Upgrading your gun with a comuter/0, why?

[BP]

Somewhat seriously answering post - besides basic targeting and secure discharging -

• When sneaking through security - it 'actually' plays games...
  Verbally identifies body parts in scope... ('Head Shot')
  'Blackbox' recorder (GPS tracking, shots fired, theft tracking...)
  Emergency medical reference

(Can't help it...)
-Apple Variant
click - Sorry, the OS in this weapon is incompatible with the version of ammunition loaded - please reload.
-MS Variant
click - Mode not supported. Weapon switching to basic operation.
-Unix Variant
click - segmentation fault (core dumped). Respawning...

 

[Dave Chase]

BP, you are starting to sound like the 'Rogue Trooper'

Loved that series.

Dave Chase

 

[BP]

BP, you are starting to sound like the 'Rogue Trooper'

Hmm... had to wiki this one - A genetically modified, blue-skinned, manufactured elite soldier? Not sure how to take that! :shock: (British have the coolest sci-fi!)

Seems the Computer/0 could run:

• Translator/0 - and at TL-11 it does realtime 'nuances' - so you can threaten/taunt (or, ok, ask questions first) aliens and backwoods locals.
  
  Agent/0 - with specialization (25% added cost per rating) Rating/X Expert Gun Combat it could fire itself with less negative DMs than with say voice activated trigger and no skill (added -3 DM).

 

[EDG]

Somewhat seriously answering post - besides basic targeting and secure discharging -

• When sneaking through security - it 'actually' plays games...
  Verbally identifies body parts in scope... ('Head Shot')
  'Blackbox' recorder (GPS tracking, shots fired, theft tracking...)
  Emergency medical reference

I can barely handle the idea of people carrying phones that are pretending to be computers nowadays, never mind a gun doing that!

(Takes .45 calibre munitions, fast reload time, also 64GB of MP3 storage, direct link to Weather Channel, wireless internet access, bluetooth compatible, USB socket, and comes with 20 games in case you're bored )

 

[The Chef]

ahh then the Sig-37 from David Gunn's Deaths Head books would really worry you.

It has voting rights on certain worlds as it is full AI.

of course this gun would be running much higher intellect packages.

just had a thought, maybe computer 0 would be reguired for running diagnostics on the weapon, much like how modern cars can be plugged in at the garage, as well as ammo counters, projectile calculators (much like the defunct OICW program).

 

[Dave Chase]

BP, you are starting to sound like the 'Rogue Trooper'

Hmm... had to wiki this one - A genetically modified, blue-skinned, manufactured elite soldier? Not sure how to take that! :shock: (British have the coolest sci-fi!)
...

Look a bit further and you will find 8Ball, MinuteMan and some of the other chips that he carries around. Chips of his other 'dead' buddies.

They talk and have skills which help him through. The talking is interesting and probably annoying at the same time.

Dave Chase

 

[Ishmael]

the more complex it is, the more likely it will break when you need it most

AND be more difficult to repair IF you can find the parts.... and more expensive.

AND the more spectacular any failure/breakage will be

 

[Sturn]

Agent 0

Agent 0 can "carry out tasks assigned to them with a modicum of intelligence". This could have numerous uses.

Combined with a TL 8 laser sight, point at an enemy bunker, tell your rifle to call for artillery on this spot. Your rifle's computer relays target grid information through your comm (assuming TL 11 computer/0 would have something similar to bluetooth) to a nearby battery while you continue to fight without having to stop to call for fire yourself.

When you are low on ammo, sends a message through your comms earpiece saying, "Change your mag, 2 rounds left".

Database

Computer/0 can include a database. This could be called up with lots of good information - Last known locations of enemy units, technical details of enemy equipment and vehicles, list of comms frequencies for other friendly units, a "Soldiers' Manual of Basic Tasks", to remind you how to fix your respirator, call for a medevac, etc.

Networking

I would guess that any TL 9+ soldier would have a personal computer strapped someplace on him that gives computer/1 or better (something like this in Mercenary already?). Per MGT core book, a computer/1 would weigh only .3 kg at TL 12. This soldier's computer could work as his personal network computer for various electronic devices he carries that have integral computer/0. At TL 14, this personal computer could be computer/4 and mass only .25 kg (per Retrotech pg. 91). It might be contradictory to the rules, but this computer as a network server could run any program (on pg. 92) for the rifle that has computer/0?

 

[Jame Rowe]

I would guess that any TL 9+ soldier would have a personal computer strapped someplace on him that gives computer/1 or better (something like this in Mercenary already?). Per MGT core book, a computer/1 would weigh only .3 kg at TL 12. This soldier's computer could work as his personal network computer for various electronic devices he carries that have integral computer/0. At TL 14, this personal computer could be computer/4 and mass only .25 kg (per Retrotech pg. 91). It might be contradictory to the rules, but this computer as a network server could run any program (on pg. 92) for the rifle that has computer/0?

If computer-weave were lower-tech* I'd say he'd have cloth or poly-carapace with computer-weave, possibly even at level 0, which should be sufficient for this.

*: I wrote up a bunch of alternative equipment TL progressions due to my opinion of the MGT TMB bioscanner being 3.5 kg and introduced at TL 15 (no, I won't let that go until and unless it's published in S&P - hint hint, Mistress Law); I really ought to put a revised version of computer weave into it.

 

[Sturn]

Here is a possible issue with the rules regarding the Intelligent Weapon option:

A TL 11 Laser Rifle weighs in at 5 kg and costs 8,000 credits. Add TL 11 Intelligent Weapon (computer/0) adds 1,000 credits with no addition of weight.

Per "retrotech" computers on page 91, at TL 11 you could build a computer/0 that weights only .6 kg and costs only 3 credits (I would think it should cost more not less). Why not add this computer to your TL 11 Laser Rifle making it cost 8,003 credits and weigh 5.6 kg?

Better yet, at the same TL 11 of Intelligent Weapon computer/0, you could instead add computer/1 (not available until TL 13 Intelligent Weapon) for .5 kg and 12 credits. For 5.5 kg instead of 5 kg, you get computer/1 at TL 11 for 12 credits instead of TL 13 for 5,000 credits??

Doesn't appear the Intelligent Weapon options were matched with the computer section very well.

 

[EDG]

It seems a bit strange to tack a computer onto a gun though - guns aren't exactly thing you'd refer to a lot, there's nowhere to put a display (unless you're peering through the sights all the time).

I can see a "computer-enhanced" gun being practical though, with say palmprint detectors on the handle, intelligent ammo usage, friend or foe ID (assuming friends don't move into the line of fire accidentally) etc... but a full blown computer seems a bit overkill.

 

[Sturn]

It seems a bit strange to tack a computer onto a gun though

I didn't mean tacking one on. I meant the manufacturer could include such a thing in the weapon. The technology is there to make such a small computer that makes the Intelligent Weapon option seem obsolete. I would have hoped that the computer rules would have matched up with the weapon options.

 

[BP]

I can barely handle the idea of people carrying phones that are pretending to be computers nowadays, never mind a gun doing that!

(Takes .45 calibre munitions, fast reload time, also 64GB of MP3 storage, direct link to Weather Channel, wireless internet access, bluetooth compatible, USB socket, and comes with 20 games in case you're bored )

:lol: - Don't forget google maps so you can locate your target - plus one can order ammunition while online (the iGun - and visit the iGunApps Store for the very latest in high tech apps to die for)...

With you, on the phone-as-computer thing (falls in my 'cute, but not so practical yet' category) - but last week a client had no other net access and needed to get into a remote computer - so I set him up using RDP on his iPhone. With limited typing requirements, it works quite slick (though he can't simultaneously use the phone unless 3G/WiFi connected)!


As for displays - one could use a projector (there are phones available today with this feature) with a simple see thru screen - or an eye based one (been around for over 20 years). Hologram would be better - but TL-11 inidicates 'toaster-sized box'.

 

[BP]

the more complex it is, the more likely it will break when you need it most
AND be more difficult to repair IF you can find the parts.... and more expensive.
AND the more spectacular any failure/breakage will be

Exactly!

Referee just grins. :twisted:

 

[dreamingbadger]

It seems a bit strange to tack a computer onto a gun though - guns aren't exactly thing you'd refer to a lot, there's nowhere to put a display (unless you're peering through the sights all the time).

I can see a "computer-enhanced" gun being practical though, with say palmprint detectors on the handle, intelligent ammo usage, friend or foe ID (assuming friends don't move into the line of fire accidentally) etc... but a full blown computer seems a bit overkill.

Ah true IFF is already available.... anything holding the gun Friend anything not holding the gun foe... very simple

 

[EDG]

It seems a bit strange to tack a computer onto a gun though

I didn't mean tacking one on. I meant the manufacturer could include such a thing in the weapon.

That's what I meant.

 

[The Chef]

i know semi pro paintballers who have lovely bits of twinkly lights on their markers... cos they can!

 

[GamerDude]

Just the thing.

You're in the middle a firefight, and you pull the trigger on your gun - and it suddenly starts talking.

"It looks as if you are trying to kill an enemy. Would you like me to

- Load a round from the magazine into the chamber?

- Send a message to HQ to confirm that the soldier in my sights is, in fact, an enemy?

- Download the latest trial version of my Fire & Forget software v 3.4 (30 days' trial)?"

And after all that, the little display on the side suddenly freezes up and there's a BSoD in its place.

Now THAT is a great event for a nice game of Paranoia!

 

[CosmicGamer]

Here is a possible issue with the rules regarding the Intelligent Weapon option:

A TL 11 Laser Rifle weighs in at 5 kg and costs 8,000 credits. Add TL 11 Intelligent Weapon (computer/0) adds 1,000 credits with no addition of weight.

Per "retrotech" computers on page 91, at TL 11 you could build a computer/0 that weights only .6 kg and costs only 3 credits (I would think it should cost more not less). Why not add this computer to your TL 11 Laser Rifle making it cost 8,003 credits and weigh 5.6 kg?

Better yet, at the same TL 11 of Intelligent Weapon computer/0, you could instead add computer/1 (not available until TL 13 Intelligent Weapon) for .5 kg and 12 credits. For 5.5 kg instead of 5 kg, you get computer/1 at TL 11 for 12 credits instead of TL 13 for 5,000 credits??

Doesn't appear the Intelligent Weapon options were matched with the computer section very well.

I agree with your price issues.

You don't just slap a laptop on the dashboard on a 1950's automobile and suddenly get a computerized car. The computers in automobiles are integrated with sensors and other devices throughout the automobile. So I have no issues with the computer provided by the Intelligent weapon upgrade not matching perfectly with other computer specs. I believe the Intelligent weapon upgrade is meant to be a more integrated enhancement to the weapon. Go ahead and take whatever computer the regular rules let you design and slap it to the side of a weapon and it can be playing music, acting as a translator, or whatever else a regular computer can do but this is not an Intelligent Weapon upgrade to me.

 

[Eisenmann]

The ipod/iphone add-on isn't a joke. It's used as a ballistic computer. Anyone here ever do any long range shooting?