On Fri, 07 Feb 2014 16:25:35 -0500, DED <> wrote:
>So has anyone given any thought about how these can be used in
>Traveller?
tl;dr summary: They can do the easy stuff, not the complicated stuff.
They can save your ass in a jam, but you won't get away with it forever.
More elaborately: I treat them as useful, but not quite to the
deus-ex-machina level. For example, they can be used for making parts
that you need to do repairs on critical systems, but you can't really
count on them, because they can't necessarily duplicate exotic alloys or
crystal structures that may be necessary for the best quality/
durability/whatever - the Stutterwarp Rotor Frammistam39;s left-handed
widget, for example, is normally replaced during every Annual
Maintenance, and is made of an exotic alloy that simply can't be printed
- it requires that the metal be worked in very high heat under zero-g
conditions to properly form - but you can print the right shape out of
regular steel and expect it to work, for a maximum of two or three
discharge cycles, before it becomes brittle and breaks.
I also limit them in the complexity of organic molecules they can
generate - simple hydrocarbons and alcohols are no problem, simple
sugars are also pretty easy, but don't expect to be able to print up a
batch of transfusion-safe Type O- blood, or to print up new algae for
the hydroponics tanks.
--
Jeff Zeitlin, Editor
Freelance Traveller
The Electronic Fan-Supported
Traveller® Fanzine and Resource
http://www.freelancetraveller.com
http://come.to/freelancetraveller
http://freelancetraveller.downport.com/
®Traveller is a registered trademark of
Far Future Enterprises, 1977-2009. Use of
the trademark in this notice and in the
referenced materials is not intended to
infringe or devalue the trademark.
Freelance Traveller extends its thanks to the following
enterprises for hosting services:
CyberNET Web Hosting (http://www.cyberwebhosting.net)
The Traveller Downport (http://www.downport.com)
>So has anyone given any thought about how these can be used in
>Traveller?
tl;dr summary: They can do the easy stuff, not the complicated stuff.
They can save your ass in a jam, but you won't get away with it forever.
More elaborately: I treat them as useful, but not quite to the
deus-ex-machina level. For example, they can be used for making parts
that you need to do repairs on critical systems, but you can't really
count on them, because they can't necessarily duplicate exotic alloys or
crystal structures that may be necessary for the best quality/
durability/whatever - the Stutterwarp Rotor Frammistam39;s left-handed
widget, for example, is normally replaced during every Annual
Maintenance, and is made of an exotic alloy that simply can't be printed
- it requires that the metal be worked in very high heat under zero-g
conditions to properly form - but you can print the right shape out of
regular steel and expect it to work, for a maximum of two or three
discharge cycles, before it becomes brittle and breaks.
I also limit them in the complexity of organic molecules they can
generate - simple hydrocarbons and alcohols are no problem, simple
sugars are also pretty easy, but don't expect to be able to print up a
batch of transfusion-safe Type O- blood, or to print up new algae for
the hydroponics tanks.
--
Jeff Zeitlin, Editor
Freelance Traveller
The Electronic Fan-Supported
Traveller® Fanzine and Resource
http://www.freelancetraveller.com
http://come.to/freelancetraveller
http://freelancetraveller.downport.com/
®Traveller is a registered trademark of
Far Future Enterprises, 1977-2009. Use of
the trademark in this notice and in the
referenced materials is not intended to
infringe or devalue the trademark.
Freelance Traveller extends its thanks to the following
enterprises for hosting services:
CyberNET Web Hosting (http://www.cyberwebhosting.net)
The Traveller Downport (http://www.downport.com)