Bay 12 Games Forum

Quote from: GreatWyrmGold on December 27, 2012, 10:32:10 pm

Quote from: Flare on December 27, 2012, 10:10:58 pm

They don't turn rotation among the axes into forward momentum though, doing so would violate physics. It's like as if I were floating in near zero-g and I rapidly swing my legs about. I can't change my trajectory or anything if there's no air for me to push myself from, but I will be able to cause myself to spin myself.

Which leads me to further confusion for me...
How exactly can you simulate the acceleration from gravity, against the pull of real gravity, without expending any energy?

But you do expend energy, the energy comes from the reactor/generator on board. This energy is turned into kinetic energy by the gyros. All you need to do is to produce enough centrifugal force to overpower the near nonexistent gravity from a giant body. Imagine a ferris wheel that goes 30 rpm, it completes one rotation every 2 seconds. People will be pinned to the bottom of their rides as each carousal flings outward from the centrifugal force. Or using a smaller example, do you know what motorcarousal is? A gyro can replicate that spinning motion without being anchored to the ground. As you can see, if the carousal was a little bigger, they could have stood up if the rpm was great enough.

Imagine this. I am floating in near zero-g. When I kick my legs over and over again, I will begin to spin out along the axis that more or less pierces both my kidneys. I will be tumbling head over heels. It's like that diving board sport, people can spin on their axis when they contort parts of their body. As my spin starts getting faster and fast, blood will rush to the bottoms of my feet, as well as my head due to the centrifugal force.

The same applies to the ring-craft. As the gyros that replicate this kicking motion in some way, it will be able to accelerate or decelerate the speed of the ring-craft's rpm. As I understood the conversation, the main kicker against the ring craft was that it will eventually slow down.

...I don't think that answered my question.
Yes, you'd get the energy from the reactors; no, it wouldn't be infinite. Solar energy might be close but won't be infinite.
Your example has you expending energy to spin. Why wouldn't a spacecraft need a (probably small) amount of energy spent to keep the centrifugal force up?

Quote from: vadia on December 27, 2012, 10:49:07 pm

It would really be like docking into a giant hour hand.  The spin is virtually nil in the middle.

If the craft is under several hundred meters, the spin will be problematic for docking procedures, but then again, what space craft can't turn on its axis ? Matching it shouldn't be much of a problem. It's more or less an elementary engineering problem.

1. It's not going to solve the problem by spinning the spacecraft as it docks; it'll need to actually have a curved trajectory matching that of the outside of the ship. That's kinda hard without gravity (nil between such small objects) or tethers or something...

What would Diggles add to DF?

Don't throw in the pliers; they could be useful later.

Take stock of situation.

Quote from: GreatWyrmGold on December 28, 2012, 09:42:37 am

I suggest we be impressed by Cherlyn's cleverness and a bit worried by her... independence isn't the right word, but something about how she uses it.

We should be glad, Initiative is always good, we just need to make sure she doesn't use it against us,  perhaps a present?

Perhaps...but we DID give her that platinum bar to spend on herself...

July
Nora and Richard don't actually know each other. Well, they've met at the Y and probably know each other by name, but that's about it. They probably haven't even run into each other much--Richard was swimming most of the time you've seen him, and Nora typically uses either the cardio equipment or some weight machines. Still, you might as well introduce them to each other. Couldn't hurt, right?
As it turns out, the two of them don't get along with each other too well. With some patience and mediation skills, you keep them civil, but they're certainly not friendly to each other and typically try to ignore each other if possible.
Interested in making your new friends more friendly to each other, you try to figure out if they have any common interests. Richard likes swimming, gardening, and boxing (watching, not participating); Nora likes painting, science fiction movies, and boxing (participating, not watching). Well, there's some common ground...
You suggest that Richard come to watch one of Nora's boxing matches. They're not big events, just a few high school and college supers who like boxing getting together and making up tournaments and such. She's fighting a super with enhanced strength; pretty much any blow he tries to deal, she liquifies before it can contact. Useful. Some Nora splatters onto you, thanks to your front-row seating; eventually, Nora KOs the other guy. Without blood. Shame.
Richard notes that he felt odd being there. He probably won't come again.

You also befriend a couple of fairly normal humans at the Y this month. There's a pair of twins, Caitlyn and Kathy Patterson, who are in their mid-30's; Caitlyn is a computer programmer and Kathy is an engineer. You also meet a Greg Petersen, a few years older than you and studying to become a doctor. Interesting contacts.

Anyways, there's about a month before school starts if you want to rob a blood bank. What will you do?

Greet the others.
Which others are they, again? TolyK, javier, some NPC?

Head to the seeing room.
"If anyone sees something suspicious, holler."