Beyond Alpha Centauri::::::::Discussion Thread 8 - Page 9

Lonestar · May 10, 2003, 22:52

Posted.

Mr. President · May 11, 2003, 03:16

You had navigation problems, Lonestar? You should try driving in Melbourne.

The roads are engineered so that there is exactly one way to get from any one point to any other point. Many of the roads are shared with facsimiles of streetcars ("trams" in the local dialect) which drive very slowly and are really nothing more than moving roadblocks. You are allowed to park on almost all streets, including the one called "Burwood Highway". Several streets downtown have a rule that you may only turn right from the left lane.

Lonestar · May 11, 2003, 16:32

That sounds nightmarish.

Frankychan · May 11, 2003, 21:52

Quote:

Originally posted by Lonestar
I'm a Cyrptologic Technician(Maintenance) who does secret and dubiously constitutional stuff for the Navy.

I'm currently waiting for my ship to return from deployment, so my schedule is something like this now:

0730- Muster

0800-0900 Pick up trash, empty trashcans

0900-1145 Nap, read book

1200 Muster

1215-1445 Nap, read book.

1300( Friday's only) go home

1500 Muster, go home.

Sounds like very important work if you ask me...

Nah, I'm sure that your duty is important for whuppin' terrorist a**. I'm seriously thinking about going Air Force for after-school income and to try and stop terrorists in the world...but maybe i'm just being idealistic.

Mr. Prez-are you serious about your roadways? It sounds like your civil engineers were smoking crack and doodling when they were designing your roadways.

And I thought our roadway policies were weird.

Mr. President · May 12, 2003, 00:06

If crack was all they were smoking, I'd be glad already!

It's like the Labyrinth with buses instead of minotaurs. Still not quite enough to make me hate driving in the abstract, though.

Frankychan · May 12, 2003, 00:12

Quote:

Originally posted by Mr. President

It's like the Labyrinth with buses instead of minotaurs. Still not quite enough to make me hate driving in the abstract, though.

Hey, I've been meaning to ask you something Mr. Prez. Do you know where they get all the cool quotes for the Magic cards? Is there a pool where they get them? I kinda want to make a list of cool quotes that's why....

Mr. President · May 12, 2003, 00:35

Hmm. I'm not sure if there's one specific site for that.

There's a German-hosted, English-language site called Magic: the Database at www.jura.uni-tuebingen.de/~zxmsj04/magic . It has all the old-school cards and the expansions up to Urza's Legacy or something like that; it has an entry for each card that includes its flavor text.

Essential Magic, www.essentialmagic.com , has the best search function of any Magic website I've encountered. It's got big images of the cards, too - good for reading flavor text!

Beyond those, I haven't really seen any place that would have all the quotations.

I'll keep looking, though.

Lonestar · May 12, 2003, 19:08

Quote:

Originally posted by Frankychan

Sounds like very important work if you ask me...

Nah, I'm sure that your duty is important for whuppin' terrorist a**. I'm seriously thinking about going Air Force for after-school income and to try and stop terrorists in the world...but maybe i'm just being idealistic.

In addition, the Navy spent 500k of your tax dollars training me.

Sovereign · May 13, 2003, 12:32

Hello all,

I would like to clarify the record on several things.

First, my new power reactors aren't black holes or singularities as Lonestar suggested in his post.

They're Quantum reactors based on the Alpha Centauri ones with the capacity to be improved or enhanced in future "game years" as the technology is mastered.

The PoM tests its first singularity drive in Lonestar's post.

If I remember correctly, Alpha Centauri scales power in 4 levels.

Fission ===> Fusion ===> Quantum ===> Singularity

Essentially, Singularity drives are several orders of magnitude more powerful and generate way more power than the Quantum reactors that I'm testing.

I hate to be like Mellian, but could we keep the technologies at least at pace and realistic?

The UA's new Quantum reactor is brand new, and it generates 10 times more power than the usual anti-matter reactor. Keep in mind it's a "unrefined" and "un-improved" design, much like a prototype.

The PoM singularity reactor seems to generate 100 or 1000 times the power of an anti-matter reactor.

See my point?

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if we keep trying to one up each other, we would end up building Terror Stars like in GalCiv by the end of summer. Then wipe everything out

....rant mode off....

Any word on the next post, Silence?

Franky, good luck with your finals!

Laters.

Frankychan · May 13, 2003, 14:16

Quote:

Originally posted by Sovereign
Hello all,

...

I hate to be like Mellian, but could we keep the technologies at least at pace and realistic?

...

Any word on the next post, Silence?

Franky, good luck with your finals!

Laters.

You sound like Mr. President.

(No offense to both of you!)

Thanks for clarifying things. I was thinking that if you had singularity reactors, it would put things into a different perspective.

Oh yeah, thanks...I'll need all the luck I can get. I'll post after I'm through with finals, seeing as how I've been spending a lot of time at my university's library.

Good luck on your finals too everyone!

But if you don't have finals.......Ooooo, I'll give you such a smack!

Mr. President · May 13, 2003, 18:44

I must admit I was a little perturbed by the sudden appearance of singularity reactors. There's really no need for anyone to try and out-do anyone else, since, as I tried to explain to Mellian several times, this is a story-writing activity like the Spartan Chronicles and not a competitive game-type situation.

I've noticed just a hint of competitiveness creeping into posts on a couple of occasions, mostly concerning energy production and ship speeds. I'd like to suggest that you'll have more fun writing Beyond Alpha Centauri if you don't walk this path.

And if "ubertech", as they say in some parts of the multiverse, is really your thing . . . well, there's always the NationStates forum.

Mr. President · May 13, 2003, 18:47

Quote:

Originally posted by Frankychan

I'll post after I'm through with finals, seeing as how I've been spending a lot of time at my university's library.

Good luck on your finals too everyone!

But if you don't have finals.......Ooooo, I'll give you such a smack!

You'll be fine. It's never as bad as you think. I'm always convinced I'm gonna fail, but I never do.

I do have finals, but not for about four weeks. I gotta study!

Silence · May 13, 2003, 21:35

I just got done with my final tonight, so sometime tommorow or Thursday.

Lonestar · May 13, 2003, 23:00

Sovereign, I thought you went to an Engineering school?

fission-fusion-antimatter-Quantum Singularity.

Therefore, I was forced to conclude that the UA had indeed gone ahead with a singularity drive.

This was something posted a llllllllllooooonnnggg time ago by both of us in BAC. For some reason you think quantum != singularity. Same thing, different names.

I was intended in my next post to make a reference that the Harbringer returned to Beta Hydri under it's matter/antimatter reactors, and a corollary that Protectorate structual engineering (because the Dosi won't hand over forcefield tech) isn't up to the task of repeated and/or prolonged speeds provided by the Sin power plant.

I also have only Sin capable ships, both of which are going through some very exhuastive trials. I posted that with the intentional parallal drawn with the first Nuclear surface ship, the Long Beach, the biggest American surface combatant built since WW2. par of the reason was because the reactor took up so much damn space. Same applies to the Harbringer and Thunderer.

By the way, I've been wirting the histories with a an intention of the author living in a rival Human Empire at the time, be it UA, Peacekeeper, or whatever. Lord Protector Ian is about to do some nasty stuff.

GeneralTacticus · May 14, 2003, 03:13

Lonestar: I make no comment on how things work in the real world, but in SMAC, 'Quantum Reactors' have nothing to do with Singularities; they generate power by somehow splitting light.

Sovereign · May 14, 2003, 13:17

Lonestar, several good points.

However, I'm basing my new power reactors on the SMAC Quantum reactors, which generate power by splitting light particles.

The Quantum reactor doesn't utilize a black hole or suck power from it, or whatever singularity reactors do to black holes.

Lonestar, I think the Quantum Singularity you're talking about is probably the Singularity Inductor Wonder in the SMAC game, which is a completely different reactor and power source from the standard SMAC Quantum reactor.

Again, my Quantum reactors don't use black holes at all. They generate pure energy from splitting light particles, and route that pure energy into the power infrastructure, such as lights, ship systems, city power, etc. without outdated transformers, turbines, and the like.

The UA Quantum reactors are completely safe. No radiation, no fallout, no antimatter particles, no toxins, no pollution, and most important of all, no dangerous stuff like run-away black holes if an ship is destroyed, or accidents with black holes that will destroy an entire planet.

Again, I suggest that the PoM scale its Singularity reactors down, especially with 14 light years in 5 minutes, while most every faction, including the UA has engines that go 15 - 20 light years PER DAY (24 hour period, which means 1440 minutes total).

Perhaps 50 to 100 light years per day would be reasonable considering the energy output of black holes.

The UA will probably go the same speed, 50, 75, or 100 light years per day... although with several Quantum reactors working together, sort like a nuclear sub having 10 nuclear reactors inside, rather than just one.

The PoM can only have one singularity reactor per ship, no back-up singularities.

I'm just trying to figure out how to balance the factions, so not to give one faction extreme god-like powers or technology.

Keep in mind the UA is supposed to be the leader in technology out of the SMAC factions, and it has been 300 years in BAC since the fusion reactors were developed.

I described and backed up my arguements that there should be a new energy source developed in the 28th century in BAC, and most everybody agreed with my ideas. Even Mellian to some extent.

A lot of technology research can happen in 300 years.

Laters.

Lonestar · May 14, 2003, 19:10

Alright, I've changed my post around, bringing it more in line with the requests of the group.

I've replaced the Sin drive with "Q-drives" (

) and scaled back the flight dramatically. References to doing a stress test are made.

Incidently, [b]Soveriegn[/i], I'm a bit of a Trekkie so when you said "Quantum" I was reminded of the Romulan Quantum reactors, which use singulairties. Sorry. I know Quantum Physics can be confusing.

Like the wise man said, "According to Quantum physics, wormholes are possible. Of course, according to quantum physics you can spontaneously teleport yourself to Mars."

Silence · May 14, 2003, 20:33

Soverign you want to write the post, my just went into the Hospital tonight and I don't have much time here before I am going to see her.

Mr. President · May 14, 2003, 21:21

Sorry to hear that.

Sovereign · May 15, 2003, 21:56

Lonestar, thanks for understanding and keeping things level.

Silence, sorry to hear that. I hope your ma gets better soon.

I won't be going anywhere, actually I'm going home for a 3 month break. Fortunately, my home computer is able to log into Apolyton, so I'll still be able to write posts and be around the forums.

Could you write up a post by the weekend or this week in reply to my "invasion" or should I go ahead and write the next part about Area 51 and the stuff we discussed in the PM's?

Let me know!

Laters, everybody!

Silence · May 17, 2003, 23:13

Go ahead Soverign.

Also my mom had her surgery and she is doing very well according to the doctor and should be home by sometime next week. Due to summer classes and sitting with her, needless to say that my time is going to be limited for the next week or so.

Frankychan · May 18, 2003, 03:09

That's good to hear Silence!

Yeah, I'm taking summer classes, working, and volunteering too. But I plan on catching up on BAC. Seeing as how I am a citizen of the Human Hive faction...I'll be visiting Apolyton and the AC forums more often now.

Frankychan · May 19, 2003, 21:23

are things working here? I keeo getting a vBulletin error.

Mr. President · May 20, 2003, 06:16

Not very well. There were problems posting a while ago. Seems to be working a little better now.

Silence · May 26, 2003, 10:20

My Mom came home from the hospital and is going to be recovering the next several weeks. So I will have little more time to post and such now.

Frankychan · May 26, 2003, 18:15

Good to hear things are doing ok on your front, Silence.

Mr. President · May 28, 2003, 07:21

I'm glad to hear it too, Silence.

Did you guys notice all the name changes recently? Even a couple of Alpha Centauri forum dwellers. I saw the man formerly known as DetroitDave and didn't even realize it!

Lonestar · May 28, 2003, 20:17

I'm glad a quote of mine is sig Material Mr. President.

Frankychan · May 28, 2003, 21:05

?Detroit Dave changed his name? awww man! I hope he still has the Gaian avatar. Good to see you to still here though

I'm never changing my name! Mwa-ha-ha-haaaaa!

Mr. President · May 29, 2003, 01:08

I thought about changing my name once or twice, but I couldn't be bothered. Plus it's kinda cool to log in and have the computer say "Welcome back, Mr. President".

Quote:

I'm glad a quote of mine is sig Material Mr. President.

It was pretty funny. I liked a couple of the ones in the Apolyton Spellbook, but yours was the only one related to Beyond Alpha Centauri.