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[Draignean]

Which is to say, I like it because it provides us with a 'biological' source of vast amounts of energy- which we will need to power more ambitious designs in the future-, and it opens up potential pathways towards psionics, if we want to go down that route.

Dr. Aignean is the best pseudonym. I'm pretty sure Dr. Aignean is going to be how I propose all my crazy shit.

Bio-Etherics will take a number of updates to bring to a working state. I think a reasonable pace would be...

1. Testbed Bio-Etheric Reactor- A large structure built into the Moerth colony. It might not even produce power without additional design+revision, but it can later be upgraded to power defensive weapons for the colony itself as well as citizen QoL for propaganda.

2. Ship-Scale Bio-Etheric Conduits.  Clean reactors mean fewer resources spent on core shielding.

3. Micro-scale Bio-Etheric Cells. Cells small enough for missiles, infantry weapons, or mounting into powered armor...
  3R: Integrated Bio-Etherics- Combining our integrated electronics with integrated bio-etherics for meta-materials of rather shocking properties...

Considering the advantages we have right now, this is a good time to work on designs that will boost us going forward. We can hold our ground, and if the Illiad goes well, we can even black an eye or two.

I think Megaconstruction and Exotic Energy (in the form of Bio-Etherics) are good picks for new designs.

Speaking of, I've been mulling over Nirur's point about them making a retreat. IF they do not choose to evacuate, they lose a unit. Deploying the Illiad there will do basically nothing, and it would have been better served at B2.

HOWEVER, if they do choose to evacuate, they will likely dedicate substantial ships in order to prevent us from taking out their ITC. Our Illiad is well designed, has good missiles, and is meant for  just this occasion. We have a chance to take out a chunk of their forces and keep them injured for further presses.

Changing my vote to plan B, and gamble on them not just shrugging off the loss of C.

Plan A: (2) Madman198237, NUKE9.13
Plan B: (3) Nirur Torir, 10ebbor10, Draignean

[Madman198237]

Let's...not.

The bio-energy. That's not science fiction. That's just fiction. There's no energy created by that method. It's utterly ridiculous. I'm thinking we step down the path to fusion. Nuclear fusion is a clear and powerful topic of science, not even science fiction.

We get fission (Do we have this yet, GM? How are our ships actually powered???), then fusion, and then we could take the thermonuclear option (I'm not even joking) and start lobbing long-range space ICBM's to take out their fighter vessels and ITCs in droves. Also, a single long-range thermonuclear device could entirely destroy their forces on a planet, depending on how they spread out.


But for next turn: space dock. We build the space station (A warehouse in space, with a few arms and a factory setup), we build ships faster, ship things out faster, everything gets faster and better.


Oh, and just for neat reference: Metamaterials refers only to materials with interesting optical properties. As in, materials with a negative index of refraction (Gets REALLY strange and scientific from here) that can be used to bend light without distortion and thus render an object invisible.

[Nirur Torir]

How are our ships actually powered???

Solor panels.


Ideally, I'd like to spend next turn finally designing an orbital shipyard, preferably with an initial setup geared towards building more Iliad ships.

For revision, I think I'd like an anti-fighter missile with superior guidance and maneuverability. I'd like it to use the same launch tubes as our other missiles, but with three smaller missiles, which split off and can either chase different targets or all hit the same target at different trajectories for overwhelming PD.

[Madman198237]

Solar panels?

That's extremely underwhelming. So, for next turn, orbital shipyard. I'm going to grab my earlier proposal and bring it here for later. I think I'm going to simplify it as well.

Yggdrasil SS-01A
Built entirely in space, this revolutionary new structure is basically a free-falling warehouse and factory with 4 arm-like structures. Two of them are docking areas, comprising a place for an ITC/IMW/Iliad to dock and load/unload crew, goods, weaponry, or ammunition. The other two are construction yards, capable of building or refitting/repairing one ship at a time or being used as more docking space. It is to be locked in a geosynchronous orbit over an empty part of one of Moerth's landmass(es). Everything needed to build spaceships, and almost everything meant to travel on them, will first go to this station.

[Chiefwaffles]

Your ships are powered by small chemical reactors and/or solar panels.
Your power needs aren't that great at the moment. Power's mostly needed for the ship control systems and keeping the lights on + the crew alive. Your weapons consume very little power as the missiles use their own fuel.

Fission power could be done as a major/moderate part of a design or a revision. It's just that you don't need it at the moment. You know exactly how fission works and how to utilize it but you don't have any blueprints for fission reactors in storage.

[Draignean]

Let's...not.

The bio-energy. That's not science fiction. That's just fiction. There's no energy created by that method. It's utterly ridiculous. I'm thinking we step down the path to fusion. Nuclear fusion is a clear and powerful topic of science, not even science fiction.

Here's the thing, we're not fighting hard science here. We have an explicit answer from Chief that says psionics has a greenlight as long as there's a reason. Now, when you consider that spooky action at a distance moderated by a brain pretty much requires some bull-shittery not covered by present science.

That's not a carte-blanche to do whatever the fuck we want, but it means that we CAN use bull-shittery to make things possible that wouldn't otherwise possible. This is Stargate level sci-fi, not 2001 a Space Odyssey.

This is, quite explicitly, not Hard SF. If it was then there would be exactly two research paths we'd need: Missiles and Point-Defense lasers, with maybe a side of Casaba howitzers and EW if we feel the need. Everything else would be in ships design types, efficiency upgrades, and infantry for holding ground when we're not sending down rods from god.

[NUKE9.13]

Let's...not.

The bio-energy. That's not science fiction. That's just fiction. There's no energy created by that method. It's utterly ridiculous.

Boo! Boo this man! You're no fun!

We have no obligation to stick to conventional science. We can go deep into the fictional part of science-fiction. Chiefwaffles has said that psionics is possible, and that certainly isn't science:

Psionics is possible (with some attempt of explaining how) but would certainly take a long time to get to a workable state.

So let's... not shoot down ideas just because they don't make any sense. So long as it sounds alright, with the right amount of pseudo-scientific bullshit, we can do anything.

[Madman198237]

Here's the thing, though: It will take a long time to get right. And what, exactly, will we get out of it? I don't think we will get anything that can't be done faster and with more Boom ^TM than "regular" methods, such as thermonuclear weapons and fusion reactors.

Also, fission---fusion---bombs is a pretty nice way to get the "AW CRAP" emergency button we may need if they get lucky. That or we just go straight to pre-battle bombardment with excesses of thermonuclear weapons and win every battle ever really fast.

[NUKE9.13]

Here's the thing, though: It will take a long time to get right.

Not necessarily. Psionics might, but 'Bio-Etheric Energy' might not take as long.

And what, exactly, will we get out of it? I don't think we will get anything that can't be done faster and with more Boom ^TM than "regular" methods, such as thermonuclear weapons and fusion reactors.

Well, fusion reactors aren't exactly the most portable of devices. And, I mean, vacuum energy is almost limitless, theoretically, so we could get even more power than from fusion.
Most importantly, though, it's more fun than boring old fusion. And unless the GM wants us to be boring, it should be at least as effective.

Also, fission---fusion---bombs is a pretty nice way to get the "AW CRAP" emergency button we may need if they get lucky. That or we just go straight to pre-battle bombardment with excesses of thermonuclear weapons and win every battle ever really fast.

See Draigneans comments re: 'Not Hard Sci-Fi'. Yes, IRL, overwhelming nuclear weapons would be the way to fight this war. But that's boring. It leaves no room for more inventive weapons. As such, in order to keep the game fun, nukes would probably be nerfed to ensure that they do not totally dominate.

[Nirur Torir]

Let's not aim to escalate that far. If we go nukes, they have free reign to obliterate our networks with an AI and permanently cripple us.

[Madman198237]

Who says the enemy is going to "play fair". The nuclear option is nice, but not all that effective in space. It's powerful and can cripple ships with EMP, but the blast is much reduced. So it's not really an end-all-be-all, but fusion power is very easy to get, relative to exploitation of quantum mechanics. Fission is even easier. Developing these two simplistic power sources is easy.

The problem with "vacuum energy" is not its limits but rather the rate at which you can conceivably draw it. Fusion, however, paves the way to creating matter/antimatter annihilation. But first we'd need advanced magnetic containment....which is also very useful as part of a forcefield using plasma to melt and then absorb (Into the shield itself, ironically enough) incoming projectiles.

[Draignean]

Here's the thing, though: It will take a long time to get right. And what, exactly, will we get out of it? I don't think we will get anything that can't be done faster and with more Boom ^TM than "regular" methods, such as thermonuclear weapons and fusion reactors.

Also, fission---fusion---bombs is a pretty nice way to get the "AW CRAP" emergency button we may need if they get lucky. That or we just go straight to pre-battle bombardment with excesses of thermonuclear weapons and win every battle ever really fast.

Okay, here's the thing. Science Fiction, at it's core, is about implication. There's hard Sci-Fi, which is about saying: "Okay, what are the implications for all our present technologies if advanced X years into the future?". There's space magic Sci-Fi, which is basically fantasy reskinned and where pretty much everything can happen with about as much justification as the invasion of Crimea, and as such it asks "What are the implications if magic were in space and used to do space stuff?" and that pretty much gives you Warhammer 40k.

Then there's soft Sci-Fi, which is where we are. Here the question is a bit more nuanced, because you're allowed to lie a little. You're allowed to invoke suspension of disbelief to get a few things through, but you have to play those things straight. This one is "If we we assume that X, Y, and Z are true, what are the implications of that?"

Bio-etheric energy isn't about saying that we have magic cold-fusion space goop, it's about saying "Okay, Many Worlds (MW) and Universal Wave Function (UWF) are valid interpretations of Quantum mechanics. Given that, here's how we can extract energy from it." Or, to put it in the framework of the above, "If we assume that MW and UWF are true, then what are the implications of that?"

This first move is an energy source. After that, you've only got to do your homework and think "Huh, okay, IF this was true, what could I do with it?"


 

Who says the enemy is going to "play fair". The nuclear option is nice, but not all that effective in space. It's powerful and can cripple ships with EMP, but the blast is much reduced. So it's not really an end-all-be-all, but fusion power is very easy to get, relative to exploitation of quantum mechanics. Fission is even easier. Developing these two simplistic power sources is easy.

The problem with "vacuum energy" is not its limits but rather the rate at which you can conceivably draw it. Fusion, however, paves the way to creating matter/antimatter annihilation. But first we'd need advanced magnetic containment....which is also very useful as part of a forcefield using plasma to melt and then absorb (Into the shield itself, ironically enough) incoming projectiles.

Typically, when you put something quotes, it means you're quoting it. No one said anything about playing fair, they talked about playing boring.

Also, vacuum energy is a terrible, terrible idea. If Chiefwaffles played it straight we could easily face a point where our reactors literally caused the laws of physics as we know them to go bonkers around our reactors.  Let's not do that.

I agree, Fusion gives us a path to shields. AM reactors will probably be a thing, and I do like the idea of golf-ball sized fusion warheads, but... I don't think the game is going to go that way. It's not much of a game when your blast sizes start reaching the gigaton levels, you just blow everything up rather than allow capture.

[10ebbor10]

Let's forget about the sci-fi and non sci-fi for a moment.

What I like is to work with the things we have, as best as we can, and only do new stuff as needed for great advantage.

We have :
Advanced 3D printing
Electronic 3D printing

To abandon that to suddenly start with biological stuff is silly.

[Detoxicated]

Plan A: (2) Madman198237, NUKE9.13
Plan B: (4) Nirur Torir, 10ebbor10, Draignean, detoxicated

[Draignean]

Let's forget about the sci-fi and non sci-fi for a moment.

What I like is to work with the things we have, as best as we can, and only do new stuff as needed for great advantage.

We have :
Advanced 3D printing
Electronic 3D printing

To abandon that to suddenly start with biological stuff is silly.

This is somewhat true. I would like to spend a revision on the Akh printers at some point, in order to get them into their intended purpose for mega-structure building.

Still, I would still argue we should lay the groundwork for a game changer while we have a moment. Forget bio-etherics for a minute, it's just one thing.  We do have advanced printers, and we have integrated electronics. If we're going to go a bit off into sci-fi land here, we don't we start working on organic printing? It's possible (Current Earth has printed working mouse ovaries), works well with advanced printing, and advanced electronic systems (Tissue is, basically, an integrated electronics system as it is).