I have some questions..I know their odd..

[Warchild]

Hoy mates,
I figured I'd post a few questions here as I can't seem to find the relevent information anywhere else...even in the Argonopedia...if you can believe that...I might have missed it though if it was there.
Anyway...
I was writting a prologue and the first chapters when I realized that I wasn't keeping to the universe...kind of.
I started to describe the engines...but..I ran into a snag. Has someone else done this?? What are the pertinent parts?? I found trying to write about the character fixing the engine kind of hard when I didn't know how to.
Its like Han Solo fixing the Falcon. He gets the Hydro-spanner in his hands and he's all set. Fixes a couple of power couplings repatches some wires and rerouts a few systems and he's all set for the next mishap.
The probelm is I don't want to say that there are power couplings...and someone else says their ...power doodads.
I was just wondering if there was any information on the engines of the fighters and transports and such.
The other thing was about the political tensions...that is if anyone really knows 'how' the tensions are supposed to be.
I know in the game that they aren't slugging it out and there are no vast incusions from other races into another races territory.
There is the occational vaporizing of a fighter or transport every once in a while...but nothing I would call war.
The other thing that has me a little confused is the time use.
Should I be using the "Jazura -tazura-mizura.-etczura?? I have 40 pages with hours and minutes...and thats going to take a while to fix...their only rough drafts with notes in the margins...so I can go back over those somwhat easy by finding all the words with time and changing them to what their supposed to be. ( Find option )
I'm more concerned with the political tensions though. Would give me a better idea of how far I can go with some of the happenings...and make it more interesting.
Thanks
Cheers

[Warchild]

OK...lemme re-phrase the question. The Argonopedia tells the ntype of propulsion Ex. Fusion, anti-matter, etc. And explains how that works.
What I'm looking for is the internal parts for converting the energy to power..or hasn't that been described yet?
I could try and figure it out and come up with something ...that is if the creators of the X universe and the Argonopedia don't mind...but I'd rather it come from them.
About the political....
What I wanted to know is...Since there was a great war...are their STILL incursions forces of Paranid and Split into Argon and Boron space.
Yes...the Game manual states that they had been at one time...but thanks to the technology of the Ion Disruptor, the incursions of young split have stopped.
So..in and of that fact...are their still open hostilities?? Or is this up to the individual to decide for themselfves??
I'm just trying to get a point of reference is all.
So...in a way...I found what I was looking for in the Argonopedia...but in a way...I didn't. Wanted more technical is all.
When I get the first chapters in...you'll see what I mean...that is...if I'm able to make up a couple things an its ok.
Cheers

[CBJ]

I suggest you drop HelgeK a PM with some specific questions. He came up with a lot of the back-story for the games, and may be able to help you as long as you phrase it in such a way he can give you reasonably quick answers.

[fireblade]

helge might be able to help though im not sure helge as thought much abiut the internal workings of devices either.

they arnt there i think mainly because of problem of describeing how something that does`t exist and you dont know how it would work in theory. i avoid putting stuff in that might end up contradicting myself latter

quite a bit of the technology on the argonopedia was origionaly written by me posted on the wiki (http://www.helge.de/XbtfWiki/)

i might be able to help if you tell me what exactly you are wanting

one thing i have noticed in your first post "hydro spanner" technicaly means water spanner which i thing would be an odd device

power coupleing is probably fine as its a suitable vauge term
(though physics wise i think its a meaningless term)

but if you tell me what is supposed to be broken and in what way i can probably help with names for a few things that you would need to fix

you should proably use the Jazura -tazura-mizura time system most of the time but you might occationaly have an argon still using hours mins to themself depends on how long since the time system was introduced

e.g old ship still uses earth time

but when comunicating with other races its definatly Jazura -tazura-mizura

politics is a bit more complicated helge may be able to help more with that might be able to help a bit depending on what you want to know

[General Morphit]

power coupleing is probably fine as its a suitable vauge term
(though physics wise i think its a meaningless term)

True, I think stuff like that would be fine. If its an engine, it's obviously going to need power, and to allow parts to be changed and maintained, its going to need couplings to take it apart. I wouldn't start talking details but there are details you can assume. A power plant for one, computer systems, cooling units, and plenty of wires and pipes to shift stuff about. Things like wrenches and bolts are fairly generic but I'm sure you have a lot of leeway for inventiveness. If you start posting the story to the community you'll get plenty of feedback on what needs changing or tidying up, I wouldn't be afraid to try things out first though. Looking forward to seeing some of it

[Warchild]

That makes me feel a lot better.
I know that "hydro-spanner" means water spreader...but they used it as a tool in Starwars...come to think of it..The Boron might use them LOL.
I did visit the X.BTF site...it hasn't been changed since 2002 Oct. 16...at 2pm.
I did read about a device called the "trans-forcer".
I'm not sure if this was just an idea for a back-up power source or if it was a power source...I think it would work as a pirate ship power source.

I've gotten alot of my ideas from playing the game...an believe it or not...it gives me ALOT of inspiration. The hardest situations I've ever been in make the best situations...and sometimes the silliest encounter makes sense after I've thought about it.

I was thinking about this very hard the last night...and I came up with a name for my book(s)...the (/\)archild Chronicals ( Warchild Chronicals ).
Just thought I'd add that information. ( and no...they are NOT about me nor an avitar of myself )

Anyway...
In this "chronical"/story, the main character has a beefed up overly modified old Boron Piranha. It has its quirks and like the Millenium Falcon, it has its problems in the most inopportune times...but for the most part, it a good ship.
I also wanted to use cloaking devices...but not in the way that you might think. Its not like Star Trek, where the device works like a shield that bends light nd you have no capabilities to fire weapons.
The way I thought about it, all the "cloak" does is shut down the gravitational field around the ship and through it...making it have no gravity. The second is that there is an outer skin added to the ship which contains thousands of coolant lines that lowers the ambiant heat signature of the ship in question. It also stops all electronic emmitions so the ship could not be detected through means of Infrared, gravitation, thermal, or electromagnetic scans. (or power sources)
The last way that it cloaks the ship would be shutting down the marker lights and the hull would have been altered as well (as mentioned before) with a radar absorbing hull. This would make it next to impossible to detect...but its not fool proof.
The ship using the Cloak can be detected through Occlusion devices (which I will assume exsist).
Occlusion means that the stars would be blocked by the cloaked ship leaving it vulnerable to occlusion detection devices..the only way to actually "remain" cloaked with a device searching for a cloaked ship, would be to move....the movement would have to be slight as any heat from the engines would be picked up on a thermal scan.
One could also "see" the ship using a cloak if the cloaked ship was within 3Km...and if they were looking directly at the ship. Even though the ship would be slightly harder to see as it would have a slightly flat black look to it...metal still shines.
A cloaked ship could fire weapons...but once this happens, thermal detection is possible as well as electro magnetic and ambient heat will begin to rise as the weapon is fired. Missiles would be tracked from trajectory and easily spotted on radar/gravidar. The only weapon that would not give position away through thermal detection and not give off enough of an ambient heat siganture would be the Mass Driver.
Of course...the pilot of the atacking ship would be flying blind trying to attack in this manner as one...thermal heat sensors would detect the ships engines...Electromagnetic scans would be detected from the electronics emmitions from the cloaked ship...(to Target, you'd have to have your ships computer "scan" the ship).
In other words, you have one shot at sneaking up on another ship...so make it count.

As you can see, I put alot of thought into this and this is one of the things that I wanted to include in my writtings. This is also something that could be included in the game...someday..

I'm looking for a little feed-back before I re-write the first chapter.
I also want to make sure that its 'OK' to include this type of technology as well. I know that "Cloaking devices" do not exsist in the Argonopedia..to the best of my knowledge, as I never found it under technology.

There is a good chance that I will have the first chapters re-written to post here...if its ok to do that. I see that someone posted that a chapter of their book was finished ...but I never looked at it.
(sorry...I'll look later...honest..just want to keep my thoughts clean of anyone elses writting right now...very impressionable )

Let me know what you think though....I don't think that I'll include claoking devices or mention them in the first few chapters, but knowing ahead of time would be a good thing if they weren't acceptable to include.

Oh...and I wanted to thank Fireblade....The main character is still using an older ship (from XT the Piranha) so seeing as the ship would still be using years/months/days/hours/minutes/seconds is really helpful.
I'll use the time translations from the manual ( as they are written down ) and go from there with that..
Please let me know if I'm TOO descriptive. I like to give alot of atmosphere whe I write so the reader gets a good feel of what is going on.

Cheers

[fireblade]

That makes me feel a lot better.
I know that "hydro-spanner" means water spreader...but they used it as a tool in Starwars...come to think of it..The Boron might use them LOL.
I did visit the X.BTF site...it hasn't been changed since 2002 Oct. 16...at 2pm.
I did read about a device called the "trans-forcer".
I'm not sure if this was just an idea for a back-up power source or if it was a power source...I think it would work as a pirate ship power source.

I've gotten alot of my ideas from playing the game...an believe it or not...it gives me ALOT of inspiration. The hardest situations I've ever been in make the best situations...and sometimes the silliest encounter makes sense after I've thought about it.

I was thinking about this very hard the last night...and I came up with a name for my book(s)...the (/\)archild Chronicals ( Warchild Chronicals ).
Just thought I'd add that information. ( and no...they are NOT about me nor an avitar of myself )

Anyway...
In this "chronical"/story, the main character has a beefed up overly modified old Boron Piranha. It has its quirks and like the Millenium Falcon, it has its problems in the most inopportune times...but for the most part, it a good ship.
I also wanted to use cloaking devices...but not in the way that you might think. Its not like Star Trek, where the device works like a shield that bends light nd you have no capabilities to fire weapons.
The way I thought about it, all the "cloak" does is shut down the gravitational field around the ship and through it...making it have no gravity.
The second is that there is an outer skin added to the ship which contains thousands of coolant lines that lowers the ambiant heat signature of the ship in question. It also stops all electronic emmitions so the ship could not be detected through means of Infrared, gravitation, thermal, or electromagnetic scans. (or power sources)
The last way that it cloaks the ship would be shutting down the marker lights and the hull would have been altered as well (as mentioned before) with a radar absorbing hull. This would make it next to impossible to detect...but its not fool proof.
The ship using the Cloak can be detected through Occlusion devices (which I will assume exsist).
Occlusion means that the stars would be blocked by the cloaked ship leaving it vulnerable to occlusion detection devices..the only way to actually "remain" cloaked with a device searching for a cloaked ship, would be to move....the movement would have to be slight as any heat from the engines would be picked up on a thermal scan.
One could also "see" the ship using a cloak if the cloaked ship was within 3Km...and if they were looking directly at the ship. Even though the ship would be slightly harder to see as it would have a slightly flat black look to it...metal still shines.
A cloaked ship could fire weapons...but once this happens, thermal detection is possible as well as electro magnetic and ambient heat will begin to rise as the weapon is fired. Missiles would be tracked from trajectory and easily spotted on radar/gravidar. The only weapon that would not give position away through thermal detection and not give off enough of an ambient heat siganture would be the Mass Driver.
Of course...the pilot of the atacking ship would be flying blind trying to attack in this manner as one...thermal heat sensors would detect the ships engines...Electromagnetic scans would be detected from the electronics emmitions from the cloaked ship...(to Target, you'd have to have your ships computer "scan" the ship).
In other words, you have one shot at sneaking up on another ship...so make it count.

As you can see, I put alot of thought into this and this is one of the things that I wanted to include in my writtings. This is also something that could be included in the game...someday..

I'm looking for a little feed-back before I re-write the first chapter.
I also want to make sure that its 'OK' to include this type of technology as well. I know that "Cloaking devices" do not exsist in the Argonopedia..to the best of my knowledge, as I never found it under technology.

There is a good chance that I will have the first chapters re-written to post here...if its ok to do that. I see that someone posted that a chapter of their book was finished ...but I never looked at it.
(sorry...I'll look later...honest..just want to keep my thoughts clean of anyone elses writting right now...very impressionable )

Let me know what you think though....I don't think that I'll include claoking devices or mention them in the first few chapters, but knowing ahead of time would be a good thing if they weren't acceptable to include.

Oh...and I wanted to thank Fireblade....The main character is still using an older ship (from XT the Piranha) so seeing as the ship would still be using years/months/days/hours/minutes/seconds is really helpful.
I'll use the time translations from the manual ( as they are written down ) and go from there with that..
Please let me know if I'm TOO descriptive. I like to give alot of atmosphere whe I write so the reader gets a good feel of what is going on.

Cheers

the majority of that should be fine apart from the shielding a ships gravitational field as apart from the fact i dont think it is possible.
it could start to have some very strange effects also since in most cases compared to other things aroud the gravitational effect of most ships is small enough to be undetectable.

one thing to note with cloaking devices is if your cloak is a field that bends things around your ship that for everything you cloak against you have one less thing you can see.

but i think the cloak you are describeing is a form of thermoptic camoflage
(detects on one side and emit same signal on other) and absorbtion.

(for startrek im still not sure why you can`t fire while cloaked)

a form of cloak does exist in x2 though its techically a camoflage rather than a cloak (ship that saves you from pirates when in TP early on has one though thats the only place you see one)

anyway to my knowledge ther are no technological problems with having shields, weapons or engines running at the same time, other than power requirements, though useing them may make other less effective. large engine output or weapon cant be easily hidden by a cloak. Though you seem to have taken that into account.

optical occlusion sensor do work but you need to have prior knowledge of the background to compare with current sensor for them to work.

it requires a full cloaking field or very well tuned with lots of computing processing to counter occlusion sensors but even then if at close range a camoflage device can be detected.

and all non exotic cloaking devices can be defeated by a beam lattice detection system. as dissruptions by even a few mm can be detected and those are almost impossible to prevent.

as to transforcers i think there was an issuse with them and conservation of energy

just to summerise there are three types of cloak

passive - simple radar absorbtion and scattering - can be detected by looking for wholes in background radiation and does not shield ship emmisions

active- thermoptic camoflage - absorbs signals hitting ship on one side then replicates them on the other side - detected by looking for distortions in background radiation
active - cloaking field - bends em radiatiuon around the ship so it appears to have passes through it - hardest to detect requires lots of energy.

cloaking systems in general dont deal with a ships emmisions only other ships active sensors and your you effect on background radiation so they have to be managed seperatly. so using anything that give you ship large emmisions will still alow you to be detected (active sensors, poweful engines etc.)

[Warchild]

Thats what I meant. The cloaking device would shuit down everything that would possibly make you detectable. The only way that Occlusion devises would work is if it spotted your ship. The ships computer would have star charts and the computer would have a program that would scan for the relavent stars around the ship.
As for the emissions of the cloaked ship...they would be detectable. Heat through thermal detection. If the engines are shut down, then they are cold..cold objects might show up on the thermal detection using infrared or something...Like I described. The fighter would have a "second" hull like layer. This would be the "stealth skin" that would be the cloak.
Pumping coolant into the "stealth skin" would make it appear to be the same temperature as the space around the ship. The computer would be constantly checking the temp. and adjusting the temp as to keep it from variating. The "stealth Skin" would as you said 'bend' signals coming at it in a radar/gravidar sence and bend them around it making it appear that they passed through it.
( Not like I'm going to go out and build one just to make a point LMAO )
The reason I said that the only weapon that could be fired successfully would be the Mass Driver is because ..well..its a maching gun. The barrel would be able to be fitted with a muzzel ( and should have been to prevent much flare ) . Its not an energy weapon thats going to show an energy spike on electronic emmition scans. Since the "bullet" is Crystaline in nature...its not metal..so its going to seem like its part of the natural surrounding...right?
Any way...with the right equipment on a ship large enough to power the equipment, a ship fitted with "Stealth Skin© (/\)archild (LOL just kidding...)
Cloaking could b detected...but the chances of another M3 class ship having the room to fit all that equipment in it would be rare...not to mention...wouild have to be heavily modified...would make it a class M3a6 or something. Bigger than an M3 but yet smaller than an M6.
A capital shipm on the other hand would definately have enough roon and power to run all the equipment needed to scan for ship with the claok type that I came up with. Its not really a cloak at all...its more of a signal mask than anything else. It masks everything that would make it detectable including reflection and ambient heat..
Hitting the engines would definately set off major alarms on any ship that was looking for it..
If its ok to use that type of cloak...then AWSOME!!! I figured out a way to fit it in.
JUst a little concerned with political tensions is all. Not really sure how to interpret them. Is everyone at peace?? Or is it more of a tetering thing?
Also....
If anyone has the Zura/hour translations...that would be helpful. I can't seem to desopher the ones in the manual.

Cheers

[HelgeK]

I did visit the X.BTF site...it hasn't been changed since 2002 Oct. 16...at 2pm.

Only the intro page. If you care to click "Recent Changes" you'll see stuff has been updated all through this year.

As to your q about the time system. Use zt (zuran time) whenever you're with the military, with merchants or generally, space-farers of any species, as well when with all Teladi (it's their time-system, after all) and on the Argon main worlds. Some Argon planets (lesser colonies, etc.) use 24h time when on their planet. People who don't go to space may even never use anything else.

Borons have their own time-system, based on the great oceanic currents on their homeworld, but they'll always use zt when dealing with outside events and species. I presume, similar is true for Paranids and Split, but I don't know that for sure, of course.

Also, don't forget that things are even more complicated due to the fact that zt has been introduced only a couple of decazuras ago. So, when referencing dates and events from the early days of the realm, it isn't always quite clear what time system one is using. It's common practice to add "z.T." to a date when it's not self-explanatory.

As to the hydro-spanner and the power-couplings. Although I do like StarWars and even StarTrek for their entertainment value, I believe they are awfully bad SF. They're actually Fantasy in space. I would rather make it a point not to be _like_ SW and ST, but to create something as unique as possible instead. I know it's hard and it doesn't always work, but in the end, it's worth it: it'll produce a shiny new universe, not one where Trekkies or furry creatures like Ewoks have already lived and littered in

Cheers
Helge

[Warchild]

Thanks Helge, I'm trying to be original...thats why all the questions.
Like I said, I had alot of pages before this...and when I went back to it after the fact...the chapters might have been out of Star Wars or Star Trek for all they were worth...I didn't want that..they were inconsistant with the X Universe.
I used the references from Star Wars as an example....want to stay away from things like that.
Thats why when I wanted to introduce a cloaking device, I didn'twant to come right out and say Cloaking device...but...there really is no other way to say it or describe it...so I said "Stealth Skin" instead.

Here's what I have for questions about the workings of the engines..
Do they convert the power ( Nuclear, anti-matter, fusion, Etc) into plasma?? This would create the need for power converters.
Does the engine provide ALL the power for the ship?? Or do they have a type of solar energy cell that they have to charge every time they land?
Is it something like the battery on a car where the electrical works on something different? OR Do the engines provide the energy to power the internal equipment... Shields, Comms, Gravidar, life support (includes environmental conditions), lights, computer (Tactical and galactic interface as well as auto pilot versions and the command software extentions), and the docking computer?
Somone had said a while ago (3 or 4 years ago) that the positioning rockets for pitch and yaw were engaged automatically. I know that the game doesn't show this happening, but are there many thrusters all over the ship that allow this? Computer interprets the movement of the joystick in the ship and engages them as needed? Would make sense..

As far as the engines would go...
I think I can safely say that there would be fuel lines and conduits to transfere the fuel to the engines...like I said before...they have to be fueled..just because we don't do it in the game doesn't mean that its not done...although...I think it should have been a consideration in the game.
I'm not a rocket scientist...we all know this LOL...but..I know where I can get the basis of the Ion Drive...there was an article on it some time back.
I don't know how nuclear fission works nor how fusion or anti-matter engines...but if someone has an idea...I might be able to figure out a way to incorporate engine parts...or atleast..terms that would be believeable.

Now...for the things that I have been told over the years and the things that people have stated that were supposed to be in the game that couldn't be there due to processor usage and technology....
The Boron (I was told) use ships that are Biological in nature...like living machines. ( Think Babylon 5 and the Vorlon ships )
Is it safe to say that the Boron ships don't need to be repaired but healed?? ( Can't for the life of me remember the term for bio-machanical)
Would this be the same for the Paranid as well?? the ships are like bugs with an exoskeleton surface with bio-machanical skin??
I don't want to deviate from the original ideas...if this isn't the way that the X-universe is supposed to be....then I won't refere to it in that way.
Cheers

[HelgeK]

Thats why when I wanted to introduce a cloaking device, I didn'twant to come right out and say Cloaking device...but...there really is no other way to say it or describe it...so I said "Stealth Skin" instead.

Well, that's a beginning I personally would not use a cloaking device; Cloaking devices are also god-machines (deus ex machinae), invented, to make it easy for the _writer_. However, I do use a device that can obfuscate the nature of a ship's freight. It's of Boron make, and I have no idea how it works

Here's what I have for questions about the workings of the engines..
Do they convert the power ( Nuclear, anti-matter, fusion, Etc) into plasma?? This would create the need for power converters.
Does the engine provide ALL the power for the ship?? Or do they have a type of solar energy cell that they have to charge every time they land?
Is it something like the battery on a car where the electrical works on something different? OR Do the engines provide the energy to power the internal equipment... Shields, Comms, Gravidar, life support (includes environmental conditions), lights, computer (Tactical and galactic interface as well as auto pilot versions and the command software extentions), and the docking computer?

As for the X shuttle (and thus, probably other Earth vessels as well), it employs a matter/anti-matter engine that is self-contained. Meaning, even if you destroy most of the ship and it's power systems, the M/AM machine will still maintain internal integrity. I believe (but have not thought it through thorougly), the energy for all the X shuttle's system is provided by the M/AM machine alone. (If the M/AM machine would be destroyed, the entire ship would be annihilated as well, so there's no real need for an emergency backup of sorts).

As for the ships of the Community of Planets, M/AM drives are used in small probe-like vessels, e.g. message drones, but they are crude and dangerous and nowhere as sophisticated as the X-shuttle's.

I'm meaning to say, I don't know about how Teladi or other species power their ships. Make something up, but make it coherent with the species' take on scientific reasoning (which might be different than that of humans).

Somone had said a while ago (3 or 4 years ago) that the positioning rockets for pitch and yaw were engaged automatically. I know that the game doesn't show this happening, but are there many thrusters all over the ship that allow this? Computer interprets the movement of the joystick in the ship and engages them as needed? Would make sense..

Yes, there are attitude jets, and they are engaged more or less automatically. No meaningful way to do spaceflight without them (at least none I was aware of )

As far as the engines would go...
I think I can safely say that there would be fuel lines and conduits to transfere the fuel to the engines...like I said before...they have to be fueled..just because we don't do it in the game doesn't mean that its not done...although...I think it should have been a consideration in the game.

I fully agree with you on both of these statements.

I'm not a rocket scientist...we all know this LOL...but..I know where I can get the basis of the Ion Drive...there was an article on it some time back.
I don't know how nuclear fission works nor how fusion or anti-matter engines...but if someone has an idea...I might be able to figure out a way to incorporate engine parts...or atleast..terms that would be believeable.

I think, Fireblade has some good ideas on these things!

The Boron (I was told) use ships that are Biological in nature...like living machines. ( Think Babylon 5 and the Vorlon ships )
Is it safe to say that the Boron ships don't need to be repaired but healed?? ( Can't for the life of me remember the term for bio-machanical)

I have not thought about that, actually, but I do like the idea. If you use it, I would suggested not to make it "magical" in nature, but to think of some restraints, like the ship needs some ressources to self-repair.

Would this be the same for the Paranid as well?? the ships are like bugs with an exoskeleton surface with bio-machanical skin??
I don't want to deviate from the original ideas...if this isn't the way that the X-universe is supposed to be....then I won't refere to it in that way.

Well, not everything is fleshed-out to the last detail yet. So if you have some great idea that fits in with the rest, let's hear it!

I have one request, though: never sacrifice the 2nd law of thermodynamics in favour of a story. Never ever! If your story doesn't work without that, trash it and reconsider.

Cheers
Helge

[fireblade]

Here's what I have for questions about the workings of the engines..
Do they convert the power ( Nuclear, anti-matter, fusion, Etc) into plasma?? This would create the need for power converters.
Does the engine provide ALL the power for the ship?? Or do they have a type of solar energy cell that they have to charge every time they land?
Is it something like the battery on a car where the electrical works on something different? OR Do the engines provide the energy to power the internal equipment... Shields, Comms, Gravidar, life support (includes environmental conditions), lights, computer (Tactical and galactic interface as well as auto pilot versions and the command software extentions), and the docking computer?

As for the X shuttle (and thus, probably other Earth vessels as well), it employs a matter/anti-matter engine that is self-contained. Meaning, even if you destroy most of the ship and it's power systems, the M/AM machine will still maintain internal integrity. I believe (but have not thought it through thorougly), the energy for all the X shuttle's system is provided by the M/AM machine alone. (If the M/AM machine would be destroyed, the entire ship would be annihilated as well, so there's no real need for an emergency backup of sorts).

As for the ships of the Community of Planets, M/AM drives are used in small probe-like vessels, e.g. message drones, but they are crude and dangerous and nowhere as sophisticated as the X-shuttle's.

I'm meaning to say, I don't know about how Teladi or other species power their ships. Make something up, but make it coherent with the species' take on scientific reasoning (which might be different than that of humans).

Somone had said a while ago (3 or 4 years ago) that the positioning rockets for pitch and yaw were engaged automatically. I know that the game doesn't show this happening, but are there many thrusters all over the ship that allow this? Computer interprets the movement of the joystick in the ship and engages them as needed? Would make sense..

Yes, there are attitude jets, and they are engaged more or less automatically. No meaningful way to do spaceflight without them (at least none I was aware of )

when i wrote the tech descriptions fror drive & power systems i hadnt read any of farnhams legend so the description may be a bit out with those of the x-shuttle

for ships in the community of planets (not earth or the khaak)

i work along these lines

small ships use fusion power sources and plasma or accelerated/hybrid plasma drives dependent on their age

newer capital ships use M/AM power sources and accelerated ion drives as they can support the extra redundany required to maintain safety

(although in game ships never require fueling)

i describe ship power cores and engines seperatly but realy they are highly intergrated devices and the majority of the output froma power core would go directly to the engines.

All of a ships energy comes from the powercore/engine combination though ships may have a backup powersource in case of emergencies

e.g fuel vented to prevent explosion when containment fails

ships power transmission systems in general are plasma based, plasma is a good conductor of both heat and electricity,

earth ships are more advanced and thefore can fit more powerful things in smaller spaces e.g M/AM power in x-shuttle (M3/TS class ship)

khaak ships are not some thing ive thought much about but i think there ships are constructed in different principles to otyer races ships.

as to thrusters/attitude jets yes they are mainly automatically controled via various flight control systems, equivelent of advanced fly by wire.

the only alternatives to attitude thruster i can think of are full vectored thrust, the ships main engine outputs can be pointed in almost any direction, to my knowledge non of the races use this configuration
and gravitational engines which are beyond any of the races technology

As far as the engines would go...
I think I can safely say that there would be fuel lines and conduits to transfere the fuel to the engines...like I said before...they have to be fueled..just because we don't do it in the game doesn't mean that its not done...although...I think it should have been a consideration in the game.

I fully agree with you on both of these statements.

I'm not a rocket scientist...we all know this LOL...but..I know where I can get the basis of the Ion Drive...there was an article on it some time back.
I don't know how nuclear fission works nor how fusion or anti-matter engines...but if someone has an idea...I might be able to figure out a way to incorporate engine parts...or atleast..terms that would be believeable.

I think, Fireblade has some good ideas on these things!

The Boron (I was told) use ships that are Biological in nature...like living machines. ( Think Babylon 5 and the Vorlon ships )
Is it safe to say that the Boron ships don't need to be repaired but healed?? ( Can't for the life of me remember the term for bio-machanical)

I have not thought about that, actually, but I do like the idea. If you use it, I would suggested not to make it "magical" in nature, but to think of some restraints, like the ship needs some ressources to self-repair.

Would this be the same for the Paranid as well?? the ships are like bugs with an exoskeleton surface with bio-machanical skin??
I don't want to deviate from the original ideas...if this isn't the way that the X-universe is supposed to be....then I won't refere to it in that way.

Well, not everything is fleshed-out to the last detail yet. So if you have some great idea that fits in with the rest, let's hear it!

I have one request, though: never sacrifice the 2nd law of thermodynamics in favour of a story. Never ever! If your story doesn't work without that, trash it and reconsider.

Cheers
Helge

im not exactly sure about the biological ships issue but i think that out of the races the paranid are the most advanced in biotechnology, slave chips and super slave ships are biological in construction

i think the boron ships are more biological in design rather than in construction, the same goes for the paranid,

to my knoledge none of the races in the x-universe have self repairing ships, even the xenon who use nanotechnology can`t repair there small or even capital ships.

i agere with what helge says and post a quote from a mr H. Simpson

In this House we obey the laws of thermodynamics

anyway have a look through the wiki again while some of it might not have been updated recently the technological descriptions are in there

e.g http://helge.de/XbtfWiki/index.php?page ... +Ion+Drive

if there are things that appear to be missing i can try to fill in the gaps

if you want infomation actual construction of these devices i can probably produce a few basic diagrams

[Warchild]

anyway have a look through the wiki again while some of it might not have been updated recently the technological descriptions are in there

e.g http://helge.de/XbtfWiki/index.php?page ... +Ion+Drive

if there are things that appear to be missing i can try to fill in the gaps

if you want infomation actual construction of these devices i can probably produce a few basic diagrams

Now that was awsome !!!
Thank you Soooooo much...thats what I was looking for. Something like that.
Now...I can safely say that the ships use an Plasma Ion Drive.
So...if there was a dogfight and a fighter got damaged, then I would be able to say that there was a plasma leak or something along those lines.

Tell me if I have this right...or at least fix my mistakes. LOL

In a ship that is utilizing a plasma Ion drive system:
There is the core. This core supplies all power for the ships and a large part of it is directed to the engines.
Plasma conduits are used to direct a small portion of the plasma (before ionization) to power the various ship systems.
The plasma is superheated during Ionization, so a cooling system is used around the engines to keep them from melting.
(Not even going to try and make a guess at what kind of liquid would cool plasma besides Liquid nitrogen.)
Ship power...
The redirected plasm that powers the ship is in the form of a gas.
The gas goes through the plasma conduits to a plasma converter. This is where the plasma is turned into energy to power the ships electrical needs such as lifesupport, comms, gravidar, and various computers on board.
Weapons...
Another small portion of the plasma power is redirected to the ships weapons...which when used and the weapon is charged, the indicator on the weapons console shows the weapon is charged and the computer stops redirecting the plasma to the weapon. When the weapon is fired, the computer then redirects more plasma, at a slow rate not to drain the core or decrease the engine power, to recharge the weapon.

The Plasma core is actually surrounded by a magnetic containment field inside an accumulator which keeps the plasma super heated..

Power cuplings....
These are used just after the plasma converter to actually supply power throughout the ship. There are four power cuplings creating two sets of power cuplings. The first set is used to tranfere the power from the plasma converter, and the second set is used to regulate the power like a power regulator. Usually the larger vessels like Heavy transports (TS) and Personnel Transports (TP) upto capital ships use regulators with generators to ensure there are no power surges..
WIth the smaller fighters, the second power cupling would be used to regulate the power to the ships power systems.

Does that sound close to a good explanation for a plasma Ion Drive?

I need an idea on how they would work (theoretically or fictionally) so if someone were to say... " Hey...they don't work like that in the game" I can say...no..they don't...but it was discussed and a theory was created.
Also...it helps me from contradicting what I write. If its written down, I can save it for later and plot what can go wrong wioth the engines and the ships in general.

As for the ships....
I thought it would be the Boron that utilized Biotechnology in the ships.
I kind of thought that the paranid might have done it to a lesser extent.
If you feel that it should be the Paranid that use biotechnology with bio-fighters and the like...then thats cool...although...you have to admit...the Boron really do look the part...then again....I've sort of given them a trait to build with...the Stealth Skin...perhaps thats what makes the Boron ships look biological in nature.

I'll possibly have the first couple chapters redone ntomorrow or the day after... ( Have to write a aper for school ) but it shouldn't be a problem.

The one thing that I need to ask s this....
Can I create a new type of fighter?? I have the idea and the prologue leads into the first chapter as the main character is...umm... you get the idea.
I'll write it up and post it... I just realized that I never posted the second version to the prologue...so I have to get that posted as well.

Cheers

[fireblade]

anyway have a look through the wiki again while some of it might not have been updated recently the technological descriptions are in there

e.g http://helge.de/XbtfWiki/index.php?page ... +Ion+Drive

if there are things that appear to be missing i can try to fill in the gaps

if you want infomation actual construction of these devices i can probably produce a few basic diagrams

Now that was awsome !!!
Thank you Soooooo much...thats what I was looking for. Something like that.
Now...I can safely say that the ships use an Plasma Ion Drive.
So...if there was a dogfight and a fighter got damaged, then I would be able to say that there was a plasma leak or something along those lines.

Tell me if I have this right...or at least fix my mistakes. LOL

In a ship that is utilizing a plasma Ion drive system:
There is the core. This core supplies all power for the ships and a large part of it is directed to the engines.
Plasma conduits are used to direct a small portion of the plasma (before ionization) to power the various ship systems.

not not realy super heating it more of an energy converter

to make it clearer ill do a bit of explanation, i dont know how much of this you know already)

first in any object thermal energy and kinetic energy are in reality two aspects of the same thing rather than two types of energy

the kinetic aspect is the energy the particles of that object have in a direction e.g a ball in flight has kinetic energy in its direction of flight of E=(1/2)m(v*v)

heat energy in reality is still kinetic energy but its is random in direction and takes the form of individual paritcles vibration so its easier to treat is seperatly

plamsa is a hightly ionised gas and has a lot of energy but its is mostly in thermal form, all the particles in the gas are flying in differnet directions and the gas has no general direction, so if you just dump it out of the back of ships you waste quite a bit of it heating up the surounding engine structure

the accelerator in the engines absorbs some of this energy directed in the wrong direction and uses it to accelerate the plasma used for propulsion increasing its energy and therefor thrust potentiol

hence the name accelerated ion drive though in general only capital ships have these as they havent got accelerators small enough to fit on smaller ships though they still arnt true acclerated ion drives they are a hybrid of the plasma drive

the basic plasma drive just vent and directs plasma from the power core
the hybrid has an added acelerator to improve its effiency and thrust output

but its still notthing like as good as a pure accelerated ion drive

The plasma is superheated during Ionization, so a cooling system is used around the engines to keep them from melting.
(Not even going to try and make a guess at what kind of liquid would cool plasma besides Liquid nitrogen.)

the plasma is definatly very hot as its usualy just come out of a fusion core
(like a small sun) and therefore can melt through almost anything

yes a cooling system would be required if anything like full engine output
ive seen a description of a fictional "super coolent" somewhere ill look it up
and dunmping all this heat into space also means a large thermal signature and lack of stealth

Ship power...
The redirected plasm that powers the ship is in the form of a gas.
The gas goes through the plasma conduits to a plasma converter. This is where the plasma is turned into energy to power the ships electrical needs such as lifesupport, comms, gravidar, and various computers on board.
Weapons...
Another small portion of the plasma power is redirected to the ships weapons...which when used and the weapon is charged, the indicator on the weapons console shows the weapon is charged and the computer stops redirecting the plasma to the weapon. When the weapon is fired, the computer then redirects more plasma, at a slow rate not to drain the core or decrease the engine power, to recharge the weapon.

yep

ingeneral the power core is big enough to supply everything at once. Though in theory it would be possible to drain so much plasma as to force the core to stop letting plasma out to prevent its reaction stoping and its containmet failing

The Plasma core is actually surrounded by a magnetic containment field inside an accumulator which keeps the plasma super heated..

Power cuplings....
These are used just after the plasma converter to actually supply power throughout the ship. There are four power cuplings creating two sets of power cuplings. The first set is used to tranfere the power from the plasma converter, and the second set is used to regulate the power like a power regulator. Usually the larger vessels like Heavy transports (TS) and Personnel Transports (TP) upto capital ships use regulators with generators to ensure there are no power surges..
WIth the smaller fighters, the second power cupling would be used to regulate the power to the ships power systems.

im not sure where you have put the plasma converter(s) but in general it would be at the device that requires an alternate energy input as plasma in the energy transmission medium.

coupleings from the plasma conterter seem reasonable though i think any regulators would either be part of the plasma converter or a device in between the plasma converter and the couplings

Does that sound close to a good explanation for a plasma Ion Drive?

yep apart from the points i has mentioned

[/quote]
I need an idea on how they would work (theoretically or fictionally) so if someone were to say... " Hey...they don't work like that in the game" I can say...no..they don't...but it was discussed and a theory was created.
Also...it helps me from contradicting what I write. If its written down, I can save it for later and plot what can go wrong wioth the engines and the ships in general.

As for the ships....
I thought it would be the Boron that utilized Biotechnology in the ships.
I kind of thought that the paranid might have done it to a lesser extent.
If you feel that it should be the Paranid that use biotechnology with bio-fighters and the like...then thats cool...although...you have to admit...the Boron really do look the part...then again....I've sort of given them a trait to build with...the Stealth Skin...perhaps thats what makes the Boron ships look biological in nature.

i dont think any ship uses biotechnology to any great extent in there ships (no living ships) they might have as few biological based components

i say the paranid are better biotechnology because they created the slave and super slave chips which are biological in nature.

id say the boron are more good chemists than they use biotechnology

the boron do design there ships on biological principles, they replicate useful elements of natures designs,which makes ther ships look organic but their ships are still constructed from the same metal,ceramic,polymers as the other races. they may reproduce chemicals and polyemers used in nature for use in ther ship designes e.g spider silk if on earth

e.g for your stealth skin the boron could have an animal that has some kind of stealth ability, like an earth chamelion, that produces special chemicals to change its colour. The boron could using there knowledge of chemistry replicate this process artificaly and coat the ship in a special polymer that is partialy transparant but porus so you can fill it with these
special chemicals to generate a stealth effect.
if you get what i mean

I'll possibly have the first couple chapters redone ntomorrow or the day after... ( Have to write a aper for school ) but it shouldn't be a problem.

The one thing that I need to ask s this....
Can I create a new type of fighter?? I have the idea and the prologue leads into the first chapter as the main character is...umm... you get the idea.
I'll write it up and post it... I just realized that I never posted the second version to the prologue...so I have to get that posted as well.

Cheers[/quote]

you should be able to create a special type of fighter if its a one off prototype or a custom design or something similar but i would avoid creating a widely used new class of ships.

[Warchild]

I like the explanation that you gave better than mine.
As for the power couplings...I believe that I have a dual purpose for them.
Obviously they direct the power coming from the Power converter...so one would be after the converter...the other (Since only larger ships such as Transports and capital ships have power regulators as they are kind of large and would ave to be for their purpose) The fighters would have 2 Power couplings...or perhaps its a series of power couplings that are attached to the energy side of the power converter to power the other ship systems.
That sounds more likely.
I suppose it would depend on the race using them as well.

As for the Boron....RIGHT ON!! I like that idea.

Would it be safe to say that ALL the Boron ships have the Stealth Skin?
They do tend to look to like that have an extra bit of hull to the ships if you look at them.
Now, if its a chemical reaction...is it possible for the chemical to keep the ship from showing up on scanners as well?? The chemical temporarilly change the molecular structure of the ship?
OR.... (I like this one)
The Stealth Skin is a Bio-chemical organism that is added to the hull of their ships. Its living...and grows...but iot grows around the hull of the ship instead of the ship being a living ship. Not sentient...just grows...like a plant would grow.
I guess it could be a really alien Chia Pet??
But the result would be the Stealthy Properties as it grows around the ship, the metal and polymers would be mostly covered....but that wouldn't explain how they can be scanned..

Tell me more about the Paranid though...I've read what was on the Argonopedia...but it doesn't really go into detail about the techniology other than the slave chip and the Super slave chip that was destroyed.

Thanks again Fireblade...I really appreciate the input and knowledge.
Cheers

[fireblade]

I like the explanation that you gave better than mine.
As for the power couplings...I believe that I have a dual purpose for them.
Obviously they direct the power coming from the Power converter...so one would be after the converter...the other (Since only larger ships such as Transports and capital ships have power regulators as they are kind of large and would ave to be for their purpose) The fighters would have 2 Power couplings...or perhaps its a series of power couplings that are attached to the energy side of the power converter to power the other ship systems.
That sounds more likely.
I suppose it would depend on the race using them as well.

As for the Boron....RIGHT ON!! I like that idea.

Would it be safe to say that ALL the Boron ships have the Stealth Skin?

i wouldn`t say they all have a stealth skin as that would conflict with the game. they might all have a skin that has stealth cabilities but very few would have the extra equipment needed to use them

They do tend to look to like that have an extra bit of hull to the ships if you look at them.
Now, if its a chemical reaction...is it possible for the chemical to keep the ship from showing up on scanners as well?? The chemical temporarilly change the molecular structure of the ship?

not naturaly as i doubt you would find any animals that have evolved radar invisibility. But you could have a second radar absorbtion layer or aditional chemicals.

OR.... (I like this one)
The Stealth Skin is a Bio-chemical organism that is added to the hull of their ships. Its living...and grows...but iot grows around the hull of the ship instead of the ship being a living ship. Not sentient...just grows...like a plant would grow.
I guess it could be a really alien Chia Pet??
But the result would be the Stealthy Properties as it grows around the ship, the metal and polymers would be mostly covered....but that wouldn't explain how they can be scanned..

thats a reasonable idea a form of plant/fungus that feeds mostly on sun light. it can regrow but would require a supply of suitable nutrients. Of course its camoflage properties would have to be triggered artificaly to be useful as it would not know whats behind the ship so it can mimic its apearance.

Tell me more about the Paranid though...I've read what was on the Argonopedia...but it doesn't really go into detail about the techniology other than the slave chip and the Super slave chip that was destroyed.

Thanks again Fireblade...I really appreciate the input and knowledge.
Cheers

i dont think all super slave chips were destroyed some still exist but there are not many.

ordinary slave chips are a major part of flight control systems for all races other than the boron who cant uses them because odf there physiology
they provide sensor data into the pilots brain directly and remnotly interface with a shipsd systems. both are biological in nature and are grown rather than constructed.

as to the paranid themselves very little is know about them and very little is known about them by the other races.

they are good scientists as observed by the technologies they have produced.

there biology is strange compared to the other races except maybe the boron. they have no genders and there is no earth species that bears much relationship to them.

they are also formidable warriors though they dont go around activly seeking combat with other races.

their science, politics and other aspects of life are all tied into their religious beliefs and to some extent there science and religion are merged together.

paranid will also always try to save face sometimes even when it would seem more sensible to give up.

as a race you could say that the paranid are the ones you would least want as an enemy as they are both physicaly strong and highly inteligent

i cant realy say much more at the moment as ive got to work some stuff about them myself

[Warchild]

Well...if you need help... have an active imagination
That is...if you need the help
About the Stealth Skin...
I did work out the problems.
Not ALL ships have the complete Stealth Skin. It can be bought...but...its very expensive. It does work on a chemical reaction and it does grow...like a giant alien Chia Pet .
I figured that the "growth" only provided Chamelion like properties and a very slight scan blocker...but not to a great degree...just a lower range f being able to scan it...nothing really noticeable...thats how slight....the only thing the basic version of Stealth Skin does is change the colour of the ship..just the basic camouflage.
The chemical reaction provided by little tubules (which coincidentally are from the growth, kind of like roots) are attached to a layer of the ship that grows the stealth Skin and the chemicals can be introduced by injecting it into the tubules. It only takes a few of them to actually change the entire ship, but it provides alot of redundancy incase the hull is badly damaged.
Now..As for the repair of the growth...( You'll love this )
You have to feed it.
Bogas, plankton, and Bofu are "fed" to the plankton and it will begin to regenerate. I haven't worked out the way that one "feds" the Stealth Skin...but I'm working on that one..trust me.
I suppose it could be injected into the same area that the tubules are...in a liquid form...might be really messy...and I gues that it would bleed a little as it IS a life form of some sort..Like a Symbiot of sorts. You have to feed it in order to have the benifits.

Oh..before I forget.. I came up with a Boron hand weapon. A needle gun.
Its basically a small version of a magnetic canon. It utilizes a small electromagnet and fires photonically charged needles which are propelled at close to the speed of light giving it the appearance of an energy weapon. It is an energy weapon...but it fires projectiles. Perhap a larger scale weapon of the needle gun (magnetic Canon) could be on a ship...Covette or larger perhaps..though...it would make sense that since a small hand held Magnatic canon could be produced, a larger version of it coul be made as well.
Let me have some input about the Needle gun idea...I put it in the story...but it can be removed easily wonders of modern technology.
Cheers

[BigRich]

Just a quick thought on plasma drive coolants. I believe that some present day nuclear power plants use liquid sodium as a coolant. Presumably it has a combination of good heat capacity and good thermal conductivity (although I'm not a physicist). They must have pretty darn good safety systems as well because sodium reacts violently with air or water.

My point ( ) - you can use some odd stuff as coolants. Some of these coolants might be provide some interesting emergency situations in the event of your spacecraft taking any damage!


Rich.