Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony
Force screens do not explicitly multiply their weight by area in Spaceships, it just scales DR with SM. Ultratech p191 seems to use a scaling of DR*radius, though my preferred formula is DR^2*radius.
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SS force screens scale exactly the same way DR does - by SM, as you note. Each +1 to SM is +3 SSR (x3, or scales with (linear measurement)^3) to weight, +2 SSR (x2, or scales (linear measurement)^2) to surface area, and +1 SSR (x1.5, or scales with linear measurement) to DR, which indicates that, as for armor, if surface area is held constant you'd see DR scaling linearly with weight. You are correct that this isn't the way barrier screens in UT function, but I can't use those in my equation because their power requirements are complete unknowns.
Of course, looking at things again, I see the conformal force screens don't follow my equation either. There's no scaling provided, so presumably the Personal Force Screen weighs, costs, and protects the same if designed for an SM+3 vehicle as when designed for an SM-2 TekRat. Additionally, the Tactical Force Screen is indicated to cover the same sorts of things as the Personal Force Screen and grants x2.5 to DR, but has both x2.5 to power consumption and x4 to weight.
But my equation was meant more to give a ballpark figure, to demonstrate that the kind of DR the force screen of a force sword should have is enough to be functionally unbreakable against anything that won't also break the hilt (and wielder).