[DahBlount]

So I was working on some of the story and techy info for my first campaign (Which is still quit a while from being Fredded as I only just recently found someone to model my custom ships) and I thought about any custom weapons for my universe and decided that, using a technique similar to super colliders, some of my capships would have an extremely powerful new weapon to use.

This Proton Accelerator Cannon, consists of a circular accelerator positioned vertical to the keel of the ship which could be shunted using magnets into a tube which leads to the barrel, containing more magnets which then guides the beam of near light-speed protons on a path lined up with the center of the ship.

Any comments or ideas on things to change?

[Scourge of Ages]

I thought about a weapon like that for my stuff, when I realized that instead of protons, you could use those magnets to make really effective rail/coil guns. It's a bit easier to wrap your head around.
Plus that game me suspension-of-disbelief room to invent "mass cannons" which use repulser technology to generate and project blobs of pure mass to smash enemy ships.

[NGTM-1R]

I think the first thing I did with magnets was attempt to build an entire race's weapons systems around them having better superconducting electromagnets than the GTVA. Pretty much every weapon they had was a railgun firing a different kind of round, some of their missiles were designed to scramble target systems with magnetic fields or cause structural sheering in ferrous metals, and rather than beams they had short-ranged plasma streamers. I think the major exception was a fighter primary that essentially fired Tsunamis.

Ah, I was ambitious then.

[DahBlount]

I see, the thing about protons though is that they are small enough but have enough mass to cause a nuclear reaction if heavy rare-earth metals (elements in the trans-lanthanides and trans-actinides mostly) are used in a ships armor.

Plus that game me suspension-of-disbelief room to invent "mass cannons" which use repulser technology to generate and project blobs of pure mass to smash enemy ships.

Repulser tech? How would that work?

I suppose another idea would be antimatter weaponry. Things that can cause massive explosions and release lots of gamma radiation are just dangerous and generally destructive. Where there any anti-matter based weapons in the canon FS universe?

[Kopachris]

I suppose another idea would be antimatter weaponry. Things that can cause massive explosions and release lots of gamma radiation are just dangerous and generally destructive. Where there any anti-matter based weapons in the canon FS universe?

In canon FS, the Tsunami is described as an antimatter bomb.  It must only contain small amounts of antimatter, though, because the more powerful Harbinger is described as (iirc) a salted thermonuclear bomb.

[DahBlount]

Yeah. Actually it is said that almost a gram of antimatter is required to match current nuclear warheads so I believe you have made the correct assumption.

Microwave weaponry sounds cool because microwaves react violently with metals (put a piece of metal in a microwave oven and see why (don't actually do that, it's very dangerous, but you probably already knew that)), effectively destroying a ships hull.

Also, I don't believe anyone has made a Ballistic Missile Saturation Device, involves the use of multiple fusion warheads to saturate a field of effect.

[Arpit]

Microwave weaponry sounds cool because microwaves react violently with metals (put a piece of metal in a microwave oven and see why (don't actually do that, it's very dangerous, but you probably already knew that)), effectively destroying a ships hull.

Microwaves DO NOT harm metals at all. They bounce back on colliding with them. When you put a piece of metal in a microwave oven, the angle it makes with the base of the microwave determines the nature, intensity of sparks generated which are the REAL danger. (Sparks actually just increase the inside temperature insanely fast.)

Verification? Check the inner walls of your microwave oven. THEY ARE MADE OF METAL.

Also tell me if I have given some wrong information. I have a habit of sleeping in Science classes. 

Also, I don't believe anyone has made a Ballistic Missile Saturation Device, involves the use of multiple fusion warheads to saturate a field of effect.

You mean something like Slammers in BP or Piranhas in Freespace 2, right?


Also any thoughts on dark matter weapons? Like for example they can pierce right through the shield because they do not follow the orignal properties of matter or undetectable weapons for stealth fighters since dark matter cannot be detected easily?

[NGTM-1R]

Also any thoughts on dark matter weapons? Like for example they can pierce right through the shield because they do not follow the orignal properties of matter or undetectable weapons for stealth fighters since dark matter cannot be detected easily?

If you can make them, you can detect them. Stuff's got to be found to be manufactured. (Besides, missile detection probably works at least somewhat on the emissions of the missile's seeker head, if it has any, and the infrared emissions of its drive.)

[Colonol Dekker]

I-war PBC's.

[Arpit]

Also any thoughts on dark matter weapons? Like for example they can pierce right through the shield because they do not follow the orignal properties of matter or undetectable weapons for stealth fighters since dark matter cannot be detected easily?

If you can make them, you can detect them. Stuff's got to be found to be manufactured. (Besides, missile detection probably works at least somewhat on the emissions of the missile's seeker head, if it has any, and the infrared emissions of its drive.)

Ok, so no no on the dark matter weapons.

I reject your reality and substitute my own.

 

[Scourge of Ages]

Repulser tech? How would that work?

Basically, in my universe, there's an engine technology that pushes against the fabric of space-time itself, but in a non-destructive way - most of the time. The advanced aliens only use it for propulsion and maneuvering, but when the humans got it, they turned it around and started using it to augment their coil guns, and stacked a bunch together to destabilize blobs of space and shoot those blobs at enemy vessels.

It has the same effect as generating a massive boulder/cannon ball/conjured blob of nondescript mass/unstoppable force and punching it through another ship.

[Scourge of Ages]

Repulser tech? How would that work?

Basically, in my universe, there's an engine technology that pushes against the fabric of space-time itself, but in a non-destructive way - most of the time. The advanced aliens only use it for propulsion and maneuvering, but when the humans got it, they turned it around and started using it to augment their coil guns, and stacked a bunch together to destabilize blobs of space and shoot those blobs at enemy vessels.

It has the same effect as generating a massive boulder/cannon ball/conjured blob of nondescript mass/unstoppable force and punching it through another ship.

EDIT:

Also any thoughts on dark matter weapons? Like for example they can pierce right through the shield because they do not follow the orignal properties of matter or undetectable weapons for stealth fighters since dark matter cannot be detected easily?

 Isn't dark matter just regular matter, just that doesn't give off its own light, or is close enough to a light source to reflect it?

[Phantom Hoover]

the entire point of dark matter is that it has at best very weak interactions with normal matter

[Arpit]

Moral of the story: Think twice before giving your opinion, Arpit. 

[Rheyah]

Forget protons if you want to make it scientific

Any civilization able to make a useable weapon out of a particle accelerator is almost certainly using yottawatt or higher xray or laser driven accelerators which are far more powerful.  A yottawatt laser is able to break into areas of physics we only have theoretical evidence of.  With that level of tech and with 400 years to develop it, you could accelerate ultra heavy ions to near c in huge bunches.

colliding half a kg at 500 GeV KE per particle would hurt.

[DahBlount]

Forget protons if you want to make it scientific

Any civilization able to make a useable weapon out of a particle accelerator is almost certainly using yottawatt or higher xray or laser driven accelerators which are far more powerful.  A yottawatt laser is able to break into areas of physics we only have theoretical evidence of.  With that level of tech and with 400 years to develop it, you could accelerate ultra heavy ions to near c in huge bunches.

colliding half a kg at 500 GeV KE per particle would hurt.

That does sound dangerous to the point where I think a ship would get torn in half or at least bent out of shape. Now the only question, what name would it be given?

Thanks everyone. Is there anyway to project plasma out almost like a shotgun using magnetic fields?

[DahBlount]

Microwaves DO NOT harm metals at all. They bounce back on colliding with them. When you put a piece of metal in a microwave oven, the angle it makes with the base of the microwave determines the nature, intensity of sparks generated which are the REAL danger. (Sparks actually just increase the inside temperature insanely fast.)

Verification? Check the inner walls of your microwave oven. THEY ARE MADE OF METAL.

Also tell me if I have given some wrong information. I have a habit of sleeping in Science classes. 

I don't really remember what happens all I know is that when I put a metal spoon in a microwave, a firestorm from hell starts in there.

Just checked around and it is the emission of free electrons ionizing the air around the metal. So nixing that idea as there is no air in space to be ionized.

Have there been any quantum weapons used in any thing related to FS2?