[Bob-san]

I also think that all those Iceni mishaps were part of a plan to get ETAK.

Yeah that's pretty obvious.

Really? Who woulda thunk it?

[TrashMan]

The Largest Earth Nukes today are 50 times less potent than a single Harbinger.  You could fire every single earth nuke at an Orion and barely scratch it.

Really.  Where do you get this number from?

Harbinger tech description saying it's 5000Mt, and the fact that the Tsar Bomba was 100Mt.

I honestly stopped paying attention to any techincal numbers in various Sci-Fi universes...as usual, people making the universe up pull up numbers from their a**, using numbers that sound "cool", without actually checking them out if they work (simple math...SIMPLE MATH!). Therefore, any canon damage/power output number (be it FS or SW or ST) means as much to me as does the dirt beneath my fingernails...

[Kie99]

It's called fiction Trashman.

[Bob-san]

The Largest Earth Nukes today are 50 times less potent than a single Harbinger.  You could fire every single earth nuke at an Orion and barely scratch it.

Really.  Where do you get this number from?

Harbinger tech description saying it's 5000Mt, and the fact that the Tsar Bomba was 100Mt.

I honestly stopped paying attention to any techincal numbers in various Sci-Fi universes...as usual, people making the universe up pull up numbers from their a**, using numbers that sound "cool", without actually checking them out if they work (simple math...SIMPLE MATH!). Therefore, any canon damage/power output number (be it FS or SW or ST) means as much to me as does the dirt beneath my fingernails...

But thing's don't scale up quite like you'd think they do. I'd guess that the blast, while causing heavy damage at the point of impact, will dissipate.

[TrashMan]

It's called fiction Trashman.

Which still doesn't justifiy internal inconsistencies or conflicts or "crimes against common sense".

But thing's don't scale up quite like you'd think they do. I'd guess that the blast, while causing heavy damage at the point of impact, will dissipate.

Yes, I'm quite aware of that for bombs/torps. Like I said, all that is needed is some basic knowledge of physics and some basic maths...but 99% of sci-fi authors are too lazy to check what they are writing.

[Ransom]

Which still doesn't justifiy internal inconsistencies or conflicts or "crimes against common sense".

I think it does, actually, especially when it comes to something as irrelevant as this. Science is nice and everything, but a good story is always more important than being accurate about the number of kilotons a bomb should have.

Really, if you're a stickler for good science, there's many far more glaring things about Freespace than that. It's soft SF - it's not supposed to be about that stuff.

[TrashMan]

Depends what it is..Sci-Fi is not pure science so taking liberties with some technologies is not something I really mind.

What I mind is when the writers contradict themselves.

[Getter Robo G]

GTVA needs to be careful exploring for life out there.

One of their ships might accidentally pick up: Xenomorphs, Crites, or even Space herpes...

Brought back to a GTVA planet they are screwed...

[Admiral_Stones]

The Largest Earth Nukes today are 50 times less potent than a single Harbinger.  You could fire every single earth nuke at an Orion and barely scratch it.

Really.  Where do you get this number from?

Harbinger tech description saying it's 5000Mt, and the fact that the Tsar Bomba was 100Mt.

I honestly stopped paying attention to any techincal numbers in various Sci-Fi universes...as usual, people making the universe up pull up numbers from their a**, using numbers that sound "cool", without actually checking them out if they work (simple math...SIMPLE MATH!). Therefore, any canon damage/power output number (be it FS or SW or ST) means as much to me as does the dirt beneath my fingernails...

Partially seconded. Some power specifications in the SW universe are so overly ridiculous. What happened with the times SW was all about fun instead of number crunching

[Kie99]

The Largest Earth Nukes today are 50 times less potent than a single Harbinger.  You could fire every single earth nuke at an Orion and barely scratch it.

Really.  Where do you get this number from?

Harbinger tech description saying it's 5000Mt, and the fact that the Tsar Bomba was 100Mt.

I honestly stopped paying attention to any techincal numbers in various Sci-Fi universes...as usual, people making the universe up pull up numbers from their a**, using numbers that sound "cool", without actually checking them out if they work (simple math...SIMPLE MATH!). Therefore, any canon damage/power output number (be it FS or SW or ST) means as much to me as does the dirt beneath my fingernails...

Partially seconded. Some power specifications in the SW universe are so overly ridiculous. What happened with the times SW was all about fun instead of number crunching

It still is about fun if you want it to be.  The extremely large numbers are there so that certain people can go to Star Trek fans and go "Ha ha, the death star would murder the enterprise."   You can ignore them if you like.

[Nuclear1]

I want uber cybernetic wolves.

[Admiral_Stones]

With near fusion density, iridium-veridium compound claws.

[General Battuta]

Cybernetic wolves? WAR KITTENS!

http://io9.com/357675/evil-outer-space-dictators-just-want-kittens

(Actually, that was somewhat less entertaining than I remembered it being, but, uh, yes, there is the link.)

Anyway, I imagine that if we ever do achieve space travel those sad little yield numbers will seem stupendously naive. That said, they're pure fantasy -- this isn't hard SF. It's not a big deal to me, at least, but I can understand the desire for rigor.

[FreeSpaceFreak]

I think those MT indications are ridiculous, and that's probably why they omitted them in FS2. I calculated the power needed to detonate a Sathanas, using the 5000MT of the Harbinger bomb, and came to -IIRC- 1 500 000 megatons, far more than ever produced on Earth. (A supernova is estimated at 10²⁸ megatons, so don't care about that ) A Subach would surpass the Hiroshima bomb five times per second.

[jdjtcagle]

Yeah, that'd dumb...