Design it to use a high power laser rifle with variable fire settings of single shot , 3 round burst of fully automatic , Operated by a power source similar to that of a MK III suit. Place it on a tripod with a ball and socket joint allowing for a 360 degree field of fire. Use a variable targeting system capable of radar , visual or voice command targeting. Also build in a wireless up link system to allow it to send data directly to the owners HUD in real time.
Alright well first off this thing is gonna be pretty damn expensive. I assume you want a cutting laser when you say "high power laser rifle". And it can't exactly have a 3 round burst if it's a laser, it's either on or off and it's better to just have it on for a second or so and sweep it across targets. A ball and socket design is gonna be very complex since it needs ways to actually move and aim on that socket, so a simple design of rotating on a plane with servos to articulate the gun on a platform is probably gonna be a better one.
Now, a variable targeting system is all fine, but, assuming you want it to be autonomous you're gonna have a problem with allowing it to infer what is and isn't a target simply from visual data. You could do something like making it target motion fairly easily, but a system you can just set down and it can understand what is and isn't a threat is gonna be harder. Voice command might be even harder unless you're just using simple commands like "Fire ahead" or "Fire at movement". I mean, saying "Fire at the enemy" is a hell of a lot more complex then you'd think. The computer has to know what the enemy is, be able to identify it in some way, differentiate it from non-enemies, scenery and friendlies; it's all very complex.
The wireless link up is easy though. Thats just a camera system.
Add transceivers to both the manipulator and the claw, so that their relative location can be gauged. Create a joystick with one stick and three buttons to the right of it - a red one marked "OPEN CLAW" and two blue buttons marked "UP" and "DOWN", grouped by color. Use the one-token generator for MagFM power. The joystick should not be wireless.
Now for the main component!
Summon a datapad. Remove all extraneous bits such as built-in screens and keyboards, leaving the integral computer parts (CPU and other stuff) and storage medium intact. Preserve (or create) functional external video output port, keyboard input port, joystick input port, command output port, also give the datapad a more compact, durable plastic shell. Plug the joystick into the appropriate port.
Connect the transceiver to the datapad as well. Finally, install a command input port to the manipulator. Connect the two command ports as tightly and inextricably as possible.
Okay, now I have to find somebody who can understand the crazy math in these things and program the all-important stuff.
See if I can message the smartest fellow I know, Mesk, while in VR. If I can, pester him.
"Hey, uh, Mesk. Remember how I gave you this token out of the kindness of my heart instead of using it to buy all kinds of wicked crazy armament? Well, I have something you might come in handy for. Know anything about programming computers? Also, how good are you at math?"
So are you attempting to wire that joystick into the Manipulator? because if you are, The Tinker program is going to stop you from accessing the internal parts of the manipulator.
Assist the troops in the trench and if possible raise morale.
[dex:5+1]
You leap down into the trench and bull doze your way through, crushing altered beneath your feet and pinching their heads and mutated limbs off between your fingers as you charge through their ranks. You're fairly certain you crushed a few soldiers as well, but it's rather hard not to when you're 6 meters tall.
You manage to drive the altered back and out of the trench, but the armored vehicle to the right of you succumbs to the hordes and the massive altered best continues to gain ground as it approaches the trench, a new horde swarming around it's elephantine feet.
((Any useful vehicle should be powerful enough to carry its own power source, especially given the possibilities given by future tech.))
Lars eyes the couch. Well, this is something he can do! He approaches the metal man.
"Sir, please stand from this broken couch- I wish to repair it."
Fix the couch!
[handi:2]
"Yes, I wish to repair it! I wish I could repair it! However, I cannot, because I am inept. By the way, Have I told you about the gazer?"
"Can he repair the couch?" Lukas asks, staring down at the wood, fabric and stuffing pulp that was a couch once.
"Probably not."
"Then I don't want to hear about it."
((@ baldman: i get a natural +1 to aux, so i could help with programming stuff, i think
[int:3] Hmm the main problem appears to be that the teams didn't coordinate their actions well. That and the fact that they seem to have been filled with idiots.
Lovely
Well, prototypes are given for new things, not just generators with what amounts to power adapters on them. You'll find that you may have to do more then just have a generator though, since, for instance, the laser rifle uses non-rechargeable chemical batteries. As per the armory master, she doesn't care about making tokens.
Darn, didn't know about the chemical batteries. Are there other weapons/utilities whose batteries also aren't rechargeable?
We'll may have to design new batteries too, in this case.
Of note: I'll probably be rebalancing the cost for manipulator batteries. They are as they are right now for a game balancing reason, but I went overboard and it doesn't actually make sense in universe. What will happen is you'll probably see all the batteries become a single cost, since, in universe, all manipulators use the same amount of energy.
Happy to hear this, seeing how i'll be using manipulators extensively. Am I correct in the assumption that the user is worn down due to the exhausting calculations one needs to make? Would it be feasible, then, to channel part of the workload to a computer, thereby lessening the drain on Will?))
Well, there are other problems. For instance, the tesla arc's wiring actually burns out as it's battery is used up, so the entire weapon become useless very quickly, regardless of power source. Gotta remember that these are almost all relics of a war that ended almost 900 years ago, a war in which the laser rifles weren't made rechargeable because the average soldier didn't live long enough to need a second battery.
Take a microwave manipulator, and wire it up to a basic miniaturized computer (iphone size). Program the computer to record the calculations for past manipulator uses, and let you re-use those calculations as a starting point (or even an exact copy) for future uses. If this proves successful, try the technique with other manipulators.
The tinker program rejects your attempts to wire anything into the manipulator. Strangely, it doesn't allow you to examine the internal schematics of the manipulator either.