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PostPosted: Fri 10. Aug 2012, 04:40 
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Joined: Fri 10. Aug 2012, 03:40
Posts: 6
Perhaps we should introduce a number of different armour types. These may increase overall efficacy, and/or be tailored towards defending against different types of weaponry. After all, there's more to defense than just taking a hit.

Suggestions include:

Conventional Reactive Armour - Essentially detects collision from a projectile, and reacts by exploding outwards to help minimise or deflect said projectile. However this is a once off reaction.

Reactive Plasma Plating - Works like conventional reactive armour, but uses a system of ejecting a film of plasma which is then electrically charged to form a physical barrier in a temporary spaced shield-like manner. Comparable to conventional systems, this could in theory "react" as many times as there is plasma to be ejected (possibly requiring plasma storage tanks like water tanks etc.)

Magnetised Plating - Magnetising armour plates to repel projectiles, helping reduce the projectiles velocity hence its ability to damage the armour. Essentially infinite usage, as long as the power generators are able to provide power. This would be less effective than Plasma Plating, but longer lasting, perhaps even requiring a boarding party to disable the generators, or perhaps the armour cannot function at the same time as the guns are firing due to power demand.


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PostPosted: Fri 10. Aug 2012, 05:33 
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Joined: Wed 8. Aug 2012, 05:29
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Self-repairing armour - plates contain reservoirs of a 'smart polymer' that slowly spread over breached areas. Doesn't actually repair the armour plate, but will gradually self-heal hull breaches.


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PostPosted: Fri 10. Aug 2012, 06:08 
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Joined: Fri 10. Aug 2012, 03:40
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Good idea.

Also, I should note that my suggestions for Plasma Reactive armour and Magnetised Plating should require a computer core to function, as such advanced systems would require a higher than human ability for timing and co-ordination.


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PostPosted: Fri 10. Aug 2012, 10:48 
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Joined: Wed 8. Aug 2012, 13:06
Posts: 28
I have also ideas to append

Active Robotic Shielding (Or Ant Shield): A Good Amount of the Space Ships Surface is inhabited by small Robots that are controlled in a hive mind manner. They detect incoming fire and position themselves between the hull and the projectile - sacrificing themselves.
This is extremely Resource intensive but it is also a good method to defend against boarding vehicles. They attack such vessels and try to remove them from the ship.
Because not the whole Surface can be occupied by those Robotic Ants a Enemy Ship with fast firing weapons can inflict serious damage - also if there are multiple ships firing at once.

Reflective Shielding: The Vessels surface consists of many moveable "tiles". If incoming fire is detected a computer calculates the necessary angle and alignment to deflect the projectile without inflicting damage.
To bypass this shielding you either have to use bigger weapons (because of inertia not all projectiles are reflected fast enough), "thinking" weapons (like a rocket with distinct ai) or by attacking the anchor points of the plating.


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PostPosted: Sat 11. Aug 2012, 08:43 
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Joined: Thu 2. Aug 2012, 12:10
Posts: 389
mmh, very nice. It would be nice to have a whole variety of different armor to choose from - from the cheapest to the most sophisticated.
I should mention that there will be outer hatches for weapon systems, cargo and hangar. Those are vulnerable spots for boarding, but they are also important, because they let the enemy guess what the layout might look like from the outside. (and how well armed the ship is) This could be countered by mounting "fake" weapons hatches or cargo doors that lead into a trap ;)
I also like the idea of building Pirate-Hunter Ships, that look like bulky and slow transports from the outside, but they are bursting with troops and weapons.

Any ideas for different shield generators?
I once had that book http://www.amazon.com/Aliens-Colonial-Marines-Technical-Manual/dp/1781161313, and in it was a great idea for battleship countermeasures: just drop a huge steel wire net behind you and any persuers would suffer a huge amount of collision damage, because starships travel a such great speeds, that the mass of the collision object doesn´t have to be. I like the simplicty of it.


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PostPosted: Sat 11. Aug 2012, 14:35 
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Joined: Wed 8. Aug 2012, 13:04
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Ratakari wrote:
just drop a huge steel wire net behind you and any persuers would suffer a huge amount of collision damage, because starships travel a such great speeds, that the mass of the collision object doesn´t have to be. I like the simplicty of it.


I like that, it sounds a lot like the monofilament used in several sci-fi universes, an easy explanation of this would be that it is essentially a thread of wire so thin that it seperates pretty much everythin at the molecular level (I think this is achieved because it doesen't actually cut anything but it goes through the small spaces between molecules and by doeing so negates the forces that keep them together).

The only real protection against something like that would be an energy shield or armour plates so well crafted that the spaces between the molecules would be smaller than the monofilament which would then again be just a piece of wire smacking against a huge steel plate ^^.

Stuff of that technological level would be great for alien civilizations I think because it would allow even rather small ships to take out a very big human warship because they wouldn't have anything to defend themselves with and by that the aliens would become a force to be feared.


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PostPosted: Sat 11. Aug 2012, 20:00 
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Joined: Wed 8. Aug 2012, 13:06
Posts: 28
Ratakari wrote:
Any ideas for different shield generators?


Well, there can be dozens of different kinds of shields.
  • Plasma Shield
    The Generator produces big masses of super-hot gasses (plasma) - incoming fire (preferably something physic related like bullets or missiles) simply evaporate as they pass through the gas. Only Projectiles that are fast enough or have a big enough mass can pierce through.
    Energy Weapons are just marginally influenced by it. Under certain circumstances the shield could also improve the performance of such weapons.
    Also - there could be an weapon that uses this shield as its main weapon. If a enemy ship is shrouded in plasma it could use the same technology to bounce the shield onto the hull within.
  • Multi Dimensional Field Shield
    This Shield generates an thin bubble that functions much like the event horizon found in black holes. Everything that impacts on it is negated at once. But the energy consumption needed to keep the shield in place is enormous.
    Also this would make an good battering ram :)
  • Laser Shield
    The Ship emits High Powered Laser Beams in every direction. If something hits it the laser will destroy it like an "normal" laser. The Range of it is limited because the single laser fast looses focus.
    As soon as the enemy has a chance to scan which frequency your lasers are using it can deactivate it (by emitting an inverted laser) and thus level a way for other weapons
  • Electromagnetic Shield
    Shrouded in electromagnetic fields - much like a planet - it reflects energy and matter by affecting the molecular bounding forces of aforesaid matter or energy
    - This could be the very basic of shielding because all you need is a big and fast enough spinning core of metal. Not very energy saving but as soon as it runs it does not need much of maintenance or controls
  • Gravitational Shield
    This Shielding Type creates a negative gravitation bubble around a vessel and thus forcing everything out of its way.
  • Anti-Matter Shield
    Similar to an Plasma Shield it emits an exact measured cloud of anti-matter to defend against incoming fire. Of Course this System needs enormous capacities in detecting and calculation software and proper hardware but it is impenetrable.
    On the Other Hand - a high density of fire can overstrain the needed computers and render the shield unusable. Also it comes with an high power consumption (you can not store anti-matter in one of your grandmothers preserving glasses ;) )
    And last but not least: Storing high amounts of anti-matter on your ship just shouts: "come here and watch me dissolve to nothingness" :)


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PostPosted: Mon 27. Aug 2012, 02:50 
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Joined: Mon 27. Aug 2012, 02:27
Posts: 10
armour armour where to fit ....

can it be installed along the empty slots in between two jointing structures where the hatch is?

then it can spun out a whole wide range of panel structures to built into the ship :
>> fire / insulating armour ( non mass contributing )
>> radiation armour (heavy stuff)
>> first-aid panel ?
>> emergency light panel during blackouts ?
>> concealed weapon storage ? (calls for treasure hunt)

can a double lane corridor be build? so as to match some on-board motorize bots or heavy mobile defence units to move along, useful for battleships.
a single file corridor only permits a single marine first-in-first-out policy, a double-way corridor lets more firepower to press on, for both offensive and defence ...

bout the red alert alarm sound... can there be a on-off switch for it ? or a 30 second sound-play option ?

might want to see a round saucer ship to build in the future, there's LOTS of iconic spaceships using that kind of design shape .... even the ETs are using it :mrgreen:


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PostPosted: Wed 21. Jan 2015, 15:32 
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Joined: Wed 3. Sep 2014, 09:31
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to my point of view, i see 6 type of defenses that can be mounted on a spaceship:


1) "force field" shield class
2) "barrier" shield class
3) "hull" armor class
4) "wall" armor class
5) "interception" system class
6) "deception" system class

NB: the "forcefield" and "barrier" shield class are both first line of defense but, due to the fact that they use the same technology but on two different way, they can hardly be used at the same time.

explanation of each type of defense :

1) "force field" shield class : that shield generate an outward force to counter projectiles.

- depending on the strengh of the "forcefield" it could slow, stop or deflect a projectile(plasma, missile or any other projectiles).
- this shield can be pierced by laser as laser are not projectile based weaponry.
- explosive or "energy based" projectile could alter the shield integrity (by adding sufficient force) for a moment allowing other weaponry to pierce it and damage the generator.

nb: it use two or more generators that create and modulate energy wave in a way so all waves are "high" were the shield would be erected.


2) "barrier" shield class: that shield generate an outward and an inward force to keep some material at a given distance of the ship. serving as a wall (or barrier) between you and the enemy, explaining the name.

- this shield is "medium dependent" which mean that it's effectiveness depend on the type of material you use as medium and it's caracteristic like maximum density, energy charge and viscosity (or aptitude to rapidly fill holes made in the barrier).

- this shield class is better in resilience than the "force field" class as it add like a second hull to your ship, acting like "spaced armour". that "second hull" could stop most of the enemy attack but, due to it's own nature, would also block your own attack.

- this shield class is bad for fighting in atmosphere or in nebulae because other materials would mix with the medium and could reduce it's effectiveness.

nb: this shield clas is quite expensive as each time you deploy it you use some material and when you deactivate the shield you can hardly recover the material you used.

for example: the defense of the "Iserlohn forteress" in "legend of the galactic heroes" is a barrier class.

3) "hull" armor class: any type of defence that is attached on the hull.

there is little to say about it because everybody got a clear a view of what it is.

but sub class could be:

- reactive armor : all armored used to reduce the damage on impact. could be explosive-based (against kinetic), magnetic-based (against explosive) or energy-based (against plasma and ion)
- spaced armor : armor layer used to distort a projectile so that inner armor layer would suffer less damage. it's good againt thermal and magnetic (cannot reach the inner armor layer) , average against explosive, plasma and projectile.
- monobloc armor: armor where the thickness is the only advantage. it can block attack that dont have enough "penetration power".

4) "wall" armor class: armor that increase the defense of a specific room from the inside.

those armor could be:

- insulation: against fire propagation (could be useful that the incendiary weaponry dontstart a fire that can reach the fuel tank because if it overheat it could explode.)
- reinforced wall: to avoid or reduce hull breach propagation. (also avoid boarder cutting through the wall when they cant cut through the door.)
- maintenance wall : contain room enough for a technician to crawl in. could be default wall when the supply grid is going in a "wall" section, would be a weak spot so you would need to put the supply grid in place that dont need extra armor.
- ...


5) "interception" system class : any system that can be used to intercept an incoming attack and/or reduce it's potential.

that could include:

- AA turret (or anything that can shoot down incoming attack)
- drones (that could either shoot down incoming missiles (or planes) or be put in the path of an incoming attack.)
- depth charge (from "gundam Seed"): a capsule of material that have opposite charge than the main energy-based weapon and therefore negate some "energy-based" attack before being neutralized.
- ...

6) "deception" system class: any system that can be used to throw the enemy out of aim.

that could include:
- decoy system (against guided weapon like missile)
- jamming system (to make the enemy unable to scan your ship and lock it's weaponry on a specific part of your hull, like locking on cold part of the hull with higher probability to hit the cooling system)
- ...


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