Computer Memory?

[TheJudge]

I love Hero system and I truly love computers and AI's but it does not give us any real world bases for determining RAM or ROM hard drive space nothing so my question is who out there has a basis for me to go off of?

Of course if you're playing super hero setting or even tech/space based ames you can just say whatever you want and that's all fine but just for a basis what would you suggest. I ask because if you build a super hand-held computer with lets say 10 terabites 5 terabites of ram and I was from the future and had a floating Cube AI with 10 googlebites, 5 googlebites of ram what would be the difference in build?

Yes both would have editic memory. but is editic memory considered to be unlimitted amounts of information than can be stored and if it is how then would you put limitations on it to represent the memory scale down?

Ram is easy I quess it's just speed reading at what ever level your computer can process Information ie speed read x10, x100, 1,000, 10,000, 100,000, 1,000,000 and so on.

:help: me understand!

[TheJudge]

I once thought of having it based on the INT of the Compute/AI.
Example since they all start with INT 10 thus it would represent the highest standard for the time period it set in (today's time INT 10 = Memory 160 GB future maybe INT 10 = Memory 160 TB(Ram would be memory/100 as starting) every 5 point of INT doubles Memory.

[Edsel]

I think it might be better to keep the quantity of RAM and ROM vague. Computer technology evolves so fast that whatever benchmark you set today may seem silly only 5 years (or less) down the road. An example of that line of thinking is Star Trek, The Next Generation. They listed computers having Kiloquads (sp?) as a memory measure and they never equated it to modern terms just to avoid that pitfall.

[Steve]

I think it might be better to keep the quantity of RAM and ROM vague. Computer technology evolves so fast that whatever benchmark you set today may seem silly only 5 years (or less) down the road. An example of that line of thinking is Star Trek, The Next Generation. They listed computers having Kiloquads (sp?) as a memory measure and they never equated it to modern terms just to avoid that pitfall.

I agree with this. I think it was in the original version of Traveller (back in the Dark Age of Gaming known as... the 70s) that they had computers with 64k running starships. :D

[gojira]

Hey, we had a mainframe with 64k of memory that the teacher salvaged out of the dumpters next to the HP plant. Not kiddin'. It ran multiple users on that 64k just fine.

But Edsel is right, adding rules for "real world stuff" especially computers where things change so rapidly is just asking for trouble.

GURPS Cyberpunk is laughably out of date now because they used realworld stuff, whereas Shadowrun uses Megapulses (opticial RAM) which means nothing so it's never out of date.

So, my advice would be to use words that AREN'T real world words. Don't uses bytes. Use pulses, entanglements, quantaum arrays, Einstien-Bose condesates, Zero-K electron pairs, holographic photons, etc. Anything but "bytes."

If your players ask "what is that equivalent in RAM bytes," just ask them to make a roll, then shrug and say "You don't know." If they get a critical, say "It's too technical to explain, but waaay more than you've ever seen."

[PhilFleischmann]

An example of that line of thinking is Star Trek, The Next Generation. They listed computers having Kiloquads (sp?) as a memory measure and they never equated it to modern terms just to avoid that pitfall.
Although I think we can say with a high dgree of certainty that a "kiloquad" is 1000 "quads", or perhaps 1024 "quads".

But remember, your honor, in HERO, you buy *results*, not SFX, not explanations. Pay for what they computer can *do*, not its internal mechanism. Just like you don't pay for having big biceps, you pay for what your strength can do.

[TheJudge]

So how do you decide whether the players computer in a super hero genre is state of art or beyond belief? Do you base it on character concept?

[Edsel]

Generally that's what I do. If the computer is supposed to be state of the art then its background data will say so. I'd guess that the Equipment Guide, Dark Champions, Star Hero and several other books have write-ups for computers. It might give you ideas on how to write-up the background for such things.

[Mister E]

So how do you decide whether the players computer in a super hero genre is state of art or beyond belief? Do you base it on character concept?

You could base it on Skill Rolls broken down using the "degrees of skill" option found in the main book. 16- to 17- is cutting-edge, or state of the art. 18- to 19- represents computer technology that 'pushes the envelope', performing in inventive ways beyond common usage (like a life emulating, non-sentient, house/ship computer that operates all systems). 20- or greater equates to a truly super-computer status (for example, a computer with Planckscaled space/time-foam integration systems, limited only by the computational constraints of the universe and the volume of the computer's mind!).

You could also extrapolate the the above skill rolls to raw INT: 25 INT(cutting-edge)... 35 INT (semi-fantastic)... 45 INT (super-computer)... 55 INT (even bigger super-computer :D )...

This is what I do. :)

Edit: By this rationale, my RL home computer probably has an INT of 10.

[PhilFleischmann]

So how do you decide whether the players computer in a super hero genre is state of art or beyond belief? Do you base it on character concept?
I guess. In general, I wouldn't charge players points at all for a real computer, even a top-of-the-line one. Any shmo can have a PC or a laptop. You can't swing a dead cat in a Starbucks without hitting a guy with a laptop.

If it's "beyond belief" it will be so because you've bought some beyond belief ability for it, like Precognitive Clairsentience, etc.

[Mister E]

If it's "beyond belief" it will be so because you've bought some beyond belief ability for it, like Precognitive Clairsentience, etc.

What was the name of the computer in the golden submarine in the Illuminatus Trilogy? ;)

[gojira]

So how do you decide whether the players computer in a super hero genre is state of art or beyond belief? Do you base it on character concept?

Yes, pretty much. I'd also base it on points. If a character anouces he's going to WalMart to buy a computer, he get's state-of-the art. If he pays points for a new base computer, then beyond belief is a real possibility.

I'd look at the skills and powers a point based computer had. If they looked beyond belief, then the computer is too. Or if the character wants "just a computer" then that's what they get (and maybe a big "real equipment" discount).

[mudpyr8]

Since most programs are going to be INT based I would go with INT as the primary measure of computing power.

Combine that with Speed, and you have a two dimensional relationship.

12 SPD, 55 INT is going to be a monster of computer, while a 20 INT, 4 SPD is going to be much more reasonable.

Also remember that unless the power the computer is using is an attack power, it can activate as many of them as it wants in a single phase.

If it needs to activate multiple attack powers, follow the rules on Sweep and MPA, and possibly by skill levels to offset penalties, to represent the "parallel processing" it is capable of.

[Captain Obvious]

You can't swing a dead cat in a Starbucks without hitting a guy with a laptop.

Completely off-topic: Has anyone ever used a dead cat as a Focus for a Detect power?

[Mister E]

Completely off-topic: Has anyone ever used a dead cat as a Focus for a Detect power?

No, but I don't see why not. Whiskers are pretty sensitive, and that trilling sound cats make when they are surprised by something is pretty distinctive.

[Chris Goodwin]

What was the name of the computer in the golden submarine in the Illuminatus Trilogy? ;)

The First Universal Cybernetic- Kinetic-Ultramicro-Programmer :D

[Mister E]

The First Universal Cybernetic- Kinetic-Ultramicro-Programmer :D

Brilliant! I wonder if they ever made another one... ;)

[feralucce]

I have used a dead cat as a focus, but not for detect...

[Chris Goodwin]

Brilliant! I wonder if they ever made another one... ;)

You mean the SUCKUP? :D