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Post by TOMAHAWK on Jan 24, 2005 20:24:14 GMT
Anybody care to speculate on how the martians AIMED.. line of sight? ... little point having infra red/ heat locking when you have an heat ray!!! ;D
Seriously ... In a JW tripod i dare say thats a point and shoot, but if the heat ray box is held by the tenticles.. I presume it must have some form of sighting mech
Also ... this will be interesting if the films portrayed this ... I presume the heat ray would need to "recharge" after shooting... like a camera flash..
just imagine Marty sat in his tripod waiting for the little red/orange light to pop on so he can fire.
hee hee the ultimate ANTI red eye device!!! ;D ;D
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Post by timeship2 on Jan 24, 2005 20:32:51 GMT
You make it sound like they are just carrying a cheap 35mm snapshot camera! Maybe they just invaded earth to get the film developed?
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Post by RustiSwordz on Jan 24, 2005 20:49:09 GMT
Ive always believed the Martians used their machines like we would use a suit of armour. The martian would be aware of a threat and naturally 'point' the heat ray at the threat in the same way we would use a gun.
Like powered armour concept from the Starship Troopers novel.
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Post by Stewymartian on Jan 24, 2005 20:58:38 GMT
Wells describes the Martians as 'using different bodies according to their needs' (I'm probably paraphrasing here), when he talks of their machines. So I'd have to agree with Rustiswordz, the machines were probably wired directly into their brains, controlled by thought, and not by some joystick/gamepad or GUI (Windows for fighting machines, now there's a scary thought!)
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Post by timeship2 on Jan 24, 2005 21:10:56 GMT
I wonder how big the heatray apparatus would have to be and in generating the collosal amount of heat it ejects I certainly can't imagine it being a small 'tenticle held' device.
It's interesting watching the progress of stars technology here on earth. From what I have seen, our own 'heatrays' so far have needed entire planes to contain the apparatus needed to generate the kind of heat that would knock out an enemy. Even then the target doesn't exactly incinerate or go down instantly.
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Post by RustiSwordz on Jan 24, 2005 21:18:17 GMT
as the novel says... a chamber with absolutely no conductivity...
so the Martians are able to harness super or even hyper conductive technology.
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Post by Bayne on Jan 24, 2005 22:42:31 GMT
[glow=red,2,300]If the Martians used their minds directly.. what need would they have of tentacles? They would be just brains in jars by that stage. I expect that the machines were automated to such a degree that the martian need only pull a lever or two to pilot the machine, the tripod itself handling balance, placement of step etc. For aiming it could be as simple as pointing a tentacle or some such and the machinery handling it from there.[/glow]
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Post by BrutalDeluxe on Jan 24, 2005 22:43:34 GMT
The narrator describes it as "sweeping round swiftly and steadily, this flaming death, this invisible, inevitable sword of heat." I imagine from that small box they were able to generate a continuous beam of light/heat and they wielded it by line of sight.
Perhaps they did have Windows for Fighting Machines, after all the aliens in ID4 used an Apple compatible OS to coordinate their attacks (groan) ;D
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Post by Gnorn on Jan 24, 2005 23:05:03 GMT
A fatal error has occured whilst aiming the heatray. Do you wish to continue?
[cancel]
-Gnorn
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Post by timeship2 on Jan 25, 2005 3:02:36 GMT
Wouldn't the blue screen of death be more appropriate? ;D
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Post by Stormdragon666 on Jan 25, 2005 18:00:59 GMT
;D Ghegheghe, Martian in the midst of battle to his comrads: wait a minute guys, i have to reboot Fighting Machine Explorer 2.4 has got stuck again.
Whilst his comrads already using 3.0: whahahaha n00b!!!!
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Post by VES on Jan 25, 2005 18:17:57 GMT
Martian: "Fatal error has occurred?? Bugger!! Gates said they got all the bugs out of the new Windows!!"
Just before firing:
"Attention! An upgrade is available for WinHeatray ver. 2.0! would you like to upgrade now?"
Martian: "#$%@!!!"
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Post by lanceradvanced on Jan 25, 2005 18:42:41 GMT
Same way a human aims a machine gun loaded with tracers, or a laser sight on a pistol.. you have a very visable point where the ray is hitting, move the ray around, to get it where you want it to go.
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Post by Bayne on Jan 29, 2005 4:10:57 GMT
[glow=red,2,300]But in this case, instead of a red dot on your target you have a big gout of flame [/glow]
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Post by Thorgrimm on Jan 29, 2005 16:48:52 GMT
I always pictured the Martians using their version of a H.U.D. linked tracking array. Look at it and the weapon tracks it and shoots. As to me that would make the most sense. Cheers Thorgrimm
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Post by Topaz on Jan 29, 2005 16:57:34 GMT
If the Martians used their minds directly.. what need would they have of tentacles? They would be just brains in jars by that stage. I expect that the machines were automated to such a degree that the martian need only pull a lever or two to pilot the machine, the tripod itself handling balance, placement of step etc. For aiming it could be as simple as pointing a tentacle or some such and the machinery handling it from there. I suspect that Bayne probably has it right. There's no way Wells could've known about any of this sort of thing, but such an idea is already coming within the realm of science circa 2005. Just read an article the other day describing how a group of researchers had built a system that allowed a volunteer to point, click, and even move objects on a computer screen simply by thought alone. Apparently, their next step is to try and hook the system to a robotic arm. The Martians (given this technology) would have very little need for 'conventional' controls, although I suppose you'd still want some manual overrides or controls for some critical systems, lest a stray thought wipe out that martian that shoved ahead of you in line for the tasty morsel brought to the pit last night! Once a line of sight and range to a target is established, it's not a huge computational problem to aim the heat ray from whereever you've decided to 'hold' it. The aiming system just figures a new line of sight from the boresight of the heat ray to the chosen point in space and adjusts the aiming angle accordingly.
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Post by smigmaestron on Feb 21, 2005 21:43:48 GMT
Aiming...Heatray.....just fire, you're bound to hit something
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Post by Lensman on Feb 23, 2005 4:37:13 GMT
Aiming...Heatray.....just fire, you're bound to hit something Yup, especially when the heat ray is an area-effect weapon, unlike a laser. But even if it were a laser, I think the applicable description is from Larry Niven's Ringworld: "First you shoot, then aim." And as has already been pointed out, it's not a burst weapon; it can be fired continuously. Clearly the Martians weren't constrained by problems of waste heat like we are. Rusti, thanks for speaking authoritatively on this subject. What you said in your posts was very much to the point. Computer control? Automated control? Mental/neural control? No way, huh-uh. From Book two, chapter 2: "...the handling-machine did not impress me as a machine, but as a crablike creature with a glittering integument, the controlling Martian whose delicate tentacles actuated its movements seeming to be simply the equivalent of the crab's cerebral portion." I envision the controls of a handling machine or Tripod to look like the control cab of a power shovel, with levers and knobs all over the place. Possibly several times as many controls, considering the large number of tentacles the handling machines had. Wells was writing of the ultimate in mechanical sophistication, as he could imagine it, but it seems likely that he could not imagine an automated mechanism sophisticated and flexible enough to replace an intelligent operator.
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Post by Lensman on Feb 23, 2005 4:48:02 GMT
Er, no, on second thought I think Rusti had it right again. Probably more like waldo control, as an extension of the operator's tentacles, and not so much the pulling-levers-and-knobs thing, like a power shovel or backhoe.
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Post by maniacs on Feb 24, 2005 11:40:27 GMT
I think Wells, inspired by new machines of the day, like the bike and the car, could see a day when man and machine melded into one. Hence your war machine. I dont think we can take this combination too far since he does describe the fighting machine as graceful as a living thing.
Wilst he saw this future he couldn't explain how it works. This is probably why his descriptions are so brief. To leave the imagination open to the most fantastiv spectacle we can aspire too. He may have been aware of his own limitations.
Even now why try to imagine the FM within victorean mentality wilst Wells seems to try and rise above this.
As for the Heatray a new form of energy has been theorised called Black Energy(I think). Basically its the equivalent of imploding an atomic bomb(I think!!!) but it will give endless suplies of fuel once harnessed. Maybe this is what they used.
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