Mech Tech Database

TF Twitch wrote:

LTE the Mechanier wrote:

Well, this has been a rather interesting discussion. I thought I'd jump in with an idea of mine that will probably never come to fruition... but we'll see.
"The Weapon" is a highly powerful Electron, Proton, and Neutron storage/manipulation device. It's pretty much capable of transmuting and creating any substance in the universe, as well as being capable of forming new atoms. So basically this is a superweapon of massive proportions.
Now you might ask how the protons, electrons, and neutrons would be kept from mixing and forming new atoms. It's simple really. "The Weapon" captures available atoms inside an energy net. Then the atoms are split into protons, etc. The protons, etc. are stored separately and kept from mixing with the elements/atoms that form the weapon by charged energy fields. The neutrons are the most complicated to store, since there is no energy charge that naturally repels it. Instead, the neutrons are kept in place by a gravity well generator.
So that's how I rendered all your super weapons effectively obsolete. Say hello to the big gun.

Okay, so it basically works by absorbing all matter and separating them (safely, I presume) down to their smallest particles. Okay, I got that. What about if a superweapon goes/gets detonated BEFORE this can be activated? Because most superweapons unleash the potential energy of their matter makeup (take a nuclear bomb, for example). Since your weapon captures MATTER, what does it do about the ENERGY that is unleashed?

Good point there. It'd probably be a good idea to absorb that energy rather than redirect it because "The Weapon" would use an enormous amount of power. So some sort of energy conduit would have to built to absorb the energy produced by the reaction.
Now, if a weapon was detonated before "The Weapon" could be activated, that would seem to be a problem. However, it really isn't. "The Weapon" would simply empty its proton, electron, and neutron reserves to form matter walls around itself until the energy from the other weapon was completely absorbed.

LTE the Mechanier wrote:

Well, this has been a rather interesting discussion. I thought I'd jump in with an idea of mine that will probably never come to fruition... but we'll see.
"The Weapon" is a highly powerful Electron, Proton, and Neutron storage/manipulation device. It's pretty much capable of transmuting and creating any substance in the universe, as well as being capable of forming new atoms. So basically this is a superweapon of massive proportions.
Now you might ask how the protons, electrons, and neutrons would be kept from mixing and forming new atoms. It's simple really. "The Weapon" captures available atoms inside an energy net. Then the atoms are split into protons, etc. The protons, etc. are stored separately and kept from mixing with the elements/atoms that form the weapon by charged energy fields. The neutrons are the most complicated to store, since there is no energy charge that naturally repels it. Instead, the neutrons are kept in place by a gravity well generator.
So that's how I rendered all your super weapons effectively obsolete. Say hello to the big gun.

Sorry to rain on your parade, but what you just described sounds to me like a glorified, primitave, food replicator. No offense.

RichTheWolf257 wrote:

LTE the Mechanier wrote:

Well, this has been a rather interesting discussion. I thought I'd jump in with an idea of mine that will probably never come to fruition... but we'll see.
"The Weapon" is a highly powerful Electron, Proton, and Neutron storage/manipulation device. It's pretty much capable of transmuting and creating any substance in the universe, as well as being capable of forming new atoms. So basically this is a superweapon of massive proportions.
Now you might ask how the protons, electrons, and neutrons would be kept from mixing and forming new atoms. It's simple really. "The Weapon" captures available atoms inside an energy net. Then the atoms are split into protons, etc. The protons, etc. are stored separately and kept from mixing with the elements/atoms that form the weapon by charged energy fields. The neutrons are the most complicated to store, since there is no energy charge that naturally repels it. Instead, the neutrons are kept in place by a gravity well generator.
So that's how I rendered all your super weapons effectively obsolete. Say hello to the big gun.

Sorry to rain on your parade, but what you just described sounds to me like a glorified, primitave, food replicator. No offense.

what? um... that makes no sense. and besides, you wouldn't think it's a glorified food replicator when it transmutes the carbon in your body to silicon.

LTE the Mechanier wrote:

RichTheWolf257 wrote:

LTE the Mechanier wrote:

Well, this has been a rather interesting discussion. I thought I'd jump in with an idea of mine that will probably never come to fruition... but we'll see.
"The Weapon" is a highly powerful Electron, Proton, and Neutron storage/manipulation device. It's pretty much capable of transmuting and creating any substance in the universe, as well as being capable of forming new atoms. So basically this is a superweapon of massive proportions.
Now you might ask how the protons, electrons, and neutrons would be kept from mixing and forming new atoms. It's simple really. "The Weapon" captures available atoms inside an energy net. Then the atoms are split into protons, etc. The protons, etc. are stored separately and kept from mixing with the elements/atoms that form the weapon by charged energy fields. The neutrons are the most complicated to store, since there is no energy charge that naturally repels it. Instead, the neutrons are kept in place by a gravity well generator.
So that's how I rendered all your super weapons effectively obsolete. Say hello to the big gun.

Sorry to rain on your parade, but what you just described sounds to me like a glorified, primitave, food replicator. No offense.

what? um... that makes no sense. and besides, you wouldn't think it's a glorified food replicator when it transmutes the carbon in your body to silicon.

Wait, what kind of range are we talking here?
Plus a QFD would (literally) tear that to shreds since the free subatomic particles aren't as stable as those in the form of an atom.

Eroomdivad wrote:

LTE the Mechanier wrote:

RichTheWolf257 wrote:

Sorry to rain on your parade, but what you just described sounds to me like a glorified, primitave, food replicator. No offense.

what? um... that makes no sense. and besides, you wouldn't think it's a glorified food replicator when it transmutes the carbon in your body to silicon.

Wait, what kind of range are we talking here?
Plus a QFD would (literally) tear that to shreds since the free subatomic particles aren't as stable as those in the form of an atom.

@LTE, Think about it, "The Weapon" takes any type of matter or energy it can get its proverbial hands on into other elements and compounds. A Food-Replicator turns energy into the elments and compounds that food is made of. Same basic process, except without the storage devices.

@ED, between your QFDs and anyone else's Transphasic Torpedos, "The Weapon" doesn't stand a chance.

Random Frequency Transphasic Torpedos can be equipped with any type of warhead. They shift out of phase shorly after launch in order to bypass any barriers (such as The Weapon's matter walls) and then shift back into phase at literally the last possible moment before detonating.

RichTheWolf257 wrote:

Eroomdivad wrote:

LTE the Mechanier wrote:

RichTheWolf257 wrote:

Sorry to rain on your parade, but what you just described sounds to me like a glorified, primitave, food replicator. No offense.

what? um... that makes no sense. and besides, you wouldn't think it's a glorified food replicator when it transmutes the carbon in your body to silicon.

Wait, what kind of range are we talking here?
Plus a QFD would (literally) tear that to shreds since the free subatomic particles aren't as stable as those in the form of an atom.

@LTE, Think about it, "The Weapon" takes any type of matter or energy it can get its proverbial hands on into other elements and compounds. A Food-Replicator turns energy into the elments and compounds that food is made of. Same basic process, except without the storage devices.

@ED, between your QFDs and anyone else's Transphasic Torpedos, "The Weapon" doesn't stand a chance.

Random Frequency Transphasic Torpedos can be equipped with any type of warhead. They shift out of phase shorly after launch in order to bypass any barriers (such as The Weapon's matter walls) and then shift back into phase at literally the last possible moment before detonating.

Wow I think I just broke the balancing of the LT-verse. An EMP can put the smackdown on anything using electronic microchips, and the QFD can put the smackdown on anything quantum. Looks like I am as smart as I thought.

For example the QFD could be used to either early detonate or pull back into phase RFT tech depending on the quantity used. 119 is hereby considered really, really, incredibly rare. For balancing reasons.

RichTheWolf257 wrote:

Eroomdivad wrote:

LTE the Mechanier wrote:

RichTheWolf257 wrote:

Sorry to rain on your parade, but what you just described sounds to me like a glorified, primitave, food replicator. No offense.

what? um... that makes no sense. and besides, you wouldn't think it's a glorified food replicator when it transmutes the carbon in your body to silicon.

Wait, what kind of range are we talking here?
Plus a QFD would (literally) tear that to shreds since the free subatomic particles aren't as stable as those in the form of an atom.

@LTE, Think about it, "The Weapon" takes any type of matter or energy it can get its proverbial hands on into other elements and compounds. A Food-Replicator turns energy into the elments and compounds that food is made of. Same basic process, except without the storage devices.

@ED, between your QFDs and anyone else's Transphasic Torpedos, "The Weapon" doesn't stand a chance.

Random Frequency Transphasic Torpedos can be equipped with any type of warhead. They shift out of phase shorly after launch in order to bypass any barriers (such as The Weapon's matter walls) and then shift back into phase at literally the last possible moment before detonating.

Eroomdivad wrote:

Wait, what kind of range are we talking here?
Plus a QFD would (literally) tear that to shreds since the free subatomic particles aren't as stable as those in the form of an atom.

@ ED: if "The Weapon" is the sun, it has a range as far reaching as the edge of the solar system. However, it can only transmute slightly below the speed of light, so...
and in the case of the QFD, it would simply allow the separate particles to re-combine. this would be dangerous, but now quite as bad as your QFD "literally" tearing it to shreds.

@ Rich: well, in that kind of a situation, "The Weapon" would simply fire at wherever and whatever your TTs fired from. It would be more like a tactical revenge move than a counterattack. Enjoy your life as a silicon based lifeform! (if that's even possible)

LTE the Mechanier wrote:

@ Rich: well, in that kind of a situation, "The Weapon" would simply fire at wherever and whatever your TTs fired from. It would be more like a tactical revenge move than a counterattack. Enjoy your life as a silicon based lifeform! (if that's even possible)

"Tactical Revenge" will suit me just fine. Also, You might reconsider turning me into a Silicon-based lifeform. If I were silicon-based, I would be able to withstand most infantry-based projectile and energy wapons, and survive in the vaccuum of space. I could just jump out my airlock, and literally eat the weapon for breakfast.

Wait so 'the Weapon' can absorb just how much energy before it overloads? Wow the coolant on this thing...

Still, if all else fails I'll shoot in the PMET, then set off a QFD and that'll really fry it.

Meh, I'll just send in a kid with magical powers to lay a bomb in the conveniently placed and virtually unguarded vent opening.

Eroomdivad wrote:

Wait so 'the Weapon' can absorb just how much energy before it overloads? Wow the coolant on this thing...

Still, if all else fails I'll shoot in the PMET, then set off a QFD and that'll really fry it.

Meh, I'll just send in a kid with magical powers to lay a bomb in the conveniently placed and virtually unguarded vent opening.

Or you could just send in a Tranphasic Silicon-Based-Wolf-Anthro Torpedo.

RichTheWolf257 wrote:

Eroomdivad wrote:

Wait so 'the Weapon' can absorb just how much energy before it overloads? Wow the coolant on this thing...

Still, if all else fails I'll shoot in the PMET, then set off a QFD and that'll really fry it.

Meh, I'll just send in a kid with magical powers to lay a bomb in the conveniently placed and virtually unguarded vent opening.

Or you could just send in a Tranphasic Silicon-Based-Wolf-Anthro Torpedo.

Nothing has ever made me more afraid in my life than that one sentence.

Klushots wrote:

RichTheWolf257 wrote:

Eroomdivad wrote:

Wait so 'the Weapon' can absorb just how much energy before it overloads? Wow the coolant on this thing...

Still, if all else fails I'll shoot in the PMET, then set off a QFD and that'll really fry it.

Meh, I'll just send in a kid with magical powers to lay a bomb in the conveniently placed and virtually unguarded vent opening.

Or you could just send in a Tranphasic Silicon-Based-Wolf-Anthro Torpedo.

Nothing has ever made me more afraid in my life than that one sentence.

Om Nom Nom Nom! =^.^=

Anti-Armor Dirks-

These Anti-Armor Dirks aren’t exactly normal; really they are a wonder in of themselves. The blade is mostly tungsten. They are thrown or thrust in to the designated target, upon impact the blade simultaneously heats to just below the point of the loss of structural integrity of tungsten and is propelled into designated target a short distance after which the tungsten blade enters a plasmatic state obliterating the surrounding material.

Figured I'd add some UPIG tech that nobody else seems to have brought to the table yet (NOTE: mass and velocity values for 105mm HEAT rounds may be slightly off. I dunno. Maybe Twitch can tell you or something...):

Osmosis Energy Transference Plating

These plates are capable of absorbing up to 90% of any incoming energy and transferring it to whatever energy storage devices they're connected to. However, due to their expensive and rigid nature, attempting to armor just ten units entirely with these plates would most likely bankrupt any organization that attempted it. As a result, these plates are only used in shields and small, flat patches of armor. Regardless, they are immensely useful for any unit powered by rechargeable energy cells.

Now let's look at an example: A typical 105mm HEAT shell has a mass of roughly 16kg and a velocity of around 1,000 m/s. Assuming that kinetic energy equals half of the mass times the velocity squared, the equation for this specific shell would look something like this:

90%(0.5)(16kg)(1,000m/s)^2 = 7,200,000 Joules

Of course, this doesn't include the energy resulting from the explosion on impact, but it does give a very basic idea.

Your modern 105mm artillery round has a weight of roughly 45lbs (~20.41kg), and the howitzer has a muzzle velocity of 494 m/s.

Well then my numbers were crap. But then, I got 'em from the Intarwebz, so I figured it'd be different. Let's see... It's about 2,300,000J then.

I have a question about a piece of weaponry that is common to most mecha universes: the beam weapon. From what I can gather, most beam weapons function off of plasma weapon theories. I just read a bunch on plausible plasma weapon systems and how the most realistic are direct energy types contained in a magnetic field. So beam sabers are like giant plasma cutters/torches, and ranged weapons fire either a quick burst or a steady stream. Any thoughts on this and how realistic "beam" weapons are?

I always thought beam weapons were a laser-type affair; a beam of light focused and amplified enough to instantly burn through thick metal plating. And if you ask the U.S. Navy, that's a very possible scenario. Or do I have it all wrong?

Blasters in Star Wars work by superheating and energizing gas until it self-annihilates, resulting in a bolt of pure energy that accelerates toward the target a relativistic speeds. The so-called "Laser" weapons of the same universe use a similar process to produce a plasma-based particle-beam. Particle beams seem to be "the thing" in sci-fi. The Phaser of Star Trek fame produces a stream of fictional particles known as "Nadeons."

The trick in beam weaponry is keeping the beam from dissipating before it hits the target. A sufficiently focused magnetic field would do the trick, but it the range of the weapon would be totally reliant on how much power is available to the weapon. I think Star Wars has it right; If you focus the beam enough, it'll hold together on its own.

So the most plausible form of beam weaponry is plasma, and having a viable power source would be difficult to come by for Mecha. So in my own Gundam universe, which takes place in the 23rd Century A.D., having plasma-based weaponry would take a bit for Mobile Suits since a nuclear-based power source on a weapon system is a bad thing (technically makes it a nuclear weapon, if you catch my drift).

Well in the 'verse for my Legopolis Tech mechs I kind of cheated when it comes to laser weaponry. The idea is that somehow they worked out a way to give photons enough mass to cut though things, and can use magnetic fields to make the photons turn back on themselves at a certain distance if they are to be used as a melee weapon. So hey, if you want to completely break physics then you can use that method.

Most of my stuff is in the steampunky kinda era. My general description when I have laser tech etc is that it is easy cobbled together artillery (non-laser, like our current stuff) or magic (lasers etc). Opens up immense possibilities.

Edit: Hey, if you want to go full out, some of the mechs in Pacific Rim are effectively nuclear weapons - they use a nuclear reactor to powerthemselves.

JakTheMad wrote:

Most of my stuff is in the steampunky kinda era. My general description when I have laser tech etc is that it is easy cobbled together artillery (non-laser, like our current stuff) or magic (lasers etc). Opens up immense possibilities.

Edit: Hey, if you want to go full out, some of the mechs in Pacific Rim are effectively nuclear weapons - they use a nuclear reactor to powerthemselves.

"It's not digital, it's nuclear!"
I'm not even sure where that logic comes from... but hey who needs logic we have giant mechs, right?

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...Dont think Ill ever get around to it though...

I have a question for all interested Mechaniers concerning the primary armament of mechas. Which is better, beam weaponry or solid ammunition? Beam weaponry has the advantage of having practically infinite ammo stores due to the energy requirements can be supplied by the mecha's own power source. However, energy barriers can stop beam weapons. Solid rounds are sometimes able to punch through these energy barriers, whereas the beam weapon's output would have to be increased (which is sometimes not possible).
I am asking since I am currently designing a mecha that is specifically for anti-mecha/mobile weapon combat, although it could handle general-purpose scenarios. The ammunition idea for solid rounds would be called MAHEM (Magnetically-Accelerated, High-Explosive Munition) rounds. Any thoughts on it?