Windows/Viewports in Bridge/Control Cabin

[Spartan159]

Transparent Aluminum :rofl: I seem to recall High Tech armor being compressed, what if with all the other treatments already listed, this was used as well? Against weapons that can penetrate armored hull already it really does not matter, more for protection against the environment I'd think. And Yes, I'd have armored shutters for what they were worth but I would definitely have view ports. And being of a Darrian background person I'd also have flight surfaces and non electronic controls for said surfaces but that's another story. How are you no view port people enjoying that EMP eh?

And just cause your .bis comp is still running just fine does not mean anything else is.

My 0.02 Cr

 

[aramis]

Transparent aluminum is corundum... fragile stuff. Al2O3. Doped, it's sapphire or ruby.

 

[Vladika]

Just a question here: if those windows and wiewports are transparent (and they must be if they are to any use), how will a laser hit on them affect, as lasers, being light, may go through transparent surfaces?

Of course they might be built as one way mirror to avoid this. I don't know the pros and contras...

They are going to refract as the Laser will go through another medium. Whether they refract enough to "fan" the light in a prismatic way, I don't know.

 

[Frankymole]

Lots of ship designs put the bridge or control cabin in the nose or at the front of the ship, with either implied or explicit windows or viewports. Presumably these are made of some sort of armored glass or substitute that are not easily broken.

Pros: If your sensors are all out of order, you can still see where you are going. Also, a window lets you use the Mark I Eyeball as a backup to what your sensors tell you.

Cons: Most things that you need to see are going to be at such extreme range that the Mark I Eyeball is useless, so a viewscreen displaying sensor data would be more useful. Also, even if the glass or whatever is very strong, it is probably less strong than hull metal, and is therefore a weak point.

I've a feeling that it was possible to make crystaliron transparent at a certain tech level...

 

[Spartan159]

Aramis... Star Trek reference, not to be taken seriously "How do you know he didn't invent the stuff?" Prime Directive my foot, more like Prime Suggestion.

 

[Carlobrand]

...How are you no view port people enjoying that EMP eh?

And just cause your .bis comp is still running just fine does not mean anything else is.

Well, given that High Guard doesn't show effects beyond the potential for damage to a non-fib computer, I'm guessing most significant items - in this far-future universe where people have been in space for millenia - are shielded or resistant. So, all in all I'd say I'd enjoy it a lot more than the guy from a planet that had only been dealing with nukes and space travel for a few decades.

That being said, I still want a viewport. Building a spaceship without viewports is like building a house in Hawaii with a beachside view of the sunset - and no windows. :nonono:

 

[leo knight]

That being said, I still want a viewport. Building a spaceship without viewports is like building a house in Hawaii with a beachside view of the sunset - and no windows. :nonono:

I had relatives who did almost this. They bought a waterfront house, but buttoned the house up tight, almost never went out on the patio or pier, and kept the place refrigerated. Not air conditioned, but freezer section at Giant refrigerated!

In Samuel Delaney's novel "Nova", the crew plug themselves into the ship, and "see" though the sensors. Delaney describes a psychedelic colorscape, with energy fluxes shimmering in the void. The off duty lounge has a similar view, also provided by sensors, but all along the walls. One crewman goes blind when his ship flies by a nova. He is so entranced by the experience, he stays on sensory input and fries his optic nerves. Like a neurological afterimage, all his regular senses are drowned out. Even when he closes his eyes, all he can see, hear, and feel is the nova.

I imagined a spaceship bridge that looks like a planetarium dome, but all the way to the floor. The entire thing is a viewscreen, and can be set to show any part of the spectrum in false color.

Dude, the colors...

 

[Frankymole]

I had relatives who did almost this. They bought a waterfront house, but buttoned the house up tight, almost never went out on the patio or pier, and kept the place refrigerated. Not air conditioned, but freezer section at Giant refrigerated!

In Samuel Delaney's novel "Nova", the crew plug themselves into the ship, and "see" though the sensors. Delaney describes a psychedelic colorscape, with energy fluxes shimmering in the void. The off duty lounge has a similar view, also provided by sensors, but all along the walls. One crewman goes blind when his ship flies by a nova. He is so entranced by the experience, he stays on sensory input and fries his optic nerves. Like a neurological afterimage, all his regular senses are drowned out. Even when he closes his eyes, all he can see, hear, and feel is the nova.

I imagined a spaceship bridge that looks like a planetarium dome, but all the way to the floor. The entire thing is a viewscreen, and can be set to show any part of the spectrum in false color.

Dude, the colors...

Pilots using a neural jack to control the ship is an interesting literary idea (or even pilots using their entire brains, one author had disabled children being brought up as pilots to do this). I assume one version of the Traveller rules must haev this, if not it's been done as a variant (White Dwarf I think).

 

[Fritz_Brown]

- Aesthetics: One of the most serious problems that affect people in any enclosed environment is claustrophobia. Most people can control it for a limited amount of time, but for people who live in space for months or years, it can quickly get maddening. Worse, there's not a lot you can do about it. Having an obvious place where people can see there is more to the world than the four walls around them helps a lot psychologically, especially to those who aren't seasoned spacers. Considering that 1 in 20 people have this particular problem to varying degrees, this could be seriously played up in any campaign.

First, it obviously isn't a dead thread.
Second, this would only affect some people. I imagine that folks raised in a space environment (space station, domed arcology on a vacuum world, etc.) might very well trend more agoraphobic. (Or, even astrophobia.) These folks might find it more unsettling to have a viewport than not having one. Hmmm... I might have mentioned that before....

 

[HG_B]

In Samuel Delaney's novel "Nova", ...One crewman goes blind when his ship flies by a nova. He is so entranced by the experience, he stays on sensory input and fries his optic nerves.

LOL. Ol' Delaney flunked human biology.

 

[ashiruni]

First, it obviously isn't a dead thread.
Second, this would only affect some people. I imagine that folks raised in a space environment (space station, domed arcology on a vacuum world, etc.) might very well trend more agoraphobic. (Or, even astrophobia.) These folks might find it more unsettling to have a viewport than not having one. Hmmm... I might have mentioned that before....

True, but even in a system like Traveller, better than 9 in 10 people are from planets

Of those people, at least according to earth-like statistics (wish I could provide a better statistical analysis from multiple planetary populations, but unfortunately that's a bit beyond my capabilities atm >:'( ), between 5% and 7% of people have it. Which, of course, means it could be a pretty serious problem you can easily have a bit of fun playing up in a campaign ^.^

 

[Spartan159]

I just remembered, doesn't that manta-ray looking yacht have a humongous transparent forward bulkhead? o:

 

[BlackBat242]

Because rich people like grand, impractical, "see how much money I have available to waste so aren't I special" displays of their wealth like that "picture window/balcony in space" on the yacht.

 

[Spartan159]

Meh, various points come to mind but when you come down to the wire what really matters is, does it further the adventure? I'll be happy to ride in that nice comfy yacht and drink the patron's no doubt well stocked bar thank you very much. Unless I'm crew in which case floggings may result.

 

[Ackehece]

The Great Glass Cruiser drifting in the Sea of Stars

Since it is Traveller and the art suggests windows anyway - why not argue the other side :devil:

If you have viewports as strong as armor (which the damage model seems to imply) why not build an entire transparent ship. (visible light only with the ability to shutter out light when you don't want it internally (liquid oil shutters, photochromic lens, lcd etc all are modern things that can do that.)


Of course this would be more of a pleasure yacht than a battle ship but still...

 

[PFVA63]

I probably may have touched on this a bit before, but the more I think about it, the more it kind of makes e wonder that if part of a warship's duty is to "show the flag" which may include hosting dignitaries onboard, I wouldn't be surprised if there would be a desire to physically be able to see the planet being orbited, especially if you may be paying visits to lower tech worlds.

Similarly, I could see a similar use for viewports on a research or exploration ship as well. (I guess in some ways it kind of reminds me of the Star Trek movie where Picard takes a character from an earlier period in Earth's history onboard the Enterprise and ends up showing her Earth out of one of the viewports to convince her that they really are in space.)

 

[SanDragon]

A noble's plaything, made of transparent aluminum, and dubbed The Crystal Castle?

 

[Ackehece]

A noble's plaything, made of transparent aluminum, and dubbed The Crystal Castle?

exactly It would be an amazing experience standing in space surrounded by stars


Otoh... a battle cruiser which is totally transparent ... they might as well be anyway with the way meson guns travel through them anyway :devil:

 

[Vladika]

If you are going to spend half of your life in a glorified sardine can wouldn't you want a view port?

I know I would.

Aren't you glad that the pilot on the airliner you are on can see out when landing?

I know I am.

I'm going blind. If you were wouldn't you like to see again?

I know I do.

Vision is NOT overrated.

 

[SpaceBadger]

The Great Glass Cruiser drifting in the Sea of Stars

Since it is Traveller and the art suggests windows anyway - why not argue the other side :devil:

If you have viewports as strong as armor (which the damage model seems to imply) why not build an entire transparent ship. (visible light only with the ability to shutter out light when you don't want it internally (liquid oil shutters, photochromic lens, lcd etc all are modern things that can do that.)


Of course this would be more of a pleasure yacht than a battle ship but still...

Except for all of the little opaque areas where the freshers are located? Hmm, kinda spoils the image... :devil: