1. Defender

    Defender New Member

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    creating soldiers for human race in far future????

    Discussion in 'Character Development' started by Defender, Feb 9, 2016.

    hi i know i keep asking alot of questions, its just that like i said, i suck at writing and im trying to improve, i would appreciate your guys input on a few aspects of a type of character i am making, they are meant to be humanity's answer to a robotic cyborg alien race that is invading our galaxy, and they are human consciousness in a robot body, but having trouble with what abilities they should have based on this, also i want to divide them into like four classes or ranks, each having a special strong suit ability, but i have no idea as to what, help! :)
     
  2. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    You could have a standard infantry unit. A sleeker stealthier special operations unit. An armor unit that is larger and offers similar support like a tank, but in the form of small to large Mech like machines. Maybe something like drones, for air support? EMP's would be a fairly devastating weapon against your mechanized military overall, nukes come in as a close second. Perks for them would be that they don't have to worry about the issues a human based army would have, like the need to be fed, sleep, etc. They would be able to use broken comrades for spare parts instead of having to be DNA matched, though it would be ideal to match units parts with that unit (but they could be patch-worked with what they can recover if need be). They would be able to carry more ammunition, and other possible tools that they might need due to having a lot more strength than their human equivalent. They can be synced up through a type of closed network eliminating the need for maps and other things, as they can be downloaded into the collective like a hive mind. The downside is that they can be captured and have the units memory downloaded, and then have the entire unit wiped completely to be used against them like a wolf in sheep's clothing. Hacking will be an issue of concern when dealing with an all robot army, though I am sure you will have some form of firewall in place to add some defense on this point. I like your idea of making a quantum like computer based intelligence by using human imprinting/downloading into the machines. It allows for them to have personality and not just be a stringent AI that only does what it is programmed to do. I hope this helps a bit with what you are looking into. Good luck. :p
     
  3. Defender

    Defender New Member

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    Thanks, I'll use some of those ideas you mentioned:)
     
  4. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    Cool. :D
     
  5. zoupskim

    zoupskim Contributor Contributor

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    Step away from things like force composition and unit specs.

    "Unit 77 has a special flamethrower ability!"

    Boring. A human consciousness in a robot body opens a whole universe of possibilities. Cave Troll mentioned a lot of those ideas, such as cloud/hivemind intelligence and the disconnect from humanity due to having the body of machines. Think of how soldiers like this would be treated by commanders or 'flesh' soldiers. Are these soldiers even human anymore? Then why worry about their deaths? Would repeated 'deaths', traumatic experiences, and constantly acclimatizing to new chassis/bodies with little chance to rest, cause these robot soldiers to develop a new form of PTSD? How would you treat something like a human mind uploaded into a computer experiencing hitherto undiscovered forms of stress and fear?

    "I'm a tank today, but yesterday I was an airplane. This is confusing. Darn, I just ran over a 'fleshy' soldier. Oh well. For the empire! Die alien robot scum- wait... aren't I a robot?! N-n-o-o-o!"

    "Sup bro, I just 'died'. Mind if I hang out in your chassis for a while until bandwidth improves for me to download into another tank?"

    "Whatever. I don't even care anymore."
     
  6. Defender

    Defender New Member

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    Ha-ha that is a funny skit, well you guys are right about most of this stuff, but one thing I just thought of is that they have some special abilities that are almost magical, like for example some one in a game called....destiny... I think.... Yeah and some guys can weild weapons of pure fire, others energy type bowd, and others something like with lightning, I want something similar, as a major extra, but I want them to be different, and kinda harnessed from something unknown through their new bodies?
     
  7. Shadowfax

    Shadowfax Contributor Contributor

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    1/ Because they're too bloody expensive to just throw away!

    2/ Watch Source Code for one writer's take on this stuff.
     
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  8. zoupskim

    zoupskim Contributor Contributor

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    There's a game called Supreme Commander where a single human in a giant mech is teleported onto a planet's surface. This commander proceeds to use local planetary mass and a store of energy he arrived with to build mines and energy plants, increasing his output. He then builds giant 3d printers to spawn prefabricated tanks, artillery, and aircraft by the millions to secure more of the planet, all of which are controlled by simple AIs. This cycle continues exponentially until the entire planet is one enormous base dedicated to the destruction of the enemy. The commander could theoretically consume the entire planet to build his army, using nothing but the materials around him and a series of blueprints.
     
  9. Defender

    Defender New Member

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    alright i will look into the games you mentioned :)
     
  10. Shadowfax

    Shadowfax Contributor Contributor

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    You'd also need plans for mining equipment, industrial plants to convert the raw material into whatever plastic you're using to print out your equipment, etc.
     
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  11. zoupskim

    zoupskim Contributor Contributor

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    Cell phone cost today= $200
    Brain Scan test today= $1200

    Two hundred years later.

    "President Hillary died of old age again."

    "Well, why are you staring at me? Download the personality profile and get another perfecto-bod from the vending machine."

    "Yes sir/ma'am/poobah!"

    "Honestly, would it kill you to show some initiative?"
     
  12. Defender

    Defender New Member

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    Hey, I just got another ,idea, have any of you seen the exo in destiny, what if the defender looks something like that?
     
  13. Shadowfax

    Shadowfax Contributor Contributor

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    Supermarine Spitfire in 1939 = £12,604 = £212,940 at today's prices, with inflation
    Panavia Tornado in 2011 = £9,400,000
     
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  14. Defender

    Defender New Member

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    okay here is a piece i wrote up to give an idea of how the Defenders might feel, if you guys could give me a verdict, also let me know if there is something i should add, or even something i should subtract, i also wanted to say, i appreciate all of your guys help and suggestions !
    The Defenders are true thinking, feeling beings, they are still machines outside, but they have human personalities like everyone else. This fact forces them to confront their lack of mortality, and they cannot remember any of their existence before they were reincarnated. There are both male and female Defenders. They now have no childhood, no learning process through years of experiences under the guidance of parents to make them who they are. One moment they did not exist from their own perspective, and the next moment they did. Its like their entire personality, all of who they are... was just given to them, handed down from on high, rather than developed over years of growing up and experiencing things. Something else decided who you were going to be. And for a moment, that brief moment, when they were born, in that moment of uplifting, it was as if they knew nothing at all, they had to learn everything from humans.

    How alien would it feel to walk among those who say you came from, but you know nothing of? These Defenders, physically superior are, vulnerable, to feelings like pride or anger. How would a proud Defender take orders from a human counterpart whom they could destroy in seconds? Why must they listen to those who cannot enforce their own rules? how does that make a newly birthed Defender feel about being a Defender?A being created for the singular purpose of protecting the City by roaming the solar system and killing robots like them? What if the knowledge of his or her past was available to them.

    Defenders also don't sleep, are they lonely in a world of Humans? Could this make Exo society self contained? When the Humans of the City go to sleep , the Defender population in its entirety remains exactly the same. Routine maintenance could be better understood by those who also perform it upon themselves, and of course there must be many other issues besides. In addition, organic races would eventually be surpassed in knowledge and wisdom by the Defenders, who have lived every moment since the moment of uplifting to the present .They must shoulder burdens we can only even wonder at. They see a World they can no longer be a part of those they once were.
     
  15. Defender

    Defender New Member

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    by the way the word exo might be mentioned a few times, sorry about that, i was thinking of their name a few times while i was writing and it got caught in the mix LOL
     
  16. Shadowfax

    Shadowfax Contributor Contributor

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    If you're going to include this in your story...don't.

    It's a huge dump of information that the reader doesn't care about, and will skip to get to the story...or bin.

    YOU, the author, need to know this stuff to colour how your characters act and interact. The reader only needs to know what you weave into the story.

    You seem to have got hooked on world-building, and it's stopping you writing that story. Nothing wrong with that, but all the world-building you do needs to stay pretty much in your head.

     
  17. zoupskim

    zoupskim Contributor Contributor

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    Writing pages and pages of backstory to ground yourself in your setting and to ensure accuracy throughout is fine, but know what is boring and what is entertaining, and only show the reader the entertaining parts.
     
  18. Defender

    Defender New Member

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    oh..no..no..no, you misunderstood me, :) im not going to include that, LOL its a mess, its simply something to give an idea for the base of what kind of things the character will struggle with, i would never think of putting that much bable in a story LOL :)
     

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