[Marcov]

(I'm replying to the first post) Comparing this thing to 20th century superweapons is nonsense given the fluff specified by the FreeSpace techroom.

All the bombs in the world would look ridicolous compared to a single Harbinger.

[SpardaSon21]

Didn't GB say Aristeia had as much ordnance flung around as a good-sized Cold War nuclear exchange between the U.S. and the Soviet Union?

[Marcov]

Can it get anywhere near 5000 megatons?

[General Battuta]

(I'm replying to the first post) Comparing this thing to 20th century superweapons is nonsense given the fluff specified by the FreeSpace techroom.

All the bombs in the world would look ridicolous compared to a single Harbinger.

I hope you realize how incredibly stupid it is to speak basic fluff to someone who's been playing this game for eleven ****ing years.

Really. I hope you realize.

In fact I'll give you a chance to confess how incredibly stupid it is before I take any further measures.

[Flak]

. At least the techroom says it is actually antimatter warhead rather than fission/fusion nuclear warhead, so at least it is a lot 'cleaner' (ie no radioactive fallout). Explosions are also  behave somewhat differently in vacuum.

[Mars]

The primary output of both matter-antimatter reactions and fusion and fission reactions is hard radiation. It's just that all of the ship in the game appear rather resistant.

[Jellyfish]

In a good antimatter explosion all the atoms would be annihilated, so there's no loss that would cause radiation.

[Mars]

Annihilated atoms turn into?

Fast moving sub-atomic particles, or photons, or exotic particles of some sort, right?

Radiation.

[Jellyfish]

No, they become energy.

[Scotty]

No, they become energy.

Tread softly.  We have what seem to be experts in the field on this forum.

[Droid803]

No, they become energy.

"Energy" as you know it is often in the form of electromagnetic radiation... AKA photons...
Mostly gamma rays and X-rays, which is also known as hard radiation if it has enough ability to penetrate a certain amount of lead.

Oh my.

[Jellyfish]

So standing near an antimatter explosion will make you grow another head? Go figure.

[Droid803]

Well if it doesn't take off your head, possibly.

[Scotty]

So standing near an antimatter explosion will make you grow another head? Go figure.

No.  Radiation doesn't work like that.  You don't mutate like in badly written sci-fi.  You just die.

[Mars]

It can cause mutations to future generations in low doses to your gametes I believe.

But mostly you just die.

[Flak]

There is a lot of radiation from the detonation of course. However, it will be mostly short lived and will presumably die out in after a short time, which could be in minutes or days. However, for antimatter warhead, there would be no 'toxic waste' or those kind of radioactive fallout so the wreckage can be salvaged quite sooner. Like said before, radiation at worst (assuming you don't die from it) will cause some internal mutation such as cancer or messing up your genes. It won't cause you to grow another head whatsoever.

[Marcov]

I hope you realize how incredibly stupid it is to speak basic fluff to someone who's been playing this game for eleven ****ing years.

Really. I hope you realize.

In fact I'll give you a chance to confess how incredibly stupid it is before I take any further measures.

No, I'm afraid it's really 5,000 megatons, and even if it is indeed basic fluff, I don't think you should debate it without considering this fact.

And I don't care if you've played FreeSpace more than a decade. You still can't change the game, no matter what you do.

Unless your real point was a "more realistic interpretation" of FS weaponry.

[General Battuta]

The 5000 megaton figure was pulled out of someone's ass and makes no sense in the game. 50 megatons, even 500 megatons would be more sane.

In general BP is about making stupid things more sane.

[Kosh]

There is a lot of radiation from the detonation of course. However, it will be mostly short lived and will presumably die out in after a short time, which could be in minutes or days. However, for antimatter warhead, there would be no 'toxic waste' or those kind of radioactive fallout so the wreckage can be salvaged quite sooner. Like said before, radiation at worst (assuming you don't die from it) will cause some internal mutation such as cancer or messing up your genes. It won't cause you to grow another head whatsoever.

Space is full of radiation anyway.