Concept Fanart of Future Terran Ship Designs

[elizibar]

It's 2010 and we're beginning to kill each other with robots, are we really going to put squishy people in warships and slug it out old-timey style in 200 years?

After the War of Machine Ascension in 2033 we do. We only survived that thanks to someone writing a computer virus and uploading it to their network with his macbook. Like that'll ever work on the next crop of robotic killing machines we'd engineer.

[dfacto]

After the War of Machine Ascension in 2033 we do. We only survived that thanks to someone writing a computer virus and uploading it to their network with his macbook. Like that'll ever work on the next crop of robotic killing machines we'd engineer.

Oh please, as if a little death and destruction ever stopped people from tinkering. By 2080 we'll have robot ninja butlers.

[Tash]

Essentially everything in space sci-fi is silly. Honestly, who the hell would even send out a manned ship to do battle in space? It's 2010 and we're beginning to kill each other with robots, are we really going to put squishy people in warships and slug it out old-timey style in 200 years?

That, ironically, is thinking like a machine.

Yes, it's certainly more efficient to send out AI controlled warships- assuming you have good AI- but the human element is the entire point of war.
If you're sending robots out to steal resources from eachother, that's probably a sign of social decay, because you're fighting a war without having a real point to fighting the war.

Humans are silly, sentimental creatures. That's what makes us lovable.

[dfacto]

K then. You send your human sentimental army at me and I'll send my drone fleet. I'll accelerate to 20 g and so will you. Your entire crew compliment will turn to paste. (assuming current physics, not anti-grav generator sci-fi)

Have fun losing to machines, next time you'll be using them too. That type of escalation is how war has always been. Iron over bronze, gun over sword, steel over wood, air over ground, and soon space over air.

[Arioch]

6km/s? Human mass drivers are pathetic. It's it's no 0.05% of LS or more, it's a dud.

If you guys keep using the numbers from that old table that I removed for a reason I'm going to start killing catgirls.

[elizibar]

6km/s? Human mass drivers are pathetic. It's it's no 0.05% of LS or more, it's a dud.

If you guys keep using the numbers from that old table that I removed for a reason I'm going to start killing catgirls.

Make that blue space elves and they might listen >.>

[dfacto]

What percentage is "cat" and what percentage is "girl"?

[Codius_Dak]

what we need is a ship that shoots naval gun size caster shells.... "we need more size 500 shells".

Figure out my reference fanboys.

[dfacto]

what we need is a ship that shoots naval gun size caster shells.... "we need more size 500 shells".

Figure out my reference fanboys.

Outlaw Star. Next.

[Grayhome]

I think that was the first anime I ever watched, ahh the memories. Terran vessels need arms now.

[Karst45]

The reason the bridge is on the outer surface of the ship most of the time is that science fiction shows take artistic license and frequently borrow from the "Space is an Ocean" trope.

It's silly, but it's a silliness that most audiences have come to expect. I'd love to see a series that brutally subverts the notion though.

I think it more about taking exemple on old and current ship where the higher you were the better were your chance to see (before the radar) the enemy. Now it more about looking at your surounding to avoid obstacle. But in space having an elevated point to observe around the ship is not important anymore. But they (the SF artist) keep that around simply because their fan/spectator need something to associate with.

6km/s? Human mass drivers are pathetic. It's it's no 0.05% of LS or more, it's a dud.

If you guys keep using the numbers from that old table that I removed for a reason I'm going to start killing catgirls.

Noooooooooooooooo spare the innocent! Adopt a catgirls!

I think that was the first anime I ever watched, ahh the memories. Terran vessels need arms now.

Well "outlaw star" starship are kind of the opposite of Outsider ship.

If we are considered Point black with mass driver, do melee count as sitting on the enemy laps?

[NOMAD]

Noooooooooooooooo spare the innocent! Adopt a catgirls!

I think that was the first anime I ever watched, ahh the memories. Terran vessels need arms now.

Well "outlaw star" starship are kind of the opposite of Outsider ship.

If we are considered Point black with mass driver, do melee count as sitting on the enemy laps?

Well, would you prefer the ships doing battle with Graper arms ?

and I think I heard a catgirl dying cry with that statement

[TrashMan]

Essentially everything in space sci-fi is silly. Honestly, who the hell would even send out a manned ship to do battle in space? It's 2010 and we're beginning to kill each other with robots, are we really going to put squishy people in warships and slug it out old-timey style in 200 years?

That, ironically, is thinking like a machine.

Yes, it's certainly more efficient to send out AI controlled warships- assuming you have good AI- but the human element is the entire point of war.
If you're sending robots out to steal resources from eachother, that's probably a sign of social decay, because you're fighting a war without having a real point to fighting the war.

Humans are silly, sentimental creatures. That's what makes us lovable.

Nah. It's because you always want direct control and oversight. Drones are dumb. Ai and computers can be re-programmed en-masse and turned agaisnt you. And AI isn't flexible.

Which is why you'll always need humans in the war. Troops on the ground, people in ships.

[TrashMan]

6km/s? Human mass drivers are pathetic. It's it's no 0.05% of LS or more, it's a dud.

If you guys keep using the numbers from that old table that I removed for a reason I'm going to start killing catgirls.

So it's more? Good to know. 6km/s just doesn't make sense...


EDIT:
Fun fact - naval battelships didn't have just one bridge.

[DevilDalek]

Hey, this thread still open to posting of pics?

Or we letting it die a peaceful death outside of the limelight?

[dfacto]

Go for it.

[Cy83r]

And no, I don't think ship sensors can detect such small objects. If they did, they'll be beeping constantly, given that there's more than enough of micro-metoeries, dust and garbage in systems..especially popualted ones..

And if they DIDN'T then it's just a matter of time before a pebble punches a hole through their ship, any successful space-faring race MUST have high-resolution radar or else they will lose MANY ships to random space debris.

Anti-debris shielding, and by that I mean hard-shell armor, is actually a fairly lightweight layering of foam and foil, it just takes up more space than the heavier stuff that lasers like to drill through. Perhaps if you inflated the anti-debris foam with an easily heated gas, perhaps some sort of low-melt metallic slug packed in front of a gas charge, then the pockets could expel offensive energy away before it can be dumped into the superstructure and crew spaces (recalling the ad hoc anti-plasma measures taken in the beginning of the Fall of Reach). Mass drivers by comparison seem to need much heavier measures to resist, it's not ionized gas, a photon stream, or speedy microdebris after all, RKVs are proclaimed to be the top-dog in damage assurance out of all sci-fi weapons assuming you can get close and fast enough to deliver the warhead slug accurately.

So while short-ranged and highly visible, mass drivers are the equivalent of a wet-naval broadside in any era. Sure missiles and aircraft have a longer range and better accuracy control, but a proper hit from the old battleships could only be survived by weighing yourself down with tons upon tons of armor plating, making it easier to maneuver against the enemy and land hits with your faster options, which could explain why we like carriers so much these days and why the Russians moved on to missiles (probably, I'm not a history buff and this is just supposition), if stealth isn't an option you simply extend your range and speed beyond what the battleship can throw out.

But my point is, that human vessels, while slow and limited to a nearly crippling engagement range, are wielding weapons that eat most anti-beam defenses for breakfast. Remember, that slug can be outfitted with multiple means of stealth that are unfeasible on crewed or even robotic ships. It has no drive and no sensors to give it away and any residual heat from the firing process might be taken care of by a combined heat sink on a discarding sabot, making a long-range ambush a bit more likely. Additionally, RKVs have mass and velocity on their side, where a high-speed missile that is blown apart becomes useless, a high-density kinetic warhead has now become a whole bunch of shrapnel, some of which will continue on its primary course.

On top of all this, if the humans receive technical assistance from either major power, they can play the Umiak game of close-under-cover-and-fire even better. I can imagine either force cringing at having to deal with the sudden cloud of kinetic warheads that only continues to grow in thickness while human ships close under acceleration behind this screen ready to bracket the enemy formation with even more fire as it peels away to avoid the numerous oncoming slugs that their defenses can only turn into a denser wall of oncoming debris, the displays lighting up with ever more contacts.

Then again, a single plasma focus shot thoroughly ripped apart the Bellarmine, there's the potential that Outsider weapons can easily vaporize several whole warheads in a single pass, but I still can't help but try and give Arioch some new ideas for his future combat scenes.

[fredgiblet]

But my point is, that human vessels, while slow and limited to a nearly crippling engagement range, are wielding weapons that eat most anti-beam defenses for breakfast. Remember, that slug can be outfitted with multiple means of stealth that are unfeasible on crewed or even robotic ships. It has no drive and no sensors to give it away and any residual heat from the firing process might be taken care of by a combined heat sink on a discarding sabot, making a long-range ambush a bit more likely. Additionally, RKVs have mass and velocity on their side, where a high-speed missile that is blown apart becomes useless, a high-density kinetic warhead has now become a whole bunch of shrapnel, some of which will continue on its primary course.

It's highly unlikely that you would be capable of eliminating enough heat to make a mass driver round invisible on IR. Even if you could, and I suspect that such a device would require Applied Handwavium to function, the sabot you are talking about adds useless mass requiring even MORE power or resulting in less velocity (reducing effective range). Additionally the actual firing is an extremely obvious event, no one is going to miss that fact that something high-energy happened and everyone involved knows about mass drivers.

On top of all this, if the humans receive technical assistance from either major power, they can play the Umiak game of close-under-cover-and-fire even better. I can imagine either force cringing at having to deal with the sudden cloud of kinetic warheads that only continues to grow in thickness while human ships close under acceleration behind this screen ready to bracket the enemy formation with even more fire as it peels away to avoid the numerous oncoming slugs that their defenses can only turn into a denser wall of oncoming debris, the displays lighting up with ever more contacts.

Both sides already know about mass drivers, both sides are almost certainly capable of building MDs that would make the Terran weapons pale in comparison. Neither side uses them. The kind of tactic you are talking about would be nearly useless, closing from a tail-chase position would result in overtaking your own slugs, rendering only the most recent barrages useful and by the time you close to a range where your slugs are viable you're already being torn apart.

[anticarrot]

K then. You send your human sentimental army at me and I'll send my drone fleet. I'll accelerate to 20 g and so will you. Your entire crew compliment will turn to paste. (assuming current physics, not anti-grav generator sci-fi)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-force#Ho ... is_g-force
17G isn't a problem for untrained humans. I'm sure a trained crew could manage 20G for extended periods. Now your engines on the other hand; they might have a lot more trouble attaining that in the first place...

[dfacto]

K then. You send your human sentimental army at me and I'll send my drone fleet. I'll accelerate to 20 g and so will you. Your entire crew compliment will turn to paste. (assuming current physics, not anti-grav generator sci-fi)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-force#Ho ... is_g-force
17G isn't a problem for untrained humans. I'm sure a trained crew could manage 20G for extended periods. Now your engines on the other hand; they might have a lot more trouble attaining that in the first place...

Not a problem for minutes only.

And just increment the g force as necessary, my point is still absolutely sound.