102 replies to this topic

[Blodo]

Nobody can live on canned food alone tbh, I don't think they make things like canned oranges per se

Power, forget fossil fuels. Think more solar energy, wind mills, and such. Without electricity, not much else is gonna happen. You could use corn to make ethanol to fuel vehicles and generators.

You also need to learn real quick how to gather minerals and metals from the ground, you know so you can make your own guns.

You have to have common knowledge about this first so as to not be forced to reinvent the wheel. That means you need smithies and electricians and a nice steel mine with capable people to work it. It's not as easy as it sounds

Make sure you stock up on functioning computers. a few desk tops comps are especially powerful. They can do alot more than we actually ask from them.

As long as there is electricity. Depending on the sort of the apocalypse in question this problem can either range from having to man the nearby power plant to being forced to endure without any sort of electricity at all due to all equipment being glassed

[duke_Qa]

my father entrepreneurs small power-plants, though they are not stand-alone so they will be useless if the main power-plant nearby goes down(edit: which practically voids the point i was trying to make, doh). having a bunch of car-wrecks which you can steal generators from will help.

i have a theory that there are plenty of rpg's out there that plays on the post-apocalyptic world, but maybe not in a realistic manner on the resource management. would be interesting to do the research for that

Edited by duke_Qa, 03 January 2008 - 05:27 PM.

[Blodo]

You mean like Fallout? Fallout either has the wastelands which have nothing (no electricity and no generators, candles and herding cattle is the way people live) or they have super futuristic vaults and shelters where generators run on god knows what and the whole thing is self-sustainable. Not really much to do research on

[Black Temple Gaurdian]

In case of zombies I would go into a massive cave with only one entrance carrying hamsters, cages, kinetic to electric energy conversion wheels, a farm and some lights. Hamsters provide kinetic energy, kinetic energy gets converted into electric energy, electric powers light, light allows plants to grow, plants feeds cattle, hamsters and you, cattle feed you, hamsters keep running ect.

Edit= the cave would also have (even if I had to do it myself) tiny tubes for water and air.

Edited by Black Temple Gaurdian, 16 March 2008 - 06:09 PM.

[Ash]

Holy thread necromancy, Batman!

However I shall use this opportunity to reply to an earlier point with some cynical wit:

Us Britons would be fine in the event of zombie cows, because we're already familiar with them. We just burn them all in a field somewhere in Bedfordshire and have done with it, followed by a quick propaganda campaign where the politicians rush out to advertise the beef is safe by eating burgers would just make the scene complete. They'd die from the infected meat and we kill two birds (cows?) with one stone.

As for the rest of the Continent, well France is OK. Their apple sales might go down for a few weeks until everyone forgets about the whole thing, but big deal. They know most Brits prefer Golden Delicious these days anyway.

Moral of the story? If there is ever an outbreak of zombie cows, hope either that there are some Brits on hand, or hope it breaks out in Britain. Disaster will be averted in mere minutes.

[Puppeteer]

I could see an event like Brothers in Arms, or one less surreal but akin to The Stand happening

[Black Temple Gaurdian]

Holy thread necromancy, Batman!

[duke_Qa]

it's like a cockroach, just won't die no matter what apocalypse we're talking about

New apocalypse: Half of earth population suddenly disappears, Christianity-style. Rest start bickering and fighting because thats what humans do. whats your plan?

Edited by duke_Qa, 23 June 2008 - 03:13 PM.

[mike_]

Hole up in an underground, concrete bunker in a god-forsaken corner of the woods "Scared of the Reds '50s"-style.
Maybe raid an abandoned convenience store for canned goods, etcetera.
Pretty much the same as my zombie plan

[Black Temple Gaurdian]

Instate my power over most (if not all) of the remaining armed forces and go for world domination.

[CIL]

Easiest way to survive-get to the nearest small town that is out of the fallout range. Anyways, I'm having my grandmother build a bomb shelter in her yard and stock up on petroleum, clean water, and canned food. And several guns and some ammo.

Edited by Crazy Intellectual Liberal, 08 July 2008 - 07:54 AM.

[Black Temple Gaurdian]

Build a spaceship run on several HPMs (Hamster Power Module) and use it to rule the world.

[CIL]

Build a spaceship run on several HPMs (Hamster Power Module) and use it to rule the world.

Hmmmmmm..... That gives me an idea... I know how to free the world from the clutches of oil. Lots of pets would suffer, though. That and PETA would through a huge hissy fit over animal abuse.

[Spectre]

Let the World fuck itself up CIL, it doesn't need any more advances in doing so by you.

As for "Pets suffer" what kind of sick little fuck are you? I'd much rather be addicted to oil then know that someone killed innocent pets or abused them just for the sake of no oil ,let us humans deal with the shit we cause, and FUCK OFF.

(If Caspa were to see this, he'd either congratulate me or rip me to tiny bite-sized pieces. )

Edited by General Jenkins, 09 July 2008 - 02:09 AM.

[CIL]

Well, my plan was actually hook pets up to the running machines or something and generate electricity (and to it at mass). The point would just be to keep treadmill thing moving. Humans could do it as well. Also, it would only be considered abuse by some. Others wouldn't call it abuse (having a dog or hamster run for about 20 min and having them stop for a break for 3 minutes and having them go back to running for a 12 hour day). Like I said, PETA would probably go balistic and start sueing people that weren't even involved in it if it were to happen.

Edited by Crazy Intellectual Liberal, 09 July 2008 - 02:59 AM.

[MSpencer]

Rotational energy from pets is hardly enough to power... anything. That's a myth, even with the most effective power capturing systems you can hardly power a 5W light bulb.
Also, in a joule-per-joule basis, it's highly inefficient. You'd waste much more in maintaining the animals, and as you might know, animals aren't easy to control.
I would rely on nothing short of nuclear power. Foolish to do anything else.

And as I've said before, most of you all would die in the first few minutes of a genuine "apocalypse." If we're talking something nuclear, we'd all likely die of starvation before too long, and in the event it's some sort of bacterium or virus we can't really seem to deal with (As with most newly discovered illnesses) with a high transmission rate (Bioweaponized), you'd mostly all be dead within a few months. And trust me, unless you're well trained in BL3 protocols, even most scientists and physicians would be dead along side you. And don't hope for that bullshit "natural immunity" stuff that comes up in every movie about a bioweapon. If anything, it would be like the Andromeda Strain, a true perfect microorganism (By chance in the case of that book), pretty much indiscriminate in whoever it kills and hampered by nothing more than pure chance, such as extreme acidosis or alkalinity.
No, most, if not all of you, would be dead by the time it was realized to be an apocalypse. Power structures would be pointless, and if you don't succumb to the initial effects, you'll most certainly succumb to a lack of food, water, electricity, heat, or a rudimentary knowledge of how to protect yourselves. Remember, Wikipedia won't work without power, internet, or accessible networking, so better stock up on a survival binder now. Or don't. I'd recommend you don't, as it will likely be a waste of $30 worth the paper and ink, and you'll almost certainly never need it, since an apocalyptic event is unlikely, unpreventable, and you'll likely be dead before you know what's happened.
Hate to rain on everyone's' parade. Ta!

[mike_]

Spencer..I think you just killed my soul

Edited by mike_, 09 July 2008 - 03:31 AM.

[CIL]

Just a stupid joke of a theory, nothing else . Did you think I was serious? Anyways, yes. Nuclear power is probably best. Problem is the waste (as I'm sure we all know). Once humans find out how to dispose of it in a fail-safe way, maybe people will actually consider it. But I think a lot of people are terrified after hearing about stuff such as Three Mile Island and Chernobyl and are highly opposed to nuclear power (Shrubby says nuculer ).

Edited by Crazy Intellectual Liberal, 09 July 2008 - 04:55 AM.

[MSpencer]

Nuclear power is extremely safe, in fact, almost impossibly safe. With a good microreactor, such as those contained on modern nuclear submarines, one could feasibly power a moderately sized shelter with modern air recycling systems for no less than three months without changing fuel rods. Waste wouldn't be too much of an issue provided you had an efficient disposal system, such as a large shielded container. Magnetic radiation shielding is becoming more of a possibility as we investigate ways to ditch the spent fuel rods of thousands of inefficient civilian nuclear reactors that have been running for the last fifty years, so if the apocalypse can wait fifteen years...
That said, most of you wouldn't make it to the shelters. Probably 1%. And there aren't enough shelters to hold 1% of the population for over a month or so. So probably 0.05% would survive over about a year. And then food shortages, environmental carrying capacity in the wake of a post-apocalyptic, watershed event, and various shortages of substances would take their toll. The human race, so secure in its self-deluded majesty, would be dead within two years. And that's provided it's nuclear. If it's a fast spreading biological contaminant with a high rate of mutation between generations and a very low generation span, you'll all be dead rather quickly. Natural selection's a real bitch with bacteria and viruses. In that case, possibly 5% would survive without being infected or coming into reasonably close contact with people who are infected, and those people would succumb to the same thing. An ideal bioweapon has a high recombination frequency and a very short generation span; with both of those things, animal populations would be susceptible within a few years, and humans? If it's targeted against humans, forget humans. The best bioweapon would be something that targets consensus DNA sequences across the entire human race with a very low recombination rate. Unstoppable by modern medical standards, completely lethal if done right, and potentially slow, agonizing, and without a cure. I guess speculating on the demise of the entire human race is kinda my thing.

Oh and another thing, don't count on modern science! We haven't a fucking clue about what to do about HIV. We target specific proteins, kill 'em with things like protease inhibitors, but things like that take international cooperation between scientific communities on an unprecedented scale. If the normal power structure of government collapses, and the economy with it, and people stop working, we'll not only run out of pipettes, but research will grind to a halt within... hours. The days of one scientist coming up with a brilliant breakthrough in a basement have been over since well before World War II. If the day comes where humanity faces the end of its existence, we not only can't help you, but we'll probably be the first ones to try to figure out how to toss you off the boat and save ourselves. Good luck swimming to your death!

[CIL]

Watch "I am Legend" to get a decent idea as to how much of a bitch Mother Nature can be at her near worst (we can all reserve the right to call her bitch of nature). Anyways, it's unlikely that something THAT bad is possible but the slightest possibility of something to that effect (without all the Will Smith drama) exists.