SDN Worlds 4 Commentary Thread IV

[Simon_Jester]

Well, I'm not too sure about that last, Darkevilme; I'd want to check with Steve. It's a common contrivance across multiple settings, and it arguably serves the plot, but I wouldn't try to force anyone to hold to that standard of "hyper to normal" detector sensitivity.

Me, I'd figure that anything which generates a detectable signature in the form of whatever "hyperwaves" our FTL comms use (possibly certain kinds of weapons, starship drives, and other exotic processes) should be visible equally well in normal space or hyperspace- or at least the hyperwave component will.
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But yes, I'm talking about active interception between ships in hyperspace, as practiced in a number of my storylines here, not fixed-array hyperspace denial systems like the "interdictors" Fin is thinking about. Interdiction systems are mostly used just to make the idea of national borders something less than a complete joke by allowing traffic control along specific routes (such as hyperspace lanes). They may have other applications, but that's the main one.

Active interception is, well, my impression is that while it's "risky," it's risky in the sense that skydiving is risky, in that there are many things you must do correctly to make it work, and you need the tools to do the job properly. But there are people who skydive on a regular basis for a living, and military tactics that rely entirely on parachute jumps- while it's risky, it's not unacceptably so.

What really allows enforceable borders, at least in theory, is the combination of sensitive hyperspace DEW systems that tell you someone's coming, and the ability to send warships to intercept them if they don't follow your instructions. Of course, in practice these borders are going to be rather permeable, at least to small ships moving cautiously, but not so much to battlefleets.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

The only thing of course is that one wastes on a perfectly good ship if the navigator so much as make a small error.

Unless of course, there's actually a way to expand the field momentarily and destabilize the other ship's field, while keeping them at a distance. On the other hand, this has an implication on how tight a formation a fleet can have when jumping into hyperspace together.

[Simon_Jester]

The only thing of course is that one wastes on a perfectly good ship if the navigator so much as make a small error.

There are a lot of ways to waste a perfectly good life if something goes wrong during a parachute jump, too; that doesn't stop people.

I don't think physical contact is actually required: Bragulans might do it that way but they're crazy. So far I've portrayed it being done with tractor beams, which implies at least a certain degree of standoff spacing, while deliberately avoiding the question of just how much standoff spacing.

[Shroom Man 777]

With that, I am done with Nah Oslo's glourious adventure in Pendleton.

I hope Steve won't kill me for that.

Nah Oslo will return... to the Centrality!

[Simon_Jester]

Magnificent.

I can see that the Umerian precognitives' decision to stay home was well founded indeed...

[Siege]

Still owed it to Darkevilme to finish that, and since I'm so bloody late to get it up Olympic is in a decent mood for this convo .

[Agent Sorchus]

Simon_Jester

Yeah I don't entirely follow that reasoning, because combat at ftl is possible at least for a specialist. We know physical contact is possible in ftl (ie tow cables and grapnels) so logically so long as a weapon does physical damage and is connected to a hyperdrive with a physical tether it is going to be viable. Hence one of the best weapons is the ram so long as you can maneuver into the enemy. It just isn't lasers and energy weapons that are going to be normal in a hyperspace duelists repertoire.

Hint I have already shown hyperspace combat in the power rangers story.

[Chaotic Neutral]

Ok, there's a new Empire in the mix.

The Multiversal Empire of Happiness (MEH) is at 26 A, 26 B, 25 A, and 25 B.

Population is human.

(I don't know how to change the maps, could someone do it for me?)

[Simon_Jester]

I'm assuming you squared all this with Steve, CN.

Hmm. If you like happiness, you could try fighting some orks. That would make them happy, at least...

Simon_Jester

Yeah I don't entirely follow that reasoning, because combat at ftl is possible at least for a specialist. We know physical contact is possible in ftl (ie tow cables and grapnels) so logically so long as a weapon does physical damage and is connected to a hyperdrive with a physical tether it is going to be viable. Hence one of the best weapons is the ram so long as you can maneuver into the enemy. It just isn't lasers and energy weapons that are going to be normal in a hyperspace duelists repertoire.

Hint I have already shown hyperspace combat in the power rangers story.

Ack. Sorry, missed that.

(I also missed Steve's original invocation of the classical "hyper limit;" you're not alone on this).

Personally, I haven't tried to include the concept of FTL combat, not least because I can't figure out what kind of weapons would be dual-role. Ramming strikes me as a fancy form of murder-suicide; physical impactors connected to your hull when they hit the enemy still require you to be uncomfortably close to the enemy as they fall apart... especially given the energetic results that we get during certain kinds of hyperdrive malfunctions up (as in Steve's backstory, the death of the previous King of Anglia).

If you can have missile duels in hyperspace, I'm not sure why you can't launch hyper-capable gunships while in hyperspace (you can't, at least the last time I checked with Steve). If forced to come up with something that would both work and not ring my mental alarm bells I'd try to build some kind of high-intensity version of an FTL comm beam, a "hyperwave laser" or the like...

Dunno.

[Agent Sorchus]

Personally, I haven't tried to include the concept of FTL combat, not least because I can't figure out what kind of weapons would be dual-role. Ramming strikes me as a fancy form of murder-suicide; physical impactors connected to your hull when they hit the enemy still require you to be uncomfortably close to the enemy as they fall apart... especially given the energetic results that we get during certain kinds of hyperdrive malfunctions up (as in Steve's backstory, the death of the previous King of Anglia).

If you can have missile duels in hyperspace, I'm not sure why you can't launch hyper-capable gunships while in hyperspace (you can't, at least the last time I checked with Steve). If forced to come up with something that would both work and not ring my mental alarm bells I'd try to build some kind of high-intensity version of an FTL comm beam, a "hyperwave laser" or the like...

Dunno.

It isn't that they have to be truly connected to your hull, they have to be as connected as a the tractor/ tethers that people use to pull ships out of hyperspace. Yes this is close, close enough that doing the simpler thing of actually pulling them out is usually good enough. But in the case of a specialist attacking something more powerful than it.. the speciallist may have weapons that work decently at hyperspace (ie the ranger's wire guided missiles) while the more powerful ship would thrash them if it could fire (most ships wouldn't trade generic weapons for short ranged ftl only weapons after all).

Also not being able to launch hyper capable gunships in hyperspace makes no sense. Launching wouldn't be any harder than intercepting (since at least common interceptors need the grapnel contact to work) and uses much of the same technology.

[Shinn Langley Soryu]

Ok, there's a new Empire in the mix.

The Multiversal Empire of Happiness (MEH) is at 26 A, 26 B, 25 A, and 25 B.

Population is human.

(I don't know how to change the maps, could someone do it for me?)

Out in the boonies rimward of the Chamarran Hierarchy, eh? Yeah, I'd also go with Simon's suggestion and try to find happiness by fighting the main Ork holdings out to spinward of your position.

[Chaotic Neutral]

Why not just become the first non-Ork Warboss instead?

I will take them with the promise of a "Bigga' Battle Dan Evah Before"!

If not, I can always give them a superlaser to their flagship.

[Shroom Man 777]

Can you tell us more about your nation?

[Chaotic Neutral]

I'm in the process of writing the wiki page, so not to long now, check for my nations name in the wiki in about 30 minutes.

Or I could copy stuff and put it here?

[Darkevilme]

Out in the boonies rimward of the Chamarran Hierarchy, eh? Yeah, I'd also go with Simon's suggestion and try to find happiness by fighting the main Ork holdings out to spinward of your position.

I always thought Rimward was south on the map, with coreward being north.
Also, neighbours..curious.
Also Also, huzzah the meeting of the minds begins. I might be slow to respond as i'm in the last few weeks of my semester though and shit got busy. But i shall respond!

[Chaotic Neutral]

Also, neighbours..curious.

Don't be so glad, you just lost 3 days of inter-system trade.

[Steve]

Also, neighbours..curious.

Don't be so glad, you just lost 3 days of inter-system trade.

What precisely do you mean by that?

[Darkevilme]

Also, neighbours..curious.

Don't be so glad, you just lost 3 days of inter-system trade.

What precisely do you mean by that?

Chaotic has the arrival of his nation (done in a manner similar to the arrival of the Central alliance in NW) causing nearly 3 days of hyperspace disruption sufficient to inhibit FTL travel for multiple sectors around where he arrived.

[Steve]

Ah, I see.

Well, no. No, I don't think I'll be having that.

[Chaotic Neutral]

It's just 3 days, I doubt that would make a significant impact on a nations GDP.

[Shroom Man 777]

Hey Akhlut, did you like my depiction of the NenAltKik's contributions to Pendleton?

[Akhlut]

Hey Akhlut, did you like my depiction of the NenAltKik's contributions to Pendleton?

Yeah, I only had a slight problem with the moxli (singluar: moxi), insofar as they're not velociraptors but oviraptors. Otherwise, quite good, quite good.

[Chaotic Neutral]

I wonder what the Orks will think of my message?

[Shroom Man 777]

Hey Akhlut, did you like my depiction of the NenAltKik's contributions to Pendleton?

Yeah, I only had a slight problem with the moxli (singluar: moxi), insofar as they're not velociraptors but oviraptors. Otherwise, quite good, quite good.

Aw man, Simon kept telling me about velociraptors and stuff!

[Alyrium Denryle]

Hey Akhlut, did you like my depiction of the NenAltKik's contributions to Pendleton?

Yeah, I only had a slight problem with the moxli (singluar: moxi), insofar as they're not velociraptors but oviraptors. Otherwise, quite good, quite good.

Aw man, Simon kept telling me about velociraptors and stuff!

It is why Akhlut should get on AIM and join the nightly chat sessions.