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Other things the TITANS left behind...

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Fri, 2008-08-22 22:01

GregH

Other things the TITANS left behind...

Having started reading Bank's "Against a Dark Background" brought this thought up... ...the Pandora Gates aside, is there any other TITAN-based artifacts that they left following the Fall? I presume they are rare, adventure-worthy, and barely comprehensible widgets that many groups would be willing to kill over.

Mon, 2008-10-27 00:28

RobBoyle

Yes. Earth is still crawling

Yes. Earth is still crawling with TITAN machines, making it a dangerous place. There are a few other spots as well. And yes, they are something people are interested in.

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Rob Boyle :: Posthuman Studios

Mon, 2009-09-21 12:56

puke

Re: Yes. Earth is still crawling

So, whats this "Computronium" business all about? the word shows up exactly twice in the rulebook, and its not really explained in either case.

it seems to be a highly valueable material created by the TITANs, which is good for making powerful comuters. It seems to be in high demand, though no one wants to admit they have it and people are willing to kill to stop others from having it and using it.

it also seems to be something possibly introduced by the exurgent. wikipedia suggests its a hypothetical form of smart-matter, which isnt related to computing at all, but fabrication instead.

Tue, 2009-09-22 18:34

Kanada Ten Kanada Ten's picture

Wikia - "Computronium refers

[url=http://future.wikia.com/wiki/Computronium]Wikia[/url] - "Computronium refers to material engineered to maximize its use as a computing substrate. It can refer both to advanced hypothetical materials engineered by nanotechnology on the molecular, atomic, or subatomic level, or to contemporary computing materials..." ... "...The distinction between computing and acting/manufacturing devices will slowly be eliminated." Hm, so something like "thinking" nanites?

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Rethink Resleeve Redo

Thu, 2009-09-24 00:42

The Doctor The Doctor's picture

Re: Wikia - "Computronium refers

Or a material specifically designed for information processing. I always thought of computronium as something akin to specific formulations of steel or special alloys that allow for excessive heat tolerance or resistance to metal fatigue. A form of matter (most likely a solid, but maybe a liquid or even a gas) that you're not likely to find outside of a special application (like the processing clusters that allow thousands of infomorphs to execute simultaneously inside a large hab). [url=http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/4637faafa6437]Check this out.[/url] Even though it's not EP-specific, it gives some interesting ideas on what this stuff could be used for and why it's such a rare thing.

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Thu, 2009-09-24 04:48

Blupe

Re: Other things the TITANS left behind...

Is it certain that the TITANs created the Pandora Gates? I got the impression that they might very well have found them and just made us of the gates. (The TITANs having figured them out much quicker than "mere" transhumans.)

Sun, 2009-09-27 18:45

The Doctor The Doctor's picture

Re: Other things the TITANS left behind...

Assuming that you want to run your game that way, that question is answered in the "Here there be spoilers!" part of the core book. Proceed at your own risk.

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Fri, 2009-10-09 05:38

Re: Other things the TITANS left behind...

The computronium, in science fiction, usually refers to the ultimate state of computer miniaturization. transistor on an atomic or subatomic scale, and matter optimized to act as a continuous processor unit. Typically, computronium gives you a number of operations per second per gram. In the most extreme SF settings (see Accelerando, Charles Stross, a good novel about the Singularity) the mass of planets gets converted into computronium and built into a Matrioshka brain around the Sun (that would be optionally optimized to be more efficient).