The Original Warship - A Science Fiction Thread!

[Sheilawisz]

Hello everyone!

Today I was thinking about yet another and quite curious aspect to consider about the Original Warship. It so happens that my old drawings do not mention any colors at all, and I have started to wonder... exactly what color and shades would be the best for the exterior of this thing? Would it be some kind of paint, or perhaps just a natural color of the metal alloy that the hull is made of?

I guess that a deep gray or even black would be great so the Warship becomes less visible against the darkness of space, but that would also cause the hull to absorb a lot of laser energy instead of reflecting most of it. Would the color, if there is any, have any advantage against particle beam weapons?

Just in case that I choose a fluorescent green... would that make the Warship more vulnerable to certain shades of laser beams? What about violet? Just what color do you think that a giant armored rocket should be?

I am starting to think that it needs to be all silvery and dazzling.

 

[Vaporo]

Hello again! Sorry it took me a while to get back to you on this one.

Painting the hull black wouldn't do much to make the ship stealthy. Even if it were only producing enough heat to keep the crew at a comfortable temperature, it would still be a thousand times hotter than the background. No matter what you do, your ship will be extremely visible to an infrared sensor.

Realistically, I struggle to envision a reflective laser armor that is even remotely effective against the high-powered lasers that exist in your setting, but your setting also seems to have some pretty overpowered material science going on, so I'd say go for it. Shiny silver ships all the way.

I wouldn't rely on a laser weapon tuned to the visible spectrum of light. Humans have become very good at reflecting visible light (and likely even more so in your setting), but less so with x-rays. Visible lasers would just be making it that much easier for your enemy to armor themselves against them. Lasers would probably be far more effective if tuned to somewhere in the high ultraviolet or x-ray range. However, if you reeeeeeally want these lasers to be visible, you can just say that their primary weaponized radiation are x-rays, but they also happen to produce visible light in the color of your choosing of your choosing as a by-product.

LordWarGod
All right, your setting is thoroughly not hard science fiction. I'd consider it to be closer to science fantasy or cosmic horror.

I think that your take on the "Dark Forest Theory" is very silly and needlessly pessimistic (And the Dark Forest Theory is a pessimistic idea to begin with). First of all, DF assumes assumes small civilizations that are hard for each other to detect. Your setting appears to have enormous multi-galaxy civilizations that would be painfully easy for everyone other civilization to see. These civilizations would be thoroughly aware of each others' existence.

Second of all, the core idea of DF simply doesn't make sense to me. Imagine that aliens were to notice Earth today. We are, for the moment, more or less bound to our planet's surface. We would be no threat to them, they could destroy us at any time, and most observation would indicate that we would respond positively to an alien visitor. Why not try to contact us? Bring us into the fold. Possibly even recruit new and unique talent to your civilization. And if we respond with hostility, then they may consider destroying us.

Now, imagine that two equally powerful civilizations meet in space. If you attack them, then it's possible they will retaliate and seriously damage your own civilization. Plus, it's likely that the other civilization is also a subscriber to DF and has already noticed you, but are keeping quiet about it because they're following the same line of reasoning as you are now. It would be a Mexican standoff at first, but one that none of the involved parties actually want to take part in. How long before somebody says "Ok, this is stupid" and finds a way to send a message and negotiate an armistice? It makes sense for two alien civilizations to be wary of each other at first, but not for their first response to be complete and utter annihilation of the other civilization. Why immediately take a chance of losing billions or trillions of people when an option for peace isn't totally out of the question?

It's like two men who meet wandering through a desert. Sure, there's a possibility that the other guy wants to shank you and steal your water, but it's far more likely that you'll be able to combine resources to get back to civilization.

As for your galaxy-destroying weapon, I know no mechanism by which it could work. If your characters really are being chased by cosmic horrors, I suppose that its use could be justified, but it would be pure fantasy.

 

[CupofJoe]

Just what color do you think that a giant armored rocket should be?

Red, because Red is just a cool colour for weapons.