The Newbie and Short Questions thread

[azrael]

I'm still a little fuzzy on how fold quartz works. Can anyone use it to broadcast thoughts/emotions?

It emits a Fold Wave. It doesn't transmit emotions.

Is there enough of it left to make super fold drives common?

Currently? No. Unless you want to have your own Vajra hive in your backyard.

[VF-15 Banshee]

Have they or will they figure out a way to make fold quartz on their own?

[Gubaba]

Have they or will they figure out a way to make fold quartz on their own?

You'll probably have to watch the next Macross sequel to find out.

[Seto Kaiba]

Dude, if you're going to base your arguments on the "one isolated incident" that MII is and it's limited portrayal of technology, then you can't use it against others to dismiss their arguments 'cuz you've effectively negated yours. Dude.

You said "dude" twice.

Also, remember... I quite readily admitted that my "one isolated incident" evidence was not 100% reliable either. There isn't any double standard at work here, I treated both cases as "isolated incident, needs confirmation/corroboration". I'm trying to be fair to both sides of the issue as much as possible.

Have they or will they figure out a way to make fold quartz on their own?

According to Macross Chronicle, they're workin' on it... whether they've had any success or not, that's for the next Macross title to tell us.

[VF5SS]

[azrael]

Okay "dudes". I think the question about MII is answered so let's just leave it at that and move on. Take it to PM if you want to continue.

[frothymug]

Dammit. I could have sworn I saw someone make the argument that the use of railguns means that there is no need to stock ammo. I may have misinterpreted something someone said.

I also looked for the information about the operation of the Dragunov and the ISC. Unfortunately, I don't currently have the time to be scouring teh internetz for my source; I'm buried in homework and I hope to get some sleep tonight Until I get the time, my argument is cheerfully withdrawn. It does make some sense, though, doesn't it?

[Seto Kaiba]

Dammit. I could have sworn I saw someone make the argument that the use of railguns means that there is no need to stock ammo. I may have misinterpreted something someone said.

No biggie. I think I may have sourced your thing about the Dragunov and the ISC tho.

I also looked for the information about the operation of the Dragunov and the ISC. Unfortunately, I don't currently have the time to be scouring teh internetz for my source; I'm buried in homework and I hope to get some sleep tonight Until I get the time, my argument is cheerfully withdrawn. It does make some sense, though, doesn't it?

Could it have been in the Variable Fighter Master File: VF-25 Messiah book? IIRC, there's a section in there (however brief) on weaponizing the inertia store converter. (I feel your pain tho, I'm getting ready to go back to school for my PhD.)

Edited January 31, 2012 by Seto Kaiba

[frothymug]

I don't have the book, but I may have gotten that information when someone (somewhere on the internet) was talking about it, probably using their book as a source. Maybe it was off of Sketchley's site... Of course, he'd know if he'd translated something like that, so I kind of expect him to pop in and weigh in on the situation.

[sketchley]

Don't remember translating something along those lines.

Though that doesn't mean that I haven't translated it

[VF-15 Banshee]

More Qs!!

1. How did the Vajra get to Earth so fast in those last few episodes of Frontier?

2. How many light years is the Frontier colony planet from Earth?

3. How many more New Macross/Island Cluster fleets do you think they'll build?

[azrael]

...

Perhaps you should watch Frontier or any other Macross show...AGAIN, as you seem to be missing some of the key points of the show. And perhaps you should try to read some of the material out there before asking.

1. How did the Vajra get to Earth so fast in those last few episodes of Frontier?

Vajra, as explained in the show, can go through fold faults. Thus, they don't have to navigate around them. Meaning their path through fold is, well, a straight line. And the shortest path between any 2 points is a straight line. And due to the fold quartz in their bodies, they can generate lots of energy, allowing them to travel through fold for long distances without stopping.

2. How many light years is the Frontier colony planet from Earth?

Very far.

3. How many more New Macross/Island Cluster fleets do you think they'll build?

We don't know. Watch the next Macross series to find out.

[pfunk]

From the official Japanese site

http://macross.co.jp/bbs/entry.cgi?mode=all&list=tree&no=9388

For the 30th anniversary of the birth of Macross series, has two main proposals.

Delta 6

2012/01/30 (Mon) seventeen past ten p.m. [No.9388]

1. To further enrich the animation work

and a completely new song Love and True Love Eternal Song 7 Trash Macross M3 · 2036 · The Ride is not animated yet, mainly produce OVA.

So does this mean that they are currently working on an OVA?

[azrael]

Not necessarily. Considering it's from a user on the official site forums who's doing exactly what we're doing (i.e. speculation), I won't put too much weight on the post.

[VF-15 Banshee]

Perhaps you should watch Frontier or any other Macross show...AGAIN, as you seem to be missing some of the key points of the show. And perhaps you should try to read some of the material out there before asking.

My bad. I thought this was the Newbie questions thread.

Vajra, as explained in the show, can go through fold faults. Thus, they don't have to navigate around them. Meaning their path through fold is, well, a straight line. And the shortest path between any 2 points is a straight line. And due to the fold quartz in their bodies, they can generate lots of energy, allowing them to travel through fold for long distances without stopping.

Okay, let me put it like this. I'm assuming that the Vajra homeworld is 10,000 or more lightyears from Earth. Considering that, it should have taken even the Vajra many hours to get there but that one episode of Frontier makes it seem that it happens almost instantly.

[Gubaba]

My bad. I thought this was the Newbie questions thread.

In The Stand, one of the characters states, "Country doesn't mean dumb."

Likewise, "Newbie" shouldn't mean dumb.

But hey, on a different topic, is there any info on what happened to the SDF-1's fold drive...?

[VF-15 Banshee]

I guess I should just stop posting stuff late at night when I'm tired.

And the SDF-1's fold drive got catapulted through space/time and ended up becoming the hyperdrives in the Star Wars universe.

[pfunk]

Not necessarily. Considering it's from a user on the official site forums who's doing exactly what we're doing (i.e. speculation), I won't put too much weight on the post.

true, more of wishful thinking

[Seto Kaiba]

More Qs!!

More A's... or at least, best guesses. Can't be too picky when the questions are this specific.

1. How did the Vajra get to Earth so fast in those last few episodes of Frontier?

Well, as we know from the Macross Frontier series, travelling by zero-time fold is FAST! Regular fold travel is no slouch in the speed department, but the fold quartz-dependent zero-time fold method is supposedly an order of magnatude faster. I would guess that there was a Vajra hive somewhere within a couple dozen or a couple hundred LY of Earth... possibly one where it could go unnoticed by virtue of a dead star (that the Vajra could mine unrefined fold quartz from) or no inhabitable planets so humans would have little-to-no reason to go there. I don't believe there's any official answer, but consider that a "best guess".

2. How many light years is the Frontier colony planet from Earth?

Assuming that diagram in the first episode is anything like accurate, I'd estimate somewhere upwards of 25,000ly, possibly as much as 40,000ly. That animated chart of the emmigration fleets showed both Frontier and Galaxy near the galactic core, so they're tens of thousands of light years away easily (the Milky Way's diameter being estimated at ~100,000-120,000ly).

(On reflection, Macross Frontier's love of arc number-dropping would make 25,000ly seem particularly appropriate, no?)

3. How many more New Macross/Island Cluster fleets do you think they'll build?

Your guess is as good as mine... supposedly there's more than one planet building them now, so they've probably passed the thirty mark already. If they ever do ascribe some final limit to that class of ships, it'll probably involve some kind of arc number shenanigans.

My bad. I thought this was the Newbie questions thread.

*shrugs* Dunno why anyone'd get snippy over these... they're perfectly reasonable questions, IMO. the sticky point is there's really no definitive answer to any of them (at the present time).

[frothymug]

If the Vajra are considered super-dimensional life forms, could that possibly mean that they also live in super-dimension or fold space? It is, after all, another dimension existing in parallel with standard space. Just a thought...

[sketchley]

possibly one where it could go unnoticed by virtue of a dead star (that the Vajra could mine unrefined fold quartz from)

and just where does the info that the Vajra do that come from? I was under the impression that they create it from fold carbon...

[frothymug]

Leon was talking about it in the show. I forget what episode.

[Sir Galahad®]

I know development of the VF-25 used the VF-19 as a template (which is why we see the VF-19 uses the super pack)

http://randomc.net/image/Macross/Macross%20Frontier%20-%20Sayonara%20no%20Tsubasa%20-%20Large%20135.jpg

Any Idea what would it look like when transformed, the position of the wings of the battroid when transformed is at the hips.

[VF-15 Banshee]

Your link doesn't seem to work, at least for me.

[sketchley]

Me, too (re: linky not working).

FYI: the VF-25 was developed using the YF-24 as a template. NOT The VF-19.

[Seto Kaiba]

If the Vajra are considered super-dimensional life forms, could that possibly mean that they also live in super-dimension or fold space? It is, after all, another dimension existing in parallel with standard space. Just a thought...

Erm... well, I dunno about that. I mean, we've seen one form of life that does live in super dimension space, but it was an energy life form (that would come to be known as the Protodeviln). Other lifeforms from this universe, such as the galactic whales, are supposedly "super dimensional life forms", though they live in the normal universe rather than the higher dimension(s) of fold space and merely possess the natural ability to tap into the super dimension for travel (and presumably self-defense).

and just where does the info that the Vajra do that come from? I was under the impression that they create it from fold carbon...

frothymug rather beat me to the punch here, but it's mentioned (and at one point, shown) in the Macross Frontier television series. It's in one of the last couple episodes. I'll get you an episode number and time index in a future post, at present I have no access to my DVDs due to a slight (recurring) minor family emergency.

[Sir Galahad®]

Oh, my mistake, I thought the monkey models were used for testing of the parts. Anyway...

Attached the picture instead

[Seto Kaiba]

Oh, my mistake, I thought the monkey models were used for testing of the parts. Anyway...

Attached the picture instead

Ah, yeah... that's not a "missing link" between the VF-19 and VF-25. It's just a SMS-issue VF-19 equipped with the same wing Super Packs used on the VF-25. The novelization called it the "VF-19ADVANCE". Beyond that, there's precious little on it, the official complete book kinda glosses over it, and Great Mechanics DX doesn't really go into much detail.

[sketchley]

frothymug rather beat me to the punch here, but it's mentioned (and at one point, shown) in the Macross Frontier television series. It's in one of the last couple episodes. I'll get you an episode number and time index in a future post, at present I have no access to my DVDs due to a slight (recurring) minor family emergency.

Which is odd, as it doesn't mesh well with other materials on the topic.

Ie: Pash #02's: "It is a purple, crystal-shaped material that is formed inside the Vajra's bodies."

Now, if the dead stars serve as a source of fold carbon (in other words, the subtitles you guys have read are a mistranslation), then it fits well with the other materials.

[Seto Kaiba]

Which is odd, as it doesn't mesh well with other materials on the topic.

's kinda hard to mistake it for anything else, as it's a rough fist-sized (for a Vajra) lump of the same glowy pinkish color as the refined fold quartz that we see in crystalline form at sizes both microscopic and suitable for jewelry. Kind of a no-brainer, esp. when the dialogue over the scene is about how the Vajra obtain fold quartz.

(All told, I'm not sure when exactly the term "fold carbon" first occurred, but I get the feeling it was after the series. I think we can chalk this up as "the difference between ice and frozen water", because the definitions I've found for "fold carbon" make it the term for low-purity fold quartz. So, really, we don't appear to be dealing with a mistranslation, just the description of a thing vs. the official term for it.

[sketchley]

's kinda hard to mistake it for anything else, as it's a rough fist-sized (for a Vajra) lump of the same glowy pinkish color as the refined fold quartz that we see in crystalline form at sizes both microscopic and suitable for jewelry. Kind of a no-brainer, esp. when the dialogue over the scene is about how the Vajra obtain fold quartz.

Uhm, I was taking about WHERE IT COMES FROM. Not what it is.

You've mentioned, again, that they "obtain it", and I direct you to my quote (again): "formed inside the Vajra's bodies".

[frothymug]

Well, whatever the translation is, all I can say is that it's in episode 23 when Alto went to Leon's office for a meeting with Mr. Bilrer.

Perhaps they "obtain" the raw materials for it from dying stars and the such, and then are able to "form" (manufacture) it inside of their bodies.

[sketchley]

Perhaps they "obtain" the raw materials for it from dying stars and the such, and then are able to "form" (manufacture) it inside of their bodies.

Now THIS makes sense.

Of course it begs questions like why do they have to go to dying stars, when the expanding gas cloud of a supernova contain infinitely more heavy elements, but that's all beside the point.

[Seto Kaiba]

Perhaps they "obtain" the raw materials for it from dying stars and the such, and then are able to "form" (manufacture) it inside of their bodies.

That's... pretty much what's been said, yes. The one exception being that it's "dead" stars, not "dying" stars.

Of course it begs questions like why do they have to go to dying stars, when the expanding gas cloud of a supernova contain infinitely more heavy elements, but that's all beside the point.

See the above, but really... we're saying the same thing, and have been for a while now. The Vajra obtain the raw material (the low-purity form of fold quartz called fold carbon) and [refine/form] it into the high-purity stuff we see in neat, orderly crystalline form.

[frothymug]

I'm good with that explanation. Makes complete and perfect sense now.