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[Radio Controlled]

but whichever works as long as there's progress.

Report composed, messages shot.

About new shard lasers: anyone a particular opinion on how they'd like to see that come about? Right now, I'm leaning towards a blaster-type thing, meaning no continuous sweeps, but individual shots of higher power. Loses some suppressive ability (and ammo, perhaps), wins power. For the pistol, I don't think sweeping is that important, but fof the infantry rifle it could be good. I guess I could try to go for a weapon that can do both, but that might increase cost, and I wanna keep it cheap. Right now, I'm thinking of the following variants:
-'Laserpen': looks like a pen, contains a tiny shard to fire a one-time laser. For black ops teams.
-'pistol': a decent sidearm, to replace the handlaser (which nobody ever uses). Cheapness important, range much less, laser rifle power would be nice.
-replacement for laser rifle, gauss rifle sized or so (could also go for a smaller design, but will mean less power/battery due to smaller size). Wieldable by regular human, price important factor (no more pricey than current laser weapons if possible, or only a token more).
-exoskeleton/battlesuit version, would be blaster type (suppressive fire isn't as needed against battlesuits I'd think). More like an energy bazooka perhaps. Will need cooling, will add quite some weight, might also need cooling plates. Depending on size and weight, might not be usable by regular exoskeletons.

For some of these, an 'overcharge' option that uses all the energy of the shard but melts to slag could be considered, but might also increase price.

If sharkmist robots work out, we might be able to use them to replace robosods for own use. We can still make those though, since those would be much safer to export to allies than sharkmist lifeforms that are more potent beyond just armor. Anyone comments on this admittedly preliminary idea? Next tot that, it might have some interesting applications for Sword peeps.

[Comrade P.]

I say you make a super-good sniper weapon from that shard technology. Given individual shots are more powerful, but more expensive comared to, say, Gauss rounds, which seem to be closest analogue in combat usage, given the description.

[Nikitian]

I seem to recall from somewhere that pulse lasers (rather than continious wave like we currently employ) allow for greater power/damage/energy efficiency or something like that. It might not be true anymore in this far future of ERverse, but at least it's worth investigating. I am sure Pyro/Sean/others are far more knowledgeable on that matter.

[Unholy_Pariah]

I say that the raditite shards should be combined with particle accumulator tech.

Because any gun that rolls for how many pieces your temmates are blow into instead of which pieces are hit definitely need to be made stronger and more compact.

[Radio Controlled]

I seem to recall from somewhere that pulse lasers (rather than continious wave like we currently employ) allow for greater power/damage/energy efficiency or something like that. It might not be true anymore in this far future of ERverse, but at least it's worth investigating. I am sure Pyro/Sean/others are far more knowledgeable on that matter.

From the most wikid of pedias:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Continuous and pulsed modes of operation


A laser can be classified as operating in either continuous or pulsed mode, depending on whether the power output is essentially continuous over time or whether its output takes the form of pulses of light on one or another time scale. Of course even a laser whose output is normally continuous can be intentionally turned on and off at some rate in order to create pulses of light. When the modulation rate is on time scales much slower than the cavity lifetime and the time period over which energy can be stored in the lasing medium or pumping mechanism, then it is still classified as a "modulated" or "pulsed" continuous wave laser. Most laser diodes used in communication systems fall in that category.

Continuous wave operation
Some applications of lasers depend on a beam whose output power is constant over time. Such a laser is known as continuous wave (CW). Many types of lasers can be made to operate in continuous wave mode to satisfy such an application. Many of these lasers actually lase in several longitudinal modes at the same time, and beats between the slightly different optical frequencies of those oscillations will in fact produce amplitude variations on time scales shorter than the round-trip time (the reciprocal of the frequency spacing between modes), typically a few nanoseconds or less. In most cases these lasers are still termed "continuous wave" as their output power is steady when averaged over any longer time periods, with the very high frequency power variations having little or no impact in the intended application. (However the term is not applied to mode-locked lasers, where the intention is to create very short pulses at the rate of the round-trip time).

For continuous wave operation it is required for the population inversion of the gain medium to be continually replenished by a steady pump source. In some lasing media this is impossible. In some other lasers it would require pumping the laser at a very high continuous power level which would be impractical or destroy the laser by producing excessive heat. Such lasers cannot be run in CW mode.

Pulsed operation
Pulsed operation of lasers refers to any laser not classified as continuous wave, so that the optical power appears in pulses of some duration at some repetition rate. This encompasses a wide range of technologies addressing a number of different motivations. Some lasers are pulsed simply because they cannot be run in continuous mode.

In other cases the application requires the production of pulses having as large an energy as possible. Since the pulse energy is equal to the average power divided by the repetition rate, this goal can sometimes be satisfied by lowering the rate of pulses so that more energy can be built up in between pulses. In laser ablation for example, a small volume of material at the surface of a work piece can be evaporated if it is heated in a very short time, whereas supplying the energy gradually would allow for the heat to be absorbed into the bulk of the piece, never attaining a sufficiently high temperature at a particular point.

Other applications rely on the peak pulse power (rather than the energy in the pulse), especially in order to obtain nonlinear optical effects. For a given pulse energy, this requires creating pulses of the shortest possible duration utilizing techniques such as Q-switching.

The optical bandwidth of a pulse cannot be narrower than the reciprocal of the pulse width. In the case of extremely short pulses, that implies lasing over a considerable bandwidth, quite contrary to the very narrow bandwidths typical of CW lasers. The lasing medium in some dye lasers and vibronic solid-state lasers produces optical gain over a wide bandwidth, making a laser possible which can thus generate pulses of light as short as a few femtoseconds (10−15 s).

Q-switching
Main article: Q-switching
In a Q-switched laser, the population inversion is allowed to build up by introducing loss inside the resonator which exceeds the gain of the medium; this can also be described as a reduction of the quality factor or 'Q' of the cavity. Then, after the pump energy stored in the laser medium has approached the maximum possible level, the introduced loss mechanism (often an electro- or acousto-optical element) is rapidly removed (or that occurs by itself in a passive device), allowing lasing to begin which rapidly obtains the stored energy in the gain medium. This results in a short pulse incorporating that energy, and thus a high peak power.

Mode-locking
Main article: Mode-locking
A mode-locked laser is capable of emitting extremely short pulses on the order of tens of picoseconds down to less than 10 femtoseconds. These pulses will repeat at the round trip time, that is, the time that it takes light to complete one round trip between the mirrors comprising the resonator. Due to the Fourier limit (also known as energy-time uncertainty), a pulse of such short temporal length has a spectrum spread over a considerable bandwidth. Thus such a gain medium must have a gain bandwidth sufficiently broad to amplify those frequencies. An example of a suitable material is titanium-doped, artificially grown sapphire (Ti:sapphire) which has a very wide gain bandwidth and can thus produce pulses of only a few femtoseconds duration.

Such mode-locked lasers are a most versatile tool for researching processes occurring on extremely short time scales (known as femtosecond physics, femtosecond chemistry and ultrafast science), for maximizing the effect of nonlinearity in optical materials (e.g. in second-harmonic generation, parametric down-conversion, optical parametric oscillators and the like) due to the large peak power, and in ablation applications.[citation needed] Again, because of the extremely short pulse duration, such a laser will produce pulses which achieve an extremely high peak power.

Pulsed pumping
Another method of achieving pulsed laser operation is to pump the laser material with a source that is itself pulsed, either through electronic charging in the case of flash lamps, or another laser which is already pulsed. Pulsed pumping was historically used with dye lasers where the inverted population lifetime of a dye molecule was so short that a high energy, fast pump was needed. The way to overcome this problem was to charge up large capacitors which are then switched to discharge through flashlamps, producing an intense flash. Pulsed pumping is also required for three-level lasers in which the lower energy level rapidly becomes highly populated preventing further lasing until those atoms relax to the ground state. These lasers, such as the excimer laser and the copper vapor laser, can never be operated in CW mode.

So as far as I can tell, depending on design it is indeed possible to get higher power by making the laser pulsed.

I say you make a super-good sniper weapon from that shard technology. Given individual shots are more powerful, but more expensive comared to, say, Gauss rounds, which seem to be closest analogue in combat usage, given the description.

A laser is already kinda a sniper though in terms of range I'd think, but maybe I can sell a scope and bipod (and perhaps extra focusing lens?) as an extra?

[Comrade P.]

I say you make a super-good sniper weapon from that shard technology. Given individual shots are more powerful, but more expensive comared to, say, Gauss rounds, which seem to be closest analogue in combat usage, given the description.

A laser is already kinda a sniper though in terms of range I'd think, but maybe I can sell a scope and bipod (and perhaps extra focusing lens?) as an extra?

Yeah, that'll probably be right thing to do. I cannot completely catch up with the speed you guys are thinking.

[Sean Mirrsen]

About new shard lasers: anyone a particular opinion on how they'd like to see that come about? Right now, I'm leaning towards a blaster-type thing, meaning no continuous sweeps, but individual shots of higher power. Loses some suppressive ability (and ammo, perhaps), wins power. For the pistol, I don't think sweeping is that important, but fof the infantry rifle it could be good. I guess I could try to go for a weapon that can do both, but that might increase cost, and I wanna keep it cheap. Right now, I'm thinking of the following variants:
-'Laserpen': looks like a pen, contains a tiny shard to fire a one-time laser. For black ops teams.
-'pistol': a decent sidearm, to replace the handlaser (which nobody ever uses). Cheapness important, range much less, laser rifle power would be nice.
-replacement for laser rifle, gauss rifle sized or so (could also go for a smaller design, but will mean less power/battery due to smaller size). Wieldable by regular human, price important factor (no more pricey than current laser weapons if possible, or only a token more).
-exoskeleton/battlesuit version, would be blaster type (suppressive fire isn't as needed against battlesuits I'd think). More like an energy bazooka perhaps. Will need cooling, will add quite some weight, might also need cooling plates. Depending on size and weight, might not be usable by regular exoskeletons.

The laserpen is an interesting concept, but why not use the one advantage a hand laser has and adapt it for black ops instead? Make a laser hand. A cybernetic hand, or hand implant, with an integrated micro laser, whether generator or blueshard powered.

Having a laser rifle-power pistol-sized sidearm would be neat, but I suspect it would be more expensive, both to buy and maintain, than a laser rifle. It'd be mostly useful for black ops, again, where the weapon being inconspicuous yet powerful is the most useful aspect.

A straight-up heavy laser rifle is a good idea, regardless of how it is powered. We are rather lacking in compact yet powerful conventional energy weapons.

The blaster version for exosuits though... well, the PEW is pretty much the same thing, isn't it? Large, powerful, heavy, (because it) requires cooling. The only downside is the huge recharge time. Assuming this blaster cannon thing will be able to fire much quicker, they should be able to coexist even if the ammo for the blaster (the blueshard cells) is going to be much more expensive than coldplates.

For some of these, an 'overcharge' option that uses all the energy of the shard but melts to slag could be considered, but might also increase price.

Why would it increase price though? Explosive overclocking is explosive exactly because no extra precautions have been taken to prevent the exploding. If the overcharge option is possible, you should add it.

If sharkmist robots work out, we might be able to use them to replace robosods for own use. We can still make those though, since those would be much safer to export to allies than sharkmist lifeforms that are more potent beyond just armor. Anyone comments on this admittedly preliminary idea? Next tot that, it might have some interesting applications for Sword peeps.

Sharkbots should definitely not be an export item. I'd be wary of even using them in regular combat of any kind. Defending any bases and installations of ours would be a pretty good use though. They're light on maintenance cost, and should be a nasty surprise to any attackers, plus the chances of them being discovered and hauled off for study are less if they're not always sent into enemy territory.

[Parisbre56]

Just remember that bluerad is radioactive, so it might be harder for spec ops teams to smuggle it. Not to mention the kind of long term health problems it could cause, so it's best used by sods only.

Irrelevant thoughts about propaganda:  A good question to ask when considering how another civilization might view the use of sods is "Is the use of War Dogs acceptable?" and "What is the difference between a sod and a dog, beyond the fact that a dog is probably smarter and has more feelings than a sod?"

[Radio Controlled]

Yeah, that'll probably be right thing to do. I cannot completely catch up with the speed you guys are thinking.

We just have more experience with this stuff, it's really something you get better at. You'll get there in no time.

The laserpen is an interesting concept, but why not use the one advantage a hand laser has and adapt it for black ops instead? Make a laser hand. A cybernetic hand, or hand implant, with an integrated micro laser, whether generator or blueshard powered.

Also a good possibility. Problem is that those might be harder to hide, or to get rid of in case of trouble (you can just ditch a laserpen in the nearest trashcan). And also because it might be cheaper (needs no modification of a body).

Having a laser rifle-power pistol-sized sidearm would be neat, but I suspect it would be more expensive, both to buy and maintain, than a laser rifle. It'd be mostly useful for black ops, again, where the weapon being inconspicuous yet powerful is the most useful aspect.

I was originally looking to create a decent sidearm also for people who want to use a powerful 'main weapon' (eg gauss cannon) but would like a light and small anti-infantry option as well, and a pistol sounded ideal. Also for example for sod forces. But indeed, it might find a better use with blops, we'll have to see what price we can get it to.

The blaster version for exosuits though... well, the PEW is pretty much the same thing, isn't it? Large, powerful, heavy, (because it) requires cooling. The only downside is the huge recharge time. Assuming this blaster cannon thing will be able to fire much quicker, they should be able to coexist even if the ammo for the blaster (the blueshard cells) is going to be much more expensive than coldplates.

Yeah, depending on price, weight and power there might be large overlap with a PEW. Will need to see, but if there's too much I might discard this one (no use in cluttering up the armory with mostly redundant stuff). Too bad we can't couple the two, that'd be most convenient. Though you might find a way to do that.

Why would it increase price though? Explosive overclocking is explosive exactly because no extra precautions have been taken to prevent the exploding. If the overcharge option is possible, you should add it.

Because I don't think you can just route more power through a system designed to handle a certain amount without possible consequences. Maybe the thing will discoball and shoot the user as well, maybe it'll explode instead of just melting. I'm looking for a 'burner' type thing, that destroys the weapon but not the user, and that might increase cost.

Just remember that bluerad is radioactive, so it might be harder for spec ops teams to smuggle it. Not to mention the kind of long term health problems it could cause, so it's best used by sods only.

Do tiny shards give off that much that it'd be easily detectable? And I don't think we have to worry too much about long term health hazards if the user has access to ER meditech (though it might be a problem for exporting).

[Comrade P.]

Irrelevant thoughts about propaganda:  A good question to ask when considering how another civilization might view the use of sods is "Is the use of War Dogs acceptable?" and "What is the difference between a sod and a dog, beyond the fact that a dog is probably smarter and has more feelings than a sod?"

>propaganda issues
>googling up Goebbels' memoirs right away

[Execute/Dumbo.exe]

Stock action: punch all wierd stuff (that has physical form) that gets too close. Xan counts as wierd stuff

Unless you were Doom Hand Man and I forgot, I don't recommend. Xantalos is unpleasantly sticky, like an overweight flayed drunkard.

Why does everyone always seem to make oddly specific comparisons?

[Xantalos]

No reason at all.

[Devastator]

The reason why we have lasers rather than traditional guns is because the background says so.  ;-p  In reality, guns are amazing weapons.  In here, they're not.  That's really the end of it.

[syvarris]

I dislike the idea of making our standard lasrifles blaster weapons.  From a realism standpoint, continuous fire lasers act as a good suppression weapon.  Plus, most heavy armor is more easily defeated by kinetics, and kinetics do more damage for a given power supply anyway.

I could see making blaster weapons becoming standard, IF the UWM starts copying our armor tech.  Then, lasrifles capable of immediately melting a lot of hexbug would be useful.  Aside from that use though, blaster weapons are really just guns that deal energy damage rather than kinetic damage.  They aren't sufficiently interesting or different to justify.


@Dev

Wha?  Kinetic guns are pretty great in ER.  Yes, they have weird damage variablitity, but all ER weapons have that.

Mostly, I thought we use lasrifles because our tech was Altered War tech, and back then kinetics were just slightly better than useless.  Laser weapons could at least *destroy* biomass, whereas Altered would just heal bullet wounds.  Now, we're just using lasers because they have options kinetics don't have, like infinite ammo and variable wavelength.

[Nikitian]

Except for lasers to really work that way, they need a way better powersource than meagre 30-second batteries our lasrifles come with.
In theory, having nice suppression weapons at our disposal is a good thing, but lasrifles probably don't quite cut it. And then anyone in a half-decent armor (I am not speaking of anti-laser armor here, even, more like the civic defender longcoats) require a few moments of concentrated las-fire to burn through - which, with a sweep, is not what would happen.
So it seems that a cutting laser (or something similar, but maybe slightly stepped down in terms of penetrating power) would fit the role well - and I think we already have FEL weapons (both types) fit that niche nicely, beside having certain side uses; yet the basic infantryman might benefit more from lasblasters. It is also worth bearing in mind that, it seems, the accuracy advantage of hitting with a sweep against hitting with a single shot is negligible here, between the way rules work (unfortunately) and the sod level of marksmanship (fortunately).

One more thing to consider: I wonder how good the lasers really work at suppression, psychologically speaking. Sure, if someone peeks an unarmored bodypart out of the cover, and you sweep it down, the opponent has just lost it. However, unlike bullets, lasers are invisible (so far; and it's efficient this way) and possibly even noiseless (I really don't know enough about this part). Is it a greater deterrent to leaving cover an invisible silent death that may or may not be there waiting for you, or very well visible, audible and generally unmissable death that rains just out of your cover?
And then sods simply don't care for their lives, so that perhaps suppression weapons themselves are too situational in this day and age and better suited to fighting UWM militia or something.


And finally, what I'd like to say - as far as Altered Wars-style laser rifles have their use, we can still supply our troops with them (because we supposedly have tons and tons of crates with those). However, we might want to start mass-producing new weapons now so that when they are finally required, we could arm all of our forces before our enemy can reconsider their approach.