Writer's Guide to the Sphere

This article is an out of character view of various aspects of the Sphere setting, answering questions that may be slightly immersion-breaking to explain in character. Other sections provide potted histories of items of technology, social institutions, philosophies and historical events, again from a more OOC perspective.

Technology

Weapons

Railguns

Railguns use magnets to launch chunks of metal at high velocity. A popular weapon they have been superceded in part by directed energy weapons, however using kinetic energy to poke (large) holes in ships remains an effective way to disable or destroy them and in general almost infantry weapons are railguns of some form. They also have superior performance in atmosphere relative to energy weapons, as they do not suffer beam degradation. Railguns generally use two or less rarely four (quadrupole) acceleration rails, and when fired have a brief, sharp 'electrical' muzzle flash.

Particle Cannons

Particle cannons are the dominant energy weapon in use in the Sphere, and have proliferated greatly in the past half-century. Compared to railguns they are less powerful but can be (much) more accurate; furthermore they can make better use of alpha capacitors. PACT and ZOCU ships tend to use them in roles broadly equivalent to SAMs. Particle cannons can fire in one of two modes and more sophisticated warship-sized ones can switch between as required. In general, particle cannons have a golden or blueish-white color (especially in atmosphere).

Pulse Cannons fire multiple 'bolts' in quick succession. Babylon 5 pulse cannons are the visual archetype. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MipPH24q4yk

Beam Cannons fire extended narrow raking beams that last for 1-2 seconds. The visual archetype would be Federation phasers from Star Trek. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGNUF5HxU20

Lasers

Primarily used in defensive applications such as point defense against missiles and projectiles, lasers are not as amenable to dust-derived augmentation as particle weapons, though the League and Magnates have came up with some heavy versions designed for shipboard use. Velan drones also use lasers. Visually, lasers fire monochromatic beams, typically red or green, though ones outside of visual range (such as UV, X-Ray or IR) also exist.

Mega Particle Guns

ZOCU's deadly exotic particle guns, MPGs are fairly slow-firing but extremely effective against armor, less so against shields. They are normally of an actinic pinkish or violet color and will leave a trail of 'glitter' behind them. Like particle cannons, MPGs can be fitted with effective alpha capacitors, giving them a deadly alpha strike or heavy burst option in the anti-air role.

A good example (though not colorwise) is from this vide, 1:35 to 1:41: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kQQT7lUMoI

Plasma Weapons

Originally found on Velan drones, plasma weapons are essentially directed fusion bombs wrapped in a short-lived magnetic bottle. They have short range and slow refire rates and unlike other energy weapons, have not-inconsiderable 'kick'. Their blasts are shots of brilliant white, like looking into a flashbulb that sustains itself for several seconds.