I have to say, this might be the nicest portrayal of Agent I've seen. It helps that she's communicating with someone who is on her side and has not (yet?) attracted her ire.
Very sympathetic portrayal, too. Her walking off to expend herself in battle is sad, but in a way that's quite on point for GFL.
I really liked her entrance, too. Doing a maid thing (serving Archi a drink) but in a way that asserts herself.
Honestly, my only quibble with this quest is that I think the opening could have done more to introduce the setting to people unfamiliar with GFL. It is, admittedly, a lot to exposit (that this is the 2060s, that there's an android rebellion, that the rebellion is a brushfire conflict while the world keeps on turning, etc) even before you go into the DEEP LORETM.
What do you think would happen to a play if the prompter wasn't able to give cues? Or the lighting technician lost control over the spotlights? Of course it would be ruined! Oh, I enjoy ruining Griffin's plays so much, and I have done it more times than I care to count. A timely application of radio jamming to make their prompter mute– and their play staggers, tumbles, degrades into chaos... and the stage is mine to command. Such a joy!
But to get my own stage snatched away from me? That's something I do not wish to happen ever again. They got their hands on a jammer, and used it to cut off a sizeable regiment of my troops. It's not my poor minions' fault that they got destroyed for this. So I implore you as a friend and the movie club member: give me means to protect my stage, and I shall reward you with the best play of my own at zero hour.
Yours sincerely,
I.
It's morning, and you're reading Intruder's message. The movie club, huh? It's been a while since you watched movies together. Yet another thing this war has taken from you. And Intruder's problem does look like a serious one indeed: cut off from their Ringleader, SF grunt units lose their edge over their Griffin counterparts. The enemy realized this, and accurately identified Intruder as one of the most vulnerable targets for their new e-war capability.
There's an attachment at the end of the message– Intruder sensibly provided the battle log for you. Let's see...
The log starts with Intruder's forces converging on what looks like an abandoned hamlet, if it weren't for several mil-spec trucks hiding between the shacks. Intruder herself stays behind, overviewing the... stage from a hillock about 2 kilometers away through the... opera glasses?
When the front of the advancing troops has about 200 meters left to the closest shack, white noise suddenly floods the ether, and the connection goes down. The troops stop, their disarray noticeable immediately. Intruder reacts by abandoning her vantage point and closing the distance, when a heavy MG fire from one of the shacks pins her down. Unable to come closer, she's watching for some time as her forces are methodically decimated, then retreats. The log ends.
You don't know the specs of the jammer, or how many do they have. What you do know is a fact that closer and more powerful transmitter wins the RF battle. And that the frequency used by SF was chosen for a reason: you won't be making things better should you decide to change it. Speaking of which, it's not as simple as turning a knob on a radio. Yes, it can be shifted to some extent, but not enough to avoid a jammer designed to work on a band of frequencies. And more substantial leap would require a new hardware module with corresponding components and antennae's profile. But is it the only thing you can do? Hmm...
[x] Brainstorm
Sorry for the delay, stuff happened.
With some breakthrough points now available, Architect can start tapping into things beyond the contemporary technology level. Which means you in your ideas don't have to stick strictly to what exists and proven, as long as it's somewhat plausible and sounds cool. The more outlandish the idea, the more points it'd require. And the point's won't be consumed by R&D, they're threshold type resource (you have enough or you don't). That's because we have time limit as is. Have fun!
Ohhhh boy. Electronic warfare. Elecronic counter-counter-measures (ECCM for short). This is a toughie. I did some research on this for Chess AI Quest a while back but it's difficult to wrap my head around.
uh
Okay, I have an idea.
[X] Laser communication relay system. The signal reciever is gear made to be carried or mounted on Sangvis Dolls that can recieve laser-based data transmission. The signal sender could be ground-bound or airborne (maybe mounted on a UAV). Laser communications require line-of-sight but are unjammable.
I don't know a great deal on this topic, but going by 'closer+powerful transmitter wins', could the jamming be beaten by having more existing transmitters / relays close by? Embedded within the grunt unit squads themselves?
'More transmitters' is more of a logistics problem than an engineering one, mind.
One possible option is a laser transmitter. Requires direct line of sight but it would completely ignore the signal jamming. Embed a few repeaters within the units, and as long as Intruder can keep LOS on at least one of them they can keep relaying her orders under the jamming. Biggest issue being the transmitters getting singled out as priority targets, since they're pretty loud and obvious.
That said I'm scraping my memory on how long-distance comms work and certainly no expert.
Yeah, I think you can just win the shouting match by going "MY RADIO SIGNAL IS TOO LOUD TO BE JAMMED AT THIS DISTANCE." Electronic warfare does often shake out as a shouting match IRL, is my understanding.
That kind of option would lend itself to creating some kind of monstrously powerful super-radio relay. It would probably have to be mounted on a vehicle.
I have to say, this might be the nicest portrayal of Agent I've seen. It helps that she's communicating with someone who is on her side and has not (yet?) attracted her ire.
Very sympathetic portrayal, too. Her walking off to expend herself in battle is sad, but in a way that's quite on point for GFL.
I really liked her entrance, too. Doing a maid thing (serving Archi a drink) but in a way that asserts herself.
Thank you! I was worried you didn't like that chapter too much, and I'm glad if it's not the case.
No matter how much our precious Ringleaders are forced to play villainesses in the game, I think "we didn't ask for this, and we're in this together" feeling would be more appropriate for what's going on (at least for whatever divergence I plan for this quest). Also I simply can't help myself, it's just more enjoyable for me to portray them in such a way.
Honestly, my only quibble with this quest is that I think the opening could maybe have done more to introduce the setting to people unfamiliar with GFL. It is, admittedly, a lot to exposit (that this is the 2060s, that there's an android rebellion, that the rebellion is a brushfire conflict while the world keeps on turning, etc) even before you go into the DEEP LORETM.
Do you mind if I simply add a reference to your quest in the first post? "If you're not familiar with the setting, go read that awesome quest first". This one wouldn't have existed without yours anyway.
Do you mind if I simply add a reference to your quest in the first post? "If you're not familiar with the setting, go read that awesome quest first". This one wouldn't have existed without yours anyway.
Mmmm, a tough one. Cant get around by slapping more dakka...
From what I could get from the battle log, either the jamming work with line of sight, by pin-pointing the jammer signal on Intruder, hence why they pined her down with MG when she tried to change position.
Or, they just went full brute force with the many mil-spec trucks housing jammers and they just turned on the switches when SF troops were detected, with them preventing Intruder to get closer to avoid her getting the signal back.
Anyway, for both these option, I'm thinking UAV-mounted signal boosters; that way Intruder can either disperse her signal to prevent pin-point jammers from localizing the source or sending them closer to the front to counteract brute-jamming. Bonus point, UAV-mounted signal boosters could theoretically help Intruder's jamming efforts by giving power to her white-noise signals.
[x] UAV-mounted signal boosters. ''So, what about... UAV-mounted signal boosters ? They could be like... talkie-walkie or assistants to help getting your messages... directions to your... stage crew ? Bleh, enough with theater stuff, what I mean is that a small squad of 3 or 4 UAV with signal boosting equipments could help you get your signal through jamming by either moving closer to your troops easier then you or providing different signal vectors to avoid directional jamming signals !
SF already has UAVs (as well they should - they'll have been an essential part of warfare for over half a century by the time GFL rolls around). We could adapt them to have laser signal recievers and emitters.
Laser communications, simply over powering the signal with a counter signal, having sub-commanders.
The signal bouncing UAVs would overcome the line of sight issue with laser comms.
It probably wouldn't be too hard to imbede some backup commands to a few units and give them sub-control of an area. Intruder just programs them with patrols or to rtb when jammed or something?
(accidentally lost everything I typed up. here's a shorter rewrite)
[X] Laser comms - someone else suggested, excellent idea
[X] Mesh Networking - bots pass data amongst themselves; now you only need line-of-sight to one/few bots for all to get commands
[X] Radio Inferometry - many troops → many radios → distributed radio array → "big" radio telescope → better resolution → easier to "point" at Intruder & hear signal. Reverse polarity to transmit back.
[X] Radio-seeking missile - no jammer no problem
[X] Modulate our own jammers - encrypted data looks like static; as long as we're using our own bigass radios, might as well use them to shout commands too
[X] Laser Semaphore - Heck, laser comms don't even need to be line-of-sight. Point a bright enough laser at a wall, and your troops will be able to get data just from seeing the scattered light. (bright enough, and that light can bounce many times, reaching all sorts of places)
Edit:
[X] Makeshift ansible - I remember something in the game's lore about weapon-linked dolls always knowing the location of their gun? Keep the gun, and vibrate/move it (shake it baby shake it) to send data.
I don't think we're going to get that far with swapping to laser communications if SF considers the utility of their current radio frequency important enough that we're told just changing it isn't an option. The first thing that comes to my mind is just how comparatively easy it would be to lose laser connection just because a doll was behind a wall insider a building, or even just on the other side of a hedge or other dense enough plant growth that wouldn't normally be an issue for radio waves.
@TeaMug had something similar to what I was thinking of with their seeking missile, but to flesh it out further an maybe make it easier to use:
[X] "Home-on-Jam" Extended Range Precision Guided Mortar Bomb: If that jammer is broadcasting loud enough to wash out communications like that, it's loud enough to give away it's location. Design a new mortar bomb compatible with existing stocks of the Jaguar mobile mortar system for ease of rapid deployment by Intruder and other ringleaders, rather than having to set up a new production line for the launchers as well. It should be capable of homing in on the radio emissions of the jammer via adjustable fold-out tail and body fins deployed after launch that allow it to perform significant adjustments in trajectory. If you're going through the effort of putting the extra fins into it anyway might as well make them able to provide enough lift to extend the bomb's maximum range too, so Intruder can just keep a few Jaguars back by her side where the jamming is weaker and they won't interfere with her plays, and still have them able to engage even if she is a handful of kilometers away. Include some way for the ringleaders to adjust what frequencies it should or shouldn't be targeting in the field, so that they don't have to come all the way back to you if Griffin alters how the jammers broadcast to try and prevent targeting, or if there's a friendly emission source in the field that they don't want to hit. Fitting the fold-out fins and guidance system into something the size of the Jaguar's mortar bomb is going to reduce the amount of volume left for the warhead, so see if the new stronger high explosive you put together for Destroyer's grenades can be used to offset that.
Fake edit: looks like @Mechasaurian ninja'd me with the idea of making them work with the Jaguars too.
[x] Medium-sized heavily armored dinergate-based armadillo bot. Rolls forward, ignoring fire. Spools off cable to connect to Invader or paired receiver ardillogate. Emplaces itself and acts as retransmitter. Attacks by rolling into T-Dolls and grinding on them. Has laser comms receivers.
Idea: Something that's cheap to produce, fast to deploy, annoying to destroy and fits anime aesthetics.
[x]Spreadspectrum chirp transmission. It is entirely possible to have our radio send highly compressed data packets over a wide range of frequency. This hard to counter because the only foolproof countermeasure is that the enemy transmiter is more powerful than yours.
[X] alter the programing of the dolls such that they attempt to pull back from jamming, and can re-establish connection.
If somthing goes wrong during a play, the actors do not just stand there. Or simply continue the motions. Rather they compenstate. And work towards a transition, such that they may get back onto track. The raditation tracking missle isnt a bad idea. But may not react in time. The dolls pulling back may be perdictible, but its better then losing them outright. And hopefully, the enemy t-dolls pulling out of cover to fire upon our t-dolls coencides with a missle doing its level best impression of john cena
While I appreciate all the votes of confidence, the way the QM is doing these new brainstorm votes they don't actually help any. An idea doesn't need to win to be considered if it's a success or not, just be put down once.
That and unless we want to put all out eggs in just the basket of the homing munitions, we should probably work on fleshing out the communication ideas more. Not mentioning the details even if we think they would be included by default is the stated reason why we ended up giving Agent the equivalent of 1x red dot sights instead of anything better. It's why my description ballooned in length as I kept thinking of stuff I should probably specify.
