950 replies to this topic

[Lunareclipse]

I'm not sure if I remember this correctly, but on the orbital bombardment thing, I think there was some treaty signed by all the member states of the Star League banning both orbital bombardment and the use of WMDs, and the legacy of this treaty is that all wars in the Inner Sphere are fought by conventional forces. There are times that it's been broken, but it seems the exception rather than the rule.

I'm going to try and find it on sarna.

Edit: Okay, I can't find anything specific, but there are numerous traties and accords that are just stubs on that wiki, and any one of them could be this... or I might be entirely wrong.

Edited by Lunareclipse, 03 August 2012 - 08:00 PM.

[Wo0m3rA]

I love these kind of posts - It reminds me of the how 200 years ago Napoleon Bonaparte scoffed at the idea of steam powered ships, he over simplified the concept with his statement on how ridiculous he found the idea that by lighting a fire below decks one can propel a vessel through the water.

This video sums our ability to envisage the world of tomorrow, today...


Sorta says it all

Edited by Wo0m3rA, 06 August 2012 - 07:49 PM.

[SakuranoSenshi]

He may have scoffed and been wrong but there won't be bipedal war machines weighing in at a hundred tonnes, I can assure you. :-)

Predicting the future is notoriously difficult but ruling out the impossible is a lot less hard, the trick is to actually know what's impossible and what's simply not feasible right now. Fusion reactors are not feasible but seem entirely possible (famously, the stars are fusion reactions running wild), to the point that we may well see them within the century (or we may not, that prediction thing, you know? ;-) ). For a variety of hard physics reasons, we won't see an Atlas, ever.

[LordDeathStrike]

Theodor Kling, on 31 July 2012 - 01:29 AM, said:

Actually only a small part of the galaxy has been visited by jumships. So they might be out there somewhere.. or not

• Computer systems capable of controlling a fusion power plant inside a moving, jumping, falling etc mech are not capable of getting a decent aim for the weapons.
  
• Despite mechs positivly glowing from their exess heat, heat seeking missiles are absent.
  
• A 100 ton metal mosnter with a fusion reaktor that screams lowdly "HERE" in infrared, on a magnetometer, and probably also in gamma radiation can HIDE behind a building.

heat seekers would hit friendlies too, they go for heat, all mechs are hot. friendly fire is frowned upon, if you blow my arm off ill turn around and put a shot right into your cockpit so you never shoot me again.

SakuranoSenshi, on 03 August 2012 - 08:21 PM, said:

He may have scoffed and been wrong but there won't be bipedal war machines weighing in at a hundred tonnes, I can assure you. :-)

Predicting the future is notoriously difficult but ruling out the impossible is a lot less hard, the trick is to actually know what's impossible and what's simply not feasible right now. Fusion reactors are not feasible but seem entirely possible (famously, the stars are fusion reactions running wild), to the point that we may well see them within the century (or we may not, that prediction thing, you know? ;-) ). For a variety of hard physics reasons, we won't see an Atlas, ever.

atlas, maybe not, gundams, definitely, the japanese love them gundams, theyll build them within 200 years.

[SakuranoSenshi]

Nope, none of them. They're not possible at all, sorry. Especially the so-called Gundams, which can be unbelievably huge, depending on which universe it's set in.

P.S. Heat seeking missiles are not stupid, no more than RADAR ones are, they still require a lock but they find targets by heat and once it's identified they stick with it. Heat signatures are just as unique and your side's stuff will often look totally different to the stuff you want to shoot at.

Edited by SakuranoSenshi, 03 August 2012 - 09:10 PM.

[Capp]

Lunareclipse, on 03 August 2012 - 07:46 PM, said:

I'm not sure if I remember this correctly, but on the orbital bombardment thing, I think there was some treaty signed by all the member states of the Star League banning both orbital bombardment and the use of WMDs, and the legacy of this treaty is that all wars in the Inner Sphere are fought by conventional forces. There are times that it's been broken, but it seems the exception rather than the rule.

I'm going to try and find it on sarna.

Edit: Okay, I can't find anything specific, but there are numerous traties and accords that are just stubs on that wiki, and any one of them could be this... or I might be entirely wrong.

I think you mean the Ares Conventions.

[Quietly Crazy]

Lunar, I believe you're talking about the Ares conventions...if I recall correctly (and I probably don't), the basic point of it was to reduce losses to basic industry and civilian life. Which is why most of the battles took place in the middle of forests or plains or deserts or canyons.

Though with the Ares conventions....doesn't that make the continued production of the Urbanmech a bit silly? Or am I just not seeing the use for a ploddingly slow light mech?



((Edit: Fixed it from treaty to conventions....geez....ya'll have a much better grasp on lore than I do...))

Edited by Quietly Crazy, 03 August 2012 - 09:24 PM.

[Meth Borm]

PaintedWolf, on 30 July 2012 - 02:09 PM, said:

-Same armor will protect against heat, electrical, magnetic, kinetic and physical weapons equally well. No nanotech or smart-material used!

LOL some of these are actuly plasable you know. Point in case being able to withstande a guass riffle strike. Id liek to point you to
http://en.wikipedia....Carbon_nanotube If ever figured out how to mass produce is significantly stronger than steel and significatly lighter as well. THis is a real thieretical material. Once you can make it you could probably modify it or ground it for electrical.

Brenden, on 31 July 2012 - 09:01 PM, said:

- A gauss rifle's ammunition is non-explosive, but when the weapon is hit it explodes like an internal ammo explosion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coilgun
The speeds and Force are so masive that you don't want explosives. HIgher mass> explosives Studys agenst modern M1 Tank armors (computer progections) the armor morfs to a almost liquified state. Cause masive heat and spray and yes sparks apearing very similer to an explosion.

Its actuly the oposit The fact that falling or hiting a mech with a melee mech wepon dose anything to it at all is well rediculess. Only explination is the internal stuctur is not of the same material and thats just rediculess.



Nuclier reactor don't explode EVER its tecnicaly imposible other than a normal sized explosion not a nuke. A nuke REQUIRES a specificely desinede internal explosion. Slitly off and it just detinates like a bunch of C4. I do think that mech are using the acual nuclier energy as oposed to a secondary transfer like power plants dew. Just so your all awear the most powerful nuke in the world only unleashes 1% of all energy thiereticly witin the atoms. Just to give you some energy perspectives.



As for the most rediculess things.
*No ones ever thought of making a mech on wheels with a rotating uper turet Heck cut a atlas of at the wasit and mount it on a tank base. Would go faster and you don't have to wory about stabilty. Walking is overrated.

*Rang alot of people sead that specialy considering gauss are suspectid to go for miles.

I apoligize for poor spelling

Edited by Meth Borm, 03 August 2012 - 10:11 PM.

[Thundar The Ork]

Damn, I so miss playing TT Battletech and Mechwarrior 2nd Edition. For me I think Battletech peaked at the clan wars. I really disliked 3rd edition MW:RPG and the Mechwarrior Dark Ages.

[Xathanael]

Quietly Crazy, on 31 July 2012 - 12:36 AM, said:

-Though the entire galaxy has been searched, only the human race managed to become sentient. No other star system produced what can be considered even semi-intelligent life.

Not so much...


That red dot is the entirety of the Inner Sphere which spans about 500 or so light years.. not quite the entire galaxy

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Inner_Sphere

[Lennex]

I think my personal favorite is the fact they still put pilots in the "head" and provide them with little to no armor.

[Theodor Kling]

Lennex, on 03 August 2012 - 10:48 PM, said:

I think my personal favorite is the fact they still put pilots in the "head" and provide them with little to no armor.

That seems to be more a neccesity. They obviously have enough problems isoltating the cockpit from the heat of the reactor. ( why? well that is another one for the list of problems with BT)
So they try to make the distance between those two as large as possible ( good old 1/r^2 rule).
And pilots come a lot cheaper then mechs, so you put the least expensive component in the low armour section
Anothe problem with that is space, at least for light and medium mechs. A wasp ( yeah I know, unseen) or a Commando just have no room to place the pilot anywhere else.

What is strange though is that with their compressed 360° holographic display and lots of cameras all over the mech they have windows in those cockpits. If they would at least cover them with amor plates as long as they are not needed.. but no... you need a window it seems.

[Ezrekiel]

BattleMech Machine guns have a TT long range of 90m, and hit much worse on that distance than at 30m.

Guess the means of producing a straight gun barrel is Lostech.

[Quietly Crazy]

To pull away from my prior post...here's some more!

-The fluid gun....just.....The Fluid gun - http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Fluid_Gun
-The pure number of mechs devoted to beam spam in a "realistic" game (Awesome, Warhawk, & Hellstar to name a few)
-The re-introduction of Melee weapons in 3050. I know the IS is based around infighting....but jeez. You've got guns and lasers! Why bring an axe to the fight? And by god, who spends the time to design a FLAIL for a 'mech?
-The Hollander. Also known as a walking Gauss rifle.
-The Magistracy of Canopus. Legalized prostitution/sex tourism runs their economy. And this is from a society that is ruled by women.
-The fact that "social generals" even have a chance to exist in Lyran society.
-Thanks to the Ares Conventions, a vast chunk of society doesn't look at war as a bad thing.


And before anyone gets on me about the beam spam comment: I know it is more about creating something that can operate without having to worry about ammunition...it just seems silly when looking at the game from a real world point of view. But if anyone thinks it isn't awesome? They're wrong.

[Metafox]

Using a flamer to vent reactor heat makes the mech hotter. I guess the first law of thermodynamics is lostech too. Speaking of thermodynamics, aren't there instances of mechs fighting in a vacuum? Mechs' heat sinks cool through conduction/convection, making mechs inoperable in a vacuum.

[Theodor Kling]

Ezrekiel, on 03 August 2012 - 11:13 PM, said:

BattleMech Machine guns have a TT long range of 90m, and hit much worse on that distance than at 30m.

Guess the means of producing a straight gun barrel is Lostech.

Indeed shooting sraight with any weapon is lostech ( barrel o not)

Metafox, on 03 August 2012 - 11:37 PM, said:

Using a flamer to vent reactor heat makes the mech hotter. I guess the first law of thermodynamics is lostech too. Speaking of thermodynamics, aren't there instances of mechs fighting in a vacuum? Mechs' heat sinks cool through conduction/convection, making mechs inoperable in a vacuum.

True about the flamer:D
But vaccuum is fine. Heat sinks work just like real ones, sure there is a cooling liquid ciculating inside. But if it´s air or hard vacuum outside.. both work. Sure, vacuum is an even worse heat conductor then air. But the temperature difference between the heat sinks surface and the vacuum is so much higher, that it should make up for it.
And covection is only needed in ari sicne air is already a bad conductor and just heatign up a different batch of air is better then waiting for the heat from your original batch to dissipate.

[Jebediah Saint]

Duncan Jr Fischer, on 31 July 2012 - 12:36 AM, said:

One of the most ridiculous facts is that in the 31 millenium some slow bipedal antropomorphic mechs are the most awesome weapons of war.
Well, it would be easier to find what is NOT ridiculous in BT - and it's mostly everything that does not concern technology.

wait...what? its not the 31st mellinium, its like, the 22nd or someting. year 3049 or so. youre thinking warhammer 40,000.

[siztem]

First time reading OP: wait, hold on....

Second time reading it: I see what you did there....

[Elsydeon]

Theodor Kling, on 01 August 2012 - 06:14 AM, said:

That is just a mater of good engeneering. Or simply the energy level available

Actually, electrolasers can work in an atmosphere. An electrolaser uses a laser to ionize a path in the air (a property of lasers called "bloom") and then an electrical charge is sent along that path. The result looks like a nice straight beam of lightning

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Electrolaser

[Citizen Rat]

Daniel Wraith, on 01 August 2012 - 06:35 AM, said:

Gaus slug is described as the size of a VW Bug being thrown an mach 6 I own a 72 vw bug i wish it could go mach 6

no. no you dont