The Observatory

You could at least have used a funnier smily.

 

Oh, well:

 

 

[img=http://www.majhost.com/gallery/TalonX/randomstuff/blogapproval01.png]

 

 

I thought about it, but the program I used only had ovals, so I couldn't do anything too creative.

 

Oh well indeed! Thank you very much -=Cortana=-! Your approval has been the one that I have looked forward to receiving the most, since I first saw it. I didn't think it would happen so soon though. Thanks again!

Could've just copied a BZP smily onto the pic.

 

You're welcome.

 

Oh, BTW, I occasionally change the my my approval seal looks. However, I upload it with the same file name, so the seal auto-updates. Heh. Saves me a lot of time having to PM approved people and telling them to change it.

 

It also allows me to change the seal when I name-change.

 

 

I'll try that if I ever upload another picture of myself, thanks for the suggestion.

 

That's a good idea, I can definitely see how that would save you time.

 

BTW, I've read in your blog that your "computer programming" is female, however, is your human form male?

Yeah, my meatspace self is male.

 

To put it in sci-fi terms(sorta), I run a shell program over my internet persona every time I change my name. Each shell program is set to a specific gender. If I'm imitating an existing fictional character of some sort, the program would run as the gender of the character I'm imitating.

 

Make sense?

 

 

It does actually, however, you'd need to (and I'm sure you do) completely delete one program when you brought up another. Otherwise, characteristics would start floating around you're computer's memory buffer, and your persona would develop multiple personality disorder. If the programs reacted in a... dangerous way, your persona might even degrade.

Actually, they don't need to be deleted. They're quarantined behind 512 encryption(ever played Splinter Cell?). Basically, that means that I can use them later if I want to, and also pull useful personality traits so that I don't have to re-write large sections of code from scratch.

 

 

Yes, I have played Spinter Cell, so I know what you're talking about. Ingenius for sure! I'm very impressed, you thought of everything!

Warning: More Splinter Cell inspiration.

 

An interesting note: In the sci-fi setting I'm working on, wars are not fought with huge armies, even though the sides do have huge armies. Wars are fought via misinformation, sabotage, assassinations and the like.

 

The only reason all sides have armies is because otherwise the other side would attack them directly. The war has been going on for almost twenty years, and if it was a normal war, earth would be a wasteland by now.

 

And therefore there are operatives, who are sorta like Splinter Cells. Sneaky people.

 

 

By sharp and fame,

 

-=Cortana=-

Wow. That's all I have left to say. Wow.

Like it, eh? Here's the intro thingy(WIP):

 

It is the year 2300. Twenty years ago, a team of explorers discovered the "Cache" a repository of advanced weapons technology hidden nearly two miles below the surface of Antarctica. Its origins unknown, it was the subject of wild speculation. For a simple reason. It was not alien. And no-one knew where it came from, other than that it was manufactured on Earth. A war erupted, each side attempting to take as much as they could from the Cache. Within 3 years, Antarctica was devastated, a massive group of islands instead of a continent. But the war moved on, soon encompassing the entire globe, the factions replicating what weapons they had, and finding new ways to harness their power.

 

I suppose the "advanced weapons cache" thing is a bit cliche, but I think it's cool.

 

 

By sharp and fame,

 

=Cortana=

That sounds like a really intricate storyline. And this is all in Splinter Cell? Or something else?

Nope. It has some similarities to Splinter Cell, but that is because I came up with the idea while playing a SC:CT level. Basically, I had nothing better to do while I was hiding at one point.

 

Basically, a Phantom(like Ca'gerrin) can specialize in one of the following styles:

 

Stealth(infiltration)

Assassination(like Ca'gerrin)

Sabotage(like the "Missile Battery" level from SC:CT)

 

Phantoms always work alone, and do not know of the existence of any of the other Phantoms, for deniability reasons. If one is caught(which is very rare), they make the enemy think that they are the only Phantom in existence.

 

Even with the exoskeletons on, they are surprisingly stealthy. Infiltration Phantoms don't have exoskeletons, and instead have raybender suits which bend light around them and make them very hard to see.

 

And, yes, I was just coming up with ideas as I typed.

 

 

By sharp and fame,

 

=Cortana=

Interesting. The whole Phantom idea is very efficient. And as for the raybender suit thing, we detect objects because they reflect light, if that suit refracts it or bends it instead, not only would the wearer be hard to see, but impossible to see. The only way to find the wearer would be through some sort of heat sensor or life-sign scanner.

Think about it this way: The suit is laced with fiber-optics. Which, while thin, are not thin enough. When the light gets shunted through the fiberoptics, it produces a sort of grainy image of whatever is on the far side of you. It's worse when moving, too, because the nanocomputer than aligns the ends of the fiber optics tubes can't move them fast enough to change background when moving. You'd be very close to invisible when standing still, though.

 

I'll try it visually:

 

= Wall

~ What the enemy sees.

* A Phantom

 

^ An enemy.

 

That help?

 

 

By sharp and fame,

 

=Cortana=

Ah, yes, I do see. Fiber optics are a good idea, but maybe as a suggestion, mix them with a completely, and i mean completely black suit fused with some kind of dark matter compound. Then, coat the suit with positive ions. Positive ions attract light from all directions, the color black absorbs light, and dark matter (from what we know about it) destroys light, therefore, no light whatsoever would be returned to the eyes of anyone that's looking at a Phantom.

Well, the suit is black already, so that's good. Positive ions might work. And where exactly are they supposed to get dark matter? Since you can't see it.

 

And besides, I don't want the Phantoms to be invincible.

 

There are three factions, BTW. Coalition, Quadrant, and Draconis. The Coalition controls Japan, Korea, Vietnam, part of Siberia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia most of those little islands in the pacific between Australia and Japan.

 

The Quadrant controls North and South America.

 

Draconis controls Europe, Russia, Africa, India, most of China, and Greenland.

 

Quadrant and the Coalition are allied, but they still control less of the world than Draconis.

 

Here's a simple estimate of how much of the world's landmasses each faction controls(the oceans are pretty much open territory).

 

 

 

By sharp and fame,

 

=Cortana=

Awesome, and all this is off the top of your head?

Yup, it is.

 

A list of all the stuff found in the Cache:

 

Railguns: Snipers, shotguns, and railcannons(tank gun and naval turret sized).

 

Plasmaguns: Pistols and artillery(both are trajectory weapons).

 

Lasers: Assault rifles, snipers, and anti-missile turrets.

 

Armor: Exoskeletons, bendsuits, and reflective(anti-laser).

 

Tanks: Hovertanks.

 

Walkers: Infantry(AT-RT sized), walkertanks(AT-AT sized), artillery, spiderwalkers(can move on ceilings and walls)

 

Aircraft: Plasma-fueled flyers that move via antigravity, VTOL planes(nuclear fusion powered), hypersonic bombers. totally silent helicopters, phaseplanes(sorta like a vehicle with a bendsuit).

 

WMDs: Implosion bombs(vaporize large areas without a trace), plasma missiles(literally burn several square miles), 1200 megaton nuclear warheads.

 

Phantom equipment: Silence field generators(fit on belt), stunbeams(mounted on side of head), limited-area nullgrav fields(allow Phantoms to jump three time as high as they normally would with an exoskeleton)

 

And then there's all the other weapons, which we have today.

 

And I made all that up as I was typing this.

 

Next: Which side got which weapons.

 

I think I'm gonna stick all this stuff in an entry in my blog, so I can track it easier.

 

 

By sharp and fame,

 

=Cortana=

That's really impressive, and making a blog entry about it is a good idea. I am interested in which sides got the weapons, because that's what would really change the balance of power.