Today involved less actual writing than usual, because I wrote about a page of worldbuilding notes. Took time, yaknow, but now I know my enemy a bit better. And now that I know my enemy, I can lead them onto an ark and beat the crap out of EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.
Jorlem: Yes, it might. Then again, that's the sort of idea that could end in vivisections. Any plan that ends with being vivisected is a BAD PLAN.
At this point, JS is my backup plan.
**********
Entry 33 (Day 422)
So I had my first combat mission recently. Not sure how to describe what happened.
On the one hand, it was successful. We beamed into a small archaeological dig site, found a Relic, and got it back out, even though the camp was attacked by another force mid-operation. None of us were harmed, and we didn't kill anybody in the process.
(Yes, I checked. Part of the debrief is uploading every team member's logs (or in my case, my Device's logs) to a common share, so each of us can see what the others did (or didn't do) right or wrong. Of the five people who died while we were there, none of them were killed by Tre, Cinque, or me.)
On the other hand, one look at the logs shows how badly we did. Tre and Cinque are talented fighters, but neither of them really has any experience working with others. If I had to guess, they were programmed with solo combat skills, and haven't learned team dynamics yet. I've got the concept of teamwork, but need to work on my execution. Come to think of it, I need to work on my solo skills, as well. Let's just say I'm a work in progress, and leave it at that.
At least the doctor was pleased. We got him the Relic he wanted, and he didn't have to do any difficult repair work on any of us. From his perspective, the operation was a total success.
On the gripping hand, what in the Seven Hells was my magic doing!? That first Magic Missile barrage was supposed to burn up the stuff pinning me down, and then go flying off into deep space. Instead, it flew up into the air, only to come right back down again. More than that, it didn't come down as one, the way it was fired; each individual missile reversed course at a different time, and took a different trajectory back down. Somehow, my missiles spread out on the way back down- and then, when they got back down, they had the unsettling temerity not to explode. There was supposed to be a shed-shattering kaboom, dangit!
Hmm..... I should add a spread mechanic to the spell. Might come in handy.
The second barrage answered a few questions, which I appreciate. Tre's recordings clearly show missiles dropping out of the volley one by one, falling back to the surface on ballistic arcs. Malleus did some simulations, and was eventually able to produce a model that replicated that behavior. It's a rather simple premise, too- "At the projected time each missile drops out of formation, assume it was replaced by a steel construct of the same size and shape, with the same orientation and velocity."
Unfortunately, this creates more questions than it answers. Why are my missiles acting like physical objects now? How did they propel the enemy into the ground- at most of the speed of sound (according to both Mal's logs and Tre's), no less? How do I prevent this effect from happening when I least expect it- and how do I invoke it when I desire it?
Well, one thing's for sure. I'm not going to be developing my flight spell any further for a while. Not until I do enough testing to figure out this issue.
If anybody goes plummeting to the ground at high speeds, it's not gonna be me.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.
Jorlem: Yes, it might. Then again, that's the sort of idea that could end in vivisections. Any plan that ends with being vivisected is a BAD PLAN.
At this point, JS is my backup plan.
**********
Entry 33 (Day 422)
So I had my first combat mission recently. Not sure how to describe what happened.
On the one hand, it was successful. We beamed into a small archaeological dig site, found a Relic, and got it back out, even though the camp was attacked by another force mid-operation. None of us were harmed, and we didn't kill anybody in the process.
(Yes, I checked. Part of the debrief is uploading every team member's logs (or in my case, my Device's logs) to a common share, so each of us can see what the others did (or didn't do) right or wrong. Of the five people who died while we were there, none of them were killed by Tre, Cinque, or me.)
On the other hand, one look at the logs shows how badly we did. Tre and Cinque are talented fighters, but neither of them really has any experience working with others. If I had to guess, they were programmed with solo combat skills, and haven't learned team dynamics yet. I've got the concept of teamwork, but need to work on my execution. Come to think of it, I need to work on my solo skills, as well. Let's just say I'm a work in progress, and leave it at that.
At least the doctor was pleased. We got him the Relic he wanted, and he didn't have to do any difficult repair work on any of us. From his perspective, the operation was a total success.
On the gripping hand, what in the Seven Hells was my magic doing!? That first Magic Missile barrage was supposed to burn up the stuff pinning me down, and then go flying off into deep space. Instead, it flew up into the air, only to come right back down again. More than that, it didn't come down as one, the way it was fired; each individual missile reversed course at a different time, and took a different trajectory back down. Somehow, my missiles spread out on the way back down- and then, when they got back down, they had the unsettling temerity not to explode. There was supposed to be a shed-shattering kaboom, dangit!
Hmm..... I should add a spread mechanic to the spell. Might come in handy.
The second barrage answered a few questions, which I appreciate. Tre's recordings clearly show missiles dropping out of the volley one by one, falling back to the surface on ballistic arcs. Malleus did some simulations, and was eventually able to produce a model that replicated that behavior. It's a rather simple premise, too- "At the projected time each missile drops out of formation, assume it was replaced by a steel construct of the same size and shape, with the same orientation and velocity."
Unfortunately, this creates more questions than it answers. Why are my missiles acting like physical objects now? How did they propel the enemy into the ground- at most of the speed of sound (according to both Mal's logs and Tre's), no less? How do I prevent this effect from happening when I least expect it- and how do I invoke it when I desire it?
Well, one thing's for sure. I'm not going to be developing my flight spell any further for a while. Not until I do enough testing to figure out this issue.
If anybody goes plummeting to the ground at high speeds, it's not gonna be me.
My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Brother Atom Bomb of Courteous Debate. Get yours.
I've been writing a bit.