weapon platforms, weight ratios and modding questions

[orev_saara]

Well put, Mr. Grice. I guess weapon platforms bother me because they're actually understandable in terms of modern science. I don't give wormholes any thought at all. I just file them under the necessary evils of an interstellar empire-building game and forget about it. Maybe I should do the same with weapon platforms, but I still don't see the need for them with satellites and bases. Of course, the beauty of SE is that I can just take em out if I don't like em. I might do that.

One Last nitpick: if an energy weapon bLasts out so much juice that atmospheric resistance is not an issue, wouldn't it kill people on the surface, too? I suppose that's really just another engineering problem that might be overcome by advance technology, so I shouldn't worry too much over it... still, can anybody think of a way to mod in planet-based ordnance degrading the planet it's fired from in some way? Ionizing radiation? Heat pollution? Toxic chemicals (love those acid globules)?

I NEED MORE MODDING OPTIONS!!!!

I probably have a little too much free time.

[MacLeod]

You could just assume the weapons platforms are orbital somewhat more like a modern space stations. This doesn't really conflict with the other two options as bases and satellites are drastically different from the modern Versions as the modern ones are orbital while the SEIV are designed for deep space.

That or you could just say "who cares?"

[Q]

Realistic or not I think weapon platforms are essential for the game because there is no other effective protection for colonies.

[ January 25, 2003, 06:50: Message edited by: Q ]

[Baron Munchausen]

Part of the 'Star Wars' missile defense included x-ray beams that would fire through the atmosphere. Yes, there would be some loss of power to the atmosphere but not that much. The thing that is unrealistic in most SciFi portrayals of ship's weapons hitting the ground (like Star Trek) is there is no secondary effect. It would be like a lightning strike, with a huge 'BOOM' after the beam stopped because the atmosphere would rush back into the vacuum left by the beam turning everything in its path to plasma. Weapons firing 'up' would be the same as ship's weapons firing 'down' in this regard.

Rail guns firing through the atmosphere are not improbable. The projectile just has to be able to survive the heat from friction with the atmosphere. You might well be able to take advantage of that heat to make your projectile a more effective armor piercer.

Missiles are even easier. NASA launches have to be as cheap as possible. They are going for efficiency, not speed. And of course they are launching large payloads. The old ABM missiles were much faster than any of the cargo launches you see today. They used a different (and much more expensive) fuel, and they only had to carry a warhead. As they develop this new defense system that GWB is pushing they'll probably develop new ABMs that are even faster. Assuming a few centuries of technology advancement there's no reason that huge numbers of (relatively) cheap missiles capable of reaching orbit and beyond very quickly could not be stocked up for planet defense.

I don't think weapon platforms are unrealistic at all. It's the planets themselves that are unrealistic. The generic 'conditions' (meant to be 'weather' I guess?) is just too vague to describe a planetary environment. We need gravity, radiation, and temperature ranges. I hope we'll get them in SE V.

And yes, the 'cargo capacity' of planets is arbitrarily limited. Realistically, even a medium-size planet like earth could hold more weapons that appear in an entire game of SE IV. But if we allowed all planets to have seven-digit cargo capacity it would be faily easy to stalemate the game by stocking one planet with a huge pile of weapons.

[ January 25, 2003, 16:20: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]

[Graeme Dice]

But if we allowed all planets to have seven-digit cargo capacity it would be faily easy to stalemate the game by stocking one planet with a huge pile of weapons.[/QB]

Nah, you'd just have to create more planetkiller type weapons.

Just put a mass driver that fires once per combat, does 50K damage, and is small enough to mount a couple on large ships.

[Fyron]

It's a science fiction game with warp points, usable organic based ships, and faster than light travel.

Actually, there is no FTL in SE4. All engines are sublight engines. Sure, they can go fast (crossing a system in 1 month), but not faster than light speed.

[Rollo]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:

quote:

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It's a science fiction game with warp points, usable organic based ships, and faster than light travel.

Actually, there is no FTL in SE4. All engines are sublight engines. Sure, they can go fast (crossing a system in 1 month), but not faster than light speed.

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totally btw: does anyone know how big our solar system is approximately? I mean in light hours

[ January 26, 2003, 14:33: Message edited by: Rollo ]

[Arkcon]

[quote]Originally posted by Rollo:

totally btw: does anyone know how big our solar system is approximately? I mean in light hours

I heard once that the heliopause, that is the point where solar wind particles become so thin as to be indistiguisable from the usual particle density of "empty space" coused by other stars, is 2 light years. The ort cloud/Kuliper(?sp) belt orbits here, but the suns gravitational attraction is very weak here.

[Rollo]

[quote]Originally posted by Arkcon:

quote:

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Originally posted by Rollo:

totally btw: does anyone know how big our solar system is approximately? I mean in light hours

I heard once that the heliopause, that is the point where solar wind particles become so thin as to be indistiguisable from the usual particle density of "empty space" coused by other stars, is 2 light years. The ort cloud/Kuliper(?sp) belt orbits here, but the suns gravitational attraction is very weak here.

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hmm, that sounds a little too big, if you ask me. given the fact that proxima centauri (the closest star) is 4 light years away.
anyway, this is way off-topic. I'll do some research and open a new thread.

Rollo

[Graeme Dice]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
Actually, there is no FTL in SE4.

Sure there is, warppoints allow you to travel FTL regularly.