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Kaleb Graff

Posted 24 December 2009 - 03:35 AM

Also, in Showdown at Centerpoint, repulsors pushed off the atmosphere as they descended.

There is such a thing as a hovercraft that uses an air cushion for flotation. I'd like to think that any reference to "hover" in a vehicle's name operates on this technology, but undoubtedly there's a lot of technical ignorance with the term. Hmm, that probably doesn't help much if SaC was dealing with ships...

This was during the mess with the coneship, which, though a piece of junk, was actually interplanetary-capable. Also, I'm a big hoverscout fan, and want to see it in the mod soon.

Phoenix Rising

Posted 24 December 2009 - 03:03 AM

Also, in Showdown at Centerpoint, repulsors pushed off the atmosphere as they descended.

There is such a thing as a hovercraft that uses an air cushion for flotation. I'd like to think that any reference to "hover" in a vehicle's name operates on this technology, but undoubtedly there's a lot of technical ignorance with the term. Hmm, that probably doesn't help much if SaC was dealing with ships...

BansheeMalthus

Posted 23 December 2009 - 10:27 PM

I don't think that works, because then they couldn't climb hills. Also, in Showdown at Centerpoint, repulsors pushed off the atmosphere as they descended.

What about them working off of friction created/generated? This would make some sense seeing working off atmospheres, and the max height for snow speeders. On hoth the higher you went the thinner the air got, reducing the amount of friction available for such a small craft. Bty the same token, an Acclamator or Vic coming through the atmosphere would be producing its own friction just by re-entry, thereby enabling its repulsorlifts to function, at least a little. Just a theory mind you.

Kaleb Graff

Posted 23 December 2009 - 03:33 PM

I don't think that works, because then they couldn't climb hills. Also, in Showdown at Centerpoint, repulsors pushed off the atmosphere as they descended.

Tropical Bob

Posted 23 December 2009 - 07:14 AM

It's probably some sort of reactionless 'push' that either 'pushes' off of the surface of any object with mass, or at the center of mass of an object.

The landspeeders could still be pushing off of the center of mass of the planet, they just are given enough power to get a planet's radius and the small change to keep them off the surface.

Kaleb Graff

Posted 22 December 2009 - 09:16 PM

I know, but the performance is often baffling. I've seen the maximum range listed at 6 planetary diameters, but most landspeeders can't get very high at all, meaning they have to be pushing off the surface, which is very odd. Also, we have hugely differing numbers on ship repulsor power and range. I know what they do, it's the how that matters, however.

Phoenix Rising

Posted 22 December 2009 - 07:00 PM

The biggest problem is that we have no idea how repuslors works, and there are several contradictory indicators, ranging from distances of 6 planetary diameters to barely floating.

D6 lists stats for vehicle altitude ranges, so presumably it's variable depending on power output or repulsor quality.

Kaleb Graff

Posted 21 December 2009 - 07:38 PM

It was sort of elaborate, involving multiple teams to take out the backups. The city was in a canyon, and the Acclamator was the transport. Even then, in an assault situation, which this was not, bringing big ships in close is a bad idea. Look at the core ships in Episode II. The biggest problem is that we have no idea how repuslors works, and there are several contradictory indicators, ranging from distances of 6 planetary diameters to barely floating. Honestly, until we know more, we really can't answer the question.
Also, using a ship like that against conventional enemies is stupid. All the other guy has to have is a starship-grade ion cannon that can get through your shields. If they disable you at a kilometer under standard gravity, you'll have about 14 seconds to reset your repulsors before you hit. It's like trying to bombard targets right on the coastline with a battleship and sailing in as close as possible. You've got limited room to maneuver, are rather obvious to anyone and everyone, and are vulnerable to anyone with a missile, and you can't see them any better than if you were over the horizon.

Tropical Bob

Posted 21 December 2009 - 07:25 PM

I don't think it's very often that a Rebel saboteur would manage to sneak onto a warship and disable the repulsors on his own. I'd say the entire system wouldn't be linked to one grid, preventing one act of sabotage, and would have some sort of back-up system for something so important. One kilometer might not have been enough distance for the backups to activate, or maybe Acclamators didn't have very well designed systems.

I did say the lines leading up to the Imperial-class, you know. Not to say that it was directly based off of the Acclamator- and Venator-classes, but they certainly must have had some inspiration for it, especially with the garrison aspect. Maybe the Imperial-class was based off of designs more fit for ship-to-ship combat, but the Empire seems to have made an effort to bring its head ship of the line more towards its fighting troopships of the past. And as it's been said before, having the transport in the atmosphere would decrease the time that the shuttles from the ship are vulnerable, as well as allowing for fire support like the Acclamator you mentioned above.

Kaleb Graff

Posted 21 December 2009 - 03:18 PM

Lastly, bringing something that big into the atmosphere on a regular basis is stupid. What happens if the repuslors fail or are sabotaged. I've actually used said sabotage in an RPG game to destroy an imp spaceport.

That must have been one heck of an adventure. Of course, the collateral damage would be terrible, but, as they're Imperials...

The ship was an Acclamator, and was about a kilometer up, as they were using it for fire support, so it just trashed the spaceport.

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