NationStates Jolt Archive

Hey there people - first post in the NS forum! Huzzah! - I was wondering if I could beg your attentions for a moment.

I've been thinking lately about heading into space tech, but have little idea of how to do it. I wish to avoid some silly godmode scenario (e.g. OMG we just perfected cold-fusion!), but equally I don't want it to take about 6 (RL) months to do either. I also want to get an idea of what kind of technology is the norm when first spaceifying, so to speak. Any information welcome.

OT: I just saw this and thought it was hilarious.

OOC: Advice?
by DontPissUsOff

Hopefully, you'll avoid the easy method of going to a storefront and spending OMG TRILLIONS on people's space penises.

If you want, you COULD purchase some spacecraft from Santa Barbara. In particular, I have some light but sturdy Bolden Corporation trade ships. (You could use them for anything, of course. They're small, reaction-mass propelled, ugly, cheap and slow. That's basically how anyones first spaceships ought to be anyway.) But we'd have to RP that.

If you wanted to create your own OMG SPACE ARMADA... well. I think I have a ship making guide around here somewhere. But really... see. You COULD go through lots of calculations and trouble to figure out just the dimensions, materials, cost, capacity and capability of imaginary spaceships. But the thing is, no one would be able to tell all your hard work, since everyone uses made up numbers and one set of numbers doesnt necessarily look any more realistic than another. Plus, most people apparently don't consider ship stats to mean anything whatsoever. (I think thats a cop-out for people and their ultratech/uberwank being irreconcilable with actual physics or economics. "I can't make up realistic numbers for my space penises so realistic numbers are irrelevant.")

But I digress.

OT: I just saw this and thought it was hilarious.

OOC: Advice?
by DontPissUsOff

OOC: Heh heh. Why I chose this name is beyond me :D

Hmmm....half of my ships look like penises with giant warts on them @_@, although that's because my limited knowledge of physics tells me that such a shape would be the most efficient one for my purposes aside from a sphere.

Anyhoo.....I consider stats, especially in space tech, to be more of an appendage than a real tool. IMO, it really doesn't matter whether or not a ship can accelerate at 10km/sec^2 or 10.8km/sec^2 in a good RP.....I use a floating power level which adjusts whenever I come acrosss...let's say TFU and his thousand-ship task forces. The Industrial Experiment is the only nation I've seen here thus far that uses technology rooted in standard physics instead of 'Warp Drives' and Tachyons.....

Of course, I pull half of my tech out of my ass (Chain Drives, Crys-Net, the mystery composite armor of my ships) and use somewhat-real tech for the other half (ion shields, fusactors/cryo plants, scanners/sensors ). Yes, those are esentially fusion reacotrs, except that they use -anything- for fuel ^-^. And no, I can't scan through a vessel and magically find out everything about it without (a) revealing my own position, which is just plain stupid, and (b) using some really advanced active sensors that somehow can go through both armor, shields, and a whole range of other protective devices. I rely on passive more than active. The best analogy for deep space warfare is underwater warfare. A sub doesn't go around blasting everything with its SONAR, because the enemy will know exactly where it is.

It seems that the best start is to develop the tech for a space elevator (a long string of carbon nanotubes and such, with one part attached to a big asteroid and another held in place by electromagnets, with rockets along the elevator's length for maneuvering and stability, and cars using a counterweight system for travel). After that you can start building various vessels without the need for large boosters and such.

Realistic stats for your stuff is good. However, to be fair and avoid godmodding, try to put nation stats above ship stats. If nation X has 30 billion people and you have 5 million, but you've described your ships so you'd win over his description of his ships, you should still treat him as more powerful, based on the actual size, economy, and militaty of your nation.

Indeed-- the goal is to have fun, but be realistic with it. Remember what you would need to buy and how many people it would require to man a large ship before you construct one.

My suggestion is to start with a fleet of small ships-- frigates, gunships, space-capable fighters and the like-- before you work your way up to the capital level.

Remember that you want to have a suffecient conventional military before you get into space. I can't stress that enough. :)

About the 6 month wait: NationStates time is fluid. Some people rely on 1 year = 1 day, but that tends to get really sticky after awhile, so avoid it; you can make a thread where you RP your nation planning building ships, etc. When you're done with the thread, you're done with the ships. Shouldn't take more than a couple of weeks, in real time.

Good luck.

--Felix

or, DPUO, you could of just asked me on MSN ;).. lol :)

bump, any further ideas?

Well, I'm on the "First, you get into space... then you build an orbital colony" approach to things...

I hereby offer you the best adivce I can possibly give:

Don't take anybody's advice (except mine, of course). Just do what you think would be fun for you and those who you RP with. People often list specific things to do (Research XXX, then start to build YYY, then approach nation QQQQ, etc.) that only end in a clone of the hundreds of other nations out there.

Just have fun.

I offer this advice as a the former The Power in Space NS. Ah, the good ol' days. I was top dog back then. Now look at me. You have to wonder where I went wrong.......

EDIT: If you want to get into the Inter-Stellar scene right away I do run many Storefronts (Four seperate branches: A store for young nations and those new to space tech, a weaponry store selling energy weapons and explosive projectiles, a construction company for the design and installation of defensive technology, and my main branch which sells every type of ship you could need. Large multi km combat ships, single person fighters, freighters, gas miners, resupply ships, transports, etc.)

If you'd like I will post the links, but haven't so far since the ads are huge and take up the entire page. Also because you asked for advice, not products, and I only spam where it's requested.

Or you could always do what I do: utilize storyline loopholes specifically created a year or so before (real life time) to scavenge the equipment and build yourself a ship out of the reverse-engineered tech.

Then again, I've been working this storyarc around for over a year, so.....
I dunno. I just dont like the whole 'buy a fleet from a storefront' method. Much prefer to build it all myself. Maybe use a storyline to engage in some discussions to accquire certiain pieces of technology you find missing...or maybe do a Self-RP where you take clips of time, meaning different stages of development, and basically, pull your nation a hundred years, two hundred years, or even a thousand years forward inside of a thread, bringing yourself into the future or whatnot, while still highlighting stages of development?

Theres so many ways to do it, really...

Just please, I beg of you...dont wank the numbers! Stat whoring so many nations that do with their special 1.21 jigawatts of flux cannon power or their lightspeed to the nth power drives or their accelerations of donuts^2 ruin so much. I mean, theres X amount of that kinda stuff useful, yes...but when you go to the point of making it central to everything....goes too far.

Dunno how many times I've been asked for ship stats, and I've given a general description to recieve the response "Well..how fast does the drive go? How much power is in the weapons? How much reactor output do you get?"
I swear, spend too much time worrying about all that, and it'll ruin your RPskills, as you can tell with those who do it so much.

....Damn. I ranted. Sorry, man!

Fun. A marvy word. A key word here in NS.

What KIND of RPer are you?

Accountant: numbers and stats are the bible, and determine the course of my Nation.

Lawyer: reality and laws (gravity, physics) are my guide, all else is GodModding.

Wrestler: Hulk SMASH! Me fight you!

Poet: Coronations and Carnivals are more your style, waltzing with Queens in the courtyard.

Sycophant: You will follow a bigger nation around, doing it's bidding and hanging out by the table, looking for scraps.

Surrealist: Everything goes, and sometimes that means clocks that melt. As long as the end result is art.

Bizarro Superman: You live in an "alternate" universe, allowing you to be an extensive mix of all of the above, with less consequences.

Figure out who you are, and who you want to be.