UFO Fanfiction Discussion

[Alitorious]

I'm starting another fanfic post right now.

 

Also, I just added something to Daniel's character profile (pauses sometimes during conversation, and (VERY slight) dyslexia.

 

 

Edit: Finished. Somebody could make up whatever Photon was all angry about too.

 

Hee hee, bet Dana doesn't like getting into trouble, because she's probably never been in trouble before. Next time there's a threat, she'll probably be incredibly persuasive to Ki-tat, and I don't think he'll like it.

[JellyfishGreen]

I say we shoot Ki-tat now for bypassing security clearances. :o

 

Naww, just kidding! that would be too kind but the secretaries had better keep a better eye on those card encoders. (No, a laptop with a PCMCIA slot isn't sufficient equipment.) The accident probably turns out to be the laser breakthrough we're all looking for!(After a week of research into how it happened, and how to make it last longer without burning out components, that is.)

 

Good posts, Alitorious, but I do want to take a different direction and make the HWP's remote control. Refer to the Forum>Games>UFO>Tanks thread where I babbled a lot about this. F'r instance, these _can_ operate real-time without delays, and I won't try to make accuracy restrictions important in the story. Now, if I can only post, and make it so...

[Alitorious]

Okay, although you don't quite have me convinced, I'll succumb to the inevitable. I just thought that if a tank was remote controlled, then a couple non-physical stats such as accuracy and reaction times would increase over time, because the operator who controls the tank would eventually get better due to practice. (Think online first person shooter gamers - they get better at aiming and reactions over time.)

 

But, yeah, maybe we'll just have them RC seems a lot simpler that way. (BTW, what happened to slice's self-learning AI?)

[Ki-tat Chung]

ah...mechwarrior...oh the memories...wait, i'm still playing it!

[JellyfishGreen]

BTW Ki-tat - _does_ your character have an accent? Where did he grow up? I only assumed he was Australian because you mentioned you yourself were in Melbourne.

[The Veteran]

Not Aussie my man... The brothers Chung make up the oriental part of the squad in Pine Gap. They are our Eastern brethren although technically they're our North Western brethren... You know, what with being in Australia and all...

[Alitorious]

For the laser research, what were we going for? As in how it will fold out, I mean.

 

What I was thinking was along the lines of: Because the biocells (bioelectric is getting rather tedious to type) have shown that they can produce a LOT of light, maybe we could take this energy, and put it into a cohesive beam? After finding a way to release the energy without permanently short-circuiting the biocell in the process, of course.

 

 

Now, minor questions and nitpicks: Why would the techs be around outside in the heat, especially that close to a rocketlauncher tank? I would think that the tank would be controlled from either a *very* long wire, or a radio or microwave link. That's just what I thought they might do, but I won't complain.

 

Also, what was Dana doing looking through a microscope? It's probably just me, but I'd think she would probably want to be out on the field, testing the HWP.

Still, could you explain exactly what she was doing researching laser ablation? I have a feeling that lasers haven't really progressed beyond paper yet, but it will probably make sense when you explain it to me.

 

Mainly for that reason I'm going to wait a little while before I post. Plus I need to think up something to post about.

 

 

P.S: Which character gets credit for the laser discovery (applying the intense light to a cohesive beam)?

[JellyfishGreen]

Hey, JFG here on a borrowed PC in NYC for a few brief moments.

 

1) Laser research: Laser Weapons (the technology) has to be developed before any Laser Pistols are built in the game. As similar projects go in Real Life, there will be a large prototype built to prove the scientific concept before the engineers work on how to miniaturize the ideas into a pistol or rifle.

 

I was using the view that Lasers certainly exist already (1970's technology) but aren't powerful enough to actually carve into anything unless you use a generator the size of a car. The breakthrough allowing us to start building laser weapons after a week/after our first encounter is a combination of the biocell battery development and a new way of generating the collimated beam. Plus a feeling that the aliens already did it.

 

So I was willing to believe there was already a laser setup, not suitable for anything but testing. I postulated a target so they could measure how much damage each revision of the laser prototype could do.

 

I only put Dana on the microscope because she was working on the laser when Ki-tat dropped a spanner into the works. (Temporary blinding from backscattering when the intense beam hit the target.) She might as well go back to HWP now that she's handed the incentive off to Zager. I'd expect Zager or Photon to make the breakthrough from the new data.

 

*the biocells supply power to the laser circuitry, of course, but don't release light - that comes from the power-pumped lasing crystal.

 

2) HWP: The techs were running the HWP from a laptop because all the software's on the laptop. It's only for testing, the HWP might be able to move around on its own but is only 50% complete. It's easy to exchange the serial cable for the radio link after the weapons and control testing is complete. But its faster to get the direct serial connection working, and less things to go wrong, so less chance of the HWP running amok.

 

PS. I was picturing the HWP control station would be a workstation in the command centre, possibly Slice thus gets written into the combat storylines, as he's on the headset comm with the rest of the tactical squad. Multiple monitors etc.

 

I also wanted to introduce a Tactical HUD+GPS+Digital Compass system for the soldiers that would correspond to the Map in the game. Possibly wrist-mounted. There could be one operator back at the command centre who would be responsible for plotting the alien positions on the map as soon as the soldiers called them in. This would make the manouvers in the game, such as shooting through a wall to hit an alien someone else has spotted, more realistic. Anyone who can think of a good acronym, feel free to introduce it in the training lecture. (Along with fast takedown and using the rifle scope to shoot targets out of visual range once someone else spots them.)

 

OK, that's it.

Merry Christmas

& see you again in January,

JFG

[Zager]

I'm back. I was busy studying for finals, but now they're almost over and I can start posting again.

[Alitorious]

Thanks for the info, JFG.

 

Oh, and Ki-Tat, where were you planning to go with that stolen Biocell plan thing?

[Zager]

Just remember that Zager is very possessive when it comes to his work. If he should find out that you stole it...

[Tammy]

Well, that was fun. The last entry by TJ was a joint effort between the two of us to make the dialogue more authentic. Seems to have worked rather well.

[The Veteran]

Indeed it was. Our characters truly were brought to life by their masters!

[Tammy]

Well, Rick and Tammy seem to be having some tension, now don't they? I think that I will save the rec room scene till any other training stuff for the day has been written. Is anybody else going to write about this first day of training or can we head to the rec room?

[The Veteran]

We're the only people here Tammy!

[Tammy]

Seems you're right. Where is everybody? They'd best get back here before we start doing as we please with their characters.

[Snikers]

I would write, but there aren't any characters I can have friction with easily and I doubt you want to hear about my characters throwing practice greandes at things.

 

But feel free to do what you please with my characters...I'm drawing a blank.

[Tammy]

Nonsense, Snikers.....everybody has friction with Poison.

[Snikers]

Yeah...but I'm still drawing a blank.

[Alitorious]

I happen to be drawing blankish type thoughts too. I think the research and stuff has been covered pretty well right now (It's new year's eve and it seems like we're about to figure out laserphysics ) so pretty much the only thing that hasn't been covered at all is the obstacle course. But I don't know what military obstacle courses are like at all. Plus whoever was briefing them on the training says that they'll have to learn to use teamwork and stuff.

 

So basically, I can't come up with any tangible ideas for the fanfic. I'll leave it up to those who know what they're doing.

[Tammy]

I think that it may be time for a mission of some sort soon. We can always skip a few days of elapsed time if need be. I'll talk to TJ.

[Zager]

I think we need a mission too. It's going to take a long time to get the research done, and unless we start moving ahead, my posts will start being repetetive.

[Alitorious]

Okay, so maybe we could just advance to the end of the day? Where all the soldiers are tired and sore and aching from all the training, the research staff is getting bored of going over notes on laser physics (and not getting anywhere) and possibly playing computer games, eating supper, counting down to new year's, et cetera? Just a thought.

 

Plus, since DocFrance is coming back from Europe, is there anything or anyone he could be bringing back?

 

I think it's a bit too early for a mission (I wanted to write in something about my guy playing CS, and coming up with this strange notion about a motion detector thingamajig. (Crazy, really )) If that's okay, of course.

[Tammy]

Oh yeah...don't know what I was thinking...still have to have that rec room scene with Rick, Tammy, and TJ, too. Let's head for the rec room unless someone else has training stuff to write about.

[Snikers]

Okay, I'm in the rec room. But I don't know how to flesh it out and I can't make a post with two lines...so just

act as if my character is there, okay?