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[Chiefwaffles]

How exactly is the AS-HAC-1 our most complicated cannon? The only thing it does unique is fire a much smaller caliber than the HC1-E.

Also the AS-HAC-1 fires 14 mm. The HC1-E fires ~47 mm.
To base the new cannon off of the HC1-E, which is artillery, would be pretty silly. The difference in caliber would be bigger and the HC-E is nothing close to what we want.

And 14mm to 20mm is not a 100% difference.


Frankly we've had so much ease with caliber size recently. The HC1-E, The AS-HAC-1, the HA1, the R1...
Each gun was done with less experience and was way more than just caliber size and the change in size was much bigger (other than R1) than what we're doing in the F43.
And now we have extensive experience in new weaponry like his and all we're doing is a tweak in size. That's it. Nothing new. Just making the AS-HAC-1 a bit bigger.
It should be easy.

[evictedSaint]

Seems like the F43 is winning.  Update soon, unless that changes.

[Andres]

I'll stick with the F43, I guess. I'd perhaps equally like the F43 and the flightpack, but the F43's name wins me over.

Glory to Arstotzka.

[RAM]

Could someone please explain names to me, I seem to not understand the concept. I mean, I get that puns are not always the ideal solution, but, ehh... I am really really not getting something here.

[Chiefwaffles]

There's a line between "punny names" and "joke names" in my opinion, RAM. The problem that I see with your names is that they just detract from the overall design. To me, at least, it feels like the entire design is a joke based off of the name.
Like that one crystal wood design you made that was actually explosive reactive armor, but everyone thought was just slightly better wood.


Here's a future design, by the way.
(Near?) Future Design: Mindgem Targetting Visor
We initially set upon this design with the intention of simply upgrading Crystal Glass to be able to "highlight" living entities and magical signatures.

The visor itself is ultimately just tweaked Crystal Glass and can be integrated with Crystal just like Crystal Glass. While it (hopefully) isn't expensive, we don't recommend on completely replacing crystal glass for it for expense-related reasons.

However, we call this "Reactive Crystal Glass". In response to certain types of magic current exciting bits of the crystal glass, that portion of the crystal will light up. Just a bit - not anywhere near enough to be considered a light, but enough to be obvious to someone looking at the crystal glass, to indicate a position or information, while still retaining a degree of transparency.


Reactive Crystal Glass is the easy part, however. It's jut some mild integration of our knowledge of anti-magic gems into the Crystalworks. Nothing mind-blowing. The actual challenge of the design is introduced here. Mindgems.

Mindgems have been a theory for ages. The idea is that we create a type of Magegem with a more unique structure able to host an intelligence. Of course, the structure doesn't come even within viewing distance of the complexity of any kind of brain. It's simply there to facilitate holding of a magical kind of mind. Those of lesser intelligence, such as Moskurgers, may call this mind a "soul". But it is simply the magical signature, the "engram", of a mind.

We have to start small, though. And with something we're familiar with. We already have experience with minds, but it's limited experience with simple minds. To make the most out of this knowledge, we start with the mind of a Wasp. Incredibly simple, yet possible. We already know how to summon a wasp magically, and thus can extract its Engram quite easily. We just isolate the portion used to summon the mind, "remove" (in the simplest terms) the physical manifestation of this mind, and through this process can isolate the Engram.
Then we just summon the Engram into the Mindgem. We call the Wasp-intelligence Mindgem "Generation 1", and will increment the generation for more intelligent versions in the future. Gen1 Mindgems will be perfect for simple tasks involving relatively straightforward input and output, but that are much more complicated than would be practical to achieve using circuits.

The Mindgem should be able to persist without power input, as though it is a magical entity, it should have a natural connection to the Aether like any other human. While not practical to try to exploit this for Aethergem-like energy on the side, it should mean no additional power is needed. Though it is acceptable if the Mindgem has a slight power input requirement.


A Generation 1 Mindgem shall be linked to the Visor via crystal wiring. As magical "waves" (one of the first discoveries in the field of Mathemagics!), byproducts of both magic and magical+"mundane" life, hit the Mindgem, it shall process the magical waves and highlight their origins on the visor.

The result is a Visor for soldiers that can highlight sources of magic and life. It highlights Arstotzkan life and magic too of course, but if anything that should be a benefit as our soldiers should hopefully not be too stupid. So soldiers can easily locate stranded men, outposts, and they can easily locate Moskurger mages, soldiers, and ambushes.

The Targeting Visor and Mindgem shall be incorporated into as many suits of Combat Armor as possible, with priority on our Mage Hunters, Artillery Officers, and other ranged soldiers.


We hope to one day achieve greatness in the field of Engram technology. Perhaps we could create minds of vastly superior intelligence to make great feats possible. Perhaps we can transfer the Engrams of dying Arstotzkans into Mindgems where they may live forever. But that's for the future.


TL;DR: Make a wasp Mindgem (Gen1 Mindgem), and link it to a special type of Crystal Glass that lights up bits of it with magic signals. The Mindgem will interpret incoming magical waves to highlight all forms of life and magic sources on the visor. Integrate the visor into combat armor.

There are a lot easier ways to do a targeting visor, but the point of this design is to develop Mindgems. Which are awesome. Here is what mindgems can do in the future:

1.) Auto-aiming artillery
2.) Auto-aiming turrets
3.) Autonomous vehicles
4.) Targetting assistance for soldiers (more-so than just highlighting enemies. Wind, bullet drop, enemy armor, weakpoints, etc.)
5.) Complicated machinery
6.) Power armor
7.) Cortana Being a "companion" to soldiers in the field through integration with combat armor. Imagine if you had an AI giving you advice based on their sensors, knowledge of the battlefield, and know-how. And if that AI was created for specifically this purpose.
8.) Piloting spaceships. (Orbital mechanics is hard)
9.) Targeting orbital weapons (Orbital mechanics is indeed quite hard)

Feedback is of course, appreciated.

[FallacyofUrist]

Nice.

Are you going to do the sealed vehicle stuff with atmospheric control and whatnot for the revision? Because that would be wonderful for space. Spaaaace.

[andrea]

don't count revisions until we see how the design went. We might have serious flaws in the design

[evictedSaint]

Design: ASAF-F43 Interceptor [1-1, 2+1+1, 4]

The F43 is Arstotzka's first attempt to get a man into the air.

The method of flight is via a very precise PSF-C propulsion method; attempts to create an "on-going explosion" didn't quite pan out, but it is possible to instead fire off a PSF-C four times a second to create a similar effect.  This is referred to proudly as the Kinetic Propulsion Drive.

The craft relies entirely on AAA-level Aethergems (also referred to as "AAAethergems") in order to cut costs.  Because it takes ten AAAethergems to create a single PSF-C, the craft is made up almost entirely of them.  In order to prevent the craft from running out of power, this means it requires 2,400 AAAethergems to allow sections to fire off while others recharge.  The timing of this massive (and I do mean truly massive) AAAethergem array is controlled via a set of complicated copper circuit controls, which are then linked to the command station in the cockpit and a set of igniters on the bottom of the craft.  The igniters generate the PSF-C's against the bottom hull of the aircraft in a wide, even distribution in order to generate lift.  The controls consist of two freely-rotating crystal orbs containing yet two more AAAethergems, allowing the pilot to control the rotation and thrust of the propulsion unit.

The pilots station is covered in a two-part crystal shell, one part of which slides forward to allow the pilot to exit.  Behind the pilot is a sizable crystal sphere in which the gunner sits.  The sphere has sections cut out to allow the gunner to enter and exit via the pilots hatch when the turret is straightened.  The rotation of the turret is controlled physically by the gunner, using his feet and hands to brace against the craft and forcibly turn the sphere.  A single HAC-1 pokes out of the sphere, off-set to one side to make room for the gunner.  We were unable to develop a 20 mm variant in time, but the HAC-1 works just fine.  It is fixed in the bubble, again requiring the gunner to physically turn the entire sphere to aim.  Loading is done by hand, and precise aiming is difficult.  The crystal glass is made of layered crystal to help prevent lightning strikes from killing the occupants, and should be thick enough to prevent bolts from penetrating easily - if at all.  Nickel cooling circuits zig-zag across the crystal canopies to keep the cabin a comfortable 21.1°C for both the pilot and gunner.  There is no crystal armoring elsewhere, however, as the weight of the craft is already so high there are doubts it can lift itself at all.  Regardless, a bomb bay in the center of the craft houses three Explosive Artillery Shells, droppable via a mechanical switch in the pilots station.

The first demonstration is overseen by the King, who is excited to see how his Expense Bonus is being spent.  Ram and Waffles are attending, taking a brief vacation from their honeymoon to oversee the maiden voyage of the F43.

Piloting the F43 are a pair of highly-trained and trusted wizards who helped oversee the construction and development of the craft.  They flash a thumbs-up to the watching crowd and prepare for lift-off.  The launchpad is cleared and on command the wizards fire up the F43.

Immediately obvious is how heavy the craft is.  At 2,400 AAAethergems, the F43 is the size of a small boat.  The PSF-C's fire off rapidly, but the explosions can barely lift the craft more than a couple feet before the ground-effect ceases to provide additional thrust.  The two wizards inside are shaken about as the craft vibrates at four shakes per second, and the entire thing begins to slip laterally.  The pilot, in an attempt to correct the unexpected lateral drift, over-corrects the craft and sends it careening towards the crowd.  He corrects his mistake at the last minute, this time over-correcting it in the other direction and sending it skipping into the ground.  The edge of the craft digs into the dirt and the entire thing flips over.

Luckily, 2,399 of the AAAethergems manage to survive the sudden impact.  The 2,400th AAAethergem sustains a bit more force than the others, however, and promptly detonates.  This explosion ripples to the neighboring AAAethergem, which likewise explodes, which detonates its neighbors.  In the span of a half-second the entire F43 explodes in a violent but spectacular chain-reaction of fireworks, raining bits of twisted metal and crystal on the horrified crowd.  Thankfully, no one is hurt save for the two exploded wizards in the F43 and dozens and dozens of maimed bystanders and a stray dog who happened to be nearby during the event.

The King is, quite frankly, disappointed by the crafts..."lackluster" performance.

Until the serious control, stability, propulsion, and thrust-to-weight issues are solved, the F43 is unusable and little more than a frightening proof-of-concept. 

Surprisingly, the F43 is merely Expensive.

[andrea]

I would suggest more powerful, less explodey aethergems

[Draignean]

Spoiler: Arstotzkan Headlines... (click to show/hide)

So, basically, we have a hovercraft that explodes when used.

Still, Chief, you are correct. It is an excellent dog fighter. It managed to nail the one dog present in the audience.

[Chiefwaffles]

First is the obligatory disclaimer that a jet pack would had still catastrophically failed. Maybe with less casualties. But my point is that it wouldn't had changed the 1.

Revision: Better Aethergems
You know the drill. Streamline the processes involved to create a more refined less "prototype-y" version of the gem.

This time, we can use our accumulated knowledge to create a better connection to the probably-Aether, thus increasing the energy generation rate of all Magegems. Mathemagics can be used to isolate the responsible wavelengths for energy generation and we can tune the gem to that wavelength. Or something.

This should greatly increase the rate of fire of the Mundane. And the F43 should experience an extreme reduction in weight and size as it'll need much less Aethergems, which practically make up the entire craft.


Also making them less prone to catastrophic explosions would be nice but not a huge priority. If we do this make an apprentice write down the explode-y version just in case we want to use it.

[andrea]

should also try to make them less prone to explosion.

[Chiefwaffles]

Gotcha. Edited it in.

EDIT:

REVISION
1 - Better Aethergems: Chiefwaffles

[andrea]

REVISION
2 - Better Aethergems: Chiefwaffles, Andrea

Lets go for it. It will have good potential across the board anyway.

[RAM]

*sighs* I told you to focus on the technology and not the device. Now we don't have the one thing that the design actually needed in order to work. There really isn't any point in fixing this because we will still be fighting air supremacy and environmental control with an unstable prototype. At least with the force film it could have attempted to brute-force oppose their control, now we have to balance thrusts against constantly changing wind patterns... And we still need living magic to perform those sorts of rapid precise pressure shifts over the frame of a whole aircraft... We still need to solve this situation by denying the sky as a theatre, which should be pretty easy given our massive-huge-megacolossal-scale thermal-magic.

Gemerators
We remove the magic storage from an Aethergem and instead attach it to a magic-transference circuit lnked to a magical consumer, typically a device and some magems for storage. We then attune the "suction" effect to be more focused, extracting more from a smaller region of aether, tapping into a more fundamental source that we have yet to identify. This has, in controlled testing, resulted in more power being extracted from a smaller "hole" and thus producing less "exposure" and resulting in less "interference" from nearby gemerators. By reducing the impact of the magic accumulation effect we hope to increase the effectiveness of large generation arrays and reduce the volatility of the devices by lessening the size of the "hole" that closes when the device is violently disabled. Additionally, by separating them from their magic storage, we hope to further reduce the ability of such events to "chain-react" into the power storage and thus further reduce explosions, hopefully to the point that a single device can explode without detonating its neighbours. Furthermore, the absence of integrated storage greatly reduces their size, thus, with large-scale generation projects(due to the relatively low needs of actual storage in the presence of a sustained source), such as vehicles, their volume efficiency is roughly doubled, with the exception of the required volume of magems, which is usually miniscule by comparison when involved in large projects. Finally, by not needing a magem in every unit, we hope to reduce costs.

Naturally these would be integrated(along with small compliments of magems) into our current designs in place of large (aether/ma)gem arrays. Which should be rather easy as it is just replacing one big stack of gems and circuits with another. The "power comes out here" element of the circuit should be unchanged...

invisible crystals
We refine our transparent crystals so that they are completely invisible, by mathemagically isolating the magical signature for "light" that we have refined so well with our flare spells and simply removing all traces of it from the mathemagical equations we are using to generate our crystals. While this will aid immensely in scope covers(the internal lenses would need to be old-fashioned merely-transparent crystals to provide magnification, unless we use magic to magnify) and vision ports(but also handy for using flares from within a vehicle to full effectiveness with no fear of glare rebounding upon the user), it is, perhaps, most convenient for demonstrating to The Saint(may she never rain death upon us). When our mages are seen clearly demonstrating the material by laying atop it, demonstrating its smooth surface by presenting a painted object, then cleaning off its surfaces and polishing them to complete imperceptibility(while behind a curtain, no need to sully their eyes with common cleaning behaviour.) and for a bit of novelty presenting a plant potted in it and for a bit of showmanship we can grow the plant while nobody is in its vicinity and The Saint(May we be spared from her wrath) is engaged in conversation. The view of a plant's roots as it grows should be fascinating. It would just be too bad if there were some communication errors and the precise nature of our achievements were not adequately communicated...

Of secondary importance is applying the reverse of this. Imbuing the transparent crystal with the pure essence of light, bereft of context. This should cause it to imbue a specific measure of light upon whatever vision passes through it, resulting in the appearance of a bright day regardless of actual lighting conditions.

Ideally this would be included into all current uses of transparent crystals that are not reliant upon optical deformation. It will serve to obscure the borders of our own equipment and remove the current obscuring effects that exist from looking through curved glass, such as is exhibited by protectors.

This latter one would really help with our appeal to The Saint(May her fury fall upon our enemies alone.) and also help with our optics, especially if it manages day-vision, which would hopefully not only provide clear-day vision at night, but also when looking at a flare, which would be merely "clear sunny day" and not "aaaargh my poor innocent eyes". Given that we now have not one but two spells that are basically "make things bright" and our crystal refinement is over 9000 and includes a transparent variant, I do not think that this is asking overly much...