed to get a airliner down safely that had lost all engines. why? he used to fly gliders in his off time.
thing is, unless the terrain is hilly or worse you can hit a glide where your bleeding just enough speed and altitude so that you can belly land the aircraft. yes damages will happen, as the aircraft isnt exactly designed to land that way, but the damage will be very low compared to it dropping out of the air at terminal velocity
| QUOTE (Stormdrake) |
| The availability of such weapons to the street level Shadowrunner is pretty much laughable. Sorry if I indicated otherwise. What I was trying to say was that from a cash only standpoint the weapons are not really out of reach. |
Except for that pesky Availability thing...
The cash alone is a small part of a much bigger picture.
True, but not really the point. Not argueing the point of availabilty to the street level (starting) shadowrunner. Am saying they are avialable already in game and that their spread is likely based off of the current shadowrun tech base and what could occur in the six year jump.
| QUOTE (SL James) | ||
No. It's 75,000¥ (Cannon Companion, pp 30, 117) However, if it's any consolation the vehicles you listed are also easier to obtain than a heavy laser. |
300.000? Guess I mixed up Redline and MP Laser Plus. Anyway, it IS an expensive piece of gear. And there are tanks cheaper than the MP laser plus.
Also, there's always the possibility of buying an old BRDM from some russian outfit. I bet they can make you a reasonable price, one that is close to the Redline's price.
| QUOTE | ||
You mean like *ahem* man-portable laser weapons? |
Err, no, like way overpowered items in general (10M burst fire heavy pistols with enormous ammo capacity that makes the Thunderbolt look like a souped-up streetline ... you get the idea).
| QUOTE ("Hobgoblin") |
| true that they cant glide below X speed but they do not drop straight down like some coyote the moment the engine cuts out either. i recall hearing about a real life story where a pilot managed to get a airliner down safely that had lost all engines. why? he used to fly gliders in his off time. thing is, unless the terrain is hilly or worse you can hit a glide where your bleeding just enough speed and altitude so that you can belly land the aircraft. yes damages will happen, as the aircraft isnt exactly designed to land that way, but the damage will be very low compared to it dropping out of the air at terminal velocity |
There also are stories about a woman who got sucked out of a plane that broke apart, fell for 10.000 meters, and still was the sole survivor of that crash.
The pilot in your story and the woman in mine have something in common: they were incredibly lucky. Mainly, if a plane stalls (and the lifting power vanishes), the plane drops. Not like a rock, of course, it will tumble because of it's shape. But in such a case, regaining control is incredibly difficult, as lifting in airplanes only occurs at a certain speed. If the plane cannot speed up (like when it has lost all engines), it is impossible to save a stalled plane. The pilot in your example must have been still fast enough to remain afloat. Bet it was quite a rough landing.
Concerns over the safety of commonplace VTOL transportation are prudent, but irrelevant. If Shadowrun chooses to incorporate such a system, it needs also incorporate a suitable infrastructure, including safety features and an adequete licensing program. I think everyone is in agreement that it is implausible that any of those things could be in place and fully supported within five years and that widespread private use of person VTOL craft is highly unlikely.
One could easily argue about the scientific impluasibility of cybernetic implants. How do they prevent against infection and the body rejecting them? Those questions are also prudent, but irrelvent to the game because somehow they delt with them.
The two questions on the table concerning VTOL aircraft are these, is it technologically viable, and are they available within the game. Personally, I think the technology is there, at least in the prototype stage.
As for availability, their military use has already been established. I wouldn't be surprised to see Lone Star riding around in VTOL small unit troop transports. I also wouldn't be surprised to see well financed shadow teams in fringe territories getting way with using them.
One could easily argue about the scientific impluasibility of cybernetic implants. How do they prevent against infection and the body rejecting them? Those questions are also prudent, but irrelvent to the game because somehow they delt with them.
The two questions on the table concerning VTOL aircraft are these, is it technologically viable, and are they available within the game. Personally, I think the technology is there, at least in the prototype stage.
As for availability, their military use has already been established. I wouldn't be surprised to see Lone Star riding around in VTOL small unit troop transports. I also wouldn't be surprised to see well financed shadow teams in fringe territories getting way with using them.
| QUOTE (hermit) | ||
There also are stories about a woman who got sucked out of a plane that broke apart, fell for 10.000 meters, and still was the sole survivor of that crash. The pilot in your story and the woman in mine have something in common: they were incredibly lucky. Mainly, if a plane stalls (and the lifting power vanishes), the plane drops. Not like a rock, of course, it will tumble because of it's shape. But in such a case, regaining control is incredibly difficult, as lifting in airplanes only occurs at a certain speed. If the plane cannot speed up (like when it has lost all engines), it is impossible to save a stalled plane. The pilot in your example must have been still fast enough to remain afloat. Bet it was quite a rough landing. |
well, yes it was harder then normal.
thing is, i have the story from national geograhic channels series of air crashes and near crashes...
yes they where high up and maintaining cruise speed when it happend so they had time to react but still. so yes, he had some advantages.
allso, you can "recover" from a stall. if you have the altitude that is. you just point the nose downwards and build up speed across the wings. then flatten out when the speed is back into the area where it can generate lift. again one needs to have altitude on ones side, but it can be done.
rember that there are more ways then engine power to speed a airplane up. if not then gliders would not work at all
Most guns, I suspect, still use ammunition in SR4. The PDF pretty much confirms that handheld projectile weapons are in the game. I think we'll see another Cannon Companion book out, and the only improvement in lasers will probably be a few more of them.
I fully expect that we are going to see hand held laser weapons in 4th ed. Cannon has been moving that way for some time now. I don't expect that too many will be seen on the streets but a select few corprate strike teams praticulaly Ares goons might be packing them. Big downside to this is sure the runners might manage to get a hold of a laser rifle but it's going to be pretty usless other than an expencive (and probably hot) paperweight as soon as the power cell runs out since I expect that you're going to need a bit more than a cellphone charger hooked up to a home outlet to recharge the pack.
| QUOTE |
| Guess I mixed up Redline and MP Laser Plus. Anyway, it IS an expensive piece of gear. And there are tanks cheaper than the MP laser plus. |
An APC isn't a tank. There are APCs cheaper than the MP Laser Plus.
small but relevant question.. in SR are there still above-ground power lines around?
if so I would think VTOLS would be outlawed pretty much anywhere.
I personally hope that other than some new wireless options & a big rework of the matrix system nothing much happens with SR tech in SR4. 6 years is NOT that long.
to put it in context, other than having widely available mobile phones with cameras & the advent of digital cameras nothing much has happened techwise in the similar period 1999-2005. And these advancements were already available in japan anyway, it just took years for them to spread out. I also challenge the opinion that a world so rife with violence as SR where scientists get stolen/killed all the time would advance any faster than our own. Its a miracle it doesnt descend into total anarchy..
I don't want portable hand lasers or if they do then I want rules for what happens when I paint my armor white or give it a shiny mirroring cover, at least in the used laser wavelengths as those issues do matter when lasers are brought into combat.
robots, however, are a missing item in sr for some reason, I don't mean asimov robots but more independent drones. that and wireless.. maybe we will get to use the old fashioned white noise generators after all
DS
if so I would think VTOLS would be outlawed pretty much anywhere.
I personally hope that other than some new wireless options & a big rework of the matrix system nothing much happens with SR tech in SR4. 6 years is NOT that long.
to put it in context, other than having widely available mobile phones with cameras & the advent of digital cameras nothing much has happened techwise in the similar period 1999-2005. And these advancements were already available in japan anyway, it just took years for them to spread out. I also challenge the opinion that a world so rife with violence as SR where scientists get stolen/killed all the time would advance any faster than our own. Its a miracle it doesnt descend into total anarchy..
I don't want portable hand lasers or if they do then I want rules for what happens when I paint my armor white or give it a shiny mirroring cover, at least in the used laser wavelengths as those issues do matter when lasers are brought into combat.
robots, however, are a missing item in sr for some reason, I don't mean asimov robots but more independent drones. that and wireless.. maybe we will get to use the old fashioned white noise generators after all
DS
i think it was just as much europe as japan that pushed for mobile phones.
only that when docomo got into the game with their own variation on the cdma (or whatever) system did it realy take of in japan. why? not because the phones themselfs but the services available in the network.
as for powerlines and vtols. most likely power lines will be used where its not cost effective to use anything else. so basicly if you have a non-urban area you want to cross then most likely it will be power lines.
still, the moller idea for dealing with civilian air traffic is for the autopilot to deal with most of the stuff. basicly a flying autonav. input destination and the vehicle will contact the area control system, get into on altitude and direction for entry into some regulated air lane and onwards it goes.
only the insane or the criminal would need to disengage the autopilot (see 5th element) 
only that when docomo got into the game with their own variation on the cdma (or whatever) system did it realy take of in japan. why? not because the phones themselfs but the services available in the network.
as for powerlines and vtols. most likely power lines will be used where its not cost effective to use anything else. so basicly if you have a non-urban area you want to cross then most likely it will be power lines.
still, the moller idea for dealing with civilian air traffic is for the autopilot to deal with most of the stuff. basicly a flying autonav. input destination and the vehicle will contact the area control system, get into on altitude and direction for entry into some regulated air lane and onwards it goes.
only the insane or the criminal would need to disengage the autopilot (see 5th element)
On the necessary horsepower:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focke-Wulf_Fw-61
That is a real helicopter, not a "Tragschrauber" / Autogiro despite the look (Propeller is for cooling) and with only 110HP. The 1.8l/4cylinder block in my current car has more power (125HP)
On Wankel engines:
The "original" car was the Ro 80 build by NSU / Audi. Burnt a lot of engines.
More current:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_RX-7
Build for quite some time and the follow-up (necessary due to environmental laws) did some racing:
http://media.ford.com/mazda/article_displa...rticle_id=18094
At least good for 60.000 miles as that is the minimum warranty they offer in GB.
Birdy
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focke-Wulf_Fw-61
That is a real helicopter, not a "Tragschrauber" / Autogiro despite the look (Propeller is for cooling) and with only 110HP. The 1.8l/4cylinder block in my current car has more power (125HP)
On Wankel engines:
The "original" car was the Ro 80 build by NSU / Audi. Burnt a lot of engines.
More current:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_RX-7
Build for quite some time and the follow-up (necessary due to environmental laws) did some racing:
http://media.ford.com/mazda/article_displa...rticle_id=18094
At least good for 60.000 miles as that is the minimum warranty they offer in GB.
Birdy
| QUOTE (hobgoblin) |
| only the insane or the criminal would need to disengage the autopilot (see 5th element) |
Unfortunately, speaking from DeeCee, that would seem to account for about 75% of all drivers. I can't imagine LA, NY or Paris are much better.
| QUOTE (hobgoblin) |
| as for powerlines and vtols. most likely power lines will be used where its not cost effective to use anything else. so basicly if you have a non-urban area you want to cross then most likely it will be power lines. |
Something to consider, in North America at least:
The aboveground poles we all know and love/hate are not used in NEW developments. Note the word new.
That word is key.
Poles are still used in OLD developments, and can basically never be phased out. (New ones move the lines underground. It is so freakishly expensive to do that in old areas that it will never happen.)
Now, given the events of SR, most of your inhabited area is going to BE old developments. Even in "renewed" areas, they can't really move it underground.
So, yes, your friendly neighborhood pole (it looks wooden, but I forget what it's actually made out of these days) will still be in active use.
You know what that means with high winds.
With the two premade characters now up on the boards for 4th edition and their equipment listed any one wanna hazard any more guesses about were the tech is going to be?
Commlinks. There's already been some speculation about this in another thread. Some of my thoughts:
SINs are now wireless transmitting devices that are incorporated into legal cyberware and comm equipment. This makes perfect sense both realistically and in game terms. As cyberware becomes more prevelent in society, people who monitor SINs are going to be increasingly interested in monitoring and regulating who has what. By making SINs electronic trasnsmitters, its easy to have them implanted along with cyberware or incorporated into comm equipment. Virtually everyone has some of either one, and if they don't they're almost not worth worrying about. In this manner, anyone with legal implants and comm equipment becomes susceptible to having all of their communications monitored, or at worst having all of their cyberware and comm shut down completely, thanks to the new, mobile, wireless hackers.
In game terms, this also explains some of the weird quotes from people at Origins, such as gun/ park gench "haxxoring". No Shadowrunner would let himself be open to a remote hacking attack like that unless they had no choice in the matter. This addresses my issue with SR3 which was "Why would anyone choose to be SINless?" (I know that there are probably good reasons to be SINless, but I can't think of any and its besides my point completely.) Additionally, virtually any team is going to want to have a skilled Hacker with them at all times, either to block hostile cyberware attacks, or to broadcast phony SIN codes when necessary. The first for fully legal, registered citizens, and the second for the illegals. This also goes along with the "street level" themes of the new game, corps are going to have a major upperhand if they can shut down illegal cyberware at will, and explains why the gun bunny doesn't have any implants.
It may not be right, but I think its damn plausible.
SINs are now wireless transmitting devices that are incorporated into legal cyberware and comm equipment. This makes perfect sense both realistically and in game terms. As cyberware becomes more prevelent in society, people who monitor SINs are going to be increasingly interested in monitoring and regulating who has what. By making SINs electronic trasnsmitters, its easy to have them implanted along with cyberware or incorporated into comm equipment. Virtually everyone has some of either one, and if they don't they're almost not worth worrying about. In this manner, anyone with legal implants and comm equipment becomes susceptible to having all of their communications monitored, or at worst having all of their cyberware and comm shut down completely, thanks to the new, mobile, wireless hackers.
In game terms, this also explains some of the weird quotes from people at Origins, such as gun/ park gench "haxxoring". No Shadowrunner would let himself be open to a remote hacking attack like that unless they had no choice in the matter. This addresses my issue with SR3 which was "Why would anyone choose to be SINless?" (I know that there are probably good reasons to be SINless, but I can't think of any and its besides my point completely.) Additionally, virtually any team is going to want to have a skilled Hacker with them at all times, either to block hostile cyberware attacks, or to broadcast phony SIN codes when necessary. The first for fully legal, registered citizens, and the second for the illegals. This also goes along with the "street level" themes of the new game, corps are going to have a major upperhand if they can shut down illegal cyberware at will, and explains why the gun bunny doesn't have any implants.
It may not be right, but I think its damn plausible.
| QUOTE (Nerbert) |
| Commlinks. There's already been some speculation about this in another thread. Some of my thoughts: SINs are now wireless transmitting devices that are incorporated into legal cyberware and comm equipment. This makes perfect sense both realistically and in game terms. As cyberware becomes more prevelent in society, people who monitor SINs are going to be increasingly interested in monitoring and regulating who has what. By making SINs electronic trasnsmitters, its easy to have them implanted along with cyberware or incorporated into comm equipment. Virtually everyone has some of either one, and if they don't they're almost not worth worrying about. In this manner, anyone with legal implants and comm equipment becomes susceptible to having all of their communications monitored, or at worst having all of their cyberware and comm shut down completely, thanks to the new, mobile, wireless hackers. In game terms, this also explains some of the weird quotes from people at Origins, such as gun/ park gench "haxxoring". No Shadowrunner would let himself be open to a remote hacking attack like that unless they had no choice in the matter. This addresses my issue with SR3 which was "Why would anyone choose to be SINless?" (I know that there are probably good reasons to be SINless, but I can't think of any and its besides my point completely.) Additionally, virtually any team is going to want to have a skilled Hacker with them at all times, either to block hostile cyberware attacks, or to broadcast phony SIN codes when necessary. The first for fully legal, registered citizens, and the second for the illegals. This also goes along with the "street level" themes of the new game, corps are going to have a major upperhand if they can shut down illegal cyberware at will, and explains why the gun bunny doesn't have any implants. It may not be right, but I think its damn plausible. |
first, why would anyone chose to be SINless, hmmm lets think on that for a minute......oh, i know, because it keeps you from being tracked by your purchases as easily for one thing, the first things the cops are gonna go looking for to find someone who seems to have slipped their little search net is their most recent purchases and where they are drawing money from.....ahhh, lets see, for another reason, anything that is registered to your SIN is going to be EVIDENCE against you unless you can PROVE you never laid a hand on it or even seen it before.....and finally for the contexts of SR4 its not going to make the team have to have a skilled hacker, its going to make EVERYONE on the team have to be a decent hacker to protect themselves....
i know i am being an a$$ but you know what i dont care
So just don't use your SIN to make illegal purchases. Its that simple. If the SINless can buy stuff without having it be traced back to them, so can registered people.
As for everyone needing to be a hacker, I doubt it. You'd just need one to keep an eye on the surroundings and disable SIN transeivers or broadcast fake SIN codes one at a time whenever necessary.
As for everyone needing to be a hacker, I doubt it. You'd just need one to keep an eye on the surroundings and disable SIN transeivers or broadcast fake SIN codes one at a time whenever necessary.
Excuse me, I might have not understood, but for me, it makes point to have a SIN. If everybody in the street is supposed to have his SIN available for control by police forces, a person without a SIN will have a really hard time, being checked every time...
Now, from what I can see, having a SIN doesn't mean that your SIN isn't a fake one...
Like in SR3 in the end...
Now, from what I can see, having a SIN doesn't mean that your SIN isn't a fake one...
Like in SR3 in the end...
Sounds like one of the settings for Ex Machina, in fact the setting co-written by Lady Anaka, IIRC.
| QUOTE (Nerbert) |
| No Shadowrunner would let himself be open to a remote hacking attack like that unless they had no choice in the matter. |
Well I notice that on page 304 of the ToC it states under Wireless Connectivity 'Turning it off'. So I guess you will get funky benefits from running a PAN at the risk of being hacked if you don't have a good computer guy to protect you, but that you can chose to turn it off.
As to energy weapons.
The US military has been experimenting with various beam weapons since the mid 1980s. I have seen images of tests in publications such as Aviation Week & Space Technology, where a prototype particle beam is slagging an old tank, knocking out a missile, or burning through a reinforced wall. Most of this experimentation of course was for the ill fated (?) SDI programme put forth during the reagan administration. There have been sea trials documented as well. In one instence and aircraft carrier was refitted with I belive 2 extra reactors to power the waupun . With SDI a dead horse there has been little since, but I'm sure someone deep in out military is keeping the fire lit under this one.
As to man portable. I agree with most that this is definitely still the realm of SCI-FI.
The US military has been experimenting with various beam weapons since the mid 1980s. I have seen images of tests in publications such as Aviation Week & Space Technology, where a prototype particle beam is slagging an old tank, knocking out a missile, or burning through a reinforced wall. Most of this experimentation of course was for the ill fated (?) SDI programme put forth during the reagan administration. There have been sea trials documented as well. In one instence and aircraft carrier was refitted with I belive 2 extra reactors to power the waupun . With SDI a dead horse there has been little since, but I'm sure someone deep in out military is keeping the fire lit under this one.
As to man portable. I agree with most that this is definitely still the realm of SCI-FI.
| QUOTE (Nerbert) |
| In game terms, this also explains some of the weird quotes from people at Origins, such as gun/ park gench "haxxoring". No Shadowrunner would let himself be open to a remote hacking attack like that unless they had no choice in the matter. |
I am addressing this one specifically at this point. I was perusing a few of the postings here and have been seeing all this concern about wireless and hacking weapons and equipment. I don't think that the smart-links or weapon systems are wireless, not even the smart-link contacts on the Weapons Specialist. I think that the technology has arrived that allows the human body to be used as the wiring now. No added cyber-ware, just the body's natural conductivity being used to send signals from device A to readout/actuator B. I don't remember where I read about it, but it was something about electronic assistants and how you transmitted your business card with a simple handshake. Why not weaponize it?
| QUOTE (Kyoto Kid) |
| As to energy weapons. The US military has been experimenting with various beam weapons since the mid 1980s. I have seen images of tests in publications such as Aviation Week & Space Technology, where a prototype particle beam is slagging an old tank, knocking out a missile, or burning through a reinforced wall. Most of this experimentation of course was for the ill fated (?) SDI programme put forth during the reagan administration. There have been sea trials documented as well. In one instence and aircraft carrier was refitted with I belive 2 extra reactors to power the waupun . With SDI a dead horse there has been little since, but I'm sure someone deep in out military is keeping the fire lit under this one. As to man portable. I agree with most that this is definitely still the realm of SCI-FI. |
Yeah, I wasn't going to go down this road. I used particle weapons as mil-spec weapons in a sci-fi campaign I am running until I get SR4 up and running. The step from coherent light weapons to particulate acceleration was made when they realized it was more energy efficient (and "faster", more destructive, longer ranged etc.). Lasers will be used when you have a few seconds of illumination time to superheat volatiles, but against a moving target without any volatiles onboard it will be less effective.
| QUOTE |
| I think that the technology has arrived that allows the human body to be used as the wiring now. |
microsoft have a patent on that stuff from what i recall...
basicly the human body can carry about the traffic of a usb bus or something like that.
so you can have a wrist pda or music play and stream the music via your skin to some headphones that read the signal via some surface in contact with your skin.
and yes, the handshake thing can happen...
i think they may even be able to send enough current over it to power some devices without the user taking any kind of damage. alltho i wonder about discharges when in contact with metal or similar...
| QUOTE (hobgoblin) |
| i think they may even be able to send enough current over it to power some devices without the user taking any kind of damage. alltho i wonder about discharges when in contact with metal or similar... |
That must be extremely low draw devices because i believe that it only takes milliampres of current to kill you.
Re: Microsoft's patent of "near-field intrabody personal area networking":
Link to News.com.com's article.
Link to News.com.com's article.
| QUOTE (blakkie) | ||
That must be extremely low draw devices because i believe that it only takes milliampres of current to kill you. |
most likely only devices like say the display contacts that have shown up on the preview chars. and those are most likely based on electronic paper like tech so that you dont have to maintain a current to maintain the image (alltho it would be a pain to have it freeze on you
) only pass some to change it. maybe a bit like those rfid's, they basicly power themselfs on the radiosignal that gets transmitted.as for how much it takes to kill someone, i think it depends on it being DC or AC.
a electic chair uses a whole lot of volts but how many watts does it use?
| QUOTE (hobgoblin @ Aug 19 2005, 10:38 AM) |
| as for how much it takes to kill someone, i think it depends on it being DC or AC. |
Wrong way around. The frequency of the current (DC being 0Hz) combined with the voltage determines how much current passes. It isn't the volts that kills you, it is the energy, ergo the number of electrons passing, ergo the current that kills you.
Overall a human body's RC (resistance-capacitance) curve is lowest at approximately 1.3KHz. It is that frequency that the most current per volt will flow, and thus the highest energy is imparted to your flesh.
Now different tissues in the body are going to have different RCs, so maybe they are tuning this so it passes primarily along the skin. But that resistance is going to vary a lot. For example here in Calgary in the winter time the relative humitity indoors is usually below 10%. So your skin is usually very dry. But jump a plane to Vancouver, or Altanta, or some other coastal city and the difference is huge.
hey, im going by memory here. may recall it wrongly but i could swear they where atleast looking into carrying power over the skin as well as signals...
So what do we say? Would it be hack-able? Or would it be as secure as a wired system? I think that this would at least be one of the possibilities and maybe a way to keep from having your smart-gun "hacked" into the safe position...
Continuing the thread on energy weapons..
Lasers also have one more drawback, basically that they are a light beam, a very concentrated light beam, but one none the less. If anyone remembers old Traveller, there was a type or armour called "Refelc" which was primarily designed to defeat lasers. All you would need to do for a a vehicle say, is give it a reflective coat & mirrored windows. Lasers are also affected by environment (I believe this even is discussed in the old Fields of Fire supplement) A few smoke grenades or fog can seriously reduce a laser's effectiveness.
On the subject of particle beams, The weapons tested 20 years ago were pretty much stationary and required a generator the size of a small town powerplant (or nuclear aircraft carrier). Granted in 20 years, we have seen the portable phone go from briefcase size (mostly for the battery & transmitter) with a very limited range to something you can easily slip into your shirt pocket and talk to someone half way around the world on. Heck, my 1980s "vintage" HP scientific pocket calculator would have taken up two floors of a research building in the 1950s. What I am getting at is that given the technology curve, some reduction in size is inevitable. However, should particle beams show up in say 60-70 years or so, they would still be at best a heavy vehicle mount or mobile artillery if not primarily, a shipborne weapon..
SDI's nickname "Star Wars" was very apt, for at the time it would have taken a mini death star size satellite to house the power system.
Lasers also have one more drawback, basically that they are a light beam, a very concentrated light beam, but one none the less. If anyone remembers old Traveller, there was a type or armour called "Refelc" which was primarily designed to defeat lasers. All you would need to do for a a vehicle say, is give it a reflective coat & mirrored windows. Lasers are also affected by environment (I believe this even is discussed in the old Fields of Fire supplement) A few smoke grenades or fog can seriously reduce a laser's effectiveness.
On the subject of particle beams, The weapons tested 20 years ago were pretty much stationary and required a generator the size of a small town powerplant (or nuclear aircraft carrier). Granted in 20 years, we have seen the portable phone go from briefcase size (mostly for the battery & transmitter) with a very limited range to something you can easily slip into your shirt pocket and talk to someone half way around the world on. Heck, my 1980s "vintage" HP scientific pocket calculator would have taken up two floors of a research building in the 1950s. What I am getting at is that given the technology curve, some reduction in size is inevitable. However, should particle beams show up in say 60-70 years or so, they would still be at best a heavy vehicle mount or mobile artillery if not primarily, a shipborne weapon..
SDI's nickname "Star Wars" was very apt, for at the time it would have taken a mini death star size satellite to house the power system.
| QUOTE (Eddie Furious) |
| So what do we say? Would it be hack-able? Or would it be as secure as a wired system? I think that this would at least be one of the possibilities and maybe a way to keep from having your smart-gun "hacked" into the safe position... |
from what i gather there is, install black ice on your gun
seriusly, from what i read on a diffrent thread one will be able to install IC on ones gear or something
After reading the section on Japan in SOA I believe some hints may have been dropped as to some possible advancments to look for. Some of the shadow talk interspersed among the section on fads dealing with human looking robots could point to advancments in mechanically assisted armor.
(Yes am avoiding terms like "power armor" or "mecha" do to some bad connotations.)
The idea that in Japan in 2065 there are robots that look compltly human and within their narrow window of programing can pass as human is interesting. The shadow talk indicating legends or rumors of such robots "waking up" and hiding amoung the human population was interesting as well, not something I trhink I would use in my games but still.
(Yes am avoiding terms like "power armor" or "mecha" do to some bad connotations.)
The idea that in Japan in 2065 there are robots that look compltly human and within their narrow window of programing can pass as human is interesting. The shadow talk indicating legends or rumors of such robots "waking up" and hiding amoung the human population was interesting as well, not something I trhink I would use in my games but still.
well take your avarage athroform drone, human size. then add the highest level robotic pilot you can get. add some of those other robot mods to. now things are starting to look good
think of it like a robotic crash test dummy but with a much more human like finish.
only problem i can see are the uncanny valley that i have seen people talk about lately. ie, if it looks close to human but not fully human people will react negatively to it. but give it big cute eyes and only marginal humanlike features and people will be more positive to it...
think of it like a robotic crash test dummy but with a much more human like finish.
only problem i can see are the uncanny valley that i have seen people talk about lately. ie, if it looks close to human but not fully human people will react negatively to it. but give it big cute eyes and only marginal humanlike features and people will be more positive to it...
| QUOTE (Kyoto Kid) |
| However, should particle beams show up in say 60-70 years or so, they would still be at best a heavy vehicle mount or mobile artillery if not primarily, a shipborne weapon. |
Well yeah, it's called ANDREWS. I don't see particle beam weapons being nearly man portable in SR4, unlike laser weapons. About the smallest I suspect we'll see is a vehicle based system. If SR has working railguns, I could see them improving the power systems enough to handle a small beam weapon.
I seem to remember that rail guns were listed in Riggers 3 but were ship mounted weapons.
well you could nail it to a large CAT to
| QUOTE (Stormdrake) |
| I seem to remember that rail guns were listed in Riggers 3 but were ship mounted weapons. |
ANDREWS is ship mounted only as of Rigger 3, I'm pretty sure. Railguns, however, were definitely tank-mounted. Azzies had something called a Xihocawhatchamacallit, it was a light railgun that was easily vehicle mounted. Did LN I think. There was also a Rheinmetal weapon that did MN. Rigger was never my thing, or I'd be able to give more details.
Your right, L most have gotten the ANDREWS and the rail gun mixed up.
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