Random Questions Thread

Bluntness may matter. Initial impact area and shape do count because a knifetip will slide into a gap in the weave naturally and subject it to different forces than a bullet by trying to force the weave apart to make room. A bullet tries punch out a plug ahead of it.

edited 19th Feb '15 10:46:59 AM by Night

That's also why Kevlar is significantly less useful again an arrow than a bullet. And vice versa; medieval armor was designed for blades and arrows, and provided minimal protection against bullets.

A big slow projectile like a knife or an arrow also has a shearing component, actually cutting the Kevlar threads; bullets don't. There are some discussions about this on the NAVWEAPS technical boards vis-a -vis small fast projectiles versus big slow ones, and the types of armor needed to stop them.

I should add, though, that animal claws are different again in that they slash and rake, instead of penetrating deep.

However, being curved means they also catch in things. Not sure if that would increase or mitigate damage or just leave you with a large and angry animal tangled in your jacket.

edited 20th Feb '15 3:52:51 AM by LongLiveHumour

Can anyone tell me how high a person can safely fall from onto a surface with no (or next to no) give (assuming they were properly braced, bent their knees, etc)?

Or just how much force a person can withstand on landing (since it would probably vary by mass and all).

To my knowledge, 10g-50g (g is a factor equivalent to the force of gravity) are the maximum survivable forces someone can survive on impacr.

It's difficult to make blanket statements on this when humans themselves are extremely variable.

Finding good numbers hasn't been easy: try poking around research to do with parachutes and parachuting. One of the most important things is the "parachute landing fall"—a method to break your fall in a controlled tumble, essentially falling sideways once you've hit the ground; a proper PLF is the difference between a fractured leg and a smooth landing. It takes training to do properly, though.

This editorial on the US Army's T-11 parachute observes:

Now you just need to crunch the numbers to adjust for body weight and air resistance (good luck there).

In the interests of full disclosure, I'm trying to work out how to calculate Fall Damage in a Metroidvania. To simplify things, I'm giving the PC an energy shield which automatically disperses any energy which it registers as potentially harmful. Assuming I got my maths right, (which isn't a given...it's been a long time since school)I've already worked out:

Basically, I just need a number for F (and by extension, d) for the shield to decide it needs to absorb the damage (and thus count towards Critical Existence Failure).

edited 24th Feb '15 4:47:27 AM by Bisected8

This may not be in the correct area, but I'm new to the forum-y part of TV Tropes. I'm doing an RP with my friends, and I kinda started with a God-Mode Sue... any way to do character development for one?

(And yes, I do feel stupid looking back on it.)

Sounds like that's more an Author Avatar, but then of course I haven't actually seen the character.

Character development in the real world means something specific, but it could mean one of two things; are you just looking for ways to flesh out the character and make them more three-dimensional and give them some believable flaws to make them more sympathetic, or do you mean character development in the sense of Character Development, i.e., a dynamic character changing over the course of a story? Because the first question has many answers that depend on how much exploration you want to do, and my advice is to explore the Character Flaw Index for something that you find interesting and compelling. You could also read through Mary Sue (and perhaps God-Mode Sue if it applies) to look for the defining traits of such a character, so that you can adjust those if you want to make the character less of a Mary Sue/God-Mode Sue. To see what not to do, as it were.

For the latter, that's really just a matter of making decisions and plotting them. One character arc that I'm fond of for my RP characters is Troubled Child/Lonely Rich Kid—>Physical God—>Break the Haughty, but that requires an environment where my fellow RPers are willing to trust me to take him through the Physical God arc without God Mode Sueing up the plot.

For either option, I'd recommend checking out the Character Development Thread. It's good for developing the character because you can treat it like a little "sandbox" RP to explore what works and what doesn't work about the character, and it's decent for plotting actual Character Development because you can get ideas for events to happen to the character in your story/RP. I'd advise against putting actual plot points from your story into the thread, for the same reason you should keep work that you want to publish off the site, for your own protection, but that doesn't sound like it'd be a problem here, if this is for an RP.

edited 24th Feb '15 7:47:58 AM by SolipSchism

Hmm...not sure this is the place for it (to my knowledge this is meant for more close-ended questions, although that's not a strictly enforced rule) but if I were to make a suggestion, you might want to check out Watchmen, particularly their portrayal of Dr. Manhattan. If we had more information as to the extent of his capabilities, we could probably help more. If you want, you can create a new conversation on the topic in the forum.

Right, so I'm back with another rendition of "I know jack about facial expressions". I found this gif◊ of a character cycling through 6 expressions. I've been able to tell some of them, but I need help with the rest. So starting with the simplest one (in order):

• Smiling
• ???
• Rolling her eyes.
• ???
• Smiling with eyes closed (is there a simpler description for this?).
• ???

edited 24th Feb '15 7:59:37 AM by FatBastard

I'd describe the sixth as a disdainful smirk.

Which hilariously also almost describes your current avatar. Which is incredible, by the way. I'm sorry, I don't have much of value to contribute with this post. But your avatar improved my day by, like, 13%.

Heh. You're welcome.

The thing about that poorly-defined beast, the Sue, is that it is only one of two potential though not mutually-exclusive failures modes in writing a character. A good character is memorable and believable. In that sense, Ms. Sue is what happens when a bad author focuses too heavily on "memorable" that they forget to make them believably human. The alternative is when a character is so undistinguished that they're boring.

There is no lack of characters who manage to be both.

One key to avoiding the Sue is to realize: your character is nothing special. They are one inhabitant in their world who has the opportunity to do and experience things to make for an interesting story, subject to all the limitations thereof. That they happen to be your character does not make them inherently better than all the other people in that world; this is all the more true in an RP, since your character is only one of several. Once you write with that in mind, you can focus on the more difficult task of developing them and bringing hem to life.

Could a bulletproof vest stop a .50 cal pistol round, such as from a Desert Eagle?

Yeah but it depends on the vest. There's tons of different kinds.

Some where the bullet will go through like butter and others where it'll bounce off like it was a marshmellow.

Plus .50 AE rounds are big and fat, armor penetration isn't their strong suit. You want skinny and pointy bullets for that.

edited 24th Feb '15 2:46:10 PM by LeGarcon

Thanks for the answer, Noaq

Anyone have anything for the two remaining expressions?

A surplus military type or the kind the FBI and major city departments use, probably. West Nowhere's cops, probably not. That said .50 in pistol is a very slow round, so it's possible even a relatively low-quality vest would make it significantly more survivable.

That said, vest or no vest someone hit with a .50 round is going to make friends with floor very quickly.

The look right (her right)#2 is probably intended to convey daydreams, possibly romantic. That's how I've seen it used. Looking left is usually insincerity.

edited 24th Feb '15 9:00:04 PM by Night

Thanks Night.

So, while proofreading a friend's novel this question occurred to me that I've never really thought about. When characters on horseback swing someone else up behind them, where does the person sit? In the saddle with them? Behind it? How comfortable is this and how long can you do it for?

I know that most action heroes have to train in order to use their powers properly as well as without them but what kind of training do the characters need in order to fight as well as they do? What kind of training is being utilized in the real world by 'real action heroes'?

Loni: Generally the second person sits on the saddle pad, behind the saddle proper. No it's not terribly comfortable for the second rider or for the horse, and in reality, you wouldn't want to do it for long; it's a necessity thing.

Here's a couple of pictures so you can see better:

#1◊ This one is so you can see the arrangement of the saddle: Where the boy has his left hand resting is the back of the saddle itself. The brown wedge below his hand is the saddle skirt. The red and white is the saddle pad.

And here's two people riding double◊: The one is in the saddle. The second is sitting partly on the saddle skirt and partly on the saddle pad. They're making it look easy and comfortable, but they're part of a rodeo team— they've practiced an trained to do it. For Average Joe, it would be neither.

edited 27th Feb '15 6:00:13 AM by Madrugada

What kind of training fictional characters need in order to become real action heroes?