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Author Topic: Defense Contractors- Weaponry Design RtD  (Read 3066 times)

Sensei

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Re: Defense Contractors- Weaponry Design RtD
« Reply #45 on: April 23, 2013, 11:14:27 pm »

...the system I used here wasn't as fleshed out as I'd like it to be.
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RAM

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Re: Defense Contractors- Weaponry Design RtD
« Reply #46 on: April 23, 2013, 11:24:09 pm »

Which is why a patent seems like a good idea, if your x-ray shotgun doesn't win a contract, but everyone starts using your x-ray scope, then you would still make a profit from your research. But if nobody wanted your x-ray scope, then you wouldn't get anything. This would give it a game-play reward for doing good research without just refunding all the research costs. As for what would be a valid patent fee, that would be a game-play issue. Make it too high and folk have little reason to ue established technology, make it too low and nobody will ever make a profit. Or you could let people set a price, so I could make a standardised accessory attachment and put a low patent on it, say 50C, I won't see any profit until it has been used in 21 designs by other people, but it is cheap an universal so that may well happen. I might like my extra-long rifled barrel, but it is a niche item that will likely see little use, so I could set the patent at, say, 750, so I get a healthy profit if just two designs use it and folk still get a small discount over researching it themselves, although they might just use a public domain barrel instead... Something like a single-shot light chamber might be good for a concealable weapon, and to get it to work effectively it may take a lot of time to refine the design, I might actually set the patent to be more expensive than the research costs because it is likely to see very little use and folk are likely to be willing to spend a little extra to save having to spend multiple turns refining their own version.
 The obvious problem is that this requires extra tracking on the part of the G.M.. The custom version would require that every component have a patent rating. All variants would require that the researcher be tracked. Income would be coming from other players which would complicate things beyond just the G.M. handing out coinage. And if the players are not setting patent amounts then the G.M. has to figure out what would be good, probably basing it upon how many uses would be required to make a profit. And the current system works, there is little incentive to research, but if your design won't work without it then you are going to have to bite the proverbial bullet sooner or later...
 An alternative approach would be that research gets you an income from elsewhere, maybe from the civilian market. Maybe something like <total cost of research>/(3/20) for 7 turns. You get a profit but it takes a while...

Patent system=complicated.
Income=takes the risk out.
No refund=whiners.
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GrizzlyAdamz

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Re: Defense Contractors- Weaponry Design RtD
« Reply #47 on: April 24, 2013, 05:52:13 am »

I feel like we're playing with fire here, discussing the game instead of playing it, but:

I think if we players had a modicum of organization,  we could keep track of our trading ourselves/make it easy to collect this information. Just use a nice bright color on finalized trades.
Once you've settled on the price, just incorporate it into your posts in a spoilered section, along with what patents you currently own.

Depending on exactly what the mechanics are,  adding a small cost to refining designs would add incentive to buying research that got good rolls,  above and beyond saving turns- it could even turn the percieved lack of incentive into a system that encourages it, with high profits for all those participating in the trading.

But yep. How goes the surprise 550?
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Cheesecake

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Re: Defense Contractors- Weaponry Design RtD
« Reply #48 on: April 24, 2013, 06:04:08 am »

To the thing about my hyperexpensive research projects: many real-world militaries spend millions to come up with ideas. I decided to go all-out because thee aren't any mechanics yet pertaining to worker salary or any taxes, meaning that in the time being I can spend a lot of money before their implemented. I want the launcher to be as advanced and optimised before I present it. I don't want to step with a good launcher. I wan't an awesome one.

"Good is the enemy of great." -Jim Collins
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a1s

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Re: Defense Contractors- Weaponry Design RtD
« Reply #49 on: April 24, 2013, 11:39:41 am »

I think if we players had a modicum of organization,  we could keep track of our trading ourselves/make it easy to collect this information. Just use a nice bright color on finalized trades.
Once you've settled on the price, just incorporate it into your posts in a spoilered section, along with what patents you currently own.
This-make binding trades in green (with non-binding shittalk in regular colour). Each player only needs to keep track of who they sell their patents to (so it's only an O(n) task for each of us)- if you don't make a claim on an unauthorised use of the patent (which you have 2 phases to do- until the end of Phase III: feedback), you miss out on the money (so no back money for stuff that's already shipped). If they haven't bought the patent use and the device is ready to ship when you discover this- then you got them by the proverbial balls (either they pay through the nose, or they don't get to sell their weapon). So both parties have an incentive to keep track.
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Tsuchigumo550

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Re: Defense Contractors- Weaponry Design RtD
« Reply #50 on: April 24, 2013, 03:58:55 pm »

Well, the surprise comes with a major reworking of the engine, and it's taking longer than I'd hoped. There'll be more than guns to make, and actual stats will be implemented. Preview so far:

LIBRA JUSTIFIED MS
A long, insect-wing like missile launcher system. Six of them attach to a base, and when fired together rain down hell on a wide area. The missiles themselves only have a weak guidance system, but it's all they need.
Weight: (The overall weight of the weapon. Lighter is almost always better.)
Stability/Control: (The ability to consistently use this weapon. This is an overall score for how well the weapon performs.
Ease of Use: (Sometimes, this stat is unavoidably bad, for complicated weapons. Ones that require training are sometimes a luxury.

LIBRA JUDGE
A Head with
Versatility: (How easy it is to apply to any feasible situation that the client would likely face, or the scenario of design: in this instance, a head capable of seeing a lot of the battlefield as sharp as possible, sacrificing range control in the process, you'd find lots of up-close and personal battles. If the head has a tendency to explode if you move too fast, this gets a low score.)
Control: (About how well the part handles. Less broad than the Control above.)
Reliability: (How well the part holds up in combat.)

The engine is expanding, as you can see, to hardsuits/minimechs. Human-sized weapons are still in great demand, and the mecha projects can get costly quickly. All current technology will be somehow founded into the base parts list, but you'll have more control over how you want things built.
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RAM

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Re: Defense Contractors- Weaponry Design RtD
« Reply #51 on: April 24, 2013, 06:59:17 pm »

Umm. Woo? Mostly posting to show support and prevent a double post...
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Re: Defense Contractors- Weaponry Design RtD
« Reply #52 on: April 24, 2013, 07:40:34 pm »

Yar, you lost me too. Dedicated example? (please, kind sir?)
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Re: Defense Contractors- Weaponry Design RtD
« Reply #53 on: April 24, 2013, 07:58:08 pm »

Yar, you lost me too. Dedicated example?
That was an example (of what I can not say.) Nor am I sure how we're supposed to get "panzerklein"* from that example, other then the comment.
Can we get one of the designs people made converted into this system?
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Tsuchigumo550

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Re: Defense Contractors- Weaponry Design RtD
« Reply #54 on: April 24, 2013, 09:21:43 pm »

Absolutely. The reason I gave you the arbitrary test is because the engine is still floundering around in beta, and I wanted to say "hey things have stats and this may or may not happen in the future" kind of update.

Let's take, oh, the FN-SM

FN-SM
Body:Small SMG-automatic
Rounds: Small basic
Magazines: Small 30rnd
Barrel: Small Cal. Short
Sight: Iron Sights
Attachment: Ergonomic Handle
Ergonomic Stock

You design a very small weapon useful as a sidearm. It's large magazines are as tall as it is, and it's length is minimal. Testing dosen't reveal any outstanding problems other than the occasional jam after constant firing. It's incredibly cheap to make, requiring only 1000C.

It would be given, in the current engine markup:
Weight: 3 (lower is better, 10 is super heavy and 1 is super light)
Stability/Control: 7/10
Ease of Use: 9/10

Note that once this hits the market, it gets a fourth value marked as "lifespan". Once it's lifespan gets lower (by turns), it loses worth as it permeates the market. No one's going to buy what they already have.
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RAM

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Re: Defense Contractors- Weaponry Design RtD
« Reply #55 on: April 24, 2013, 11:41:58 pm »

So, will this system enable us to produce a ground effect vehicle with legs, gattling gun turrets, automatic anti-missile turrets, and a guidance system for surface to air missiles that are launched by separate entities?
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GrizzlyAdamz

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Re: Defense Contractors- Weaponry Design RtD
« Reply #56 on: April 24, 2013, 11:53:25 pm »

Well those are nifty.
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Tsuchigumo550

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Re: Defense Contractors- Weaponry Design RtD
« Reply #57 on: April 25, 2013, 03:23:09 pm »

I don't see why not. Almost done fleshing things out, expect an update sometime Friday or Saturday.
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a1s

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Re: Defense Contractors- Weaponry Design RtD
« Reply #58 on: April 29, 2013, 04:02:20 am »

expect an update sometime Friday or Saturday.
Have you hit upon another problem with the system, or IRL problems?
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GrizzlyAdamz

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Re: Defense Contractors- Weaponry Design RtD
« Reply #59 on: May 08, 2013, 02:51:15 pm »

bump
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