((Any chance the Council could take a look at Anton's designs as well, PW? I keep trying to undersell stuff I make in order to make it seem feasible, and I might be inadvertently self-censoring those designs into mediocrity. It would be neat to have someone else do the game-balancing. ^_^ All the different aspects of the FELs, especially. Microwaves, infrared, visible spectrum, UV, X-Ray - technically they each have their perks and quirks.))
Anton Chernozorov
I like the basic design of the suit, XO, but I'll have to concur with Saint. It's too early for mass production, considering this is what people will be relying on to keep them alive. We can probably make a small batch and send it out for field-testing with the first run of the freighter, though. If no terrible faults surface, I'd say it'll make a decent suit, fit for mass production.
I'd toss in a few ideas of my own, but they really require a whole new project, and I have to get back to R&D so we can ship some of my new weapon prototypes on the freighter as well."
Keep that work being done. Make sure to remember to make both the "rifle" and the "heavy" FEL prototypes.
((If they feel like it, sure.))
Whats the difference between them? Just one is bigger, heavier and more powerful?
((...Wow, I really want to talk to those people. Like really really. Not even argue, I honestly want to discuss this with them.
However, that seems unlikely- they seem to want to maintain their anonymity, aside from Radio. But hey, I can try.))
PW, if the Committee is willing to talk with me, through you or otherwise, please just let them and ignore the tinker spoiler. The conversation one is really more important to me, as it's intended to let me know what I should and shouldn't be aiming for with Tinker.
I suppose this'll work by having PW copy-paste responses, if given, into his own post?
First, I have a simple question: What is the purpose of tinkering and designing weapons/armor/gadgets?
I personally, see two options: Changing the balance of bonuses certain items give (like the stuff in my tinker spoiler below, trading medical ability for armor), and utilizing things like scientific laws and materials, whether real (like Sean's electrolasers, Pyro's MCP suits), or fictional (like Piezoelectric shards, or manipulators), in new fashions to make weapons that are simply more effective than others.
Second, I have a different question: The Testament is unbalanced, yes? I don't need an explanation why, but I do want an example of another weapon, designed in tinker by a player, that is balanced- and a reason that someone would buy it over what is currently in the armory.
That is all. If you do respond, thank you. I will answer any questions that you have for me as well.
((Whenever I refer to cost, I refer to finished mass-production, in-armory costs))
1.Open Simus' MCP suit design.
Design (I'm making a MK.II 'replacement'):
2.Take the MK.II helmet, including neck-snip Iris, and add a milnoplate helmet on top of it.
3.Instead of medical systems anywhere, I want to armor the torso. Take a civic defender's longcoat, and remove the sleeves past the shoulders, and the hangy bit below the hip. Add an extension around the neck that goes up far enough to meet the helmet. Make sure it's securely attached, and that there aren't holes anywhere aside from the limbs.
4.Determine the price of what I have now. Milnoplate helmet costs one token, civic defender costs three (but I cut a lot off), and MK.II helmet alone costs god knows what.
5.Using whatever extra cost I have before the effective price reaches five, add something that protects against lasers to the chest armor. Civic defender longcoats don't offer any significant laser protection, so I'm adding it now. Obviously, don't add if it would push the cost above five tokens.
6.Take medifoam, or something close to it, and modify it so that it can be sprayed in vacuum onto a suit breach, and will harden in short order. Make sure it's actually capable of sealing and insulating the suit and some wound below, even if it can't pressurise the wound.
Testing:
7.Shoot a man wearing Simus' basic MCP suit, in a vacuum, in the kneecap with a gauss pistol. As a control, shoot a normal man in atmosphere in the kneecap in the exact same way.
8.How long until the MCP guy dies? How much longer does the atmosphere guy last?
9.Use the modified medifoam I made earlier to seal the breach at one minute, five minutes, and ten minutes (unless he's already dead). Does it stop the person from dying/getting too much worse?
EDIT: Welp, it seems that Simus wants Saint to do brain surgery on Xan, so that takes priority over either of those I guess. Stay in my room, but send an auxiliary body to do brain surgery on Xan.
If this is the type of thing that I could fail and do a faulty install, spend this turn charging a dynamic bonus by examining how his brain is built and works.
Edit2: And just to be safe, have a pair of robosods possess the other two auxiliary bodies, and follow along as bodyguards. Remember, all of my aux bodies have a flamethrower and MK.III.
((They read the tread, just talk to them like this. Anything you post will be heard. I'll relay messages from the ones who remained anonymous.))
Related:
First, I have a simple question: What is the purpose of tinkering and designing weapons/armor/gadgets?
PW would be the final word, but in my opinion Radio got it about right. Tinker is about filling niches and creating roles, not creating power. If someone wanted to take a basic laser rifle, apply some sort of advanced treatment to the lens and equip a more powerful battery with the goal of getting a little more oomph out of it, fine! It'll cost a couple more tokens for what amounts to a Laser Rifle +1, and that's okay. Creating new tools like the Goop Thrower (excellent example btw Radio) is good. The issue with the Testament is that it has gained too much for too little: either the cost should be raised, the combat effectiveness lowered, or some combination of the two. I'm personally open to either, but I am only one voice.
I personally, see two options: Changing the balance of bonuses certain items give (like the stuff in my tinker spoiler below, trading medical ability for armor), and utilizing things like scientific laws and materials, whether real (like Sean's electrolasers, Pyro's MCP suits), or fictional (like Piezoelectric shards, or manipulators), in new fashions to make weapons that are simply more effective than others.
I very much oppose the bolded portion, technobabble should NEVER directly convert into game power. Game balance is my primary concern at this point, and I think is the reason why our little club was created in the first place.
The non-bolded section in the quote above is more aligned with my school of thinking: if someone wanted to convert a laser rifle into a laser shotgun or something, that's alright. There would be pros, there would be cons, and we could set the price of the resulting object based on how effective we think that modification is. If it's a wash, then the modifications might not cost anything. If the pros of the modifications very much outweighed the cons, then the modifications should cost something. Does this make sense?
Second, I have a different question: The Testament is unbalanced, yes? I don't need an explanation why, but I do want an example of another weapon, designed in tinker by a player, that is balanced- and a reason that someone would buy it over what is currently in the armory.
I don't know jack crap about the other Tinkered stuff, so that's all you. Did agree with the goop example, though. The Testament is out of line because it gained far, far too much power at a cost reduction.
I don't entirely agree with the Council on all points (I'm fine with advancing technology and making more powerful things) but we all have balance in mind. The point here was that the Testament was like handing a nuclear weapon to people in the bronze age. It did more damage, with more ammo, for less money. It wasn't balanced.
A good example, I think, is the Rifle Simus, or technically Pyro's former character, made; the one milno is currently using after absorbing it into his glove. It was plain better in almost all ways compared to a normal gauss rifle, but it was also bigger, heavier and more expensive. It had better damage and ammo, but it had downsides.
The testament needs downsides. A slower firing pace, smaller ammo stores, higher cost, less damage, something like that. It should still be good enough to basically replace laser and gauss rifles, but not insanely so.
And we'll just assume the Brain stuff on Xan gets done. Why not.
((First test is meant to be a control. One soldier, an enemy squad.
Second test is one soldier with a sod brain attached to them, the sod brain has access to all the body's sensors, the soldier can let the sod brain take over of their body if needed.
In the third test, the sod brain is not attached, instead, it can be remotely accessed so that it receives all the sensory data and takes control of the body when needed.
The fourth is another control. One robosod, an enemy squad.
The fifth is an empty robobody controlled by test 3's system.))
Ah, so some sort of gangster computer god on the far side of the moon...
ahem. Anyways, so the idea here is to stick a sob brain in a normal robo body to act as a sort of "Auto" combat mode that people without combat skills could activate if they are forced into a situation where they need to fight? Basically a "Fight my battles for me" button?
((One of the things I noticed is that it's actually MORE powerful than the rocket rifle - with a rocket rifle, or even a Sibilus, you have to sandpaper a battlesuit a bit to get through a single plate. Yours gets through a plate quite effectively without sandpapering, if I read things correctly.
Anyways, on with turn. And just so you know, Syv - I'm not on PW's Council (you probably guessed that anyways - conflict of interest and all). Oh, and suits aren't what you're supposed to be working on, you know. I called you in to see what you thought, not so you could run away with it! 
))
I'm glad to hear you two like it. Saint, I don't know what exactly would happen if shot, but I do know it would not compromise the suit itself except in a small area around the puncture. The wound itself could do one of many things, possibly depending on how big it is - it could cause the wounded to possibly bleed out faster, and the blood inside the depressurized zone would likely outgas, or the wound may seal itself up - when pressure is lost, the afflicted area swells and that could close off a wound. The idea is, however, that both of those options are better than death within 90 seconds. Now, if you two think in-field testing is needed, then very well - but we'll want to keep it short, a supply cycle at most - I have the feeling that those aboard the Sword without anything better would appreciate the new suit as quickly as possible. I was willing to forgo it as the actual life support is a direct copy of the MkI, since that has shown to be sufficient.
And Saint, would you mind joining me in the boardroom for a moment? We have a clone of Xan in stasis and I would like to give him a pair of implants before I wake him up - the Xan that left it here is dead.
Have 6 prototype MCP-I suits produced, then. And give Saint the other key needed for XanII's chambers and attend him while giving XanII his shocker-tracker and remote Will Uncompensator, then wake him up, with the uncompensator off.
Alright, consider it done.
Is the FTL jump point a fixed location in space, or does it move?
Could you describe the process of an FTL jump in more detail please? Does a ship appear from thin air inside the jump point? What speed does it have when it exits?
Can you jump from any jump point to any other point, or are they connected in fixed ways (e.g. A to B, B to C or D, but not A to D)?
Ask ARESTEVE if, and if yes how, he would defend the jump point.
It rotates around with the galaxy as a whole, much like the planets around it.
Well, the "Jump in" is normally accompanied by a light of light and radiation, distortions across the electromagnetic spectrum, and other momentary fluctuations of physical constants. But "From Thin air" is close enough. They exit at the speed they entered, which is why most of the distance to their targets is usually spent in some degree of deceleration. As per the process, it's pretty simple in terms of mechanics. The ship just needs to hit that particular spot in space going at a certain speed or higher. Depending on the angle they go in, they'll show up at different places relating to the jump point in that direction. Sometimes there are "Dead zones", angles that ships enter but never come out of again.
That depends on the point and it's relation to other points around it. Imagine it like each angle you can go in is a sector, a cone radiating off from the central point of the jump point. You'll reach whatever jump point that cone hits first. So if your target is the first one in that direction, it will be direct. If not, you'll need multiple jumps. Which isn't bad, you'll just come out and need to redirect yourself and then keep going.
Defend so that nothing gets through or so that only certain things can? Do you want a gate or a permeable membrane?
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