SDN Worlds 4 Commentary Thread IV

[Force Lord]

Started up the introduction for the Order of the Black Star. You'll see these shady guys in the future.

[Master_Baerne]

Hey - I probably won't be able to post for the next week or so, so try not to blow up the galaxy. Pretty please, for the sake of the Space Ants?

[Akhlut]

That's how you experiment on ESPers, CN.

[Chaotic Neutral]

That's how you experiment on ESPers, CN.

Interesting, but not what I'm looking for. I don't want super psykic soldiers, just a bit of precog for all of them. Quantity over quality with ESPers.

High level ESPers are for tanks and orbital bombardment.

[Force Lord]

FYI those sending spy or stealth ships to C-6, the Datton's staying for a few weeks at C-6. Who knows, you may bump into it by accident.

[Shroom Man 777]

I love your wiki article on the Black Star, Force Lord.

Finally the LESBO ZONE is canon!

[Force Lord]

I wonder, why zone divisions were never placed on the map?

[Shroom Man 777]

Because they were solely my invention and others may not agree with it (or, like, my naming their territories RAR Space, Loin Stars, Lesbo Zone or Pussycat Stars).

I think it is awesome though.

[Akhlut]

That's how you experiment on ESPers, CN.

Interesting, but not what I'm looking for. I don't want super psykic soldiers, just a bit of precog for all of them. Quantity over quality with ESPers.

High level ESPers are for tanks and orbital bombardment.

Well, it was more that you simply abduct them in a stealthy manner, don't broadcast a message to everyone saying "HEY, GIMME SOME ESPERS."

Plus, the intellect devourer isn't a psyker at all; it's an anti-psyker that eats psychic energy. OM NOM NOM NOM.

[Simon_Jester]

Hey - I probably won't be able to post for the next week or so, so try not to blow up the galaxy. Pretty please, for the sake of the Space Ants?

[Tackles Umerian mad scientist]

"No! Bad Dr. Murderstein! No blowing up the galaxy! That makes space ants cry! Bad!"

[Sends mad scientist to go stand in the corner, dismantles his apparatus]

[Darkevilme]

Hey - I probably won't be able to post for the next week or so, so try not to blow up the galaxy. Pretty please, for the sake of the Space Ants?

And there we were about to declare galactic 'koprula zone rules' year and everything, okay Baerne no apocalypse till after you get back.

[fgalkin]

Small crappy update up. Now, I can get to BEEEFing in my next post!

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[KlavoHunter]

Small crappy update up. Now, I can get to BEEEFing in my next post!

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

When the Bragulans cook the beeef-piigs luau-style with hot nuclear coals, you must show devout muslims unable to resist but feast on pork.

[Steve]

And the Solarian Adventure begins!

[Darkevilme]

Forcelord, I appreciate your desire to interact..really i do but there's two issues with your post i feel i kinda gotta mention. The minor one first, if the ships set off at the same time by my reckoning you'd arrive between 8 and 10 days into the Audacity's journey, and they probably set off first cause it was my idea first to send a ship to spy on this place.

The major one is that a stealth ship that is detectable upon entering the system is nearly useless. As if it gets detected arriving it'll put folks on alert and active sensors will get menacing(plus if stealth ships cant jump in cloaked then how did the lost not see YOU arriving?). also Shinn Hokkaido would of been impossible without the ability to jump in while remaining cloaked and as atrociouly fubar as that operation was it is canon.

Sorry FL, do try an alternative explaination if you wish though or if an opportunity presents itself later in the snooping.

[Chaotic Neutral]

nvm

[Simon_Jester]

Forcelord, I appreciate your desire to interact..really i do but there's two issues with your post i feel i kinda gotta mention. The minor one first, if the ships set off at the same time by my reckoning you'd arrive between 8 and 10 days into the Audacity's journey, and they probably set off first cause it was my idea first to send a ship to spy on this place.

I'd allow for GODDAMN UNREAL TIME in this instance, D.

The major one is that a stealth ship that is detectable upon entering the system is nearly useless. As if it gets detected arriving it'll put folks on alert and active sensors will get menacing(plus if stealth ships cant jump in cloaked then how did the lost not see YOU arriving?). also Shinn Hokkaido would of been impossible without the ability to jump in while remaining cloaked and as atrociouly fubar as that operation was it is canon.

Sorry FL, do try an alternative explaination if you wish though or if an opportunity presents itself later in the snooping.

I'm not fully sure that "able to be detected" should be considered the same as "will reliably be detected." For Datton (itself a ship designed to sit there being a hole in space, pick up sensitive intelligence, and the like) to spot a stealth ship moving into position is hardly unreasonable.

The problem with Centrality stealth technology seems to have more to do with the training and doctrine (bad) than with the hardware, after all.

[fgalkin]

Well, it also detected what may or may not be my spy drones, so I'd say the Datton's sensors are a little too good for my taste. One time is a fluke. Four times is a pattern.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Agent Sorchus]

Then again the Centrality has good reason to put effort towards detecting stealth craft since the Eoghan's 70$ cruisers are all stealthy and would in a wartime happily trash a system if they could remain undetected. Maybe for a little destroyer it is a bit much though.

[Darkevilme]

Okay, after further consideration and consultation FL i'm gonna roll with letting you pick up the Audacity for a moment as it emerged. I'll think of some way to write a response to it.

[Simon_Jester]

Well, it also detected what may or may not be my spy drones, so I'd say the Datton's sensors are a little too good for my taste. One time is a fluke. Four times is a pattern.

Well, you have been out of touch with the outside galaxy for the last seven thousand years; a few technical developments are bound to surprise you.

Seriously, it's an occupational hazard in first contact situations: one side's idea of a superweapon may be the other side's idea of a bad joke, and (theoretically) vice versa.

Then again the Centrality has good reason to put effort towards detecting stealth craft since the Eoghan's 70$ cruisers are all stealthy and would in a wartime happily trash a system if they could remain undetected. Maybe for a little destroyer it is a bit much though.

As I mentioned once before, I don't think that detection capability should scale uniformly with the cost of the platform. There have to be reasons why people bother with scouts and screening elements; it doesn't make a lot of sense to do so if a battleship can detect things from ten times farther away than a gunboat, and do so reliably.

[Chaotic Neutral]

Then again the Centrality has good reason to put effort towards detecting stealth craft since the Eoghan's 70$ cruisers are all stealthy and would in a wartime happily trash a system if they could remain undetected. Maybe for a little destroyer it is a bit much though.

As I mentioned once before, I don't think that detection capability should scale uniformly with the cost of the platform. There have to be reasons why people bother with scouts and screening elements; it doesn't make a lot of sense to do so if a battleship can detect things from ten times farther away than a gunboat, and do so reliably.

It should give less an effect the more you pay for it. A $500 battleship wouldn't have sensors 10x as good as a $50 ship, but it might have 3x better sensors.

That being said, if you have money dedicated to sensors at the expense of other things, that's when you can get an $80 ship with better sensors than a $500 ship.

[Siege]

I'm not fully sure that "able to be detected" should be considered the same as "will reliably be detected." For Datton (itself a ship designed to sit there being a hole in space, pick up sensitive intelligence, and the like) to spot a stealth ship moving into position is hardly unreasonable.

Keeping in mind that apparently DE and FL have already resolved this matter I nonetheless want to say this in response: the Sneakily Does It was (apparently) not detected by the Byzantine-Cevaucian-Holy Empire-Solarian fleet contingent at Shin-Hokkaido despite said contingent pouring the equivalent of about 50,000 standard tons of warship sensor power whatsits into local space. I find it increasingly unlikely that the Centrality would somehow be able to pick up the trace of a stealth ship when their only vessel in-system is another small spy ship running - presumably - on passive sensors entirely.

[fgalkin]

I'm not fully sure that "able to be detected" should be considered the same as "will reliably be detected." For Datton (itself a ship designed to sit there being a hole in space, pick up sensitive intelligence, and the like) to spot a stealth ship moving into position is hardly unreasonable.

Keeping in mind that apparently DE and FL have already resolved this matter I nonetheless want to say this in response: the Sneakily Does It was (apparently) not detected by the Byzantine-Cevaucian-Holy Empire-Solarian fleet contingent at Shin-Hokkaido despite said contingent pouring the equivalent of about 50,000 standard tons of warship sensor power whatsits into local space. I find it increasingly unlikely that the Centrality would somehow be able to pick up the trace of a stealth ship when their only vessel in-system is another small spy ship running - presumably - on passive sensors entirely.

Yeah, but didn't they refit the whole stealthship fleet since your got your hands on the Sneakily Does It? Maybe they actually made them MORE detectable, not less.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Simon_Jester]

It occurs to me that the sheer volume of active-sensor saturation of the surrounding space may have done more harm than good. With four different fleets in the system (no three of which have all that much experience working together, as far as I know), there's a real chance of creating an environment so cluttered that something sufficiently low-signature might simply escape detection. Or that anyone who does spot it will mistake it for something else, say one of their allies' reconnaissance drones.

That's especially true for someone stooging around on the fringes of the system, rather than being anywhere near the Collector Monoliths that are no doubt the focus of all attention. Sneakily Does It may have actually profited from all the noise being kicked up around her during her insertion into the system.

Over and above that, there's always the matter of luck.

Honestly, I'm inclined to handwave it for the sake of actually having an interesting story. Posit good Centralist sensors, a certain amount of luck, and the fact that unlike the Shinn-Hokkaido fleet the Centralists don't have giant mountainous creepy robot space battleships to draw their attention.