Tech

[The Rock Doctor]

I'm comfortable with adapting some past variant of the process for researching tech to our new system.  Now, what's available, what's easy, and what's difficult?

Assumptions:

-The new worlders will have operationalized the necessary tech to build civilian ships, anti-critter defences, and probably police/coast guard type ships.

-The new worlders will have some degree of computers

-The new worlders will have general data on historical weapons.  The newer that tech is, the more data they have - but the more difficult it is to replicate.  Older stuff is easier, but less data is available as you go further back into the books.  So early 20th century tech is in the sweet spot where there's reasonable data and also reasonable simplicity.

So:

-What historical tech would we expect they've got operational?

-What historical tech would come easy, once researched?

-What would be difficult or just not obviously useful? 

-How do we treat the advance in sensors and computers?

-Are types of ships going to be more difficult to work out than individual items?

-Is the real challenge manufacturing stuff, or using it effectively afterward?

I'm pulling some thoughts together.  Give me yours.

[Carthaginian]

-What historical tech would we expect they've got operational?

A suggestion: We are able to build naval rifles... but initially only to a fairly limited caliber. Our New Worlders have developed the ability to construct weapons of up to 8" caliber for startup. They have yet to develop the kinds of major industrial facilities necessary to produce large-caliber weapons. Researching larger weapons is not a problem at all- the problem is growing a facility to the point that they can produce such large weapons.

Similar situations exist with submarines and torpedoes- primitive models can be produced easily, but modern designs are harder to create... especially very fast or very deep-diving ones.
Ditto for aircraft- wood/canvas aircraft are easy to build and can be operated from remote island bases or ships fairly easily... but once they get near land the Rocs are likely to knock them out.

-What historical tech would come easy, once researched?

Propulsion - engine years would be a thing of the past. We know the best way of building the engines; what you are researching is more precise machining technology rather than actual engine construction. Since this kind of precision manufacturing would be used in all things, there would be a lot of 'carry over.'

Torpedoes - though these would be very primitive at the start, they would progress rather fast. Again, the big problems with torps were all in precision manufacturing- bad gyros, poor detonators, unreliable depth control. As precision manufacturing progresses, then your equipment would show gains across the board.

-What would be difficult or just not obviously useful?

My vote - SPECIAL WEAPONS- development any NBC items would be illegal by treaty. They could be developed... but it would have to be outrageously pricy to do so, and would run the risk of getting you smacked around.

-How do we treat the advance in sensors and computers?

Long-range naval gunnery + microprocessor computers x advanced radar = dead ships.
I'd say that the precious few powerful (read: home-desktop sized) computers that exist are jealously-guarded and heavily protected. They are used in manufacturing and designing... mechanical computers are simpler to build and their loss is more easily tolerated.

-Are types of ships going to be more difficult to work out than individual items?

Not sure what ya mean here.

-Is the real challenge manufacturing stuff, or using it effectively afterward?

Tactics are known, doctrine is known... a colony trying to build itself back up to the tech level that got it from Earth-That-Was  to 'wherever they are now' is the problem! Building big things or complex ones is the real difficulty I see.

[miketr]

What is the tech level of the colony to start the game with?  This tells us in general terms whats possible.  The Sea's of Venus setting for example big gun battleships are the way to go because of the state of tech.  Airplanes and missiles are mindlessly easy to just shoot down with rapid fire / high velocity, radar controlled weapons.  Shells are sturdy enough that they can't just be shot down.

Michael

[Valles]

As I noted over in the main thread, I think that research efforts would be better handled as using surviving fragmentary texts to guide more-or-less figuring things out 'the hard way'. Otherwise we run into a situation were improving your computer technology and ability to sort through the Datalinks far outperforms any other focus.

[Nobody]

I'm with Valles on the tech stuff. The general trend is know to everybody, but all the details would have to be reworked starting with tools of 1880s or 1890s standard and precision.


I don't know if it's true, but just a couple of years back I hear a story. Nasa was asked to go Mars. They found out they couldn't. Best thing they came up with was to rebuild the Saturn V - only to find out that they had no idea how, and everybody they could have asked had already retired.
Imagine a microchip-designer asked to develop and build a new one - without computer and nothing but a few hand powered tools.

[Carthaginian]

As I noted over in the main thread, I think that research efforts would be better handled as using surviving fragmentary texts to guide more-or-less figuring things out 'the hard way'. Otherwise we run into a situation were improving your computer technology and ability to sort through the Datalinks far outperforms any other focus.

Computers can only develop as fast as the rest of your tech.
I might be able to read about designing an interstellar spacecraft with a fusion core, but until I have built the things I need to build the things I need to build the ship... well I really can't do shit with that knowledge.