Vargr: "their eyesight is worse in darkness?!?"

[actionman]

Here's an example of a prototype 360 degree vision system.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21628956-000-all-seeing-headset-gives-you-360-degree-vision/

 

[Condottiere]

In a Traveller context, I wonder. As an infantryman's armor becomes larger and heavier (combat armor and battledress), being detectable to high TL sensors may not be avoidable. Casualties might be very high.

I was thinking about this in terms of battlefield/battlespace operating systems.

Maneuver
Mobility / Countermobility / Survivability
Fire Support
Air Defense
Intelligence (or Failures Thereof)
Combat Service Support
Command & Control (or Running Around Like a Chicken With It's Head Cut Off)

And the gist of it was try to use one's BOS to disrupt the enemy's BOS to gain a decisive advantage and win the battle.

Then I started thinking about more specific systems, like infantry, artillery, aircraft, drones, armor, etc., along the lines of which BOS to use to knock out the enemy's BOS, like use EMP weapons or stacked munition volley guns loaded with shot or something mounted on vehicles to destroy or neutralize enemy drones, which would enable aggressive use of one's armored vehicles.

https://fighterjetsworld.com/air/fi...nute-how-the-hell-this-is-even-possible/9095/

To justify a a restricted budget allocation for ground forces, I decided that the battlefield would be flooded with jamming on a massive scale, anticipating that everything will be effected.

Which allows ground forces to swarm the enemy, with a time table and rather fixed objectives, since you'd have to assume that communications would be, at best, difficult, if non existent.

Fibre optic wires would be used extensively, though artillery will likely break them.

Anything that flies would be shot down.

 

[Sigtrygg]

In which case every munition is going to be smart AI enabled so in the event of being jammed it still kills the enemy...

And your jammers just became the target of priority for anti-radiation drones/missiles

AGM-88 HARM - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

not to mention my airborne EM pulse emitters...

 

[actionman]

And your jammers just became the target of priority for anti-radiation drones/missiles

Very true. They'd be in severe danger as soon as they turned on.

 

[actionman]

Given a ECM saturated environment that is also ADA saturated, I supposed long range indirect fires with homing munitions could be effective against ECM emitters. It would definitely be worth a try, at least. Enemy ECM emitter sites could counter with point defense systems, but that makes their emitter sites larger and more vulnerable to a hypersonic missile or a small swarm of missiles that release cluster munitions before entering into the enemy's point defense range.

 

[Condottiere]

That would be accounted for, with redundancy.

The idea would be overrunning the enemy, before you run out of jammers, and countered artillery.

 

[ottarrus]

Let me also say that it shouldn't be the Traveller referee's job to be 100% up on every conceivable technological development. Not every referee has the time or the interest to keep up with all technologies and their current stage of prototyping.
For the sake of game flow and people's tempers it's sometimes best to just wing it and accept the ref's table ruling on a given tech question.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Not so for a book author though.

 

[actionman]

I'm still trying to get over 'jump tapes', those big chonkin' tape cassettes that navigators are suppose to slot into their bridge computers like a giant C60 cassette tape or Atari cartridge. And of course they're self-erasing, so the manufacturers can keep gouging the starfaring public.

 

[ottarrus]

I'm still trying to get over 'jump tapes', those big chonkin' tape cassettes that navigators are suppose to slot into their bridge computers like a giant C60 cassette tape or Atari cartridge. And of course they're self-erasing, so the manufacturers can keep gouging the starfaring public.

Jump tapes were supposed to be for ships that didn't have an astrogator. The reason why they were one-use was the increased likelihood of misjump trying to use the same tape multiple times. I'm sure that Makhidkarun or LSP are happy to profit from that circumstance however
The solution to that problem is, of course, to learn Astrogation....

 

[WHULorigan]

I'm still trying to get over 'jump tapes', those big chonkin' tape cassettes that navigators are suppose to slot into their bridge computers like a giant C60 cassette tape or Atari cartridge. And of course they're self-erasing, so the manufacturers can keep gouging the starfaring public.

Well, the original Classic Traveller books said "Jump Cassettes", not tapes actually. People misremember the word "Tapes". So, what is a "Cassette" in Traveller terms? It doesn't necessarily have to mean a "tape" (although I am sure that something similar was in the mind of the author at the time).

 

[Condottiere]

At this point, mini compact disc, or flash drive.

 

[Geir]

Well, the original Classic Traveller books said "Jump Cassettes", not tapes actually. People misremember the word "Tapes". So, what is a "Cassette" in Traveller terms? It doesn't necessarily have to mean a "tape" (although I am sure that something similar was in the mind of the author at the time).

The unfortunate lovechild of an 8-track and a Betamax.

 

[actionman]

Well, the original Classic Traveller books said "Jump Cassettes", not tapes actually. People misremember the word "Tapes". So, what is a "Cassette" in Traveller terms? It doesn't necessarily have to mean a "tape" (although I am sure that something similar was in the mind of the author at the time).

https://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Jump_Tape

I checked LBB 2 and you're right it says cassettes, but the wiki says tape, so I guess it's a cassette which may or may not have tape in it. But, I still think it chonks in like a giant Atari cartridge.

The unfortunate lovechild of an 8-track and a Betamax.

I shudder to think how that child was conceived. At least it wasn't a reel to reel. Imagine the astrogator rolling a 2 on his navigation check and the ref says "The tape breaks!"

 

[Sigtrygg]

I'm still trying to get over 'jump tapes', those big chonkin' tape cassettes that navigators are suppose to slot into their bridge computers like a giant C60 cassette tape or Atari cartridge. And of course they're self-erasing, so the manufacturers can keep gouging the starfaring public.

Where is their size listed?

The book says "self-erasing cassettes" but I have never seen a size indicated.

Jump tapes were supposed to be for ships that didn't have an astrogator. The reason why they were one-use was the increased likelihood of misjump trying to use the same tape multiple times. I'm sure that Makhidkarun or LSP are happy to profit from that circumstance however
The solution to that problem is, of course, to learn Astrogation....

No, they were for ships that didn't have the very expensive generate program. There were no rules for a navigator to plot a jump, you needed a computer running the correct program.

 

[Sigtrygg]

https://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Jump_Tape

I checked LBB 2 and you're right it says cassettes, but the wiki says tape, so I guess it's a cassette which may or may not have tape in it. But, I still think it chonks in like a giant Atari cartridge.

Fanon and lack of research strikes again.

I shudder to think how that child was conceived. At least it wasn't a reel to reel. Imagine the astrogator rolling a 2 on his navigation check and the ref says "The tape breaks!"

No tape was mentioned, just cassette.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Well, the original Classic Traveller books said "Jump Cassettes", not tapes actually. People misremember the word "Tapes". So, what is a "Cassette" in Traveller terms? It doesn't necessarily have to mean a "tape" (although I am sure that something similar was in the mind of the author at the time).

Say the word cassette to someone in the late 70s and they were synonymous with music cassettes, betamax and VHS video cassettes, and those lovely 8-tracks. If you want to feel very old take a look at when the mini-video cassettes for camcorders were first produced, or when the first cds started replacing music cassettes.

Would computer storage in the 57th century rely on magnetic tapes? I very much doubt it. There are children in schools now who don't know what a cd or DVD are, and think all screens respond to swipes and touch.

 

[Condottiere]

 

[MasterGwydion]

Fanon and lack of research strikes again.

"cas·sette
[kəˈset]
noun
cassette (noun) · cassettes (plural noun)

1. a sealed plastic unit containing a length of audiotape, videotape, film, etc. wound on a pair of spools, for insertion into a recorder or playback device:
   "the machine jammed when I put the cassette in"

Origin
late 18th century: from French, diminutive of casse (see case)."

Looks like your statement is false.

No tape was mentioned, just cassette.

See above. You do not need to mention "tape", tape is mentioned in the very definition of the word "cassette"

 

[Sigtrygg]

My statement is correct, you are just cherry picking a modern definition for cassette.

I think you may need to read exactly what I said - fanon introduced tape as a replacement for cassette due to the mistaken juxtaposition of tape and cassette. I have lost track of how many people on boards such as these and earlier used the term "jump tape".

And you need to look for non-cherry picked definitions:

"a usually flat case or cartridge that can be easily loaded or unloaded: such as a lightproof magazine for holding film or plates for use in a camera"

"Essentially, a cassette is a compact and enclosed holder for various types of media, providing a convenient way to insert, remove, and protect the contents"

"Historically, the term "cassette" referred to a small, enclosed container used for holding various types of media or items. Before the advent of magnetic tape cassettes, the word was used in contexts such as:

• Camera Film Cassette: A container for photographic film used in cameras.
• Medical Cassette: A small container for holding medical samples or specimens.

The concept of a cassette has always been about providing a compact, protective, and easily transportable case for different contents."

To a child of the late seventies, early eighties, cassette was, unfortunately, too closely identified with magnetic tape holders that this is what now appears in modern dictionaries, but if you look for wider or historical then you find the word cassette was used long before magnetic tape was invented.

Like I said, lack of research