The Legion Shipsuit is an example of high tech field dress used by members of the Legion serving on board spacecraft. The shipsuit is a high end skinsuit worn by legionaries engaged in shipboard duties as a regular working uniform. As a uniform it is typically manifest as a black uniform with silver trim adorned with rank insignia and specialty badges for enlisted members. The chameleon surface can be altered under the control of the suit LCP (Local Control Processor) when circumstances warrant, such as to bright orange in rescue situations or woodland pattern when in the field planetside.
Suit control is effected through the touch display located on the suit's left sleeve. Certain suit functions can also be activated using touch switches located at certain points of the suit, for example a collar switch can be used to activate the helmet extruder.
As a high end skinsuit the Legion shipsuit includes the ability to extrude an airtight helmet and gloves for vacuum survival. The helmet includes a heads-up display (HUD). The suit has integrated communication and while it does not have it's own full sensor suite it can interface with internal ship's systems when worn on a Legion spacecraft or a CMC. It does have minimum temperature and atmosphere safety sensors, a multi-spectrum vision system and both general and spot lighting capability.
While not meant for use in high radiation environments, being an IVA (intravehicular activity) suit, shipsuits do contain both a low-g B/G harness useful for propulsion in microgravity and micro-g boots. This is to enhance their capability in shipboard damage control situations.
The suit is intended for use in the field in a wide range of habitable environments and so contains both an integrated heating and cooling system and the ability to extrude a cold weather hood.
Like most skinsuits the shipsuit contains a re-breather pack and a mini tank which gives 30 minutes of air. They
also have an external connection to allow use with a small tank giving
12 hours of air or a fixed system for virtually unlimited air.
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Smart Materials
The term Smart Materials encompasses a class of designed materials whose properties can be significantly changed by controlled external stimuli. The first smart materials were developed during the Progressive Era. The range of smart material properties is extensive.
Smart materials are used extensively in the technology of the Grand Human Union and in many of the Midlands and even some of the Wilds. Programmable matter is a type of smart material that is used extensively in spacecraft construction, clothing, and instrumentation.
Smart material can change its shape, conductivity, optical properties, moduli, density, electrical properties and even it's magnetic and gravitic properties.
The use of smart material allows for operational behavior of devices that would seem almost magical to generations who lived before the Progressive Era.
Some use of smart materials has already been mentioned. For example in airlock construction, vacc suits and cybersuits.
Smart materials are used extensively in the technology of the Grand Human Union and in many of the Midlands and even some of the Wilds. Programmable matter is a type of smart material that is used extensively in spacecraft construction, clothing, and instrumentation.
Smart material can change its shape, conductivity, optical properties, moduli, density, electrical properties and even it's magnetic and gravitic properties.
The use of smart material allows for operational behavior of devices that would seem almost magical to generations who lived before the Progressive Era.
Some use of smart materials has already been mentioned. For example in airlock construction, vacc suits and cybersuits.
Monday, October 9, 2017
Space Combat extended
Space combat was been lightly covered in previous posts. Within the Highlands any ship-on-ship actions are primarily single ship-on-ship police or anti-piracy affairs conducted primarily by Ranger units on corvettes or schooners. From time to time a Frigate patrolling the border between the frontier and the Midlands might find itself engaged by a foreign vessel or multiple hostile vessels of a subordinate class.
Outside the Highlands, in the Midlands or the Wild large scale squadron, task force or fleet battles are much more likely. Such combat is very much different in scope and character from single ship actions. While a Frigate embarks support craft and might deploy pinnace to act as scouts or pickets or even have fighting vehicles or battleriders to act as support craft they typically do not have the long range reconnaissance or Command and Control systems necessary to engage in fleet level actions.
During one-on-one actions vessels typically depend upon their own sensor suites to locate enemy vessels, direct fire control and engage enemies.
During fleet actions major combatants, such as dreadnoughts and superdreadnoughts use pickets made up of destroyers and battleriders to deploy sensor nets, act as forward firecontrol nodes and provide support. To aid in this role destroyers tend to be light on energy weapons, but heavy on missiles. They primarily use railguns and light lasers in the anti-missile roll. Destroyers are small enough to employ relatively effective stealth and cloaking technology, like the more heavily armored battelriders.
In real space combat even the most powerful energy weapons are limited to 300,000 miles range. In subspace their range is a twentieth of that. At those ranges sensor response lags only a second. Missiles are effective at distances far beyond the range at which sensor response lags by minutes. Sensor nets can also be effectively deploy at distances which result in information minutes or hours old being the most recent data upon which response decisions must be made. Likewise large dispersed sensor nets can detect objects at distances so great that the information is an hour and a half old by the time the information reaches its control node.
Outside the Highlands, in the Midlands or the Wild large scale squadron, task force or fleet battles are much more likely. Such combat is very much different in scope and character from single ship actions. While a Frigate embarks support craft and might deploy pinnace to act as scouts or pickets or even have fighting vehicles or battleriders to act as support craft they typically do not have the long range reconnaissance or Command and Control systems necessary to engage in fleet level actions.
During one-on-one actions vessels typically depend upon their own sensor suites to locate enemy vessels, direct fire control and engage enemies.
During fleet actions major combatants, such as dreadnoughts and superdreadnoughts use pickets made up of destroyers and battleriders to deploy sensor nets, act as forward firecontrol nodes and provide support. To aid in this role destroyers tend to be light on energy weapons, but heavy on missiles. They primarily use railguns and light lasers in the anti-missile roll. Destroyers are small enough to employ relatively effective stealth and cloaking technology, like the more heavily armored battelriders.
In real space combat even the most powerful energy weapons are limited to 300,000 miles range. In subspace their range is a twentieth of that. At those ranges sensor response lags only a second. Missiles are effective at distances far beyond the range at which sensor response lags by minutes. Sensor nets can also be effectively deploy at distances which result in information minutes or hours old being the most recent data upon which response decisions must be made. Likewise large dispersed sensor nets can detect objects at distances so great that the information is an hour and a half old by the time the information reaches its control node.
Divergence
As originally stated though the background for New Diasporia can be applied to any game system, the game itself was developed using GURPS, primarily 3rd Edition, especially some of the Traveller rules, but also GURPS Space. Here and there other GURPS source book rules are used. Some rules come from GURPS 4th Edition, though modified for use with the 3rd Edition rules.
I have also stated that there are fundamentals of the GURPS Rule set, primarily in Tech Levels, Tech Level advancement and maintenance rules which have been modified, primarily to support the background but also because they don't work reasonably as originally constructed.
During the original playtest for GURPS Traveller it was noted that the rules for missiles and spinal mounts resulted in missiles dominating, a circumstance that did not well reflect the original Traveller material. Several rule modifications were introduced to mitigate this, but resulted in other problems vis a vis ship survivability against spinal mounts.
In New Diasporia this is not so much a problem. Traveller Meson weapons do not exist and particle weapons are primarily relegated to close support planetary use. While Laser and Grazer weapons are used, especially in the close support and anti-missile roles space combat is dominated by missiles.
That is real space combat is dominated by missiles. Subspace combat is another story. In subspace missile drives propel a missile not faster than other B/G powered vessels, making missiles ineffective. Subspace combat is heavily dominated by energy weapons which have very much reduced ranges, just as do sensors.
A variety of energy weapon sizes are available for use on spacecraft. Lasers and Grazers typically mounted in turrets (1500 cuft for turret space, 500 cuft for mounts and rotation space.) New Diasporia turrets typically do not contain crew spaces. Weapons may also be mounted in barbettes. Barbettes come in 2500 cutft and 5000 cuft versions which require 500 cuft and 1000 cuft of internal volume for mounts and rotation space respectively.
Smaller turrets can also be used for close support weapons (which in Traveller are called planetary weapons), but such weapons are typically only mounted on battleriders and small craft like pinnaces.
Weapons may also be fix mounted. Missile tubes may be fixed mounted individually or they may be mounted in missile bays. Missile bays typically come in 25,000 cuft and 50,000 cuft sizes. The difference in fixed mounted weapons and weapons mounted in a bay is that a weapon bay includes a targeting computer and laser communications links sufficient all of its launchers. Fixed mounted weapons must use an external computer with the proper software and a separate communication suite, which is probably mounted in a turret somewhere.
It is also possible to fix mount an energy weapon, but only the battleriders use spinal mounted energy weapons, typically heavily supplemented by missile tubes for use in the anti-missile role. A fixed mounted energy weapon cannot be used in the anti-missile role.
I have also stated that there are fundamentals of the GURPS Rule set, primarily in Tech Levels, Tech Level advancement and maintenance rules which have been modified, primarily to support the background but also because they don't work reasonably as originally constructed.
During the original playtest for GURPS Traveller it was noted that the rules for missiles and spinal mounts resulted in missiles dominating, a circumstance that did not well reflect the original Traveller material. Several rule modifications were introduced to mitigate this, but resulted in other problems vis a vis ship survivability against spinal mounts.
In New Diasporia this is not so much a problem. Traveller Meson weapons do not exist and particle weapons are primarily relegated to close support planetary use. While Laser and Grazer weapons are used, especially in the close support and anti-missile roles space combat is dominated by missiles.
That is real space combat is dominated by missiles. Subspace combat is another story. In subspace missile drives propel a missile not faster than other B/G powered vessels, making missiles ineffective. Subspace combat is heavily dominated by energy weapons which have very much reduced ranges, just as do sensors.
A variety of energy weapon sizes are available for use on spacecraft. Lasers and Grazers typically mounted in turrets (1500 cuft for turret space, 500 cuft for mounts and rotation space.) New Diasporia turrets typically do not contain crew spaces. Weapons may also be mounted in barbettes. Barbettes come in 2500 cutft and 5000 cuft versions which require 500 cuft and 1000 cuft of internal volume for mounts and rotation space respectively.
Smaller turrets can also be used for close support weapons (which in Traveller are called planetary weapons), but such weapons are typically only mounted on battleriders and small craft like pinnaces.
Weapons may also be fix mounted. Missile tubes may be fixed mounted individually or they may be mounted in missile bays. Missile bays typically come in 25,000 cuft and 50,000 cuft sizes. The difference in fixed mounted weapons and weapons mounted in a bay is that a weapon bay includes a targeting computer and laser communications links sufficient all of its launchers. Fixed mounted weapons must use an external computer with the proper software and a separate communication suite, which is probably mounted in a turret somewhere.
It is also possible to fix mount an energy weapon, but only the battleriders use spinal mounted energy weapons, typically heavily supplemented by missile tubes for use in the anti-missile role. A fixed mounted energy weapon cannot be used in the anti-missile role.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)