Request for assistance - a world without electricity

[catsmate]

Speech? That's how we do it

Or you could have something similar to a keyboard and a monitor with bioluminescence

Another thing I hadn't though of, yes that makes sense. I wonder if one of the groups competing with the players might not be a bio-tech heavy society; living guided missiles perhaps.

 

[catsmate]

Summary of ideas so far.

Sorry if I've missed anything anyone's suggested, just a quick recap.

1. Biotech
Probably not a big part of the characters gear, unless the players start coming up with more ideas of their own However some form or night vision/thermal imaging has been suggested by one person. Also simple environmental tests for water and similar. Other ideas I may give them are some sort of ultrasonic imaging for medical use and bioluminescent fungi. Amazing how much advanced medical tech won't work under these conditions.
I must re-read GURPS Bio-tech.

2. Airship
I like the idea of this. A self-assembly design using advanced materials, a LTA solid (foamed vacuum) for lift, water for ballast and a valveless pulse-jet or prop driven by steam turbine for propulsion.
I hadn't planned on a long journey, but I think one is in order.

3.Communications laser
For surface to orbit comms. A chemical powered laser using a mechanical mounting. Initial setup via sextant on pre-selected stars or satellites.
Laser modulated either directly by voice or mechanically via motor system.

4. Orbital cloak/mirror
To impress the locals. Not necessarily used by the players, maybe the Evil Empire deploys one.

5. On planet vehicles
Microlight aircraft for reconnaissance.
Autogyros for recon/light attack
Light wheeled vehicles for general transport
M113 type APC
Engines will be turbine/IC using compression ignition, mechanical starting.

6. On planet communications
Signal balloon, a large-ish teardrop/sphere with LTA solid for lift and coloured lights for signaling. Controlled from the ground via a very thin pneumatic tubes. Or maybe optic fibres.
Fibre optic telegraph: connect bases et cetera; using some kind of mechanical modulation of a non-electric light source. Possibly even voice communication.

7. Surface to orbit transport
I've crunched the numbers on this [GURPS Vehicles] and a spaceplane using a solid-core nuclear thermal rocket should do the trick; 2G acceleration and ~20 kps delta-V. Payload is ~35 tonnes of which ~90% is water reaction mass. Mechanical control computer.


Thanks for you input, please continue. Any comments, suggestions gratefully received.

 

[Horatius]

Wow! That would never have occurred to me. It's such a wonderful idea that I'm sorry to have to veto it as it would make resupply a little too easy.
However one of the other groups arriving might utilise it, to enable them to move large forces onto the planet; thus requiring the players to sabotage it. Preferably without causing large chunks to fall on anything important.

Woohoo! I broke the game!

Again, despite working with fibre in the datacomms field that's something that I hadn't thought of. Excellent idea.
Could you directly modulate a light signal mechanically to carry voice over a fibre cable I wonder?

Encoding it would be easy. I'd use a total internal reflection switch like this:

http://www.google.com/patents/US6056696

The voice would vibrate the membrane, which would modulate the light by passing it, or not passing it as appropriate, much like an electrical microphone. The hard part would be manufacturing it to the required tolerances, which means such phones would be rare, and expensive, limiting their utilization. The Morse code versions would be much more common, then.

What would be much harder is how you'd use the light to reproduce sound on the other end.....With electricity, you could record it with a film strip, and play it back, like they did with the early talking films.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound-on-film

Could you maybe record the output on a vinyl disc, and play it back with a mechanical phonograph? You might need some kind of photoresist/acid etch system to create the grooves. This makes sending messages easy, but receiving and decoding them hard.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoresist

 

[Cuddles]

4. On-planet transport
As far as I can see simple vehicles not using electrical systems should be OK. No spark ignition.

Why no spark? Flintlock pistols work well enough without electricity, as do things like fire steels. You could even get petrol engines working using a mechanical flint striking system in place of the spark plugs. Perhaps not quite as robust as a non-electric diesel, but I don't see why it would be ruled out.

 

[catsmate]

Why no spark? Flintlock pistols work well enough without electricity, as do things like fire steels. You could even get petrol engines working using a mechanical flint striking system in place of the spark plugs. Perhaps not quite as robust as a non-electric diesel, but I don't see why it would be ruled out.

Well I was going for reliability, for the characters gear anyway.
Actually as you mention it, the idea of a mechanically sparked ignition system is fascinating.

 

[catsmate]

Woohoo! I broke the game!

Not quite but certainly you've made things more .............interesting for the players.

Encoding it would be easy. I'd use a total internal reflection switch like this:

http://www.google.com/patents/US6056696

The voice would vibrate the membrane, which would modulate the light by passing it, or not passing it as appropriate, much like an electrical microphone. The hard part would be manufacturing it to the required tolerances, which means such phones would be rare, and expensive, limiting their utilization. The Morse code versions would be much more common, then.

What would be much harder is how you'd use the light to reproduce sound on the other end.....With electricity, you could record it with a film strip, and play it back, like they did with the early talking films.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound-on-film

Could you maybe record the output on a vinyl disc, and play it back with a mechanical phonograph? You might need some kind of photoresist/acid etch system to create the grooves. This makes sending messages easy, but receiving and decoding them hard.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoresist

More thought needed here.
Anyway I'm off for the trek home. Thanks your you input.

 

[Myriad]

With a cable of five or six parallel optical fibers, you could send and receive text considerably faster than morse code, though slower than live voice. The sending rig is a keyboard; each key press slides a mask into place over the six fiber ends, determining which fibers are lit. The mask stays in place until a different key is pressed.

Receiving would have to be by eyeball, preferably dark-adapted eyes in a dark room.

Transducing light modulated by a voice back into voice without electricity is an interesting problem. Recording the light on a moving strip of photosensitive chemical, which is then converted to a physical contour by some kind of etching process, and then using the contour as a phonograph, may be the best approach. Ideally, it would work in a continuous assembly-line way on one long moving strip of material, so that the voice output is heard continuously but with a several-minute delay.

 

[catsmate]

On the subject of optic fibres I've been reading up on photo-acoustic and other materials that directly convert light into mechanical energy. It should, with more advanced materials engineered at the molecular level, be possible to create a "photo-phone" allowing direct audio communication via optic fibres.

 

[Cuddles]

Receiving would have to be by eyeball, preferably dark-adapted eyes in a dark room.

Ticker-tape with photo-active dye. Essentially the same idea as re-writeable CDs. Just have it continuously scrolling through a receiving station and any message will be permanently marked on the tape.

 

[catsmate]

Well I'm going to give my players their 'briefing' tonight, complete with some ideas on equipment to consider. It'll be lacking a few crucial details, extensive data on the local inhabitants, the other factions that'll arrive or be there already. This will give the players some time to prepare before the scenario begins, sometime in the new year I'd say as they're currently forted up in a Traveller style ATV avoiding some rather large maggots......

Thanks to everyone for your contributions and please don't consider the thread closed; if you've anything to say go ahead. I'd be happy for more surprises for the players.
In the meantime take a look at this site.