06-18-2020, 11:57 AM
Drashner1Hm. Ok. Based on the above, my sense is that any feedback anyone provides will simply be dismissed or after-the-fact rationalized away (using information you failed to provide in the first place) such that it ends up that you've created a perfect setting on the first try and don't actually have to listen to anything anyone else might say otherwise or make any changes to your vision.
Further review and commentary would therefore seem superfluous.
Anyway
Todd
Can you please stop doing this? I'm creating this by myself in my free time, afflicted with depression and one of the first things people do is nitpick every technical detail and threaten me with a ban because of my tone. That's not what I'm used to. OA is a 20 year old collaborative project, this is something created by me and me alone in WordPad, incomparable. Nobody forces anyone to read this, it's everyone's personal choice. Apologies if I sound irritated.
Anyways, I've been thinking to move the big war earlier or revise the timeline in a different way. I want the population to be high, but you're right - the years don't line up. I'd also like to flesh out the factions. You're right that the raids are a recent development, temporary, perhaps I'll remove them and replace them by something else (then again, Mercury is mincapistan). I do want the Hegemony to be a real threat and hated for a reason though, as well as something to underline their parasitic (taking from others rather than making things by themselves) nature. Illicitly making antimatter using stolen technology that they don't really understand fully may be a more sensible choice.
Thank you for your feedback (see, I don't actually think my setting is perfect
). I've read about p/B11 fusion on ProjectRho and IIRC it was less powerful in both specific impulse and thrust but this wasn't DPF fusion so I'll do some reading. The size would definitely be a huge advantage. Can it be adopted for pulse/Orion-like operation too?
As for kamikaze, it's something Kuiperians are infamous for, but it isn't really a strategy used for winning a battle as more of a "if I can't have your vessel, noone can" losing strategy. Where other attackers might ran away, Kuiperians go for the blaze of glory. But they aren't actively suicidal and you're right, at these power levels, short range attack by drive plume would be a good strategy and I should include it.
Further review and commentary would therefore seem superfluous.
Anyway
Todd
Can you please stop doing this? I'm creating this by myself in my free time, afflicted with depression and one of the first things people do is nitpick every technical detail and threaten me with a ban because of my tone. That's not what I'm used to. OA is a 20 year old collaborative project, this is something created by me and me alone in WordPad, incomparable. Nobody forces anyone to read this, it's everyone's personal choice. Apologies if I sound irritated.
Anyways, I've been thinking to move the big war earlier or revise the timeline in a different way. I want the population to be high, but you're right - the years don't line up. I'd also like to flesh out the factions. You're right that the raids are a recent development, temporary, perhaps I'll remove them and replace them by something else (then again, Mercury is mincapistan). I do want the Hegemony to be a real threat and hated for a reason though, as well as something to underline their parasitic (taking from others rather than making things by themselves) nature. Illicitly making antimatter using stolen technology that they don't really understand fully may be a more sensible choice.
Quote:iancampbell
Just a couple of minor points to start with:
The fusion technology you imply might not actually be the best option, in detail. It's quite possible (and I am neither a nuclear physicist nor an engineer) that one of the better options might be dense plasma focus (DPF) fusion using a proton/B11 mix as reactant. Advantages: much commoner materials as fuel and just about no neutrons, also getting energy out of the reaction products is easier and more efficient because they are all charged. Some more info:
https://lppfusion.com/
Another possible advantage is that it might be possible to tweak the reaction geometry to make this into a fusion drive. Yet another is that the units can probably be made quite small, suitable for something the size of a large truck.
Second, I'm not sure the kamikaze option would be used much, or if it is might be used very differently. Why? Because the best weapon of a fusion torch ship, especially at short range, is its drive exhaust. Remember the Kzinti Lesson!
Thank you for your feedback (see, I don't actually think my setting is perfect
). I've read about p/B11 fusion on ProjectRho and IIRC it was less powerful in both specific impulse and thrust but this wasn't DPF fusion so I'll do some reading. The size would definitely be a huge advantage. Can it be adopted for pulse/Orion-like operation too?As for kamikaze, it's something Kuiperians are infamous for, but it isn't really a strategy used for winning a battle as more of a "if I can't have your vessel, noone can" losing strategy. Where other attackers might ran away, Kuiperians go for the blaze of glory. But they aren't actively suicidal and you're right, at these power levels, short range attack by drive plume would be a good strategy and I should include it.