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TFTD Fanfic Discussion


The Veteran

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Great post and some really good development. It's nice to have names and faces for the cannon fodder and there's some really nice interaction going on, good job!

 

I'lllet someone else post before I do, and I haven't got round to updating the quick ref yet but I will soon!

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  • 1 month later...

sorry guys been a bit busy lately! I'm taking over the pub full time and I've been absolutely massacred with paperwork and accounts :D As I type this I'm actually on another computer placing a beer order at the same time!

 

So I still won't be posting for a while unfortunately but I will when I can!!!

 

Oh yeah and I have a girlfriend too... Takes up almost as much time as the business :)

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There have been some minor problems with the server today so it's possible that a post was duplicated. If it was intentional, I'm going to pretend that none of this happened and let you guys on your merry way. But don't make me come back in here and clean up another mess, mkay? :)

 

Just so everyone is aware, most forum rules still apply here, so please limit off-topic discussions to off-topic. :D

 

- Zombie

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Yeah where's my free advertising?! Crown Inn, Midhurst, West Sussex :D Be there!!!

 

All that sillyness aside though, I will post soon but I've been spending an increasingly large amount of time either sleeping, eating, drinking or other lately so I haven't had much time for the internet.

 

She doesn't like it... :)

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Couple of ideas regarding real/game physics...

 

@grenades: just incorporate a disposible launcher into the grenade...looks something like the WWII german "potato masher", has a small shaped charge in the handle, which launches the hydrodynamic grenade through the water...strength is still important because you have to control the recoil to get long distances...

 

@sonics: just say that the sonic pulse causes secondary harmonic resonaces, which ARE audible...for visibility, how about saying that when the sonic pulse travels through seawater, the molecular agitation causes about .1% of the salt to separate into its component atoms: sodium and clorine...the chemical reaction of the newly-freed sodium would definitely make a visible 'trail'...and the clorine could explain the green color :D

 

Crus8r

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@sonics: just say that the sonic pulse causes secondary harmonic resonaces, which ARE audible...for visibility, how about saying that when the sonic pulse travels through seawater, the molecular agitation causes about .1% of the salt to separate into its component atoms: sodium and clorine...the chemical reaction of the newly-freed sodium would definitely make a visible 'trail'...and the clorine could explain the green color :D

But, salt (or sodium chloride) does not exist in its molecular form in water. Salt completely dissolves (or dissociates) into sodium and chloride ions in water - both which are colorless and basically non-reactive. :)

 

- Zombie

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I actually knew that...but I was trying to provide a 'handwavium' solution to the question of why a sonic blast creates a green glowing trail...oh well, havta think about it some more...

 

Crus8r

Don't get too wrapped up with this guys - it could quite easily be part of the design of the weapon, anyone heard of 'tracer'. :D

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, I found the terror site for the aliens, if it's not good, find anotther site.

 

Mosque

 

History

 

The Badshahi Masjid (بادشاەى مسجد), or the 'Emperor's Mosque', was built in 1673 by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in Lahore, Pakistan. It is one of the city's best known landmarks, and a major tourist attraction epitomising the beauty and grandeur of the Mughal era.

 

Capable of accommodating over 55,000 worshippers, it is the second largest mosque in Pakistan, after the Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. The architecture and design of the Badshahi Masjid is closely related to the Jama Masjid in Delhi, India, which was built in 1648 by Aurangzeb's father and predecessor, emperor Shah Jahan.

 

Design Characteristics

 

Like the character of its founder, the mosque is bold, vast and majestic in its expression. It was the largest mosque in the world for a long time.

 

The interior has rich embellishment in stucco tracery (Manbatkari) and panelling with a fresco touch, all in bold relief, as well as marble inlay.

 

The exterior is decorated with stone carving as well as marble inlay on red sandstone, specially of loti form motifs in bold relief. The embellishment has Indo-Greek, Central Asian and Indian architectural influence both in technique and motifs.

 

The skyline is furnished by beautiful ornamental merlons inlaid with marble lining adding grace to the perimeter of the mosque. In its various architectural features like the vast square courtyard, the side aisles (dalans), the four corner minars, the projecting central transept of the prayer chamber and the grand entrance gate, is summed up the history of development of mosque architecture of the Muslim world over the thousand years prior to its construction in 1673.

 

The north enclosure wall of the mosque was laid close to the Ravi River bank, so a majestic gateway could not be provided on that side and, to keep the symmetry the gate had to be omitted on the south wall as well. Thus a four aiwan plan like the earlier Delhi Jamia Masjid could not be adopted here.

 

The walls were built with small kiln-burnt bricks laid in kankar, lime mortar (a kind of hydraulic lime) but have a veneer of red sandstone. The steps leading to the prayer chamber and its plinth are in variegated marble.

 

The prayer chamber is very deep and is divided into seven compartments by rich engraved arches carried on very heavy piers. Out of the seven compartments, three double domes finished in marble have superb curvature, whilst the rest have curvilinear domes with a central rib in their interior and flat roof above. In the eastern front aisle, the ceiling of the compartment is flat (Qalamdani) with a curved border (ghalatan) at the cornice level.

 

The original floor of the courtyard was laid with small kiln-burnt bricks laid in the Mussalah pattern. The present red sandstone flooring was laid during the last thorough repairs (1939-60). Similarly, the original floor of the prayer chamber was in cut and dressed bricks with marble and Sang-i-Abri lining forming Mussalah and was also replaced by marble Mussalah during the last repairs.

 

~~~

Text by Wikipedia

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Interesting choice - if the aliens launch a terror attack while tens of thousands of people are at prayer, the panic would be considerable, and some people would be killed in the stampede to get away from the aliens.

 

Also, it will take X-Com a long time to respond, so the best they woud be able to do is to make it an expensive victory for the aliens. It would also emphasise the need to set up new bases across the world.

 

The only downside is that if the aliens send around 12-16 soldiers like in terror missions in the game, they would be wiped out by local security forces before X-Com could turn up. The aliens would need to commit hundreds, or even thousands of troops to the mission.

 

If we are going to keep with using a small number of aliens in the early terror missions, it would have to be attacks on small, remote fishing villages and lone ships.

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  • 2 weeks later...

DC, I hate it when you do that puppy-dog eyes expression at me :D:)

 

Okay, I've knocked together the next installment. I've tried to make progress with several issues:

 

The prototype Gauss weapon has been successfully demonstrated. The research topic Gauss Weapon Technology has now been completed. The next priority for the scientists is to create the Gauss Pistol blueprints so the engineers can earn their pay.

 

Dr. Zager and Commodore Anson have begun to establish a working relationship. Her suspicions that the 95 year old scientist has been trading on past glories have been greatly reduced. She still does not condone his moral beliefs, so they aren't about to become friends. Anyway, to get the best out of the various people under her command, like Margaret Thatsher, she feels she has to be the Iron Lady.

 

I've gone with the idea that the Commodore regards the military divers she has been sent as being too inexperienced with deep-sea diving for her to be able to get rid of the Mechs 'n' Techs. There's no other way she would keep them on, given their prior lack of combat experience.

 

Is Dr. Zager capable of reading or influencing the mind of another human? He says he can't in my installment but I've worded the text in an ambiguous way that leaves us with the possibility that he is lying so he can maintain a working relationship with the Commodore.

 

I've also come up with a pseudo-scientific explanation as to why the plasma based weapons that rule in Enemy Unknown play second fiddle to sonic weapons in TFTD. Basically, the water cools the plasma, thus reducing its range.

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Excellent, there is quite a bit of material to work with there including an idea to begin the next post.

 

As the weapon is laser sighted refraction bends the aiming beam to the stationary object but a mention about the phenomena may have been worth including. Although when the weapon is fired from beneath the surface refraction wouldn't be such an issue, under certain circumstances light can be 'bent' underwater and it would go some way to explain the inaccuracy of the weapon in the game. Or maybe the production version had no laser?

 

"No noise?" Mmm, maybe you know more than me about this but I would have thought there was lots of noise.

 

I'm not trying to be pedantic about this AT I'm just excited that someone has posted. :D

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