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Author Topic: Hephaestus No Longer Exists: Crater thread.  (Read 190305 times)

Empiricist

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Re: Hephaestus Techland: Big Brother is Watching
« Reply #480 on: August 27, 2014, 03:46:47 pm »

((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.))
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Sean Mirrsen

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Re: Hephaestus Techland: Big Brother is Watching
« Reply #481 on: August 27, 2014, 04:58:21 pm »

((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, I see. You should probably have the two controls up front - test regular soldier first, test sod second to compare performance. Then test sod with remote body to see if that impacts performance. Then test soldier with sod brain to see if having a "backup brain" impacts performance. And finally have the test to see if having the backup brain physically attached changes anything.

Order of experimentation matters sometimes. :P))

((Not a lot of time and on phone, so I'll have to be short:

Firstly, at Sean: Could you put all the stuff related to the project you want reviewed into one post, to make it easier on the people doig this? Just links to the posts where PW confirms stuff about it. Thank you.

((I can just recompile all the stuff I have on the design into a new post instead of hunting for quotes, would that do? As far as I can tell PW mostly just okayed the whole thing as-is because it's mostly existing RL tech.))
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Multiworld Madness Archive:
Game One, Discontinued at World 3.
Game Two, Discontinued at World 1.

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syvarris

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Re: Hephaestus Techland: Big Brother is Watching
« Reply #482 on: August 27, 2014, 10:39:35 pm »

@Radio:

Hmm.  Well, I was originally aiming for just a simple primary assault rifle that would be better than a gauss rifle, and would have enough ammo that extra mags wouldn't be a problem.  It was gonna be semi-automatic, with five round volley fire or something.

But then I realized that it'd have so much ammo that it didn't matter, so I decided to shift it into a more LSW role.  As it is now, your description is pretty accurate- fast firing, not as effective as something like a crystalline projector or rocket rifle, but way better ammo economy.  As far as disadvantages vs. advantages... Hmm, cost is one of the biggest disadvantages.  It does less damage than a gauss rifle, but has better AP ability.  The biggest would probably be inaccuracy/lack of damage at long range?  It has a high rate of automatic fire, and volley fire, so short range capability should be pretty good...

If you're asking what to nerf, then I'd prefer it either be turned into a short-range SMG sprayer weapon, or a long-ranged DMR type thing with decent AP capacity and accuracy. 

Also, the shock gloves are basically entirely separate from the Testament- that was just a general-purpose idea that's supposed to be applicable to all weapons with a power draw, to reduce overall costs.  The only reason I was keeping it is it seemed to cost the same as just sticking a generator in the gun itself.


About your first answer, thank you.


About the goop thrower answer... Well, thanks, but that's not really what I'm looking for.  Something that does something nothing else does is always gonna be a decent item (as long as it's not too expensive- nobody's gonna buy a 20-token goop thrower).  More what I'm looking for is an actual weapon, something that's more or less directly comparable to other armory items.  Considering the number of directly offensive tinker projects, that shouldn't be too hard.


About my source for the fire rates, here.  I don't think they really matter much- PW basically just went 'sure', and I kinda doubt doubling or halving the fire rate would have a real in-game effect anyways- it's practically just flavor.
Spoiler: Spoilered for brevity (click to show/hide)

PyroDesu

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Re: Hephaestus Techland: Big Brother is Watching
« Reply #483 on: August 27, 2014, 11:15:24 pm »

((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! :P))

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.
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syvarris

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Re: Hephaestus Techland: Big Brother is Watching
« Reply #484 on: August 28, 2014, 11:10:12 am »

((Y'know, that's been bugging me for awhile.  You never actually tested the Rocket Rifle before building the Sibilus, so we don't know how well it does against a battlesuit.  Since the armory description says that it can "reduce a slab of concrete to gravel in [two or three shots]", I'd think it's a bit more powerful than you're saying.  *sigh* Now I want to make my turn a massive ballistics test of various things against battlesuits again...

Also, I don't remember if Saint was ever told about Xan being on Heph before, so I'm gonna just assume he wasn't.))

"Xan?  That monstrous shapeshifting flesh thing?  Didn't we just finish dealing with the last fleshorror...  Well, if he's able to leave copies of himself behind, hopefully he'll leave another behind.  His capabilities are quite... interesting.  I would love to study how he can do, well, what he does.

I'll be there in a few minutes, Simus."

PyroDesu

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Re: Hephaestus Techland: Big Brother is Watching
« Reply #485 on: August 28, 2014, 12:06:03 pm »

Not to worry, one of the implants we're giving him will allow me and Aresteve to... suppress him. If he tries to do anything while we're not allowing him to, it'll knock him out for a few minutes.
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Radio Controlled

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Re: Hephaestus Techland: Big Brother is Watching
« Reply #486 on: August 29, 2014, 11:09:35 am »

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.
« Last Edit: August 29, 2014, 11:14:52 am by Radio Controlled »
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21:26   <XYZ>: I know nothing about this, but I have strong opinions about it.
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piecewise

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Re: Hephaestus Techland: Big Brother is Watching
« Reply #487 on: August 29, 2014, 01:18:29 pm »

((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.



Spoiler: Tinker otherwise (click to show/hide)

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:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
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! :P))

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?

Parisbre56

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Re: Hephaestus Techland: Big Brother is Watching
« Reply #488 on: August 29, 2014, 01:42:03 pm »

((@Empiricist: You might want to consider that sods have the downside of considering victory more important than their survivals in most cases. To quote the AM:
"A lot of the soldiers you'll be fighting aren't exactly...normal. Mostly they're Sods; vat grow soldiers with minimal intelligence but good training and a complete lack of self preservation and single minded dedication to their tasks."
Also, they are probably trained to work well with other Sods, not ARM soldiers.
So they may make some choices that seem wrong in certain situations.))

Radio Controlled

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Re: Hephaestus Techland: Big Brother is Watching
« Reply #489 on: August 29, 2014, 02:28:49 pm »

Quote
It rotates around with the galaxy as a whole, much like the planets around it.

How fast does it rotate in relation to Hep? Is the planet between it and the system's star usually, or does it depend on the time of year?

Quote
Defend so that nothing gets through or so that only certain things can? Do you want a gate or a permeable membrane?

You'll probably hate me for it, but I's like to hear both options. Just the general idea is good enough.
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21:26   <XYZ>: I know nothing about this, but I have strong opinions about it.
Fucking hell, you guys are worse than the demons.

NAV

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Re: Hephaestus Techland: Big Brother is Watching
« Reply #490 on: August 29, 2014, 03:36:39 pm »

Quote from: Dubley to Hephaestus
Hello Hephaestus folks.

I designed a weapon/tool that I believe is worth prototyping. It is basically a thin vibrating needle made of mythril. The main advantage it has over a monorazor is the ability to pierce as well as slash. This allows it to be used as a very effective bayonet. It is capable of piercing battlesuit plating.

I estimate the cost to be 3 tokens for 20 cm, 5 tokens for 30cm, and 15 for 1m possibly lowered with mass production.
It's a sci-fi rapier. How cool is that?
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syvarris

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Re: Hephaestus Techland: Big Brother is Watching
« Reply #491 on: August 29, 2014, 04:45:27 pm »

Quote from: From STE Officer Steve Saint, to Hephaestus Command and Dubley Steptimus
Could you please send detailed effectiveness tests against standardized targets?  We understand it can penetrate battlesuit plating, but we know little else about it.

Please test against these targets:
Human wearing MK.I
Synthflesh body
Human wearing light armor (civic defender longcoat)
Battlesuit

It's not standard, but I myself am curious if the effects on a robotic body vary significantly from the effects on a normal human.

In addition, please run at least one test with soldiers equipped with the weapon fighting.

((Basically, we're gonna have to test the thing if you don't.  We have a lot of stuff to test ourselves, so it'll take awhile to get around to it.  If you test it yourself, it stands a much better chance of being standard issue by next resupply.

My primary interest is how effective it actually is at killing someone- it just pokes a thin hole and vibrates.  Sure, it ignores armor, but if it only really causes pain, then it isn't particularly desirable.))

PyroDesu

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Re: Hephaestus Techland: Big Brother is Watching
« Reply #492 on: August 29, 2014, 05:07:08 pm »

Quote from: Reichskommissar Simulacrus F-I > STE Officers, Dubley Steptimus
I concur with Saint's request for more testing, especially against actual human targets (that includes full prosthetics) rather than just armor. It looks to be a very slightly more expensive sidegrade to the monorazor at the moment. For the 20cm version, at least. keep in mind - the more you test it yourself, the shorter a time we'll need to bring up potential prototyping.

Let's decant him, then.


Bring XanII around.

((Same as with Syv - how effective would it be at actual killing? Long, thin damage profiles are wonderful against armor, but not so much against fleshy things. Whether the damage profile remains neat and slim when it comes into contact with squishy things remains to be seen, but if it does, even a direct hit to the brain might not even so much as incapacitate (in the timeframe of a melee fight, at least - and depending on what areas of the brain you hit, it could kill them immediately). Remember the story of Phineas Gage.))
« Last Edit: August 29, 2014, 05:27:55 pm by PyroDesu »
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Xantalos

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Re: Hephaestus Techland: Big Brother is Watching
« Reply #493 on: August 29, 2014, 05:11:34 pm »

Hmm, what approach should I take to being revived?

Xan falls out of the stasis chamber much like most ARM members do - shuddering, covered in stasis fluid, and naked. Only difference is that he's a blob of flesh roughly the size of a large dog lying down. After quivering for several seconds, a part of it extrudes into the air, becoming thinner before welling up at the end to become an eye on a stalk. It rotates slightly, scanning around the room before settling on Simus and Saint's robot form. Seeing them, a semblance of a mouth forms on part of it and begins to speak.

"You. Synthflesh body. Name ... Simus. Your name is Simus. I do not know the others. I am sorry, I have not spoken before." The mouth twists slightly, the eye looking from place to place. "I do not remember this place, but I remember you. If I see you here ... I died, did I not?

((Hopefully you're alright with the eye and the mouth not being rolled for, PW - it's just so I can talk to them. Also, since the uncompensator is off, this should be possible.))
« Last Edit: August 29, 2014, 10:07:04 pm by Xantalos »
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PyroDesu

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Re: Hephaestus Techland: Big Brother is Watching
« Reply #494 on: August 29, 2014, 05:30:09 pm »

Correct. You left... yourself here, and died on the next mission you took. I don't have the details of how. How much do you remember?

And please, take a form you would be comfortable being for a while.
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