Babylon 5 Mod

[Timstone]

What kind of errors apear on your screen?

[gregebowman]

Originally posted by Val:
Gregbowman
It may be a bit, if I have some extra time after the next patch (or two) I will update it for Gold 1.78 so it is playable.

)

I can wait. But I hope that it is the Version where I can play against the computer solo. Most of these Messages seemed to be geared towards a PBM type of game, which I don't want at this time. Just let me know when it's ready and I'll be happy.

[Fyron]

Originally posted by President Elect Shang:
Keep in mind that the size of a ship represents all of it's mass. It is not a measure of volume. Having a component be "external" does not mean that it hass less mass than an "internal" component.

Well first I don't see how the mass of an object plays into an external component for damage of a system that is being designed with the ability "Armor" because it is exposed on the outside of the ship.
Second this is a ship in space, and this ship has engines able to accelerate it to x% of c in a matter of moments without turning the crew into anchovy paste. A large percent of c that is.
Third if you are assuming a ship that CAN accelerate to x% of c than you can also assume (we all know what that means) that a little change in mass is not important if we can design a component that more closely mimics “external”. Right now the B5 Mod “external” systems are just small “internal” systems.
Wait. Not done.
Finally a true “external” system in a zero g environment (a ship in space); is only limited by the surface area of the ship; the true weight (mass) of this component would be near meaningless.
Right?

Force = Mass x Acceleration
The more massive an object is, the more force (thrust) it requires to accelerate the object. Whether a component is "internal" or "external", it should still have roughly the same mass. The location of the mass is irrelevant. In a vacuum there is no resistance from the media (or lack thereof). A sleek starship requires the same force to accelerate as an equal mass oblong hulk. So, an external component shouldn't necessarily be less massive (ie: fewer kilotons (smaller)) than an internal one.

[ September 17, 2002, 19:54: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Timstone]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
A sleek starship requires the same force to accelerate as an equal mass oblong hulk. So, an external component shouldn't necessarily be less massive (ie: fewer kilotons (smaller)) than an internal one.

That is incorrect Imperator. A sleek and smooth spaceship requires less thrust for the same acceleration than a bulky spaceship. There is ALWAYS resistance (stray space dust, small meteorites). It's almost nothing compared to the atmosphere of a planet, but there is still some resistance. And that resistance is very large if you're heading in the direction of a sun (the sun is emitting photons, that's why a solar sail gives thrust to certain artificial recon moons) or if you're traveling inside a nebula (particles make up a nebula).

[ September 17, 2002, 20:07: Message edited by: Timstone ]

[Lighthorse]

Val,

Have you ever thought about mounting missile racks on the side of spaceships. It should slow them down some, but shouldn't count against the vessel tonage. Also vessel could tow missile pods too. This should only be allow for one or few of the minor races, to off set they technology disadvangate with the big boys.

Lighthorse

[Fyron]

Originally posted by Timstone:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
A sleek starship requires the same force to accelerate as an equal mass oblong hulk. So, an external component shouldn't necessarily be less massive (ie: fewer kilotons (smaller)) than an internal one.

That is incorrect Imperator. A sleek and smooth spaceship requires less thrust for the same acceleration than a bulky spaceship. There is ALWAYS resistance (stray space dust, small meteorites). It's almost nothing compared to the atmosphere of a planet, but there is still some resistance. And that resistance is very large if you're heading in the direction of a sun (the sun is emitting photons, that's why a solar sail gives thrust to certain artificial recon moons) or if you're traveling inside a nebula (particles make up a nebula).

---

Sleek vs. oblong hulk was an exaggeration.

The resistance in normal space would be so small as to hardly make a difference for the purposes of SE4. In reality it might make a very minor difference, but SE4 doesn't handle such things. And you cannot make ships move slower when heading towards a star, or in a nebula, in SE4, so that doesn't affect my arguement much in terms of SE4.

Anyways, your points may be valid, but they don't affect my arguement of external vs. internal components a whole lot.

[Nomor]

Re: Mass Drivers

When I did a stint on an Evil Empire ship as part of an Officer exchange program they always used to launch their Mass Driver projectiles from as far away as 15 to 20 combat squares to avoid Satellite defences and surface to space fighters. They were only able to get off two shots and then had to retreat. The range didn't seem to matter, in fact the gravity well of the planet meant that the further away from the target the "mass" was fired the more damage it did due to the increased speed upon impact.

They were not very accurate until some bright spark suggested bolting small thruster rockets to the "mass" which could be fired remotely as a primitive guidance system. On one occasion they used it on a stricken carrier that had its engines disabled. It was only a partial hit but I reckon the carrier was only good for scrap after that.

One of the most devastating direct fire/come slow seeker weapons I'd ever seen in action. Easy to avoid as long as your engines are working. Hell, you only fire mass drivers from Orbit if you like to watch the dust plumes.

I once saw a colony defend against this by launching fighters equipped with warheads and crashing into the driven "mass". They ejected just before impact. They managed to destroy it but having sacrificed all their fighter, surrendered anyway.


[ September 17, 2002, 21:41: Message edited by: Nomor ]

[oleg]

Speeking about drag in space: Does anybody ever estimated what kind of kinetic impact can interstellar dust have on a starship cruising at near-light speed ? At 0.99 c, even a vety, very tiny piece of mater can produce a megatone impact...

[Fyron]

Unfortunately, you could never ever reach anywhere near 0.99 c.

[Nomor]

Would it not be relative. If a pea came hurtling at you at .99c and hit your 6 foot steel hull would that not be the same as a 6 foot steel hull hitting a pea at .99c. The greater mass would win?
I think this was why energy shields were "invented", to push the debris of space out the way or deflect it?