Lets All Play Battletech and rewrite Inner Sphere history

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Lets All Play Battletech and rewrite Inner Sphere history

«‹›2087 »

Shoeless: Sep 2, 2011

Defiance Industries posted:

The WoB figured them out enough to get Terra's Caspar system working again.

Yeah though they never really managed to get it quite up to its old Star League glory, from what I understand. And then it only really ended up coming into play near the end of the Jihad.

Basically yes, stuff like that has/does exist in Battletech, but only for brief periods, not as something available that you can generally assume access to during any of the game eras, is what I mean.

# ? Sep 18, 2016 07:39

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 11, 2024 14:58

Olothreutes: Mar 31, 2007

Well, the society seems like one of the few groups that could probably make something like that happen. And since they're the ones with friend computer, it might work!

# ? Sep 18, 2016 07:46

Perestroika: Apr 8, 2010

Olothreutes posted:

This is a thing we've done in real life, to great effect. Recently a company designed a combat aircraft AI, ALPHA, that has a perfect dogfighting record against actual USAF expert pilots. They took input from said pilot expert during the initial design phase and then generated a lot of copies of the AI with subtly different settings and had them all fight one another over and over. Using that data they took the most successful of the copies, merged them together to get the best traits from them, and then created a bunch of "children" from the new improved AI. Repeat a bunch of times and you come out with an AI at the end that is way more capable than the starting AI with no human input on tactics. And it was all done on a $500 desktop, not some fancy supercomputing cluster.

I'm not sure if this sort of capability exists in the battletech universe, but I sure hope it does.

That whole subject is incredibly interesting. There's another popular one where they used such a system to let a model self-learn how to walk and run, which offers a pretty neat visualisation of the concept by comparing the generations against each other:
https://youtu.be/pgaEE27nsQw?t=55s

# ? Sep 18, 2016 08:04

sheep-dodger: Feb 21, 2013

I'm gonna throw another vote on the C pile, gotta murder some Trashborn.

# ? Sep 18, 2016 08:08

Scintilla: Aug 24, 2010; I BEAT HIGHFORT
and all I got was this
jackass monkey

Current tally:

A: 2
B: 15
C: 40
D: 29
E: 13
F: 47

# ? Sep 18, 2016 11:29

mercenarynuker: Sep 10, 2008

If you're not First, you're last

# ? Sep 18, 2016 17:25

Azuth0667: Sep 20, 2011; By the word of Zoroaster, no business decision is poor when it involves Ahura Mazda.

Vote C.

# ? Sep 18, 2016 17:37

Mezzanon: Sep 16, 2003; Pillbug

Throwing in a vote for A because I feel bad for the lil guys!

Mezzanon fucked around with this message at 16:52 on Sep 19, 2016

# ? Sep 18, 2016 19:40

thetruegentleman: Feb 5, 2011; You call that potato a Trump avatar?

THIS is a Trump Avatar!

Voting for F: got my letters mixed up for a moment.

# ? Sep 18, 2016 20:51

Corponation: Apr 21, 2007; Fantastic.

I'm feeling D tonight.

# ? Sep 19, 2016 02:54

Gwaihir: Dec 8, 2009; Hair Elf

That makes a cool 150 votes!

# ? Sep 19, 2016 02:56

thiswayliesmadness: Dec 3, 2009; I hope to see you next time, and take care all

As tempting as mystery box is, I want to see what F leads into

# ? Sep 19, 2016 08:38

garland336: Feb 26, 2013

Retrotech is the best tech - F

# ? Sep 19, 2016 15:33

TyrsHTML: May 13, 2004

voting F for crazy mad max shenanigans.

# ? Sep 19, 2016 16:17

Pattonesque: Jul 15, 2004; johnny jesus and the infield fly rule

Excited to see the Max Max option, and I'm also happy that the Demon Hawks' new free agent pickups won't be totally massacred (hopefully)

# ? Sep 19, 2016 16:28

terrenblade: Oct 29, 2012

F

also PTN, here's my entry for the secret "what's at the end of the painbow" contest.

I present the BOLO mk V in LAC and LMG versions.

code:

Bolo V (LMG) 
IS experimental 
200 tons 
BV: 4,333 
Cost: 328,610,750 C-bills  
Movement: 2/3 (Tracked) 
Engine: 400 XXL  
Internal: 140 
Armor: 740 (Hardened) 

		Internal	Armor


Front		20		134
Front Right	20		107
Front Left	20		107
Rear Right	20		90
Rear Left	20		90
Rear		20		100
Turret		20		112

 
Weapons		Loc	Heat
Gauss Rifle	TU	1

LMG		FR	0
LMG		FR	0
LMG		FR	0
LMG		FR	0
LMG		FRLS	0
LMG		FRLS	0
LMG		FRLS	0
LMG		FRRS	0
LMG		FRRS	0
LMG		FRRS	0
LMG		RR	0
LMG		RR	0
 
Ammo		Loc	Shots
Gauss Ammo	BD	8
Gauss Ammo	BD	8
Gauss Ammo	TU	8
LMG Ammo	BD	200
1/2 LMG Ammo	FR	100

Equipment	Loc		
Hardened	BD
A-Pod		FR
A-Pod		FRRS
A-Pod		FRLS
C3i ComputerBD

code:

Bolo V (LAC) 
IS experimental 
200 tons 
BV: 2,539 
Cost: 332,097,500 C-bills  
Movement: 2/3 (Tracked) 
Engine: 400 XXL  
Internal: 140 
Armor: 328 (Hardened) 

		Internal	Armor
Front		20		61
Front Right	20		46
Front Left	20		46
Rear Right	20		40
Rear Left	20		40
Rear		20		40
Turret		20		55

 
Weapons		Loc	Heat
Gauss Rifle	TU	1
LAC/2		FR	1
LAC/2		FR	1
LAC/2		FR	1
LAC/2		FR	1
LAC/2		FR	1
LAC/2		FRRS	1
LAC/2		FRRS	1
LAC/2		FRRS	1
LAC/2		FRLS	1
LAC/2		FRLS	1
LAC/2		FRLS	1
LAC/2		RR	1
B-Pod		FR	0
B-Pod		FRRS	0
B-Pod		FRLS	0
B-Pod		RR	0


C3 Master with TAG
		BD	0
 
Ammo		Loc	Shots
Gauss Ammo	TU	8
Gauss Ammo	BD	8
Gauss Ammo	BD	8
Armor-P. LAC/2	FR	22
LAC/2 Ammo	BD	45
Precision LAC/2	BD	22
Precision LAC/2	BD	22
Flak LAC/2 Ammo	FRRS	45
Flak LAC/2 Ammo	FRLS	45


 
Equipment	Loc
Hardened	BD

# ? Sep 19, 2016 18:58

raverrn: Apr 5, 2005; Unidentified spacecraft inbound from delta line.

All Silpheed squadrons scramble now!

You're missing a ton of nuclear missiles, particle cannons and drones.

# ? Sep 19, 2016 20:05

The Merry Marauder: Apr 4, 2009; "But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own."

terrenblade posted:

also PTN, here's my entry for the secret "what's at the end of the painbow" contest.

I present the BOLO mk V

I'm sure PTN would like to encourage more quality fiction from the creator of the Gray Death Legion.

# ? Sep 19, 2016 20:30

PoptartsNinja: May 9, 2008; He is still almost definitely not a spy; Soiled Meat

The Merry Marauder posted:

I'm sure PTN would like to encourage more quality fiction from the creator of the Gray Death Legion.

Say what now?

# ? Sep 19, 2016 21:29

The Merry Marauder: Apr 4, 2009; "But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own."

William H. Keith writes (among lots of other stuff) Bolo stories.

# ? Sep 19, 2016 21:35

MJ12: Apr 8, 2009

terrenblade posted:

F

also PTN, here's my entry for the secret "what's at the end of the painbow" contest.

I present the BOLO mk V in LAC and LMG versions.

Should have made one of the 10,000+ ton Bolos as a mobile structure. :V

# ? Sep 19, 2016 21:44

Shoeless: Sep 2, 2011

MJ12 posted:

Should have made one of the 10,000+ ton Bolos as a mobile structure. :V

I think I may have already done that. Not intended as a Bolo, but it'd probably fit decently. Surface to orbital weaponry and all.

# ? Sep 19, 2016 22:05

PoptartsNinja: May 9, 2008; He is still almost definitely not a spy; Soiled Meat

Vote's not over yet (mostly because I'm relaxing and recharging this week), but since there's a clear frontrunner I'm not being completely idle.

# ? Sep 20, 2016 03:25

LeschNyhan: Sep 2, 2006

Corrosive, extremely bad for your health, moderately chemically unstable.

Well, at least it's not flammable.

# ? Sep 20, 2016 03:29

Bloody Pom: Jun 5, 2011

Yikes, just what do they use to power those chemical lasers?

# ? Sep 20, 2016 03:36

Ardlen: Sep 30, 2005; WoT

Bloody Pom posted:

Yikes, just what do they use to power those chemical lasers?

My guess is FOOF.

# ? Sep 20, 2016 03:45

LegendairyBovine: Oct 6, 2014

Quillar fertilizer is my guess.

# ? Sep 20, 2016 03:47

Defiance Industries: Jul 22, 2010; A five-star manufacturer

Bloody Pom posted:

Yikes, just what do they use to power those chemical lasers?

Hazardous chemicals, Virtucon's #1 product!

# ? Sep 20, 2016 03:47

Shoeless: Sep 2, 2011

Bloody Pom posted:

Yikes, just what do they use to power those chemical lasers?

Given that they're chemical lasers, I would guess they power them with chemicals.

# ? Sep 20, 2016 03:55

wiegieman: Apr 22, 2010; Royalty is a continuous cutting motion

And that's probably going to be one of the heaviest vehicles in the scenario, a whopping 723 BV.

# ? Sep 20, 2016 03:56

Zaodai: May 23, 2009; Death before dishonor?
Your terms are accepted.

Bloody Pom posted:

Yikes, just what do they use to power those chemical lasers?

The CapCon variant, like all things Capellan, are powered by orphans. ... who have been bathed in chemicals from the Axis Chemical Factory, like the Joker.

Truly there is nothing more precious than the laughter of a child (being weaponized).

# ? Sep 20, 2016 03:57

Pattonesque: Jul 15, 2004; johnny jesus and the infield fly rule

Is the ammo for those lasers like super explosive?

# ? Sep 20, 2016 03:58

Shoeless: Sep 2, 2011

wiegieman posted:

And that's probably going to be one of the heaviest vehicles in the scenario, a whopping 723 BV.

Depending on whether or not PTN actually calculated the weapon's BV manually and did it up like that, the BV might not be accurate. Heavy Chemical Lasers are not a canon weapon, I'm interested to see what they do.

# ? Sep 20, 2016 04:00

Bloody Pom: Jun 5, 2011

Shoeless posted:

Depending on whether or not PTN actually calculated the weapon's BV manually and did it up like that, the BV might not be accurate. Heavy Chemical Lasers are not a canon weapon, I'm interested to see what they do.

They are canon, they're just exclusively Clan technology in the original fluff. :eng101:

They're essentially ammo-based lasers that use canisters of volatile chemicals in lieu of a fusion reactor for power, to allow ICE/fuel cell equipped vehicles to mount lasers without the bulky capacitors.

# ? Sep 20, 2016 04:01

Ablative: Nov 9, 2012; Someone is getting this as an avatar. I don't know who, but it's gonna happen.

Pattonesque posted:

Is the ammo for those lasers like super explosive?

Not super explosive, no. But you wouldn't want it getting shot. Or wet. Or a hole in the case, because that poo poo is toxic as hell apparently.

# ? Sep 20, 2016 04:03

Picard Day: Dec 18, 2004

Bloody Pom posted:

They are canon, they're just exclusively Clan technology in the original fluff.

Chemical lasers exist in canon, however, Heavy chemical lasers are a new thing.

# ? Sep 20, 2016 04:04

Bloody Pom: Jun 5, 2011

Picard Day posted:

Chemical lasers exist in canon, however, Heavy chemical lasers are a new thing.

Ah, you're right. I was confusing Heavy and Large.

# ? Sep 20, 2016 04:06

TheParadigm: Dec 10, 2009

It is a bit late, but I will vote for C, D just to close the gap a bit. D was tempting but I dont think number of votes for losers do anything so no reason to make it a 30, even if the mission premise is oh so stupid, goony, an funny.

edit: its been an hour, i don't think my vote has been tabulated. I'm leaving the old one in for posterity just in case.

TheParadigm fucked around with this message at 05:28 on Sep 20, 2016

# ? Sep 20, 2016 04:15

Shoeless: Sep 2, 2011

TheParadigm posted:

I dont think number of votes for losers do anything

They do.

# ? Sep 20, 2016 04:46

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 11, 2024 14:58

TheParadigm: Dec 10, 2009

really now? Well, hmn.

# ? Sep 20, 2016 05:24

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Lets All Play Battletech and rewrite Inner Sphere history

«‹›2087 »