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Re: Random Ideas X, Random Hard With a Vengeance

Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2016 6:58 pm
by speaker-to-trolls
Oh, to Shroom Re. Necrons:

I haven't really researched them properly but I gather from lurking around nerdsites that the 'Newcrons' can have human slaves, and that these can be either normal humans cowering in fear of being vaporised or cybernetically controlled borg-thralls.

Which, actually, means living under the Necrons is probably about the same as living under the Imperium for most people.

Hmm.

To Invictus,

Re. Guard units: having checked the wiki pages,yes, you are right that the ASL would work better here. Not the Krieg though, never the goddamned Krieg.

Re. The Cardinal and cult: I am starting to get a sense of this guy as something of a maverick and perhaps also seeing Pallas and it's cult as a source of something useful to reform the Imperium. Just as the Techies want it's technology, he wants it's philosophy, a philosophy of emptying the mind of feelings and desires in favour of an abstract ideal. Just make that ideal the Emperor.

Incidentally this ties into my thoughts about the Imperial religion: the ideal Emperor worshipper doesn't want anything, not even to serve the Emperor, they accept that serving the Emperor is their purpose. They also don't hate their enemies, they just know that those enemies must be killed (the Imperium is so hateful because most people can't achieve this Zen of Murder,so hate is the easiest way to motivate them and the Priests just hope that it won't go nicely with Khorne Flakes if they sing hymns while they rage). The Cardinal might well think that he's onto something that could really bring that ideal to the wider Imperium, while the rest of the church has compromised too much of it.

Re. Psychic Pseudo Saint; sounds like an excellent part of the arc!

And covering a wheelchair in bones is exactly the sort of thing the fucking Imperium would do :P

Booted Vulture: I have to admit I don't think I've ever seen or read a fight scene in space with human sized combatants, save the one in First Contact. Which is odd since you'd think that was what Space Marines of any type would be for...

PS: Anybody mind if I were to make a separate thread for this once I have my thoughts together, so that this thread can theoretically be used for its original purpose?

Re: Random Ideas X, Random Hard With a Vengeance

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2017 5:14 am
by Shroom Man 777
Crosspost from the SDN "Design a hard sci-fi-warship (RAR)."

I would go crazy and make it some double-hulled thing where the external hull is mostly some huge ass aerogel armoring, a kinetic impact-absorbing AND direct energy weapon-dissimating marshmallow coating around the central manned or unmanned pod + propulsion system. The weapons would protrude through this soft puffy "armor"... so the central pod (be it spherical or cylindrical or rectangulocubical) would have "spokes" like a bicycle or something that reach THROUGH the marshmallow armoring. These spokes/turubles can be rigid but with joints, allowing for lines to provide power for the externally-mounted lasers, or for the PHOTONIC MASTS, sensors, comms or access ports for the external docking bays. And control of the engines. Missile systems can be pseudo-isolated externally, with the marshmallow enabling blowout, and the tubule-spoke can just be for command purposes.

It would be a space AMOEBA-ZEPPELIN.

Hmmm... more conservative pod-like vessels ala Knife's ship... the KNIFESHIP... could be the regular combat vehicles.

Vessels that don't need marshmallow armor because they make up for it with small target profiles and agility.

Mine... the reason for the large size and surface area of the puffy marshmallow armor, as opposed to miniaturization, would be... because it also carries valuable cargo? So it is either a HEIGHLINER carrying valuable spice or whatever fuels, or transporting troops or other assets, or it will poop out DRONES or can itself act as an area-control ship. Presumably for the KNIFESHIPS that use compact size rather than marshmallow armor.

SHROOMSHIPS.

The tubule-spokes could connect to really huge detachable external solar panels/radiators that can look like enormous sails or fins. So this puffy marshmallow ship can look like an enormous SUNFISH. A MOLA MOLA!

Re: Random Ideas X, Random Hard With a Vengeance

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2017 10:24 am
by Siege
I quite fancy the idea of hollowing out a big chunk of space rock. Carve it from an asteroid, cover it with ice from other asteroids, dig deep bunkers and turn the whole thing into a spacegoing Cheyenne Mountain. Mount everything on giant shock absorbers; maybe steal your aerogel idea and engineer the gel in such a way that the shock layer doubles as an additional emergency radiation shield.

Propulsion-wise the Alcatraz is fitted with several independent drives pointing multiple directions. This is partly for reasons of redundancy and survivability, but also because it's got a ton of mass and this way it can propel in more than one direction without having to spin itself around all the time (which would cost oodles of mass, and because we chose a big asteroid engine space is cheaper than reaction mass by a country mile).

Because it's a giant space rock once it moves, it keeps moving. It can destroy most space stations without firing any weapons: it just rams through them, or glides gently past and then briefly fires up one of its drives, which is effectively a gigantic particle cannon strike. The rock and the ice serve as armor and as a heat sink; when this ship starts slinging around serious amounts of energy the outer ice will evaporate first, causing it to start outgassing like a passing comet.

I suppose you could fit the usual array of rail laser gun cannons and such, though I suspect the only real way to deal massive damage quickly is to ram it with another space rock. In which case it might be better to just focus on making the main drives/cannons as powerful as possible and stick to only a handful of deployable ships/drones/fighters to fend off annoying boarders or oil rig crews trying to drill holes in the hull.

It's huge, completely unsubtle, and probably best as a weapon for belters to deal with inner planet folk, because if it's used in anger it can always simply engage THE GOLGOTHA PROTOCOL and fall on a planet to fuck it up bigly. Gravity, bitches! How's it working for you now! It would be a great way to make a point. Don't make me come over there!

Re: Random Ideas X, Random Hard With a Vengeance

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2017 3:37 pm
by Shroom Man 777
Man I would like to see a Gundam-esque pseudo-hard sci fi solar system-scale conflict... but with WEAPONIZED SPACE ROCKS as the iconic weapons platforms piloted by the bishie philosophizing dueling ace protagonists! Imagine, close ups to their angsty faces screaming so passionately and philosophizing and being legitimately awesome, but then it pans out and we just see two rocks shooting or ramming each other!

Re: Random Ideas X, Random Hard With a Vengeance

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 1:19 pm
by Siege
Rockship fights could be like those stereotypical Samurai duels, where you probably only get one cut in and then you're either victorious, or dead. So you get plenty close-ups on the face of the captain as he's trying to out-think his opponent as they race into weapons range. Then it's ZAP ZAP CRASH over, and they zoom away from each other, but one's completely cored by close range megabeams and left to spiral into Jupiter, and the other just suffered a glancing blow to its ice shield.

MADA MADA

Re: Random Ideas X, Random Hard With a Vengeance

Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2017 7:14 am
by Heretic
So I got drunk a while back and proclaimed to some of my friends online I could make a hard(ish) sci fi universe mixed with the magical girl genre. Not psionics, not Arthur C Clarke's Third Law about Sufficiently Advanced Technology, but actual no shit anime-style, Sailor Moon MAGIC.

I think I'm way over my head now, fam.

My sister even cajoled me out of twenty dollaroos for some artwork for this project.


I've been looking at the Atomic Rocket website to acquaint myself in the science of science fiction. I only had a very very basic Science education in Middle and High School, so this is a lot of stuff to learn.

I've made a few polities and even begun the process of cannibalizing some of my unfinished projects here for this. Torchships are the way to go due to RAW NUCLEAR POWA and "stealth" in space works by hiding the loadout inside the spaceship until the time is right, with battles being a sort of card game since you don't know what the enemy ship might have (unless spies are inside and know what's up).

This is like one of the most exciting science fiction settings I'm developing (Hardcore Regenesis is great and all, but I'm just treading old ground with new features there)....

And then I remembered this was a magical girl series too. I'm thinking magic came through from Man's first attempt at FTL. It opened a wormhole into an alternate Solar System that was developed differently, and in between that the laws of reality got fucked over, resulting in magical girls (the concept of "magical Girl" in an era where sex changes are fairly easy to do would be an interesting topic to tackle) to exist. Since this is seriously Magic, I don't have to worry too much about the rationales behind it, but there needs to be limits and consequences. Like what is in the realm of possibility, its effects on society, etc. etc. I know for one I want magical girls to be a form of FTL communication.

What else should I think about on the magical side of things? I'm on a mental high right now due to lack of sleep and finally getting some Hardcore Regenesis stuff done. Also Moby's Sunder transfer project is bro tier material; keep it up mang.

Yeah I should go to sleep before my grammar and train of thought gets even more ruined.

Here's the artwork to show how much of a hole I'm in now. All credit goes to Blackwolf008.
Image

Image

Re: Random Ideas X, Random Hard With a Vengeance

Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2017 3:32 pm
by wellis
This idea looks neat. Would magical girls also possibly be the means of FTL travel in this idea? Hmm if it's hard-ish, perhaps there might not be artificial gravity on ships but how might magical girls help lrotect against acceration in your opinion?

Re: Random Ideas X, Random Hard With a Vengeance

Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 5:49 pm
by speaker-to-trolls
Heretic, that is an awesome concept :P what kind of powers do you imagine the girls having?

Re: Random Ideas X, Random Hard With a Vengeance

Posted: Fri Apr 28, 2017 2:46 am
by Heretic
Woah, didn't realize people responded to my drunken idea of magical girls/hard sci fi.
Wellis wrote:
This idea looks neat. Would magical girls also possibly be the means of FTL travel in this idea? Hmm if it's hard-ish, perhaps there might not be artificial gravity on ships but how might magical girls help lrotect against acceration in your opinion?
No FTL travel with them, but FTL communication would probably work. As for protection from acceleration, I doubt magical girls can do that much; their powers are mostly personal, only moderately helpful in ship operations but not to the point of breaking the laws of physics (aside from y'know, actual magic existing).
speaker-to-trolls wrote: Tue Apr 25, 2017 5:49 pm Heretic, that is an awesome concept :P what kind of powers do you imagine the girls having?
I dunno yet, but stuff like levitation, elemental manipulation, and limited forms of scrying would be within that purview. I was thinking one of their most important function is to serve as a primitive form of FTL communication.

Re: Random Ideas X, Random Hard With a Vengeance

Posted: Mon Oct 14, 2019 11:25 pm
by Booted Vulture
Not an idea but a resource.

mech pics on imgur

Re: Random Ideas X, Random Hard With a Vengeance

Posted: Fri Oct 09, 2020 11:44 pm
by wellis
We now know protosabers are a reality:
https://youtu.be/xC6J4T_hUKg

Also, I guess Total Extinction made that call years ago as well:
BEAM SWORDS

An elegant weapon, the Beam Sword is only affordable to the rich and powerful. A status symbol, the Beam Sword is not to be confused with the Lightsabre, as it does not poerate from crystal technology. The beam sword is like a powerful plasma torch that is controlled by a very complex system of gravity beams, to shape it into a meter-long blade that can slice through any known material with ease. Extremely expensive, Beam Swords are only a dream to the common man, they only see the weapon in use during the Olympics. The Beam Sword is often coupled with fencing-style tactics, although Star Wars-style styles are not uncommon. The main maunfacturer of Beam Swords is, of course, LME.

Re: Random Ideas X, Random Hard With a Vengeance

Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2020 12:37 am
by Siege
:shock: :D

Well, we all knew Moby was from the future already with his dystopic take on American politics, but that just double confirms it I guess.