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Author Topic: Arks Race - Exploratory Systems, Incoporated: Ark Endeavour (Jump 1, Revision)  (Read 15455 times)

Madman198237

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Re: Arks Race - Company Ark (Jump 0, Revision)
« Reply #165 on: July 15, 2018, 04:14:44 pm »

We can't use a solar sail of any sort, we're navigating through deep space towards a distant planet. Furthermore, it has no meaningful acceleration over short timescales even close to a star, and so we'd see ZERO benefits from it in the short intervals we spend between FTL transits.
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TricMagic

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Re: Arks Race - Company Ark (Jump 0, Revision)
« Reply #166 on: July 15, 2018, 04:18:06 pm »

Well, do you have an engine idea?

Solar Wind type for Solar Sails
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Happerry

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Re: Arks Race - Company Ark (Jump 0, Revision)
« Reply #167 on: July 15, 2018, 06:47:54 pm »

Personally I'd like to either do a Ramjet or a Fusion Torch. Either that or we can always go make an Orion Drive...

I mean, it'd be good practice for X-Ray Laser Cannons, right? ;D
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TricMagic

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Re: Arks Race - Company Ark (Jump 0, Revision)
« Reply #168 on: July 15, 2018, 06:54:12 pm »

Once more, bad idea.

We need a no-plastic Fusion design before that.


Also, Ramjets are an atmosphere engine.



A still think the sail-em wind idea is best.


Come on, remember that in space, gravity and other forces are minimal concerns.
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Nirur Torir

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Re: Arks Race - Company Ark (Jump 0, Revision)
« Reply #169 on: July 15, 2018, 07:11:57 pm »

We don't need a zero-plastic reactor, but we could try a revision on reducing the plastic need for the reactor. With armoring, ~20 plastic and a plastic recycling revision so we can scrap it with little waste, it should be fine to build one, and/or an engine based off of it.

If better engines lets us take ~3 hits less than they do over the first few combats, breaking 300 other materials for 20 plastics, we're coming out ahead.

A still think the sail-em wind idea is best.
We don't need a slow cruise engine, we need a fast but low-efficiency combat engine.

Quote
Also, Ramjets are an atmosphere engine.
Not that ramjet, this ramjet.
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TricMagic

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Re: Arks Race - Company Ark (Jump 0, Revision)
« Reply #170 on: July 15, 2018, 07:15:49 pm »

Ok. +1 to that.


Will shelve the Sail for later, when we want cheap control of our movement through space.
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Madman198237

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Re: Arks Race - Company Ark (Jump 0, Revision)
« Reply #171 on: July 15, 2018, 07:21:18 pm »

But we still can't rely on having a significant EM process, and we STILL won't be in any area for long enough to actually exploit a solar sail. But wait, it gets worse. The amount of material we'd need to build a solar sail capable of propelling our Ark, even at the mm/s^2 level of acceleration, is mind-boggling. We would need a sail several THOUSAND times larger than our Ark, most likely, and even then it'd only work very close to a star or other significant emitter of whatever type of EM the sail is tuned to reflect.
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Chiefwaffles

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Re: Arks Race - Company Ark (Jump 0)
« Reply #172 on: July 15, 2018, 07:21:33 pm »

Jump 0: Revision Phase

Revision: AI Overwatch
Quote
Human oversight of AI operations is inherently inefficient behaviour, due to the nature of the robotic decision making. Therefore, we have created an intelligent interface to translate human commands to AI behaviours, thus allowing a single person to oversee an entire flock of AI vessels. The system is simple, with humans directing flocks of AI using a set of known commands (mine this resource, mine that asteroid, mine that vein) and the AI executing them as best as it's able. A learning system in the interface observes all the AI drones, and sends permission requests and alerts if it thinks the AI is doing something that needs human approval.
This system of semi-autonomous operation should be as efficient, if not more efficient, than fully autonomous operation while dramatically cutting both lifesupport and power consumption.
Efficacy: [5]

So we checked in with the guys at the Bridge, and have come to a solution.
Human oversight over a flock of AI vessels can allow for effective human oversight without bringing in notable human flaws. Bridge's happy with this as a human can easily turn off a drone if it starts nibbling on the fuel lines, and we're happy with this since we no longer have to rely on an army of half-competent humans flying drones with weird controls originally meant for AI to fly.

However, AI is still hard, and we did practically abandon it half-way through the prototype when the Bridge yelled at us. So effectiveness isn't up by an extreme degree. But costs across the board are down as we don't have to deal with keeping human operators alive and giving them equipment and power and air and everything. Ingrates.

The system, with the "AI" now able to harvest the more delicate resources, will be able to mine 50 NG and 50 U per jump in addition to its current theoretical outputs. More importantly: Metal and Non-Metal costs have gone down, as well as power and life support costs.
The new cost for building new modules of this system will be 50 Uranics, 50 Noble Gases, 400 Metal, 400 Non-Metal, with -1 Power and -1 Life Support.


Spoiler: Resources (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Ark 1 (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Designs (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Projects (click to show/hide)

The Production Phase of Jump 0 has begun. We will encounter the stolen Ark on the beginning of Jump 3.
Barring special circumstances, voting for Company and Ark names will conclude at the end of this Jump. Meaning the end of this phase; last chance to vote.
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Quote from: RAM
You should really look to the wilderness for your stealth ideas, it has been doing it much longer than you have after all. Take squids for example, that ink trick works pretty well, and in water too! So you just sneak into the dam upsteam, dump several megatons of distressed squid into it, then break the dam. Boom, you suddenly have enough water-proof stealth for a whole city!

Nirur Torir

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Re: Arks Race - Company Ark (Jump 0, Production)
« Reply #173 on: July 15, 2018, 07:52:36 pm »

Is there any reason at all to build something now, instead of jump 2?
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Powder Miner

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Re: Arks Race - Company Ark (Jump 0, Production)
« Reply #174 on: July 15, 2018, 10:21:50 pm »

Oh, that’s lovely, I expected the drop in power and life support requirements, but the metal and nonmetal loss is unexpected but very much welcome.

And, yeah, no, we do NOT want to build any of the new modules now, they’re prototypes and will cost much more.

Oh shit I didn’t even notice that the drones produce noble asses and uranics now. That revision is downright sexy.
« Last Edit: July 16, 2018, 12:21:24 am by Powder Miner »
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Chiefwaffles

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Re: Arks Race - Exploratory Systems, Incorporated: Ark Endeavour (Jump 0)
« Reply #175 on: July 16, 2018, 02:27:44 am »

Jump 0: Production Phase

With Jump 0 completed and the ship now in regular space for a short period of time, the crew mostly sits around looking at space. Some of the technicians suit out for EVA and paint the new name of the Ark - Exploratory Systems, Incorporated (or E.S.I.) Ark Endeavour.

Though something strange does happen. A report arrives from the Bridge; apparently, the Slipdrive has a hidden FTL communications method embedded in it, and it just sent out a communique to the command crew.
BE ADVISED: CONSORTIUM BRANDS ITSELF AS "TOKARI", RENAMES STOLEN ARK "ANVIL"
The message was actually sent from the stolen Ark -- or the "Anvil" now, supposedly -- yet the contents suggested it was from someone anti-Tokari. Likely hid away inside the Slipdrive when it activated; hopefully they're still alive.

Nobody outside of the Bridge is quite sure if they already know about this communications feature (and the extreme majority of the crew still doesn't know), but it's certainly a shock. As annoying as it is, one can definitely respect ESI for maintaining such a high level of secrecy around their invention.


Regardless, it's time to get back to work. Ark Endeavour's Slipdrive once again activates and rips the ship through reality, leaving you and the Ark's computers to do some designing.
Spoiler: Resources (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Ark Endeavour (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Designs (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Projects (click to show/hide)

The Design Phase of Jump 1 has begun. We will encounter the stolen Ark on the beginning of Jump 3.
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Quote from: RAM
You should really look to the wilderness for your stealth ideas, it has been doing it much longer than you have after all. Take squids for example, that ink trick works pretty well, and in water too! So you just sneak into the dam upsteam, dump several megatons of distressed squid into it, then break the dam. Boom, you suddenly have enough water-proof stealth for a whole city!

NUKE9.13

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Re: Arks Race - Company Ark (Jump 0, Production)
« Reply #176 on: July 16, 2018, 04:44:39 am »

noble asses [...] downright sexy.
Aristocratic behinds aside, I'm more interested in the noble gasses myself.

Anyway. I think we should design an armour add-on (basic armour will work against 90% of weapons), a simple railgun, and I guess we could do better engines of some sort. Next turn, we will probably only want to start one design, and spend 7 dice on revisions, to fix all the problems with everything else we've designed.
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10ebbor10

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Still not too happy about the new mining system.

All we've done is trade a bit a bit of hydrogen, uranium and Noble Gasses for Metal and Non-Metal production.

Doesn't really seem worth the investement.
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Kashyyk

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We rolled a 2 for efficacy, so there's plenty of room for revisions.
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TricMagic

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Re: Arks Race - Company Ark (Jump 0, Revision)
« Reply #179 on: July 16, 2018, 06:38:31 am »

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