Sci-fi Weapons, Vehicles and Equipment

Well, according to Cracked (or so I heard), except for really, really dangerous skill (mind manipulation, large subatomic manipulation), all you really need is actually lawful-minded, competent demographic system (and at most cases, most Omega-Level mutant didn't actually happen right off the bat (read:born into great, uncontrollable power). The ones that do tend to solve itself, one way or another).

Also, some videos on future and mundane tech. I especially impressed on 3D cast and water-through concrete. So mundane, yet so awesome

The Sentinels are incredibly inefficient. Which is why I decided we are going to play super-villain a bit and be Dangerously Genre-Savvy.

EMP and Shock proofing, so any mutants that can use electric or EMP based powers can't short out a unit.

Seriously the standard units are giants. That's way too expensive.

edited 24th Jul '16 8:22:41 AM by EchoingSilence

So, most of you have probably guessed that I have multiple stories/universes going on when Ia ask questions, so this one is for my Science Fantasy verse.

Basically the idea was that every single infantry arm on the planet uses a gas instead of lead in the magazines that feeds into an internal mechanism inside the rifle and it solidifies the gas into a solid in the shape of a bullet, allowing for less mags for more ammunition so to speak. The gas itself is a specific element (probably fictional, but I"m open to real-world) that would be pumped from the ground like geothermal energy (or oil if we really want to get crude.). Naturally some countries on the planet have more of this gas than others, therefore economic advantages and all that.

Was wanting to work out all the kinks of the idea so that it works and makes sense consistently, from the "wells" to extract it all the way to the soldier changing mags.

Gaseous to solid? I can't imagine the volume to weight being that good.

Well, what about "near—solid" (totally just made that up, btw) Hits with the force of a solid, but not quite either a gas or solid?

So like gel or glass? I don't know but those things will need their consistency.

Like Cawadooty: Advanced Derpfare had a rifle that fired 3D printed bullets.

Under most circumstances yes. Water is about the only substance in the Universe that actually goes the other way. A cubic centimeter of water ice has a lot more volume and density and mass than a (dimensional volume anyways) cubic centimeter of water vapor.

But water has very terrible ballistics.

A better example should be dry ice, where the gaseous form occupies a large volume by weight and the solid form is much more compact.

I'd argue that having a gun that uses either liquid or gaseous matter they should go to the propellants rather than the bullets, like a light gas gun or multiple stage linear guns.

Trying to compress a gas down to solid densities usually results in the material turning solid. You can play with temperature to keep it gas but then you'd need to refridgerate it into a solid.

If you tried to pump the gas into a mold and freeze it you'd end up with a hollow shell. This could be useful but that would need additional treatments.

It's generally better for bullets to be more dense; Having more matter in the same volume(though it can be practical to sacrifice density for, say, hardness and strength, which is why most modern bullets aren't 100% lead). Under some circumstances you could take matter from a liquid or gas and create a less dense solid object from it; Water ice is normally less dense than liquid because of the pattern it naturally arranges itself in; But I don't see why you would want to. Seems like a complication that was only added to make not-very-high-quality bullets take less space, while taking more space, weight and power with the machinery needed to process them. I think you'll need something more exotic to justify this setup; Some very special things that this substance is capable of.

An idea I had for a soft-sci-fi energy weapon .

Imagine your typical starship-mounted BFG. Now imagine that you could adjust the intensity of the bursts fired (not just the energy of them). Dial the choke down all the way and the gun fires an intense lance of energy that drives through armor, open the choke up all the way and you get a broader burst of energy that more readily disperses into the target on impact. Sort of the difference between a sabot round and a HE round, depending on the target.

That's a laser, my friend. You're describing a laser.

And assorted plasma weapons.

And just about every directed energy weapon ever devised. And railguns.

On a related note, I'd like to have an electrolaser act as a standard issue sidearm but I'm not sure if it'll build up waste charge when firing.

Here's a fun question for you all. Cyber Ninja stuff. How would you make your own cyborg assassin, what materials, and how would you make them effective?

For extra difficulty, no stealth optic camo or chameleon abilities. Anyone can say "Let them turn invisible" so we're going to avoid that here.

Echo: A good question is what would you do?

A really neat track laying machine used to replace old track.

edited 26th Jul '16 4:30:53 PM by TuefelHundenIV

Use of artificial muscle structure to reduce servo use so the subject isn't making mechanical whirrs, noise dampening soles on the feet so they aren't heard, dark colour scheme so the ninja blends into the shadows. Built in subsonic weaponry that can be fired or used without too much noise being made. Any and all obvious glowing parts removed. Built in Minimap using undetectable vibrations so the Ninja isn't heard, and can find their way around without being spotted.

edited 26th Jul '16 5:59:45 PM by EchoingSilence

I'd' make 'em invisible, because Cyber Ninja doesn't care about your rules.

Adaptive grip pads on the hands and feet. A material that sticks to surfaces like a suction cup but for a wider range of material and with a much better grip.

magnetic induction knives, for anti-mechanical use.

C4. Because C4.

smoke projectors, Preferably with cooled/heated smoke.

Thermal imagers, directional mics, Night vision, etc.

So I've been thinking about the whole Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better thing, and I think I found another point for kinetics which I'll include in one of my works. The problem with lasers and other energy weapons in this world isn't about range or power concerns, it's an issue of ethics. While lasers are precise in initially hitting their target, they tend to cause fires. The collateral with fire in spaceships is very, very nasty. They also have a tendency to cause temporary or permanent blindness. To use such a weapon is to invite retaliation with similar or worse weapons ranging from old stand-bys like flamethrowers, napalm, gas and white phosphorous and future staples like deconstructer nanoswarms, vacc knives, infophages and more. Thus, the only real use for energy weapons is in hunting, specialized tasks (like looting Precursor ships) and personal defense, and even then the use of them is highly restricted.

You know, a kinetic weapon is also prone to cause blindness if you shoot someone in the eye with it.

I've always assumed that energy weapons would be weaker and less efficient than kinetics. A laser could set some fires and give really nasty burns but a bullet would pierce right through someone, not only causing bleeding but possibly hitting something else.

Using kinetics in space combat is actually pretty serious not just because of the recoil but because the round will keep traveling until it hit something. Lasers can disperse and plasma can cool but a solid chunk of matter traveling at high speeds is always going to be as dangerous as the moment it left the barrel.

Sir Isaac Newton is the deadliest sonofabitch in space.

Depends of the laser though, an electro laser can be a much much more safe stun weapon than beanbags can be and depending of the platform they can be collateral damage free by ensuring that only the thing you're targeting is killed.

Unlike an artillery shell or bullet that can miss and hit someone else, for example the a laser fitted inside an AC-130 can disable, destroy or kill single targets without harming anyone else, meanwhile a hellfire missile has a blast radius that will fuck up everyone's day in the vicinity.

The Anti-Doping agency has proactively created a screening process to detect a certain type of possible genetic doping for athletes. Basically preparing the near future where genetic tinkering could possibly be used to improve an athletes performance.

Anti-drone rifle reportedly in Iraq to fight ISIS drones. The rifle is basically a radio jammer with an aimable antennae for dealing with commercial drones used in adhoc warfare.

The rifle can be seen here as part of training for West Point cadets. Dedicated military drones are a bit harder to deal with as even the small ones are increasingly using hardened and encrypted data links and partial automation to limit interference.

edited 28th Jul '16 6:28:37 PM by TuefelHundenIV

Ham checking in: Is it a Yagi beam? Yes, it appears to be a Yagi beam!

Basically, you align multiple antenna elements parallel to each other, and the radio signal will resonated between them and focus in a specific direction. For more fun, try stacking multiple beams to form various interesting RF shapes and arrangements!

One workaround I could see to this would be for the drone's control link to be programmed to either use multiple frequencies (to avoid immediate impact from any single link getting jammed) or to hop frequencies (compare to Starfleet's various attempts to keep their shields and phasers in play against the Borg). It'd be more complicated to set up though.