From: CGS <michael@c...>
Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1999 09:24:25 +0000
Subject: [OT] Re Underwater questions
> I'm working on creating a background for a RPG set on a waterworld and > comunites? Food (no problem in the ocean unless the biochemistry is weird (and if it is what idiot picked the planet to settle on). Air, no problem, can be recycled pretty well, oxygen and H2 can be cracked from water using a bige nuke plant to provide fuel for the smaller subs. > 3) Is there a detailed design system for Submarine design? Why not use Full Thrust, with the hull strength limiting the dive depth! > 4) Would a submarine fighter (like from Sea Quest or Archemdian I doubt it, torps are fast but the endurance problem is a killer and they are much slower than fighter aircraft (50kts, admittedly for WW II). > 5) What is the best shape for a lander desgined to move though the air Streamlined > 6) What would be the best simulater for underwater combat be? No idea, but combat would be slow (minutes not seconds) at anything but knife-fighting ranges. > 7) Would "cralwers" be usable? Yes, not very fast and probably limited to shallower water if manned. > 8) What does it take to do under water mining? Robots? Pressure is again the problem, Surface mining is easier than actual underground mining, They do mine under the seabed now but they are surface mines that have galleries extending out under the sea and thus relativly shallow. I think it would be possible in shallow water but in deeper water I doubt it. > 9) What would be the normal shapes that buildings be based on? Domes, strong and simple,though as long as the pressure balances almost any shape would do? > 10) What type of weapons would work (lasers are out, but what about Lasers would work, blue-green ones anyway. Range might be limited though, depending on the clarity of the water, hmmn, estury mouth, lots of suspended sediment, 1/4 range. Almost anything would work but ranges would be way down, tens of metres instead of hundreds for any projectile hand weapon. Torps. Im thinking of the Russian rocket powered torps, cannot remember the speed but fast. What were those David Drake (?) stories about a waterworld with really hostile plant life on the islands? Another nice book is T.J. Bass's 'The Godwhale'.