The Dubious Science of COD Ghosts

[Lordherrmann]

I don't know if they have got an MMU or SAFER-type jetpack, but if they have it the thrusters could in theory be programmed to counter the change in velocity caused by the gunfire.

[manskal]

Actually the reason for shooting the ODIN straight down is because although it requires a greater D/V it increases the impact speed of the projectile meaning it goes from orbit to target quicker.So for once COD got its science right and to be honest all the had to do was copy the rods from the gods idea that someone had as it basically identical to ODIN.

Yeah, but the Rods From The Gods concept requires (IIRC) gravity slingshots and long distance maneuvers.

This, on the other hand, only requires an obscene amount of delta-v.

Which is quite fitting, as COD can be characterised as a big, lumbering franchise that requires large amounts of resources to achieve a large impact that can be obtained at a much lower cost with some intelligent, quality planning.

[Winter Man]

I'd like to add another flaw being overlooked. I don't believe bullets are airtight. Black powder is not self oxidizing. Two and Two are not being put together. No air, no oxidant, no boom. long and short of it: GUNS DON'T WORK IN SPACE

lol CoD.

Cartridges are airtight, and no one uses black powder any more except reenactors. From around the 1890's rifles used cordite, which was nitroglycerine, oxidiser (nitrocellulose) and stabiliser. Even that's been replaced a couple of times now too. If you didn't have oxidiser in the cartridge you get deflagration instead of detonation, leading to an incomplete burn of your propellant - the bullet gets in the way of more oxidiser coming in in the form of air down the barrel (likely leaving the bullet stuck halfway down).

[Nibb31]

Actually the reason for shooting the ODIN straight down is because although it requires a greater D/V it increases the impact speed of the projectile meaning it goes from orbit to target quicker.So for once COD got its science right and to be honest all the had to do was copy the rods from the gods idea that someone had as it basically identical to ODIN.

You'd be better off shooting it upwards by adding the delta-v to your orbital speed to convert it into a high-apogee orbit, then lower the perigee to make it a ballistic trajectory that uses gravity to your advantage. That's smarter that using a huge amount of delta-v to cancel your own speed, and then another huge amount of delta-v to fight against terminal velocity.

[CalculusWarrior]

Yeah, but the Rods From The Gods concept requires (IIRC) gravity slingshots and long distance maneuvers.

This, on the other hand, only requires an obscene amount of delta-v.

Which is quite fitting, as COD can be characterised as a big, lumbering franchise that requires large amounts of resources to achieve a large impact that can be obtained at a much lower cost with some intelligent, quality planning.

Gravity slingshots? I'm not sure how you can get one of those from LEO. Though I agree with you on the fact that it is a colossal waste of energy just firing straight down at the planet. Any extra velocity you pick up will just be killed by the atmosphere by the time you get down to sea level, meaning that a more sedate (and more fuel efficient) route would have the exact same effect.

[Ralathon]

You'd be better off shooting it upwards by adding the delta-v to your orbital speed to convert it into a high-apogee orbit, then lower the perigee to make it a ballistic trajectory that uses gravity to your advantage. That's smarter that using a huge amount of delta-v to cancel your own speed, and then another huge amount of delta-v to fight against terminal velocity.

Also increases the time to impact. It shouldn't be too hard to detect when one of those rods gets fired, so you want to give the freedom stealing terrorists as little time as possible till impact. When you go to a high apo orbit you give them 2 hours or so to vacate the area, straight down only gives them a few minutes to dodge the incoming democracy.

[Winter Man]

Well, I wouldn't say 'terrorists' would be able to detect a launch, but any spacefaring nation would definitely have satellites up there spying on a weapon like that immediately.

[Nibb31]

Also increases the time to impact. It shouldn't be too hard to detect when one of those rods gets fired, so you want to give the freedom stealing terrorists as little time as possible till impact. When you go to a high apo orbit you give them 2 hours or so to vacate the area, straight down only gives them a few minutes to dodge the incoming democracy.

Which is why the whole Rods from Gods idea isn't very practical. You might as well just make a kinetic weapon out of an ICBM. No need for orbital stations. If they have the means of monitoring incoming projectiles from outer space, then they are also capable of tracking your orbital station and knowing when it's passing overhead.

[Ralathon]

Which is why the whole Rods from Gods idea isn't very practical. You might as well just make a kinetic weapon out of an ICBM. No need for orbital stations. If they have the means of monitoring incoming projectiles from outer space, then they are also capable of tracking your orbital station and knowing when it's passing overhead.

Never said project Thor was a good idea, just that firing radial makes sense. If I wanted a practical superweapon I'd go with plain old nukes. Sure, they're boring and overdone. But there's a reason for that: Big bang in a small package.

[Requiem762]

Well, it's a first person shooter. People don't play it for it's realistic depiction of real life... The moment you add that you loose your market to another FPS. Google around and you'll find people complaining that they die from one shot.

This reminds me of another game, I think it was ARMA, where you can jump out of a fighter plane, shot your rocket launcher at an enemy plane, and fall back down to the cockpit of the plane you jumped off. All in mid air!

Those games don't aim to be realistic, they aim to be fun to play. What is fun? Depends on the person and one's particular view of the game. Of course if they would advertise it as "the most realistic modern combat simulator" then I have a problem with that.

No it's battlefield arma is a mil sim and it is not possible in arma( I've tried you can't hold a weapon in free fall).

[flyin_ruski]

FPS's are rarely accurate in their depictions of anything. Gotta keep them playable and fun though. ArmA is a pretty tight game and extremely realistic too.

[Seret]

I'd like to add another flaw being overlooked. I don't believe bullets are airtight. Black powder is not self oxidizing. Two and Two are not being put together. No air, no oxidant, no boom. long and short of it: GUNS DON'T WORK IN SPACE

lol CoD.

Others have already pointed out that this is incorrect, but did you know that not only would they work in space, but that they even work underwater, too?

[K^2]

Cartridges are airtight, and no one uses black powder any more except reenactors. From around the 1890's rifles used cordite, which was nitroglycerine, oxidiser (nitrocellulose) and stabiliser. Even that's been replaced a couple of times now too. If you didn't have oxidiser in the cartridge you get deflagration instead of detonation, leading to an incomplete burn of your propellant - the bullet gets in the way of more oxidiser coming in in the form of air down the barrel (likely leaving the bullet stuck halfway down).

Doesn't matter, either way. Black powder also contains an oxidizer. It uses saltpeter (potassium nitrate). So does every kind of chemical propellant ever devised for a firearm.

Actually the reason for shooting the ODIN straight down is because although it requires a greater D/V it increases the impact speed of the projectile meaning it goes from orbit to target quicker.So for once COD got its science right and to be honest all the had to do was copy the rods from the gods idea that someone had as it basically identical to ODIN.

Firing straight down has so many problems, it's not even funny. Every reasonable project on ballistic bombardment involves firing projectiles retrograde.

Besides taking up an enormous amount of energy, the biggest problem with firing straight down is that pesky atmosphere. It almost doesn't matter how fast the round enters the atmosphere. It's going to impact the ground at approximately Mach 10. So you can fire the projectile retrograde, and have it lose less than 3km/s to atmosphere, or you can fire it straight down, and have the projectile lose more than 5km/s to atmosphere. Feel the difference? The projectile is certainly going to. This is a huge amount of extra energy. And while proposed material for the projectile is Tungsten, which is very dense and has a very high melting point, it has its limits. And firing projectiles straight down is going beyond these limits.

And yes, almost the entire concept of ODIN has been taken from Project Thor.

[Winter Man]

Doesn't matter, either way. Black powder also contains an oxidizer. It uses saltpeter (potassium nitrate).

Yeah, remembered that after I said it. Didn't think it worth mentioning as the gist was there.