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Approved Submission U-G3801 Hyperspace Tap

Zack

Zack

Inactive Member
Submission Type: Hyperspace Tap
Submission URL: https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=wip:u-g3801

Faction: USO
FM Approved Yet? (Yes/No; Who, When) Yes
Faction requires art? (Yes/No) Yes

For Reviewers:
Contains Unapproved Sub-Articles? (Yes/No)
Contains New art? (Yes/No)
Previously Submitted? (Yes/No; explain reason if rejected)

Notes:
Basically anytime I say something has a hyperspace tap, this is what I meant for it to look like. The goal is to make some high quality individual equipment submissions, and then go back and integrate them into other submissions where appropriate.
 
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So long as this tech can be abused and used to metagame, which it can, it will require traits that keep it balanced with other systems in common use.

Yes, the coolant was mentioned, but nothing else was. For the sake of balance, I am suggesting that the article explicitly states that though these are expected to be used as server farms, they produce significantly more heat as a group than they do individually in exchange. You may suggest other traits to balance out the article, but unless there is something on the table, I will reject this submission on the grounds that it is overpowered.

And no, this article is not going far above and beyond what is required in overall quality; the checklist very literally includes "Not Overpowered".
 
This already exsists as an approved article with slight less detail and worse art.

Not only is it already in use in the setting, but I don't see it being abused nor do I understand how you would be able to abuse this under any of the rules sustmes current or proposed.
 
First, as I have pointed out in another submission, it's against the rules to point to previous submissions to justify new ones for good reason. Second, the fact remains that it very much can be abused, and that I am asking for some sort of trait or other to balance it out should it be used in such a manner. Again, unless you work with me here, I will have to reject the article.
 
Zack, if you're set on not trying to improve the article, the submission process is over... If approval happened as soon as the submitter decided the article was finished, we wouldn't have this forum.
 
We did already, and you gave your response already. It was that someone would try to cram in as many of these as possible to hypercharge a ship, and your response here was that 'due to basic engineering', it wouldn't work. As far as I know, no edits were made. I already responded to that, too, and so on... there's quite a few posts on the topic in this thread already.

I gave a solution that seems good enough to me, and certainly doesn't require 'books full of engineering knowledge' to be written since it's just a single line. I'm sure that's not the only way to do it without having to write thousands of words or a blatant patch to the tune of 'warning: coffee is hot'.
 
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Yes, what Navian said. Despite your own example Zack, the line "Divert all power to weapons!", or something like that, has been a staple of sci-fi for quite a while. Some lower tech or shoddy weapons will blow, but higher end stuff can apparently take it. There really isn't anything stopping anyone from taking a normal ship and filling it up with a bunch of these in addition to its normal reactor to boost shields, propulsion and weapons.
 
Now can you point to any other submission that has ever had the same requirements put on it to detail things to such an absurd level? Or anywhere on a weapon submission where it lists what happens if you try to hold more than one gun in the same hand?

I mean, obviously you can't just add more generators to make a ship more powerful. Increasing the power supply on your computer doesn't make it compute faster, adding another generator doesn't change the wattage of a bulb, and putting a larger power plant inside of a ship doesn't make the weapons more powerful.

Extra power doesn't magically change the stats of weapons, nor does it have some magical power to change the stats for an approved ship. This is all already included in the site rules and approval shouldn't require that I rewrite everything on the site so that it can be added to this submission.

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The submission already includes the requirements for coolant, examples of use in the server-rack configuration, and already exceeds what should be required for approval.
 
It's good to note too that a reactor would not be used to send power anywhere but a battery. Systems would be connected to that battery so if someone wished to 'overcharge' their ship they would be better off filling every nook and cranny with a battery so they have more power to tap into. Even then, if an operator was to divert more amperage to a device than the component is rated for it would cause the device to 'burn out', so to speak. Its kinda like the way a hybrid car is powered. The electric motor will only draw amperage when needed, the gas engine which serves as its power plant can only generate so much electricity. If the battery dies the engine may still be running, but the car will not move.

If the battery is full the power source would need to be shut down to avoid the negative effects of over charging a battery.
 
Hey, I've been asked to check out this submission.

It actually seems fine to me, and is basically an equivalent of the portable aether generators Yamatai uses. In theory USO could just buy some of these aether generators and use them the same way. But this submission deserves credit because it's more thought out (having coolant and such) whereas Yamatai's generators don't even get their own article at this point, and because he's making his own thing that contributes to the setting.

Hyperspace taps are an existing, well-established technology and this is just a specific model of what presumably already exists.

"But ships could have too much power" is not a concern because SARP isn't an electrical engineering simulation that uses hard numbers. "Divert power from life support to X" actually makes me cringe a little every time I see someone in Yamatai do it. I don't see any potential for abuse here.

Since tech-wise this is actually mundane, the only things that should hold it back are the lore details, in other words showing that basically USO can design and build this thing (where's the factory, etc).

I think if @Zack adds a sufficient history/background section, and answers the questions raised in the review, the submission should be fine to approve. It's 95% there already.
 
I agree, the article was basically almost ready to go. The additional history and detail you're requesting though Wes, would be nice to have. However, let's just say someone did want to abuse the whole 'Diverting Power' thing like they do in Star Wars and Star Trek; it's only sensible to make sure it is addressed in some form. They don't even have to be the things I suggested; so long as they prevent potential abuse, we're good to go.
 
Potential abuse is checked when technologies that use this as a power source are put through the approval process.
Wes said:
It actually seems fine to me, and is basically an equivalent of the portable aether generators Yamatai uses. In theory USO could just buy some of these aether generators and use them the same way.
Click to expand...
It's just a power source for Zack's faction.
 
Given the small and modular nature though, this article makes it easier to abuse things post-approval. A standard ship can be approved with its standard reactor, and then be crammed full of these afterwards. Something to prevent this would only take a few sentences at most, and is not an unreasonable request.
 
A standard ship can be approved with its standard reactor, and then be crammed full of these afterwards.
Click to expand...
It's okay if that happens, and it's not abuse.
 
"Divert power from life support to X" actually makes me cringe a little every time I see someone in Yamatai do it.
Click to expand...

You're not the only one!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-pm8uxw1MM

We can't expect everyone to play at our preferred level of quality all the time, but we can certainly always be trying to improve. These kinds of tech submissions I think are key to that. I mean, what did damage control even do before castor tape!? Where we are now certainly makes Yamatai feel more like a professional organization with people who know what to do when their ship takes a hit.

Uso is maybe, a lot less professional, but everyone has to start somewhere.

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On a side note: There is really no reason I'm using Hyperspace Taps over Aether other than personal preference. The fluff on how it both work are well established, decently plausible, and more or less irrelevant event to the characters. The hyperspace tap is mainly in use now as a shout-out to Darren Tyler, and as a way to shorta show where Wazu has been.

I like being able to look at items and be able to trace their parts back to early SARP.


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I broke out the paragraph below the image into the history section, and added a few lines that give an idea of the scope of USO's ability to produce these items. While USO has been building fabricators as fast as they can, they really aren't on the same level as Nepleslia or Yamatai when it comes to production, hense me using the word 'Dozens' instead of hundreds of thousands.

USO also has some serious engineering talent on hand, but I don't really need to invoke that here. The hyperspace tap is well established like Wes said, and that part is pretty much lifted entirely from the Nepleslian version of the device. Any low-level engineer would be able to design the casing, tubes, and connectors so I feel the existing history already gives enough insight into how USO was able to design this device.

Also, changed year of completion to YE 39.
 
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