Hard Light Productions Forums
General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: Solatar on August 11, 2009, 10:02:08 pm
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The FS wiki says beam cannons were invented in 2355 "after the Hades Rebellion. However, the timeline for the Reconstruction says beam weapons were developed between 2335 - 2339. This second "date" would make sense as the Sobek class corvette was apparently designed for them and was created around then.
I know capital ship beams were invented first, and fighter beams came later, but when does everyone think these weapons were created?
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I suspect developmental work began from either the wreckage of the Hades or intelligence recovered from former GTI installations, but it would have taken several years to develop working prototypes and longer to deploy them.
The Sobek was in design stages before beams were a viable weapons system almost certainly. Based on the stats of the various weapons I suspect the SGreen was probably the first developed, or perhaps the anti-fighter weapons. (After all, a smaller version is easier to engineer.) The Sobek was probably the first class to be delievered with beam cannon rather than retrofitted with them, however.
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Note that even in Operation Templar, circa 2345, none of the capital ships had been retrofitted with beams (though they did have flak.)
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Although, that doesn't mean they hadn't been invented (but it does show flak was around by 2345). It certainly would have taken several years for the GTA and PVN to adopt beam weapons, however, because of their struggling economies.
Unlike Wikipedia, the FSWiki doesn't have a sources list at the bottom, and I'm trying to find the sources the author used.
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I think we can safely put an upper limit on it fromt he fact that we know the Collossus was proposed in 2345, and I can't see it being designed without beam cannons in mind. So, to me, that implies the GTVA had at least working prototypes by that point. The only other useful date I can think of is the Hatshepsut, which was first commissioned in 2360. Assuming a ten year development cycle (Which might be conservative), then the GTVA had enough confidence in beam cannons to design the new generation of destroyers around them in 2350.
So it's safe to assume they were probably developed some time relatively soon after the Hades Rebellion, using hades debris as a starting point.
[EDIT]Ah, templar, of course. Well, there you go. The Collossus tells us that beams had almost certainly been invented in 2345, but Templar says that they were still new enough that retrofitting hadn't yet occurred across the fleet. So that narrows it down a bit further.
Although, that doesn't mean they hadn't been invented (but it does show flak was around by 2345). It certainly would have taken several years for the GTA and PVN to adopt beam weapons, however, because of their struggling economies.
Hmm... I wonder if the superior Vasudan economic situation was why they built new ship classes for beams, while the terrans retrofitted. It's fascinating to look at all the potential interconnectedness of the FS universe and try to guess whether [V] designed it that way or not :D