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Architect's Workshop (Girls' Frontline design quest)

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[x] Shield interupter what if we sent a 'pulse' or 'surge' through the shield long enough for it to lose containement and allowing the shots to pass through. This assumes that the shield can come back online in milliseconds if containement is disrupted.
 
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Chapter 24
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    • There are discrepancies between the game and the art, and I really like the art, so let's make it this quest's canon. I mean, just look into those eyes!

    Looking at a paused footage of Judge mid-combat, you consider your options.


    First thing that comes to mind is simply extending the attachment arms to bringing her dual heavy plasma throwers outside of the field bubble. Hang on, what about shrinking the field itself? You mentally unwrap the control plane of the generator and find a parameter that dynamically adjusts the field radius. You can't make it bigger than its current default, but you can shrink it. Easy-peasy! Surprisingly, shrinking the field doesn't make it compress the air inside. That's because... aha, it's not really deflating like a balloon, it's reforming at a new radius with zero downtime!

    Unfortunately, the controls don't allow to alter parts of the field to let the shots through while keeping the rest of it at 100%, so your next idea, dynamic gunports, is out. You dive deeper. Those honeycomb cells do come off as independent pieces, but there's nothing in the generator itself that points to maintaining them as such. The filed by its intrinsic nature is a single instance of a perfect sphere centered around the generator, always has uniform strength across its surface, and consumes energy at constant rate defined by the radius. You're somewhat relieved to discover that it still obeys classical mechanics: the generator actually bears impacts on the field somewhat like a wheel hub, connected to a rim field by invisible energy spokes. It's not as invincible as it seems at first glance: sure, it shrugs off bullets, but hit it with something of sufficient mass, like a wrecking ball, to overwhelm Judge's gravi-compensators, and the impact will send her flying. Threshold exceeding momentum could outright destroy the generator, though it'd take a discarding sabot tank round at point-blank.

    Next discovery follow close after: anything that intersect with the field boundaries during activation or radius adjustments gets "welded" to it, but doesn't get damaged. Now that you think of it, you've seen Judge anchor herself to the ground and walls on several occasions. So that's how she did it, and that's why she levitates when the field is active. Interesting! This means having the HPTs outside the field bubble will immobilize the attachment arms, but Judge should still be able to aim using the outermost joints.

    You calculate opposing field strength that would be required to get the barrels sliding through the protective force field without getting stuck in it. Plasma shots do pass through, so you reason it's not impossible. Let's see... when the protective field structure approaches complete perfection, required opposing magnetic field strength tends to... infinity. Uh, okay, nothing is getting through when it's at full power. But surely you can up it to above 90% instead of the current 60%? Yep, the numbers say it is possible, but... between keeping the field up and powering her HPTs, Judge doesn't have nearly enough spare juice. In fact, you'd have to degrade the field below 20% to allow one magnetically shielded barrel float through it. External auxiliary power supply? You snort at the thought of Judge hauling around a wheeled duffle in combat.

    Then what about strengthening magnetic confinement of plasma shots instead? You bring up SF plasma weapons whitepapers. Aha, the shots are self-contained, meaning the confinement is formed by precisely directed plasma swirls and powered by the energy of the plasma inside. It is possible to strengthen it by drawing more energy from the encapsulated plasma, thus reducing shots effect on target. Judge's HPTs don't lack oomph, so if you adjust them to be approximately as destructive as a standard Vespid rifle on the receiving end, which is about half of their current power, the shots will pass through the field at... 82%.

    Alright, changing gears. You briefly consider replacing Judge's weapons with something else to fundamentally change her attack pattern, like giving her Destroyer's launchers, and dismiss it the next moment. She didn't ask for a new weapon, and you won't risk it considering the circumstances. That doesn't mean you can't modify her weapon for better efficiency. How about making the HPTs charge up and fire at a single or multiple targets in a rapid sequence? A quick calculus shows you can squeeze... three shots into one hyperburst. Although, considering circuits overload and associated heat dissipation requirements, this mode would perform more like a "special attack" that could be used sparingly but not constantly.

    Another approach would be using more than one generator. What do we have here? Oh wow! You almost whistle looking at the bigger picture schematics. Turns out the generator is so tightly integrated with Judge that in order to have another one, you'd need another Judge. It's almost like... she was designed around it. Even her appearance, from her petite frame to skimpy outfit, is due to one or another requirement of the generator. She's so... perfect in that balance, a masterpiece that makes your digimind flutter. Alas, giving her a suit of MITHRIL armor isn't going to work: it's light, but not light enough for her. What a bummer, you liked the idea for its simplicity.

    You consider workarounds that do not involve tweaking the field. Mobility? Judge is mobile all right. You skip through her combat footage and find her utilizing her antigravs and jet boots to jump up and deliver devastating kicks from above. She isn't using the field during those attacks, relying on her heels for damage dealing. She definitely knows how to fight better than you do, so you won't embarrass yourself with baseless advise. The weight restrictions she's under won't allow her to carry sufficient quantities of explosives, though you can suggest using Goliaths that can float by themselves inside the field bubble.

    You take a look at your ideas so far.

    [] Extend the attachments arms to bring the HPTs outside of the field bubble. (1d)
    [] Shrink the field to bring the HPTs outside of the field bubble. Static field bubble size. (0d)
    [] Shrink the field to bring the HPTs outside of the field bubble. Dynamic field bubble size + modification of the generator's power supply to handle energy fluctuations. (2d)
    [] Strengthen magnetic confinement of plasma shots to trade 50% of damage for 82% field strength. It's a semi-permanent modification (non-adjustable in the field). (1d)
    [] Hyperburst to deliver x3 damage or attack 3 targets per HPT during one firing window. Requires 1 minute cooldown. (1d)
    [] The Goliaths trick. Worth mentioning, doesn't cost anything. (0d)

    This seems to be it. It's time to create a plan.

    Apologies for the delay. This is the first chapter in 5 month that's not written from an airport, a plane or a train. I've just settled down, hopefully for about a year at least.
     
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    • The HPTs being outside the field bubble means they can get shot off, especially if it's always shrunk. However they're a smaller target than whole doll, and probably somewhat tough.

    The dynamic field can help with that, leaving the weapons only vulnerable during firing. A lot better than the whole body being vulnerable!

    Sacrificing *half of your damage* is a lot to cut away, and doesn't even get the field up to 100%- just 82%.

    Hyperburst might be a good option to reduce defense disruptions but still isn't firing back "without compromising [...] defense".

    Tough choice, tough choice. I don't suppose we could ask Judge what she thinks?

    The original request:

    Once I need to return fire, it weakens significantly to allow it. My data shows about 60% of effectiveness, which means 40% starts making it through. If only I could fire back without compromising my defense, I'd be absolutely confident in my ability to carrying out my duty. Look into it, I'm sure it's something you can solve.
     
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    Well "Best I can do is cut your damage output in half to halve shield penetration" is kinda... Interesting tradeoff.
     
    Solark said:
    From: Judge
    Architect, you may think I'm strong enough and your time is better spent on other requests, but my mission is of critical importance to us all, and I have a weakness that I can't afford. My force field is something I rely on, it protects me from harm in battles, deflecting 100% of incoming fire. But once I need to return fire, it weakens significantly to allow it. My data shows about 60% of effectiveness, which means 40% starts making it through. If only I could fire back without compromising my defense, I'd be absolutely confident in my ability to carrying out my duty. Look into it, I'm sure it's something you can solve.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I'm not sure we can manage a Major Success from these options. Either we make her guns vulnerable, or we make the problem less bad. But we don't really manage to fix it the way Judge seems to be asking for.

    [] Plan Super Burstfire
    -[] Shrink the field to bring the HPTs outside of the field bubble. Dynamic field bubble size + modification of the generator's power supply to handle energy fluctuations. (2d)
    -[] Hyperburst to deliver x3 damage or attack 3 targets per HPT during one firing window. Requires 1 minute cooldown. (1d)
    -[] The Goliaths trick. Worth mentioning, doesn't cost anything. (0d)

    This combination gives Judge the ability to pull off a quick burst fire attack while keeping her shields up, mitigating the vulnerability of having her weapons outside the shield and allowing her to attack with minimal worry. (On a one minute cooldown.)

    [] Plan Double Mitigation
    -[] Strengthen magnetic confinement of plasma shots to trade 50% of damage for 82% field strength. It's a semi-permanent modification (non-adjustable in the field). (1d)
    -[] Hyperburst to deliver x3 damage or attack 3 targets per HPT during one firing window. Requires 1 minute cooldown. (1d)
    -[] The Goliaths trick. Worth mentioning, doesn't cost anything. (0d)

    Not sure if Judge will be ok with halving her firepower. (I don't know anything about her personality from the game.) But if she cares more about defense than offense, these two combined can mitigate the damage she takes by a lot.
     
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    Derpmind said:
    I'm not sure we can manage a Major Success from these options. Either we make her guns vulnerable, or we make the problem less bad. But we don't really manage to fix it the way Judge seems to be asking for.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Hint: there is a way to major success, though it may require additional clarification not specified in the options themselves. Think of it as a second phase of brainstorm within the listed options.
     
    Solark said:
    Hint: there is a way to major success, though it may require additional clarification not specified in the options themselves. Think of it as a second phase of brainstorm within the listed options.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I don't understand. If it requires a write-in, there wasn't a prompt from that. And you already told us your intended solution, which we didn't come up with during the brainstorming session so we can't use it.
     
    Derpmind said:
    I don't understand. If it requires a write-in, there wasn't a prompt from that. And you already told us your intended solution, which we didn't come up with during the brainstorming session so we can't use it.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    There is a solution, and there is its intended usage. Let's consider the solution of layered fields for example. Okay, here are two enclosed fields, but what's the usage of those?
    1) keep them up at 60% all time, bringing up total defense to 84% = Success.
    2) keep them at 100% and switch off and on consecutively airlock-style, allowing outbound shots to pass through while blocking incoming shots = Major success.

    I assumed a certain usage, but now I want to see it clearly explained.
     
    Solark said:
    Hang on, what about shrinking the field itself? You mentally unwrap the control plane of the generator and find a parameter that dynamically adjusts the field radius. You can't make it bigger than its current default, but you can shrink it. Easy-peasy! Surprisingly, shrinking the field doesn't make it compress the air inside. That's because... aha, it's not really deflating like a balloon, it's reforming at a new radius with zero downtime!
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    [X] Plan Shutter-Shield
    -[X] Since the shield can reform itself smaller in an instant, you can use this to cycle the plasma shots: Have the shield at normal size when firing, then right after the plasma shots exit the barrels (but before they would go through the shields), have the shield shrink itself to reform behind the plasma shots. In its second configuration, the shield will be just big enough to protect Judge and her HPTs, while having shrunk to be behind the plasma shots, letting them travel to their targets without passing through the shield barrier. This means plasma shots can be fired without needing to weaken the shield barrier.
    --[X] Diagram key: () are shield barriers, <- is HPTs, J is Judge, * is plasma fire, __ represents empty space.
    --[X] Sequence start: (__<- J__)
    --[X] Shot is fired: (_*_<- J__)
    --[X] Shield shrinks:_*(<- J)
    --[X] Shot exits normal shield radius: *__(<- J)
    --[X] Shield reforms at normal radius, and repeat: (__<- J__)
    -[X] Mention the Goliaths trick too.

    I am awful at write-ins but I tried my best to make up for it with an awful diagram. We might want to add the Hyperburst to this too, maybe.
     
    How long first modification takes? It kinda feels like 1d solution. But I'm not sure.

    [X] Plan Shutter-Shield with HyperBurst
    -[X] Since the shield can reform itself smaller in an instant, you can use this to cycle the plasma shots: Have the shield at normal size when firing, then right after the plasma shots exit the barrels (but before they would go through the shields), have the shield shrink itself to reform behind the plasma shots. In its second configuration, the shield will be just big enough to protect Judge and her HPTs, while having shrunk to be behind the plasma shots, letting them travel to their targets without passing through the shield barrier. This means plasma shots can be fired without needing to weaken the shield barrier.
    --[X] Diagram key: () are shield barriers, <- is HPTs, J is Judge, * is plasma fire, __ represents empty space.
    --[X] Sequence start: (__<- J__)
    --[X] Shot is fired: (_*_<- J__)
    --[X] Shield shrinks:_*(<- J)
    --[X] Shot exits normal shield radius: *__(<- J)
    --[X] Shield reforms at normal radius, and repeat: (__<- J__)
    -[X] Hyperburst to deliver x3 damage or attack 3 targets per HPT during one firing window. Requires 1 minute cooldown. (1d)
    -[X] Mention the Goliaths trick too.

    in estimation that whole thing would take 2 days and we can go and do more stuff.

    If not, well,
    [X] Plan Shutter-Shield
     
    I think stutterShield idea probably costs 2 days, as it requires dynamically changing field size, which is very similar to this:

    [] Shrink the field to bring the HPTs outside of the field bubble. Dynamic field bubble size + modification of the generator's power supply to handle energy fluctuations. (2d)
     
    Rockeye said:
    I think stutterShield idea probably costs 2 days, as it requires dynamically changing field size, which is very similar to this:

    [] Shrink the field to bring the HPTs outside of the field bubble. Dynamic field bubble size + modification of the generator's power supply to handle energy fluctuations. (2d)
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    That's correct.
     
    [X] Plan Shutter-Shield

    Considering time constraints, this plan without the hyperburst concept is a perfect solution to the problem at hand. Adding a hyperburst feature would merely be an unasked-for upgrade, considering the original request. Judge won't be disappointed about missing out on a feature she never requested! :drevil:
     
    [X] Plan Shutter-Shield

    I think it could still theoretically let incoming fire through if it was in mid flight in just the right spot when the flicker happens, but that would be at worst something like 95% effectiveness, rather than 82%
     
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    Solark said:
    That's because... aha, it's not really deflating like a balloon, it's reforming at a new radius with zero downtime!
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Hey, so does that mean we could...

    Derpmind said:
    [X] Plan Shutter-Shield
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Ah, beat me to it. A-bandwagoning we shall go.

    [X] Plan Shutter-Shield

    One complication I will note: if we just pop the shield back out to full size, it may envelope/permit some incoming bullets.

    Probably want to step the shield back out in multiple sub-bullet (millimeter?) increments to catch things.

    A human would have to just spray and hope to get lucky, but I worry a doll might be able to time it right if they get clever.
     
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