NarnKar's Nonsense

Discuss and distribute tools and methods for modding. Moderator - Grognak
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NarnKar
Posts: 778
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2014 4:24 pm

Re: NarnKar's Nonsense

Postby NarnKar » Sun Apr 03, 2016 9:45 am

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I'm approaching the point where I'm finally happy with how the Terminus looks. so you can expect to play the mod for yourself...soon?

(Since this post, I've made some tiny edits to the markings, and added the front screws on the left front plate that were missing on the right; I didn't bother reuploading images because I'm lazy)


EDIT:

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EDIT 2:

So the basic idea of the lore for this ship is that it's an experimental weapons platform, developed as a cross between Federation and Rock tech. It was abandoned and left unfinished as the war broke out and resources stretched thin.

In the thick of the war, a scout intercepts data on the Rebel Flagship, beaming it to every single ship with a Federation ID--abandoned or otherwise. Pirates hijacked it, but discovered that this ship carries that vital information. Realizing that they now serve a greater purpose, they head for Federation base...

Ship class "Missile Frigate".

Augments: Missile Replicator. Rock Plating (for rock heritage), or Scrap Recovery (for pirate heritage). 1 shield bubble, 1 engines, 1 O2, 1 medbay, 4 weapons (?).
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NarnKar
Posts: 778
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2014 4:24 pm

Re: NarnKar's Nonsense

Postby NarnKar » Sun Jul 24, 2016 2:50 am

Today's topic is AI.

My headcanon for AI is that the Federation and Rebellion disagreed on how to use AI.

In my headcanon, AI independence issue was a factor in the Rebellion. The Federation decided to be cautious and limit AI independence to optimizing ship functions (the role of the captain). The Federation also wanted to consider the philosophical consequences of creating artificial, but fully sentient life. From Kestrel Adventures episode 19, I also take the headcanon that the Engi didn't support human-created AI, and the Federation was unwilling to risk their alliance to pursue AI research.

Some in the Rebellion, though, were all for the use of AI, supporting the construction and autonomous activity of fully automated, intelligent scouts--almost forcing those AIs into serving the Rebellion. In my headcanon, the Rebel Flagship contains the core AI module responsible for organizing and directing the actions of the autofleet.

In Captain's Edition, too--there are AI-controlled sectors, whose denizens threw off the controls of their previous masters. The AIs, represented as holograms (recycled ghost data, 50HP but don't suffocate), are rather hostile towards outsiders.

[1] [2]

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How did the Federation use AI? That idea is taken from here:

We never know which crew member represents "us", the person who makes the decisions. When a crew member randomly dies, we never die with that crew member, and it's entirely possible for all of the original crew to die but the ship to continue with new(er) crew.

The other thing that always bothered me is that when you're in, say, a mantis ship, the text tells you to be wary of the mantis, as if you're not one yourself.

The way it makes sense to me is that the "Captain" is an AI that runs on the ship. The Federation has programmed "us" to only be able run the ship when there's crew on it. This is probably one of the things the Federation disagrees with the Rebellion about, since they clearly have no qualms about using AI for their auto scouts. As an AI, you've just been put onto some ship that's available, so you don't already have a working knowledge of whatever sector is out there. And in combat, you're not "pausing"--you're just making decisions very quickly.

It also adds a little something extra to the Flagship battle. On the off chance that you kill all the crew, you discover that the enemy ship is also equipped with an AI: perhaps one that you could have been, had you been in the Rebellion.

This is also why you're able to make decisions that affect the crew objectively. You can take the risk of say, fighting giant alien spiders or exploring a secret base purely on the likelihood that you'll get to the end, not whether or not any one crew member will die. But the Federation recognises that that kind of thinking can get all the crew killed and have a ghost ship that just flies itself. So they make sure that the AI knows that if there's no crew on it, it can't do anything.

This is also why (in my head) you can't jump without a pilot. There needs to be someone keyed into the system who activates the jump drive. If your ship is lost and drifting in space, looters come and wreck it because there isn't anyone keyed into the system to reactivate the engine.