Game starting at 1979...

[HWP]

But for now as long as modern science FTL is impossible.

Not true: http://techland.time.com/2012/09/19/nasa-actually-working-on-faster-than-light-warp-drive/

Long shot, nothing real yet, but not quite a total impossibility.

That's even assuming they travel faster than light and not at high sublight, taking benefit of time dilation.

Small fact: Light actually travels in the universe at a "FTL" speed. In 14 billion years, light has covered 46 billion light-years.

Better medicine - release some super plague that kills us off quicker than we develop a vaccine for it.

Who says they aren't trying? But it's not easy to develop, they need a lot of research on Earth and humans specifically to have a shot at it. And BTW plague was mostly defeated by natural immunity.

Pushing some asteroids in our planet direction, and bye bye peoples.

It looks like they want something other with Earth than just a cataclysm. That or don't have the resources to push a sizable asteroid.

How will the egyptians stop a B-52 bomber again?

They'll wait till it runs out of bombs and fuel and crash lands in the desert.

It won't even kill 0.1% of them by the time that happens.

A lot of your points derive from the limitations of our military, reached the point where material resistence can't keep up anymore. yadda yadda. Yeah OUR has reached that point, their much less so.

Fact of the matter is, it appears that "neutronium" doesn't exist (isn't stable or strong in any sense) and the limits of any atomic material are limited by the electrical forces that keep the atoms together.

As a general rule, to increase armor's effectiveness per unit thickness X times, you need to increase its properties about X^2.5 to X^3 times. That is, to improve it 4 times (1" stops what 4" of old armor do), the material needs to be 35-60 times stronger. To improve it 10-fold, 500 times stronger. The former is probably realistic, the latter not so much.

And honestly how low is the chance of us lucking out on a small interstellar biker gang that will give us free technological advancement by headbutting our nukes and letting us analyze the tech?

Biker gang, mining corporation, slave traders, or whoever they are - it's clear that the humanity isn't facing the whole of their civilization. We don't even get to learn where their home is and what the aliens there think of this whole affair.

[GoodGuyEddy]

Who says they aren't trying? But it's not easy to develop, they need a lot of research on Earth and humans specifically to have a shot at it. And BTW plague was mostly defeated by natural immunity.

It' take our modern science to devise a biological weapon from scratch. They are entire centuries ahead of us if they have FTL. Which means having more advanced methods,tool at their disposal. And who says they don't have some nasty things in their lab. Human beings aren't all THAT complex biologically , just kidnap a hillbilly>fly away>Modify other worldly viruses you have at your desposal>return and done.While a plague may be defeated by natural immunity but by the time that happens humanity will be severly weakened. As evidenced by diseases our immunity isn't an instant can of sick-a-way.

They'll wait till it runs out of bombs and fuel and crash lands in the desert.

It won't even kill 0.1% of them by the time that happens.

Arm with nuke>drop. back to the future>refueal+rearm>back to step one. And who said i have only one of those?

They can wait out radiation? And don't even think of saying pyramids, those werent bomb shelters.

Not true: http://techland.time.com/2012/09/19/...ht-warp-drive/

Thats sci-fi science. Practically we have nothing to even get close to that. Did Michio Kaku write that and used the name matt?

Fact of the matter is, it appears that "neutronium" doesn't exist (isn't stable or strong in any sense) and the limits of any atomic material are limited by the electrical forces that keep the atoms together.

the point

<-----

Your head.

I said even if they don't have super materials they'll just won't let you hit them with your longswords. They have more advanced tech which means possibly more ways of killing and ways to strike us in ways we could not anticipate,predict,defend against. And if they don't have any fringe tech to kill in the most unconventional but still effective way possible, being a more advanced civilization they'll be superior in every way shape or form.

It looks like they want something other with Earth than just a cataclysm. That or don't have the resources to push a sizable asteroid.

Have enough resources to overwhelm the earth. Can't push an asteroid. LEGIT! And they don't need a cataclismic one. Just the ones big enough to survive the atmosphere and nuke our military sites.

Biker gang, mining corporation, slave traders, or whoever they are - it's clear that the humanity isn't facing the whole of their civilization. We don't even get to learn where their home is and what the aliens there think of this whole affair.

Which helps how exatly? We are dealing with enough to destroy us(in xeno). And in general corporations are more powerful than biker gangs. Space police to the rescue? Wait, you have just watched avatar didn't you? Of course, ifspear chuckers can beat us than we can beat the aliens right? ...D: If you are ahead by centuries , if not millenia wouldn't you consider if the monkeys numbers matter? And if they do then just nuke part of the world to dvindle the numbers and win.

There, i'm done.

FTL=Way more advanced compared to us now,or during th1970,or us twenty years in the future=us being at their mersy. As easy as that.

Edited October 22, 2012 by GoodGuyEddy

[GoodGuyEddy]

With the kind of scale you, or Mr Kaku rather, are talking about, being in 2012 or even 2212 (for example) makes little to no difference. Bringing this line of thinking (hypothetical real world analogies) to a video game is largely pointless.

You have a space ship, and you met much less advanced species as well. Tell 'em as it is Jean-Luc.

[TrashMan]

Same here, a lot of their technology might seem as magick to us.

Science has limits and the basic physical laws and scientific methods we now employ make that highly unlikely.

We aren't primitive anymore. The scientific method changed things forever.

Ants outnumber an exterminator a 1.000.000 : 1. Yet i don't hear about the ants being victorious.

Ants don't really innovate, build tanks and nukes, analyze their opponents or think stragegicly.

The comparison kinda dall flat.

A lot of your points derive from the limitations of our military, reached the point where material resistence can't keep up anymore.

Given that we mapped the peridic table of elements and that there isn't unobtanium out there, I don't see the aliens coming up with magical armor realisticly.

Having FTL means they are smart, if there is a chance of us overhwhelming them they'll not invade. Any being capable of thought would first evaluate things before going balls deep. Those are not a redneck with a machete thinking he can take on a dozen tigers. No, those are two heavy machine gun teams versus ten knights that are not on horseback, and not in melee

Peopel make wrong evaluations, make simpel math mistakes or underestimate opponets all the time.

And the question is - who are we facing?

Are the alien jsut a small nomadic tribe? A part of the vast interstellar empires military? Just a scouting force? Remenants of a large empire that faced ruin?

[HWP]

It' take our modern science to devise a biological weapon from scratch. They are entire centuries ahead of us if they have FTL. Which means having more advanced methods,tool at their disposal.

We are millennia more advanced than the Ancient Egyptians.

Yet we still wash our hands with water and soap, cook our steaks using a fire, you name it.

Advanced science doesn't mean you can do magic, and it takes enormous effort to create a viable lifeform.

Modify other worldly viruses you have at your desposal>return and done.

Otherwordly viruses are going to do as much against humans as a DOS virus is going to do against a Solaris server.

And who said i have only one of those?

Manpower ratios. You only have a few friends with you, B-52 has a crew of 5 and requires about 20 flightline personnel. That will make Ancient Egyptians outnumber you by as much as humans outnumber Xeno aliens.

And, by the way, adding B-52s is pretty much cheating already, I said a bunch of your friends, pretty sure none of those has a Stratofortress lying around.

Thats sci-fi science. Practically we have nothing to even get close to that.

That's a so far theoretical possibility by which FTL travel can happen.

And in general corporations are more powerful than biker gangs.

But possibly they threw a small prospector team at you, to try taking you down easily. The resources of Earth aren't worth all that much in cosmic scale.

Which helps how exatly? We are dealing with enough to destroy us(in xeno).

Pretty sure they are not trying to destroy us by walking around the Earth shooting every single human.

That would be way too much like

.

[hellig]

Given that we mapped the peridic table of elements and that there isn't unobtanium out there, I don't see the aliens coming up with magical armor realisticly.

here's a hint alloys....

make a alloy in zero g, atoms will react differently, in theory you could combine steel with aluminium, and now have a aluminium light material with the properties of steel, you name it they mix it, the sky is the limit!

just because we know the table it does not mean we now know all the recipes you can make with it

Also tanks these days have reactive armor, meaning they can withstand some rocket launcher weapons, a panzer 4 could not, with the same or thinner armor

[GoodGuyEddy]

Ants don't really innovate, build tanks and nukes, analyze their opponents or think stragegicly.

The comparison kinda dall flat.

We don't know how long it will take to develop FTL. But considering the advances it will take, the difference may very well be as of an ant colony and a human city. And your tanks will not help.

Otherwordly viruses are going to do as much against humans as a DOS virus is going to do against a Solaris server.

Oh goody, decontamination is now unnecesarry because HWP said we have nothing to fear.

We are millennia more advanced than the Ancient Egyptians.

Yet we still wash our hands with water and soap, cook our steaks using a fire, you name it.

Advanced science doesn't mean you can do magic, and it takes enormous effort to create a viable lifeform

And? If it would go down to it modern military forces would destroy egypt. One way or another.

Pretty sure they are not trying to destroy us by walking around the Earth shooting every single human.

That would be way too much like this movie classic.

The whole game is a race against time. Do the final mission before you get overrun by the superior force.I never said they want to destroy us, but that they are perfectly capable and we would are defenceless in real life.

Manpower ratios. You only have a few friends with you, B-52 has a crew of 5 and requires about 20 flightline personnel. That will make Ancient Egyptians outnumber you by as much as humans outnumber Xeno aliens.

Oh yes aliens only have one ship in the fleet. Makes it easy when you set up the rules right? Well do you also control the universe and all life in it? The point of xenonauts is to finish the final mission before you get overrun. Your numbers will mean nothing in the game. And they will definatly mean nothing in reality when you are hopelessly outgunned.

Given that we mapped the peridic table of elements and that there isn't unobtanium out there, I don't see the aliens coming up with magical armor realisticly.

Yes we are allmost at the pinnacle of technological possibility. How wonderfully arrogant of you. And i already said like 100 times armor isn't the only thing...You know what, i'm tired of this.

Why isn't it obvious that vastly superior force will win? Go to your nearest military base and start chucking spears everywhere. Report back on the results. This is exactly the difference between humanity and FTL capable aliens.

How can anyone be so naive is beyond me. You are not the ultimate badasses of the universe, come off it.

Edited October 22, 2012 by GoodGuyEddy

[HWP]

And? If it would go down to it modern military forces would destroy egypt. One way or another.

Half a platoon of modern military forces? Not likely.

The whole game is a race against time. Do the final mission before you get overrun by the superior force.

Ever wonder why one little mission can halt the progress of supposedly an entire alien civilization?

Oh yes aliens only have one ship in the fleet.

They have about 10,000, the ratio's the same.

And they will definatly mean nothing in reality when you are hopelessly outgunned.

Alien combat technology is pretty meh. Ahead of Earth's, but not very impressively so.

[tiger12348]

The most pointless topic i've seen so far.

Unless the two sides start at relativly even technologicaol footing one side is fucked.(Which defeats the point of the game)

NONE of you can provide a SINGLE argument from a realism standpoint of humanity as it is now possibly holding a candle to a civilization capable of effective interstellar flight. Not HWP, not trash man. If the alien force is hostile - we lose.

How about realising that it is just a game.

Well, I think for a game that trying to be realistic, the setting does matter. Take Starcraft for example, I won't be very happy if Terran was replaced by one of the 1979 military organization.

By the way, looking at a post that is pointless sounds kinda pointless to me, the fact that you did actually reply does suggest people do pointless things all the time(like... playing computer games), its part of being human:)

Edited October 22, 2012 by tiger12348

[tiger12348]

Originally Posted by GoodGuyEddy

But for now as long as modern science FTL is impossible.

Not true: http://techland.time.com/2012/09/19/...ht-warp-drive/

Long shot, nothing real yet, but not quite a total impossibility.

That's even assuming they travel faster than light and not at high sublight, taking benefit of time dilation.

Small fact: Light actually travels in the universe at a "FTL" speed. In 14 billion years, light has covered 46 billion light-years.

As far as morden physics concerns, "Nothing" is the only thing travels faster than light, due to the fact that space itself expands at FTL speed.

[HWP]

tiger12348, that is what I referred to - that light covers more distance than (speed of light)*(time) due to expansion. Notice that "FTL" is in quotes.

[Sinfullyvannila]

Or is a guy with a long sword just as good as a guy with an assault rifle? If so then no one would switch from melee to firearms

Maybe not a Longswordsman, but definitely a Longbowman. The whole reason for the shift from longbows to firearms was because it took decades to master the skills to use a longbow, and only about .001% of the population was even capable of firing one for extended periods of time. No modern military division even comes close to the amount of training and physical requirements as an English Longbowman.

[Vivisector 9999]

Yes we are allmost at the pinnacle of technological possibility. How wonderfully arrogant of you. And i already said like 100 times armor isn't the only thing...You know what, i'm tired of this.

Why isn't it obvious that vastly superior force will win? Go to your nearest military base and start chucking spears everywhere. Report back on the results. This is exactly the difference between humanity and FTL capable aliens.

How can anyone be so naive is beyond me. You are not the ultimate badasses of the universe, come off it.

Why are you being so vehement and condescending about this, anyway?

Did a failed alien invasion beat you up and steal your lunch money when you were a kid?

[TrashMan]

here's a hint alloys....

make a alloy in zero g, atoms will react differently, in theory you could combine steel with aluminium, and now have a aluminium light material with the properties of steel, you name it they mix it, the sky is the limit!

It don't work that way son.

Also tanks these days have reactive armor, meaning they can withstand some rocket launcher weapons, a panzer 4 could not, with the same or thinner armor

Some weapons. Keyword. Reactive armor was designed to defeat a specific type of ordinance. And it can only protect you once (after which that entire part of the tank is exposed)

[TrashMan]

We don't know how long it will take to develop FTL. But considering the advances it will take, the difference may very well be as of an ant colony and a human city. And your tanks will not help.

No it won't be.

The comparison if flawed at a fundamental level.

Yes we are allmost at the pinnacle of technological possibility. How wonderfully arrogant of you. And i already said like 100 times armor isn't the only thing...You know what, i'm tired of this.

Arrogant? No, not arrogant.

Based on physics? Yes. I did study advanced physics you know.

The fundamental laws of the universe won't change - they have been proven right beyond any doubt.

The basics of scientific principles won't change.

You posutulate unlimited technological advancement. That is something that won't happen.

Why isn't it obvious that vastly superior force will win? Go to your nearest military base and start chucking spears everywhere. Report back on the results. This is exactly the difference between humanity and FTL capable aliens.

How can anyone be so naive is beyond me. You are not the ultimate badasses of the universe, come off it.

He who controls the high gound will usually win. And space is the ultimate high ground.

In a normal miltiary conflict humanity would suffer a defeat - if for no other reason than because they can nuke us from orbit.

But that is just it - we don't know if the scenario IS a normal military conflict.

There's a big difference between hive-mind aliens, clan-based aliens, roaving band of scavanger aliens, and all other kinds.

There's also a big difference in approach and RoE.

Obviously the aliens want the planet in tact, otherwise they would have just draped asteroids on us from orbit.

Just because aliens have FTL doesn't mean everything else they have will be a million years more advanced. Technological development can be really strange sometimes. It is possible for them to have FTL but weapon not much different from our own slug throwers.

Also, we have lasers. We can hit them. And unless they have somekind of magical laser defense, we can hurt them.

It would probably tak a lot of lasers to bring down even one of their ships (or maybe not)

[GoodGuyEddy]

Well, I think for a game that trying to be realistic, the setting does matter.

It cannot be possibly realistic, that's the point! Humanity has no chance of survival in that scenario. If the game is realistic the game canot exist. Just roll with the game. No XCOM game is ever realistic.

Games don't need realism to be fun. And a lot of games (including this one) are not possible if you ground yourself in realism too much.

You have nothing to survive! If your numbers have have ANY effect they will just start dropping asteroids on your cities and military bases and let gravity do all of the work. And reduce your numbers enough to resume their plans?

Where are your tanks trashman when yo are getting bombed and you have no counter to it?

What good are your numbers HWP when they can reduce them at any point if they so desire.

You are help-less. Your trivial arguments based on the limitations of our military and how your military may be effective against similar military is flawed just based on the principle that A FTL capable civilization is superior by default and war changes immensly.

They have about 10,000, the ratio's the same.

Alien combat technology is pretty meh. Ahead of Earth's, but not very impressively so.

Yet enough to overhwhelm your numbers if you don't do the "final mission" in time.

Ever wonder why one little mission can halt the progress of supposedly an entire alien civilization?

Because the game has to let you win somehow, In reality you are finished.

There's a big difference between hive-mind aliens, clan-based aliens, roaving band of scavanger aliens, and all other kinds.

There's also a big difference in approach and RoE.

Obviously the aliens want the planet in tact, otherwise they would have just draped asteroids on us from orbit.

Just because aliens have FTL doesn't mean everything else they have will be a million years more advanced. Technological development can be really strange sometimes. It is possible for them to have FTL but weapon not much different from our own slug throwers.

Also, we have lasers. We can hit them. And unless they have somekind of magical laser defense, we can hurt them.

If at any point your enemy is looking as he may be able to win and you have an ability to stop that, why wouldn't you?

They can drop an asteroid on the laser if nothing else.

And what's RoE?

Don't assume a "kill all the dinosaurs" asteroid, but the one small enough to perform a role of a nuke.

Being a physicist you know that even if you detonate all the nukes we have in one spot, the planet will still be there.

Technological development can be really strange sometimes. It is possible for them to have FTL but weapon not much different from our own slug throwers.

Well then you got lucky. And i got unlucky becouse i really wanted to live in a time where FTL is possible.

You posutulate unlimited technological advancement. That is something that won't happen.

And you postulate that we are at the peak of technological possibilities. Which is balantly not true.

If you still believe that spearchuckers can beat a Civilization that has nukes, and guns and every other weapon you can think of go ahead. I will stop wasting my time constantly replying to pointless "HUMANS FUCK YEA IN LIFE" when the only point of them being much,much more technologicly advanced automatically subverts all your points when you realisticly in no way have a second strike capability to defend yourselves against a vastly superior force. It's in the name.

Edit:

Why are you being so vehement and condescending about this, anyway?

Did a failed alien invasion beat you up and steal your lunch money when you were a kid?

Yes, it also raped me in the butt

Edited October 23, 2012 by GoodGuyEddy

[TrashMan]

It cannot be possibly realistic, that's the point! Humanity has no chance of survival in that scenario.

I disagree. Any scenario can be tweaked to make victory possible.

Withotu knowing he exact details of hte scenario, the forces present, their goals and plans - you cannot make that statement.

And what's RoE?

Rules of Engagement. They be be simple or complex, depending on the sitation and the objectives.

Don't assume a "kill all the dinosaurs" asteroid, but the one small enough to perform a role of a nuke.

Being a physicist you know that even if you detonate all the nukes we have in one spot, the planet will still be there.

If all they want is the rock we're standing on, there's no point to the invasion. Look at all the other mineral-rich planets in the universe ripe for the taking with no opposition whatsoever.

If they want slaves or things from our biosphere, then they can't really nuke us all.

Exctinction-level events tend to ruin the property value.

not tomention all that radtion would not be healthy for the aliens.

And you postulate that we are at the peak of technological possibilities. Which is balantly not true.

Not peak.

But we have reached a point at wich the returns will be diminshing.

We have reached a point where we can say things about the universe with certanty.

We have reached a point where we can say "X is impossible" and it actually being true.

Edited October 23, 2012 by TrashMan

[tiger12348]

t cannot be possibly realistic, that's the point! Humanity has no chance of survival in that scenario. If the game is realistic the game canot exist. Just roll with the game. No XCOM game is ever realistic.

Games don't need realism to be fun. And a lot of games (including this one) are not possible if you ground yourself in realism too much.

Note the keyword "Trying", I am not saying it is completely realistic. However, what would you react if the game has samurai in it and have them fight the aliens with katana? It does feel weird, that's the point.

Arrogant? No, not arrogant.

Based on physics? Yes. I did study advanced physics you know.

The fundamental laws of the universe won't change - they have been proven right beyond any doubt.

The basics of scientific principles won't change.

You posutulate unlimited technological advancement. That is something that won't happen.

I hope your advanced physics professor did mention to you what science is about during the first lecture, scientific theories are nothing more than falsifiable modules that has not yet been proven wrong which help us to explain the observable universe. Today's impossibility for a top physicist could be tomorrow's common knowledge in a child's mind.

To conquer ancient Egypt, all I need is a helicopter and a laptop. Making sure everybody back then witness my descent from sky with some fancy cloth, and play XCOM in-front of them. They probably kneel down without me saying a word.

Same thing applies for alien invasion, how do I conquer the earthlings back in 1979 from an alien prospective? I'd play a game about the Heaven and life after death in front of the major religion groups all around the world in full interactive 3D hologram.(Which does not take thousands of years to develop) Imagine what happens when religious groups go for their holy wars armed with alien weaponry.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Believe or not, a vastly superior civilization can and will appear god-like to us, and there will be no other option but to kneel down.

Edited October 23, 2012 by tiger12348

[TrashMan]

I hope your advanced physics professor did mention to you what science is about during the first lecture, scientific theories are nothing more than falsifiable modules that has not yet been proven wrong which help us to explain the observable universe. Today's impossibility for a top physicist could be tomorrow's common knowledge in a child's mind.

Common misconception. "It's just a theory" is a

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Believe or not, a vastly superior civilization can and will appear god-like to us, and there will be no other option but to kneel down.

Only to uneducated and stupid.

We're not in ancient Egypt anymore.

***

http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/respectscience.php#theory

This argument usually takes the form of "Well, they said that man would never break the sound barrier either, but they were wrong!".

That formation of the argument is doubly suspect, since if you do the research there does not appear to be any scientist on the record who actually stated that breaking the sound barrier was impossible. For one thing, bullets were breaking the sound barrier almost since the invention of gunpowder. Heck, whips have been doing it since the invention of whips. The "crack" of a whip is actually a the tip of the whip creating a tiny sonic boom.

But the core of the argument is that maybe some future scientific breakthrough will remove all those pesky scientific theories that are keeping the author from doing what they want.

First off, from the standpoint of probability, there is at least a 50% chance that any new scientific breakthrough will actually make it harder to do what you want. There was an amusing SF story by George R. R. Martin called "FTA" where scientists discovered how to enter hyperspace. They were initially jubilant, with visions of FTL starships and Nobel prizes dancing in their heads. Their hopes were quickly dashed when they found out that the speed of light in hyperspace was slower than in our universe.

But actually it is probably a better than 50% chance that a breakthrough will make matters worse. And this will still be a problem if you try to declare by authorial fiat that the breakthrough is indeed in your favor. Let me explain.

The general rule is what physicists call the correspondence principle or the Classical limit. This states that any new theory must give the same answers as the old theory where the old theory has been confirmed by experiment. Newton's laws and Einstein's Relativity give the same answers in ordinary conditions, they only give different answers in extreme conditions such as near the speed of light, refining the accuracy of the GPS system, or calculating the orbit of Mercury (none of which Newton could confirm by experiment).

Which means if you just state that in the year 2525 Professor XYZ came up with the "Take THAT, Einstein!" theory of FTL travel, you still have a problem. You have to explain how the TTE theory allows FTL flight while still giving the same answers that relativity theory did for all those experiments it confirmed. Experiments that were accurate to quite a few decimal points.

And since your desired breakthrough is functionally equivalent to breaking a theory of physics, you also have the problem of unintended consequences.

Regardless of the fact that some of it is dogma, we do possess an exceptionally accurate and rational explanation of electromagnetic phenomena today that meets the criterion stated by Lancelot Hogben, "A scientific explanation is one that is vindicated by practice." Radio transmitters transmit, and radio receivers receive. Lasers lase. Nuclear reactors react. Semi-conductors occasionally conduct. Tunnel diodes, LED's, SQUIDS, and other electromagnetic devices based on quantum mechanics do their thing repeatedly and reliably. So we're obviously doing something right! And we don't dare throw away the theoretical base on which these gadgets do indeed work. We can and should modify the theoretical base as necessary, but we can't throw it away. Any new theories of the universe must be compatible with the old ones or at least permit logical and rational modifications in order to shoe-horn the old theories into the new ones

[HWP]

What good are your numbers HWP when they can reduce them at any point if they so desire.

If they can (you didn't explain how - edit Earth's configuration files?), they why are they not doing it, attacking cities instead. In fact, why don't they just reduce the numbers of xenonauts instead of dying at their hands.

just based on the principle that A FTL capable civilization is superior by default

That's a naive thing to say. It assumes that all civilizations develop equally.

It is not the case. For instance, North Korea is grossly inferior to Luxembourg economically and just as grossly superior militarily.

And what makes you even assume they are FTL capable? I don't remember game lore saying that anywhere. Interstellar travel does not equal FTL, you know.

In X-COM, one of the reasons you were able to defeat them is that they don't seem to be FTL-capable, so the remains of their colony on Cydonia and T'Leth are cut off, they can't get reinforcements if there are any.

Their lack of FTL capability is also evidenced by your being able to successfully chase UFOs - they'd need to just go to space and get to just 0.1c to safely get away.

[EisenKreutzer]

Is this a discussion about realism in a game with aliens and laser guns?

[HWP]

To conquer ancient Egypt, all I need is a helicopter and a laptop. Making sure everybody back then witness my descent from sky with some fancy cloth, and play XCOM in-front of them. They probably kneel down without me saying a word.

The hoi polloi might.

Will the Pharaoh?

He kinda likes his position and lifestyle, you know.

Even if you're a god, the Egyptians didn't have Abrahamic religions' piety, gods weren't held in all that high a regard. Especially since you might well be one of the lesser gods that is outranked by the Pharaoh-god anyway.

Which means if you just state that in the year 2525 Professor XYZ came up with the "Take THAT, Einstein!" theory of FTL travel, you still have a problem. You have to explain how the TTE theory allows FTL flight while still giving the same answers that relativity theory did for all those experiments it confirmed.

Yeah, any FTL travel, if it ever happens, is almost certainly going to be quasi-FTL, and it will have to affect much more fundamental aspects of spacetime than just one object's velocity.

It's worth noting that Newtonian mechanics still apply and quasi-FTL travel is already possible without breaking any laws. If you accelerate towards Alpha Centauri (5 light years away) at a borderline-survivable rate of 9g, that is about 10c/year, you'll fly by it in 1 year, just how Newtonian mechanics tell you, or arrive with deceleration in 2 years.

In fact, apart from the excessive g-force, there's nothing fundamentally preventing you from traveling there in a six-hour flight.

[tiger12348]

Common misconception. "It's just a theory"

There is a difference between a "falsifiable module" and "a theory" as in the common definition, "a hypothesis" is the word for it in the scientific community, if this helps to clear the confusion.

Only to uneducated and stupid.

We're not in ancient Egypt anymore.

In terms of Intelligence we are not any superior than the Egyptians, and keep in mind the fact that about 86% of the world population remain religious today, I don't see a big step forward here either.

[panzereich]

Who says aliens want to conquer us? From what I have heard, the general consensus is that they simply want to probe our butts.

If FTL travel is ever harnessed by Earth, then I believe butt probing would of a higher priority than invasion.

[TrashMan]

There is a difference between a "falsifiable module" and "a theory" as in the common definition, "a hypothesis" is the word for it in the scientific community, if this helps to clear the confusion.

And you're missing the point.

Any new theory or formula MUST explain all the experimentaly proven results of former theories.

We know some of the basic laws of the universe. They are immutable. Laws like Thermodynamics. Conservation of energy, etc..

No alien technology can break those laws.

In terms of Intelligence we are not any superior than the Egyptians, and keep in mind the fact that about 86% of the world population remain religious today, I don't see a big step forward here either.

I'm a religious person yet you won't see me worshping an alien with a plasma rifle.

And 3D holograms? Whom do you think they would fool?

A hologram won't fool any scientist on the planet. A holographic representation cannot be the same as the real thing because they are fundamentaly different in it's properties.

An alien would have to do something FAR more impressive than that.

Like come back from the dead.