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Confirming Quality: "Wave Cannon" ("Mara&quot

OsakanOne

Inactive Member
Retired Member
Hey all, I'd just like to post something up in a reppetoir I'm converting from another format to make sure I'm doing it in the right format and that the content is interesting. I'm open to criticism.

Before feisability arguments arise, this isn't supposed to be mounted on a player object. I've spoken a little with Wes and hopefully, it'll end up on an NPC object later for a plot-arc.


Weapon Name: "Type Two" Wave Cannon ("Mara")
Location: Undisclosed (I can't ruin the fun, can I?), 8 mounted.
Primary Purpose: Anti-Fighter weapon/dispursion weapon
Secondary Purpose: Pin-Point/Surgical Strike weapon/Melee Weapon

Damage: Devastating, often melting or evaporating the more dense areas within densely armored targets.

Range: Recorded at 1300 meters against other fighters in a dogfight scenario, maximum range 3100 meters (unstable)

Rate of Fire: 20 rounds per minute, per cannon. Chain-linked and intelligently spread to a maximum firing speed of 7 rounds per second in bursts of 4.2 seconds with a time-to-wait of 5.71 seconds before the cannons are ready to commence another volley.

Description: Dissection of wreckage has shown the Mara works by emitting focused waves of subatomic particles with a carefully calculated oscillation before firing to bombard a target. The oscillation of the sub-atomic particles themselves works against the localized particles in the target to collapse the wave-function on a quantum level, releasing bursts of heat during the collapse and de-stabilization of particles, particularly in atomically dense areas of the internal structure.

The oscillation and vector of the waves are carefully chosen by the host ship or platform. Should this be unavailable, the Mara will vary the oscillation until sensors can confirm a collapse.

In practice, this causes catastrophic damage within a target, overheating internal systems and has been observed liquifying the innards of bombers, leaving the hull untouched.

The Mara is only effective at medium range or at melee range within an atmosphere or nebulae.

Editor's note: After browsing the existing tech-tree, I discovered the Phoenix Arms TLI-10 Particle Disruptor Cannon. The two appear to operate differently as the mara operates at the sub-atomic level, not the atomic level. The overall is goal to trigger a system-wide cascade failure internally rather than striking the outer-hull.
 
Graaah! Another name that I kept in reserve taken before I can use it! I was just about to decide to name my plotship after my first D&D character and you had to pick it just after I unofficially named it x_x Arrgh!

( has no luck with names. All the good ones seem taken, or cliche )

I'd venture to say that if the weapon is meant for space combat that it's range might be a bit short.
 
so, essentially it fires neutrinos using scanner data to determine what waveform and vector would allow it to pass through the hull's atomic structure (or fires a variety if the data's unavailable), then collide with the interior and induce a nuclear reaction, am I right? *nods* that seems technologically feasible, though I don't see why it would require a gas in the environment.
 
Aah~ Well, I'm by no means an expert, I just did a few hours reading on atomic stability, wave-form, ZPE and quantum eventuality.

It's tricky stuff and I had to scrap a few other ideas, but this one seemed the most likely.

Though I wasn't aware the reaction would be nuclear. Forgive me, but I don't have a solid understanding of just what a nuclear reaction is.


If you would like to use the name, feel free. I'm greatful that my first submission was deemed feisable.

Thankyou.
 
Hey hey, I was mostly joking. Don't give up on it so easily - first come first served for names. Besides, I might change my mind tommorow ^_^;
 
Mmm? At what point was I giving up on the cannon...?

The name, perhaps, but not the cannon.
 
Jatsu said:
I don't see why it would require a gas in the environment.
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Oh, that was probably a mistake on my behalf.

The point was it's a medium range weapon in a vacume and the range is lowered in an atmosphere to dogfighting range because the subatomic particles will colide with the gasses in the atmosphere.
 
Firstly, just because it's going to end up on an NPC object, or be a plot device does not mean that it can be any less feasible.

What was the "Type Oneâ€
 
Imho, there are a lot of things that "technically" shouldn't be allowed. But my critique is aimed more toward Osakan's wording and figuring out what _exactly_ he's talking about here than picking apart the theory behind it (though there are some theory issues). We can get it to work, it just needs some things clarified and some terms need replaced...

"Break it down now!" [/oldschool] This could get long...

OsakanOne said:
Before feisability arguments arise, this isn't supposed to be mounted on a player object. I've spoken a little with Wes and hopefully, it'll end up on an NPC object later for a plot-arc.
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1) But once that plot is done, will this be available or will it disappear?

OsakanOne said:
Weapon Name: "Type Two" Wave Cannon ("Mara")
Location: Undisclosed (I can't ruin the fun, can I?), 8 mounted.
Primary Purpose: Anti-Fighter weapon/dispursion weapon
Secondary Purpose: Pin-Point/Surgical Strike weapon/Melee Weapon
Click to expand...
2) How is this a melee weapon? Can it form blades or does the user merely thwap the opponent over the head with it? In that case, any weapon can be considered a melee weapon.

OsakanOne said:
Damage: Devastating, often melting or evaporating the more dense areas within densely armored targets.
Click to expand...
3) Sounds like it would evaporate the "dense" armor too...so total destruction, then? What density does the weapon require an object to be before it begins to effect the target? Or...I will touch on the idea I just had later in this post.

OsakanOne said:
Range: Recorded at 1300 meters against other fighters in a dogfight scenario, maximum range 3100 meters (unstable)
Click to expand...
4a) Just a simple rewording suggestion: "Recorded optimum range at 1300 meters against other fighters in a dogfight scenario. Maximum range recorded as being 3100 meters, after which weapon rounds became unstable [or ineffective, you can pick the word]."

4b) Oh, and 3100 meters is about 2 miles. Good luck getting close enough to a ship or person to use that thing. A <a href="Star Army Wiki on Star Army Space Roleplay"> Nataku M2 power armor </a> has a range of 110,000 miles with its Type 12 Energy Wave Projection Cannon.

5) What are the rounds made of? Are they neutrinos like Yangfan said or are they something else? What are they housed in? How are they fired?

6) First off, I can't tell what kind of oscillation you're talking about...I mean, you're clearly talking about wave-form oscillations, but I can't tell if you're talking about "waves" (pulses, bursts) of subatomic particles being fired or the vibrations (which are only "waves" when plotted on a graph) of the individual particles themselves as they are fired. I will assume it is the latter.

7) In that case, how does the weapon set the particle's vibration frequency? How can a round-firing weapon affect the vibrations of the target material? It sounds like a beam would be more effective (ex: A tuning fork does not send bursts of sound to resonate with crystal, it sends out a continuous tone. The Mara could not fire rounds to resonate with the target, it would have to fire a beam.)

8) And, referring to that idea I mentioned earlier, does the scan indicate a certain type of material to target the oscillation to? Such as "nothing will be harmed in the ship except carbon atoms" or "All steel will break down"? It sounds like you're trying to create a microwave weapon that destroys things on a sub-atomic level instead of a molecular one, but you're not quite able to make the theory work.

9) "...Collapse the wave-function on a quantum level..." So a vibrating sub-atomic particle resonates with a piece of the target and disrupts the target particle's own natural oscillation, breaking it off of the whole? You're right, this should be a short-range weapon. The sub-atomic ammo would probably lose their oscillations pretty quickly.

OsakanOne said:
The Mara is only effective at medium range or at melee range within an atmosphere or nebulae.
Click to expand...
10) So, basically it's useless in those environments? Are we talking about a personnel-sized weapon or a starship-sized weapon? Because, frankly, starships have no melee weapons and are unlikely to be able to come close enough to each other in battle to use them...


And, finally...
11) Could you give me a link to the TLI Cannon? I couldn't find it. Also, it doesn't really matter what level the cannon and the Mara operate at, it matters about how effective they are and what the final result is.

12) What kind of "systems" are we talking here? Organic? Electronic? Mechanical?

13) How do the particles get through the hull without striking it? And, as Zakalwe noted, how does it get through shields? Ship shielding is, by nature, a very sturdy protection against unwanted particle impacts. An a particle is a particle, so changing their oscillation won't get them through. You would have to phase them (a completely different process than changing oscillation) to get them inside a shield, and then figure out how to unphase them so they can impact the target.

Which, now that I think about it, is the same problem you have with the hull. Your oscillation adjustments _might_ get them through a meter of armor without hitting any of it, but how are they expected to hit anything else if they don't impact the most dense materials known to this universe? It's like firing a bullet at a frozen lake expecting it to pass through the ice like a ghost and instead hit the water underneath it...Not gonna happen.


So that's my breakdown and analysis. I don't mean to sound harsh, so please don't take it that way.

Welcome to the SARP!
 
1) But once that plot is done, will this be available or will it disappear?
Click to expand...

Depends on what happens, really.

[/quote]2) How is this a melee weapon? Can it form blades or does the user merely thwap the opponent over the head with it? In that case, any weapon can be considered a melee weapon. [/quote]

Where I come from, a cannon used at dogfighting range (ie, non-BVR) was classed as Melee for a ship or mech and weapons such as blades were called Contact-Weapons. Again, I apreciate the correction.

What density does the weapon require an object to be before it begins to effect the target?
Click to expand...

This is regulated by a targetting computer.



[/quote] Good luck getting close enough to a ship or person to use that thing. [/quote]
The host subject hops dimensions and makes a M2 look fairly sluggish but it's an NPC for a plot-arc so I don't think it'll be a problem. The idea was to use a weapon with a trade-off between power and range to demonstrate how capable it was.
To probably spoil it, the host is supposed to be from a different dimensional plain all together with an entirely different tech tree and none of this stuff would be known without observation or until this is taken into captivity.

What are the rounds made of? Are they neutrinos like Yangfan said or are they something else? What are they housed in? How are they fired?
Click to expand...
Again, I'm not entirely sure. I set out with a rough goal and tried to get the physics to work afterwards. Unless the technology were dissected, there would be no way of knowing just how it works: Only speculation.

[/quote]First off, I can't tell what kind of oscillation you're talking about...I mean, you're clearly talking about wave-form oscillations, but I can't tell if you're talking about "waves" (pulses, bursts) of subatomic particles being fired or the vibrations (which are only "waves" when plotted on a graph) of the individual particles themselves as they are fired. I will assume it is the latter.
 
Have you ever heard of the "Supremely Divine Jecht Shot Mark 3?"
If you have you will know, a name is just a name.
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I belive we have established previously that a name is grounds for not approving a technology.
 
It's not just the name that can keep technology unapproved Uso. There is also something called "Game Balance." I assume you know what that is, but I might be wrong since you more often then not ignore it for the sake of your technology.

Not to mention unlike most of the stuff you've made, this person has designed a weapon that is similar to an already established gun, and also has feasable grounds for it's function. So don't get sour at someone new just because they have better named technology then you.
 
I don't like how you answer several questions with 'It's an NPC vessel so you wouldn't know without disection'.

That doesn't matter here. We can't use the knowledge here IC anyway because that would be Metagaming, something we have a very grim view of.

The fact is that the weapon is up for inspection, and the science behind that. It doesn't matter if SA wouldn't know about it, or if it's an NPC ship - the tech still needs to be explained.

Again, I'm not entirely sure. I set out with a rough goal and tried to get the physics to work afterwards. Unless the technology were dissected, there would be no way of knowing just how it works: Only speculation.
Click to expand...

This particularly annoys me. Please answer the question and don't hide behind the fact that IC we wouldn't know it.

Let me tell you that Neutrino's will not work. They effectively don't interact with matter.

Also you must detail what this oscalation means. Currently reading through it I have no idea what it does and how it does it at all.
 
People, people. This person is reletivly new in regards to the entire science.

I would say, instead of firing so many questions why don't we try and HELP with this peice of technology?
 
true, the tech needs to be fully explained.

Let me tell you that Neutrino's will not work. They effectively don't interact with matter.
Click to expand...
err...I meant neutrons >.>
 
This is quite a clear sign that technology creation for the RP requires either a physics, math, chemistry, or aerospace engineering degree.

We've got to be careful not to develop an ivory-tower complex here.

However, I don't really understand how the tech works, either.
 
Cora said:
People, people. This person is reletivly new in regards to the entire science.

I would say, instead of firing so many questions why don't we try and HELP with this peice of technology?
Click to expand...

*stunned silence* I say Cora wins a few internets with this. Seriously.
 
We can't help if the basis is flawed. After we establish what is possible then we can discuss how to improve it. So far we need to establish what his ideas, which aren't overly well represented here, actually are since currently the weapon is horribly vague.
 
Thank you Fred.

And the reason I ask this, is because Wes himself said that the experienced players should try and help the new players when they try and make something that's out of their field. I mean the guy says it right here.

Aah~ Well, I'm by no means an expert, I just did a few hours reading on atomic stability, wave-form, ZPE and quantum eventuality.
Click to expand...

BUT, even with a few hours of reading, this rather well though out piece of equipment was made. So, instead of treating this like an Inquision hearing, why don't we put all our heads together, yes that even inclused you Uso asuki, and try and make this thing work properly. Most of the science is there. There's just some parts that need to be better explained.

EDIT:

Vague?


This is vague?
 
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