Five Earths, All in a Row

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

I think most of what I've posted on Mongo has been here in this thread, just recently, apart from a few off-hand mentions, here and in the thread on SB.com that I can't really get to right now, as this is around the time that the lag sets in. What specifically are you looking for?

I wonder if Google searches have any effect on the lag.

(SNIP)

Well, I hadn't remembered reading the posts in which you made decisions about Arden and Aura being Flash's two wives/empresses, much less anything about Arden's sexuality. I figured, if you'd done that, you may have done more with Mongo that would also be fun to read, so I went looking.

[warellis]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

OK, thought so. I've been thinking that for things like voice and pictures, Telepathy and ESP work quite well, but for computer files, you want EK (Lex didn't notice at first, because his computer barely had the memory for text, much less pictures or computer programs, and being one of the more brilliant/powerful madboys on Dp-Earth, he could brute-force it to work; it's not like he needed it to be portable)... it's just that it's harder to make EK work at such long ranges - and just like Telepathy and ESP, you need a target.

EDIT: Namewise, 'hyperwave radio' is great for something from Dp-Earth, but might not work so well for something from Stp-Earth. 'Ultra-Velocity Æthergraph', maybe?

Does anyone feel "quantum modem" sounds a little outdated considering the modem is declining in use? Other than areas that can't get any better, who typically uses a dial-up 56K modem nowadays? Somehow it sounds more outdated than "hyperwave radio".

As for names, if "hyperwave radio" is for Dsp-Earth, and "ultra-velocity aethergraph" is for Stp-Earth, what's the equivalent for Clp-Earth and Fa-Earth?

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by tshiggins

Well, I hadn't remembered reading the posts in which you made decisions about Arden and Aura being Flash's two wives/empresses, much less anything about Arden's sexuality. I figured, if you'd done that, you may have done more with Mongo that would also be fun to read, so I went looking.

I haven't, yet. I think the posts above, and the ones on SB.com, are exactly where I first mentioned my decisions on Dale's and Aura's sexualities, and their positions, and probably the coup that put Flash Gordon on the Imperial Throne in the first place - he sort of fell into the job, due to being the one organizing everyone against Ming, the one to turn then-Princess Aura against her father, and so forth. The whole story would make for a great series of pulp adventure novels or comics, in an era when the Comics Code Authority did not yet exist (though the sexual culture of Mongo would have to be only implied, at most).

Originally Posted by warellis

Does anyone feel "quantum modem" sounds a little outdated considering the modem is declining in use? Other than areas that can't get any better, who typically uses a dial-up 56K modem nowadays? Somehow it sounds more outdated than "hyperwave radio".

Don't we still use modems, and they're just built into other things, though? Maybe not, but I'm drawing a blank on what to call them, instead.

Originally Posted by warellis

As for names, if "hyperwave radio" is for Dsp-Earth, and "ultra-velocity aethergraph" is for Stp-Earth, what's the equivalent for Clp-Earth and Fa-Earth?

Well, 'Ultra-Velocity Æthergraph' isn't confirmed, yet, it's just least-awful name I could come up with on short notice. Might still use it, perhaps in modified form, though: if it transfers voice, it'll be called 'æthervox', instead of 'æthergraph', though I'm not sure what they'd call something that transfers video.


On a completely out-of-left-field note, brought on by the fact that I'm working on the FTL essay, does anyone know if there's a 'Teleportation only' limitation already approved for Lifting ST, and if so, what percentage it is? My search attempts yielded nothing.

[samd6]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

Don't we still use modems, and they're just built into other things, though? Maybe not, but I'm drawing a blank on what to call them, instead.

Does your computer have a port for a phone line or cat-5 cable? If so, it has a modem, and I'm pretty sure my laptop has an internal wireless modem.

On a completely out-of-left-field note, brought on by the fact that I'm working on the FTL essay, does anyone know if there's a 'Teleportation only' limitation already approved for Lifting ST, and if so, what percentage it is? My search attempts yielded nothing.

I believe it is an enhancement on Warp somewhere in Powers, though you might want to look at the mental carrying capacity modifier.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by samd6

Does your computer have a port for a phone line or cat-5 cable? If so, it has a modem, and I'm pretty sure my laptop has an internal wireless modem.

Thought so.

Originally Posted by samd6

I believe it is an enhancement on Warp somewhere in Powers, though you might want to look at the mental carrying capacity modifier.

Searching through Powers did not help me with either. There's an 'Extra Carrying Capacity' enhancement, but I couldn't find a modifier called 'mental carrying capacity' in Powers. I suppose I could treat the vessel itself as the "user's body", since that's what the stardrive entries in Powers seem to do.

[warellis]

I have a question regarding military training. I already know that for many militaries, the training received in WW2 was often much less due to having to hurry recruits through and get them on to the battlefield quick, due to having to deal with mass conscription and stuff. I understand that current modern training is much better at training new recruits into soldiers, mostly for volunteer militaries from what I've heard.

However what about volunteer militaries in WW2, or WW1 given I'm sure many soldiers served in both WW1 and WW2? For example how did the training of the BEF (WW1) or the BEF (WW2) compare to modern First World military training, considering the British military was noted for well trained volunteer militaries that were pretty small?

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by warellis

I have a question regarding military training. I already know that for many militaries, the training received in WW2 was often much less due to having to hurry recruits through and get them on to the battlefield quick, due to having to deal with mass conscription and stuff. I understand that current modern training is much better at training new recruits into soldiers, mostly for volunteer militaries from what I've heard.

However what about volunteer militaries in WW2, or WW1 given I'm sure many soldiers served in both WW1 and WW2? For example how did the training of the BEF (WW1) or the BEF (WW2) compare to modern First World military training, considering the British military was noted for well trained volunteer militaries that were pretty small?

If no-one here gives a useful answer, it might be better to start a thread in the War Room on SB.com for that question. I don't know the answer.

[warellis]

How do the Fa-Earth nonhuman races, or the Dsp-Sol System nonhuman races, treat homosexuality among themselves?

Also Charon, I already showed you this in Spacebattles, but I'll post it here as well:

US Army Field Mess Gear & Olive-Drab. Both contain info on US military field mess gears like canteens and other info. I already showed you this in Spacebattles, but I decided to post it here as well.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by warellis

How do the Fa-Earth nonhuman races, or the Dsp-Sol System nonhuman races, treat homosexuality among themselves?

It varies. Spirits don't all have genders, or have both, or freely switch between them, and even the ones with unchanging sexes and sexual orientations are rather less likely to care what other people are doing. There are some fae cultures or communities that would have issues with it, but most really don't care. As for Dp-Sol system aliens, the Salamander-Men of Venus vary by tribe, the Worm-folk/Mindworms only have one sex, as do the Ululating Martains, the Ice Warriors would find the concept confusing, but might get hostile if encountering an aggressive (socially, or physically) homosexual of their own race, the Changing Martians are shapeshifting telepaths, and thus tend not to complain about that sort of thing, and no-one knows about the Mysterons.

On Dp-Earth, the Mangani mostly wouldn't really care, but the Deep Ones would be rather hostile to the idea.

[warellis]

Hey Charon remember in Spacebattles where I mentioned the possibility of Airtronic USA sending their Mk777 RPG-7s to Dsp-Britain? Well in real life these are primarily for foreign customers who already have RPG ammunition, but here there's another possibility.

I've been thinking, considering the fact on Inp-Earth that battlesuits are now a real possibility, due to the thoughtforms enhancing technology, and considering the US has among the most experience with powered exoskeleton technology experiments, I wonder if Airtronic on Inp-Earth could start marketing their variants of the RPG-7 to US forces. 1. Those launchers are very light, and 2. battlesuits, with their enhanced strength and capabilities, could carry quite a few of them I think in addition to the loads that US soldiers have to deal with. Hell most of the enemies the US military has been facing have been armed with RPG-7s and such, and their warheads would be very effective against Dsp-Germany tanks and other vehicles. They're only 7.7 pounds (3.5 kg).

I understand that the US military already has its own similar set of launchers, like the USMC's SMAW, but the Mk.777 would be lighter, and the ammo is even cheaper. At the very least the US could use enemy ammunition with it. In fact considering Dsp-Britain will be producing RPG-7 launchers and warheads, it'd be great for any Inp-USA forces there because they could share ammo with the Brits.