Troublesome technology

Loser · #1 September 30th, 2003, 11:31 PM

I'm the Minister of Science in our Play by Commitee game and I've got an RP problem with the engines. The thing is, I don't know what they are or what they do.

Ion Engine
Contra-Terrene Engine
Jacketed-Photon Engine
Quantum Engine

Okay, I know how the first one works. Really, I do.

I don't know anything about the second one. I don't know what it is in reference to or anything else. No bleeping clue.

I can probably fake the third. I can make up something that sounds ... well at least that's readable and related to the name.

And the forth one, Quantum Engine... well, it's 'quantum', you could make up just about anthing and most folk would be okay with it.

But what about those middle two? Any ideas? Anyone actually know? Anyone got a link to somewhere that explains it?

[ September 30, 2003, 22:32: Message edited by: Loser ]

Fyron · #2 September 30th, 2003, 11:38 PM

The descriptions are not enough? Maybe they have different descriptions in SE3, I do not recall. Go get it from MM's site (the shareware anyways) and see if it is more helpful.

Suicide Junkie · #3 September 30th, 2003, 11:40 PM

Contra Terrene is french-ish for antimatter, IIRC.

DavidG · #4 September 30th, 2003, 11:41 PM

Terrene/Contra-Terrene, a more accurate term for what is often called matter/anti-matter (since both are actually matter, simply in different forms). The reaction between the two forms liberates all the energy both contain, making it by far the most efficient and least polluting energy source available. For this reason, T/CT is used almost exclusively for planetary and large-craft energy needs.

Phoenix-D · #5 September 30th, 2003, 11:41 PM

Contra-Terren is Contra-Terran, i.e. anti-terran i.e. antimatter. Presumably it operates by using matter/antimatter reactions to generate thrust.

Fyron · #6 September 30th, 2003, 11:42 PM

Jacketed Photon engines probably harness Photons directly as a means of propulsion.

Quantum engines probably use very small subparticles like neutrinos and such.

Fyron · #7 September 30th, 2003, 11:48 PM

Basically, keep in mind it is technobabble stuff, so anything you make up that sounds plausible is fine. Just be consistent.

jimbob · #8 September 30th, 2003, 11:51 PM

me... I'm waiting for the Heisenberg (sp) Improbability Drive

Fyron · #9 September 30th, 2003, 11:51 PM

Check out the events file in Adamant Mod.

Artscrafter · #10 October 1st, 2003, 12:46 AM

Quote:

me... I'm waiting for the Heisenberg (sp) Improbability Drive

I once sort of BS'ed up a name for an even more advanced engine for a mod: the Tesseracted Relativity Engine. (Yeah, I know, the name needs a lot of work.) Basically the idea was that the engine magnified the time distortion effect at relativistic speeds to include the outside perspective. The effect would be that the actual time a voyage took would be somewhere between the time its speed would suggest and the time it seemed to take from the perspective of the crew.

I have no idea how that would look, I just pulled it out of my arse