Troublesome technology

[Loser]

I'm the Minister of Science in our Play by Commitee game and I've got an RP problem with the engines. The thing is, I don't know what they are or what they do.

Ion Engine
Contra-Terrene Engine
Jacketed-Photon Engine
Quantum Engine

Okay, I know how the first one works. Really, I do.

I don't know anything about the second one. I don't know what it is in reference to or anything else. No bleeping clue.

I can probably fake the third. I can make up something that sounds ... well at least that's readable and related to the name.

And the forth one, Quantum Engine... well, it's 'quantum', you could make up just about anthing and most folk would be okay with it.

But what about those middle two? Any ideas? Anyone actually know? Anyone got a link to somewhere that explains it?

[ September 30, 2003, 22:32: Message edited by: Loser ]

[Fyron]

The descriptions are not enough? Maybe they have different descriptions in SE3, I do not recall. Go get it from MM's site (the shareware anyways) and see if it is more helpful. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[Suicide Junkie]

Contra Terrene is french-ish for antimatter, IIRC.

[DavidG]

Terrene/Contra-Terrene, a more accurate term for what is often called matter/anti-matter (since both are actually matter, simply in different forms). The reaction between the two forms liberates all the energy both contain, making it by far the most efficient and least polluting energy source available. For this reason, T/CT is used almost exclusively for planetary and large-craft energy needs.

[Phoenix-D]

Contra-Terren is Contra-Terran, i.e. anti-terran i.e. antimatter. Presumably it operates by using matter/antimatter reactions to generate thrust.

[Fyron]

Jacketed Photon engines probably harness Photons directly as a means of propulsion.

Quantum engines probably use very small subparticles like neutrinos and such.

[Fyron]

Basically, keep in mind it is technobabble stuff, so anything you make up that sounds plausible is fine. Just be consistent. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[jimbob]

me... I'm waiting for the Heisenberg (sp) Improbability Drive http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

[Fyron]

Check out the events file in Adamant Mod. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[Artscrafter]

me... I'm waiting for the Heisenberg (sp) Improbability Drive<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I once sort of BS'ed up a name for an even more advanced engine for a mod: the Tesseracted Relativity Engine. (Yeah, I know, the name needs a lot of work.) Basically the idea was that the engine magnified the time distortion effect at relativistic speeds to include the outside perspective. The effect would be that the actual time a voyage took would be somewhere between the time its speed would suggest and the time it seemed to take from the perspective of the crew.

I have no idea how that would look, I just pulled it out of my arse http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[Loser]

Originally posted by DavidG:
Terrene/Contra-Terrene, a more accurate term for what is often called matter/anti-matter (since both are actually matter, simply in different forms). The reaction between the two forms liberates all the energy both contain, making it by far the most efficient and least polluting energy source available. For this reason, T/CT is used almost exclusively for planetary and large-craft energy needs.<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Where did that come from?

That is excellent.

Is that from SE III?

[Fyron]

I think he just made it up. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

[DavidG]

Originally posted by Loser:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Originally posted by DavidG:
Terrene/Contra-Terrene, a more accurate term for what is often called matter/anti-matter (since both are actually matter, simply in different forms). The reaction between the two forms liberates all the energy both contain, making it by far the most efficient and least polluting energy source available. For this reason, T/CT is used almost exclusively for planetary and large-craft energy needs.<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Where did that come from?

That is excellent.

Is that from SE III?</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Hehe almost made be look smart eh? Well maybe not. OK well I stole it from here:

http://www.ecauldron.com/terranempire/concordt.php

[Jake Monroe]

Originally posted by Artscrafter:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">me... I'm waiting for the Heisenberg (sp) Improbability Drive<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I once sort of BS'ed up a name for an even more advanced engine for a mod: the Tesseracted Relativity Engine. (Yeah, I know, the name needs a lot of work.) Basically the idea was that the engine magnified the time distortion effect at relativistic speeds to include the outside perspective. The effect would be that the actual time a voyage took would be somewhere between the time its speed would suggest and the time it seemed to take from the perspective of the crew.

I have no idea how that would look, I just pulled it out of my arse http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I actually have something similiar, but I didn't have to pull it out of my arse. It's a Temporal device that works like the solar sail, gives bonus movement. It's called the Zero Drive and works together with the engines to bend time in a way that allows the ship to, in simplistic terms, move faster. I got it from a story someone I know wrote some time ago.

[Loser]

an e-mail reply from Aaron
Those three types of engines give you additional movement for your ships. You need to make sure that all of the engines on the ship are of the same type to receive the bonus.

The idea behind the engines are from science fiction books and magazines. Contra-Terrene is the use of anti-matter that is brought in contact with normal matter to create a powerful energy release. Jacketed Photon it a method where photon movement is harnessed to propel the ship forward. A Quantum engine uses a quantum singularity (a tiny black hole) to bend gravity and propel the ship forward.

Aaron<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">

[atari_eric]

Originally posted by Loser:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">an e-mail reply from Aaron
A Quantum engine uses a quantum singularity (a tiny black hole) to bend gravity and propel the ship forward.

Aaron<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana"></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">You mean there's a black hole inside my engine? Get it out, Norton, get it out!