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ISD Shields

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chief1983:
Ok, just to clarify so there's no confusion as to what path we're going to follow, and why, here's a semi-short explanation.

First, what do our eyes tell us:

In RotJ, the most canon source of all involving them, a scene reporting the Executor's shields is down shortly after an A-Wing destroys a dome with a missile/torpedo.

What else do we know from other sources:

According to the SWTC, which was quoting a CINEFEX journal, Richard Edlund, from Lucasart's effects team, referred to the domes as "radar domes".
Starting with the game X-Wing in 1993, the domes are shield generators destroyable by the player to take down the Star Destroyer's shields.
After that point, many reference books were printed referring to the domes as shield generators, and the array between them as sensors (or, in some instances, communications).  I don't know of any printed reference material before that point that says anything about them.  It's possible the games had a significant influence on the data in the published references.

What does common sense tell us:

Who would put shields in such a vulnerable spot?  All other ships in the SW universe have more protected shields than that.  (Common sense carries the least weight here, after all, it is fiction, but it's still worth noting.)

Now, the games are not very canon, and are not a very good source of what should actually be what.  However, they seem to have had a significant influence on the third-party reference material, none of which is strictly canon, except where Lucas says it is.  (Personally I think anything Lucas said after 1990 should be disregarded, because he clearly went bat-**** loco frakking crazy with the new trilogy and original remakes.)  So, how can we satisfy the most sources in the most flexible way possible?  I propose the following.

The domes _are_ sensor/radar domes.  However, due to a flaw in engineering, their violent destruction causes a surge, or failure, or short, or whatever, in the shield system, that leads to the shields going down, either permanently, or temporarily.  This does rely heavily on Richard Edlund's quote being accurate, in that he properly used the term 'radar domes', but I'm confident that either way, this solution should step on the fewest toes, and still allow us to work in the most versatility into the mission design.

Post replies if you need to, but please mind your manners and exercise some tact in your responses, and do not turn this thread into a flame war.  Go to the Padded Cell and bother Cobra if you need to do that.

Flipside:
Well, to me at least, the comment of 'Sir, we've lost the bridge deflector shield' suggests that, like fighters, shields are made up of defensive 'areas', which can have power transferred to them when under attack, so a Star Destroyer on an offensive charge would have all power to forward facing shields.

Maybe the loss of the Radar doesn't so much disable the shields, but without the ability to track incomibg enemy properly and perform a decent threat assessment on them, maybe it means that they have to rely on manually diverting energy between shields, which is going to lower the response time and make the ship more vulnerable to weapons fire? So it doesn't actually destroy the shields, but just makes it a lot lot harder for them to respond to multiple attacks quickly enough?

Flaser:
Another thing about shields that was in the EU books (the good ones by Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole) was that X-Wings could momentarily overpower an ISD's shields by massed torpedo fire.

The reason why we're lucky in this department is that the FS engine supports quadrants in shield hit detection - I have a vague hope that segment hit detection could also be implement. That would allow the "classic" SW tactic to be used.

(In the books another tactic is for fighters to fly in tight formation and create an overlapping shield of greater strengh than the member's own. This is used by both Imp and Reb fightercraft - and was invented by Zahn -, and the A-Wings have a tactic where they "provide cover" for a bunch of ship launched missiles/torepedoes (rarely used as munitions CAN be shot down, and unlike a fighter, a warship can't set up proper firing solution that would ensure the hit and deny interception) in essence and artilerry barage on steroids hid behind a living shield.)

JGZinv:
I'll link the SWTC article for other's use....

http://www.theforce.net/swtc/towers.html

Note that a number of the novels were made after it was put together, as were the comics and recent games.

Eh... The sensor/shield mix I don't think I have a problem with really.
Some things I would have to think about or come to mind are...

1. Typically the placement suggests that they would be sensors, because they have to "see"
over the length of the hull... but the shields do as well. If you go through the Executor's section
on SWTC... it shows how the shields react in two instances when hit by massive objects, etc.
Sort of a rolling wave... not a "splatter" or ping on a shield bubble.
http://www.theforce.net/swtc/ssd.html#shields

Unless you consider that the shield (domes) would create a bubble around the ship (as seen
in the comic example there, but not in the movies at all) then the domes can't be responsible
for all of the shields simply because they cannot "see" the bottom of the ship. Thus unless another
generator is hiding down there - that section should be unprotected. This goes for the sensors too...
You'd have to have multiple systems in either case if they work off the line of sight principal.

2. If you did separate them, then it would almost have to be the globes to be shields
and the central tower for sensors... because having the shields in that one spot on the tower
doesn't make as much sense visually... unless you were going for the most coverage right over
the primary bridge pit. Which I'm fairly sure I remember secondary command centers on ISDs and SSDs.

Really, if they were to be split up, it makes more technical sense for the shield generators
to be placed around the hull in various locations. Like per say when the ion cannon on Hoth
hit that one Star Destroyer... you might say that one or two of the forward deflectors had been taken out
at the same time.... thus the front shields would go down in gameplay. Also having them spread around
makes it so you have more trouble trying to take each ship out... thus longer gameplay.

One of the things I always did, was go after the domes. Knock out the shields in the games.
Then it's pretty easy to kill an SSD or whichever with a single A wing...

But the idea of the Bacta War X-wing books, where they loaded up the freighters with heavy rockets
and slaved the targeting computers to the X-wings was a good one.

Another nice sequence was when Wraith Squadron used the Corvette to latch on to the
dustball of a "moon," and slide back and forth taking shots at an ISD II (using the tractor beam)
while the Tie's and X-wings were able to penetrate into the ISD's core generator on the bottom.

But eh, I'm not arguing the use of putting them together. Just pointing out some visual/mechanical
issues with Imp cap ships in general. Thinking out loud. ^_^

Edit - Oh now I remember my other point... besides the deflector type shields, there were supposed
to be other kinds that protected from other objects during travel or energy on a ship. I can't confirm this, it just
seems to be a nagging memory from one of the books. I think it had to do with the Falcon in one novel, and
it was mentioned in another when something exploded in front of a command bridge. Sorry I can't narrow it down better.

jr2:
Ray shields... used in the DS1 exhaust vent..

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