The Leviathan

I think that is the exact critical distinction--Cyberpunk vs. Transhumanism. I admit that I am skeptical of transhuman tropes in a game with "Cyberpunk" in the title, but I also recognize that the distinctions can get very blurry. Some writers are particularly adept at mining this gray area--Charles Stross springs to mind immediately...

I concur. A Cyberpunk setting that lacks a functioning Internet is a hard one to reconcile with a fundamental premise of the genre. A Cyberpunk setting where the broken remnants of the Internet spawn nano-constructed monsters in realspace seems to actively rebel against all pretenses to credibility.

...That being said, CP2077 looks so promising that perhaps all sins may be forgiven...

https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/10/17446960...crosoft-trailer

I think the E3 video looks promising, but the verdict is definitely still out. I can't really disagree with William Gibson's observation, but for many fans who came at the genre from the RPG angle, the the 80's retro future may be the thing that drew them in the first place...

Very interested to see the latest from GENCON. Sounds like a sweet gig with a front-row seat to Projekt RED. Can't wait to read about your impressions.

Glad to hear you are on the mend and showing no signs of humanity loss. Wishing you a speedy recovery!

Dystopia is crafty--it shambles toward us slowly enough that we don't even recognize the transition, yet quickly enough that our children will wonder how we missed it...

Looks like Dystopia might be a bit harder to find than we might have anticipated back in the day when Maximum Mike set his cyperpunk future in 2020...

Greetings & welcome! We're in a relative lull, but with the Singularity rapidly approaching I anticipate a resurgence. Good to have you!

Excellent observations. What I find particularly compelling about Bethke's short story is that it was so on target with what we've become that it feels like a description of relative normality. I have to remind myself that when Bruce wrote this, it was still an imagined possible future, not daily life.

I enjoyed reading Companero's take on Pat Cadigan's work. I enjoy her material, but feel like I start catching on to the premise of each piece more than halfway through so tend to enjoy the stuff in measured doses.

I'm currently reading the Post-Cyberpunk anthology Rewired edited by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel, and it includes a Cadigan piece. Interesting, but takes some processing. I'm still trying to discern whether she was pulling ahead of the Cyberpunk cohort early on with her explorations of cyberspace, virtual reality, and headware, or if this is quintessentially Cyberpunk because of those same features.

Ridley Scott actually made the original film that was better than the PKD literature it was based on. Do I dare hope that it can happen again?

Companero, really digging the impressions and summaries. Debating on whether my 20-year-old recollections of Barnes' Streetlethal and follow-up Gorgon Child will bear up. I recall two functional but relatively unremarkable novels that seemed to be channeling CP themes but not particularly impressive. I read them back then because they were on the CP2020 reference list, but the field has added some seminal works in the years that followed that relegate these novels to the B list in my mind. Largely felt like the novels started and ended with open story elements that could have been further explored, and that the most interesting material occurred outside of the actual narrative. The fact that we never get to see an example of Aubrey Knight's zero-g null boxing is an example that still stands out in my recollection...

Ambitious! I like the sound of that. I'm interested in digging in. Companero, your post motivated me to scan the list and spot some titles that Malcom might consider. Now where to start...

Mind officially blown. It's not that the science is outlandish--it's that it's for sale on Amazon, like it's just one more hobby. What a trip!

There are six issues--4 in Volume 1, 2 in Volume 2--and they are all focused on Cyberpunk, though the last issue includes cross-over material with Call of Cthulhu.

Scarlet Johansen as Motoko Kusanagi.

Looks promising...

Thanks for posting this, Geist. This is a great interview, and I share Hann's sentiment that it is great to see Mike Pondsmith in the mix with the CD Projekt crew. It's good to know that 2077 is still in the works as well.

Sweetness! Digging in and enjoying the "crunch." Thanks for keeping the flame burning.

Emerging from the cryotank after way too long... Wasn't sure that this site even existed anymore, so delighted to see familiar members and new names as well.

 

From some of the reports I read, I gather that this sort of insertion/extraction is becoming pretty routine. BTW, Leviathan, isn't this helo doing what they call the Pinnacle Maneuver?

 

Oh, BTW, before we dismiss rope-related egress from helicopters completely, I'd remind everyone that helicopter rappels definitely have their place. This is separate and distinct from fast-roping and is sometimes the only option available when, for example, inserting into a jungle area with a dense canopy and no adequate LZs near the operation site. (PJs recovering downed pilots in that sort of terrain comes immediately to mind.)

Markc, you speak the truth.

Yes--pinnacle landings are tricky business. Doing them with two wheels only (CH-47s) or even one wheel only (UH-60s) is particularly challenging. Doing it in the dark is harder. It is especially tricky landing to structures, since too little finesse and that 26,000-pound helo will crumple that Afghan mountain chalet in a heartbeat. Tactically, it's risky as all get-out because the aircraft is a sitting duck that will roll and crash if it takes disabling damage, but it's hard to beat when it comes to putting muldoons right onto key terrain in a hurry. In places like the Nangahar Valley of Eastern Afghanistan (as depicted in your photo), finding a big, roomy flat spot to make a relatively easy landing to flat pitch isn't even an option.

Ropes will get a team into most areas, but when getting out is often much more difficult it's nice to know that there are ways to get out in a hurry if you need to. Riding a MEDEVAC hoist is no picnic, especially because that is the Taliban target of choice, and hanging with a half-dozen of your closest buddies in a SPIES harness beneath a Blackhawk while it is taking fire is something we all would rather avoid.

Rapelling or Fast Ropes definitely have their place--it's just a matter of choosing the right tool for the job, and weighing risk vs. reward.

why not do the obvious.

 

Land.

Markc and Dog Soldier both brought up the issue of Fast Rope insertion being a high-risk proposition. I totally concur. Sounds cool and sexy, but there are any number of alternative methods for getting into remote spots that don't have the same disadvantages. Landing and swarming off the aircraft is definitely preferable to sliding down a rope one at a time, and the current crop of assault pilots have shown that the two-wheel and one-wheel landing will get the assault force to the same locations as fast rope without worrying about the first guy down the rope missing his hand-hold and becoming an instant casualty to derail the rest of the mission like happened with BHD. Not sure about the feasibility of Malek's bridging technique from a vectored thrust vehicle beside a high-rise, but you would certainly have the surprise factor going for you conducting an exterior wall breach on the 25th story. How cool would that be?!

On some hairy air assaults in the 'Stan we've had -47 crews calling out 15+ incoming rocket shots on exfil.

15+ incoming!?!?

 

Jesus, dude! You live a charmed life.

 

What's the opposite of "target-rich environment"?

I have definitely spent at least a few of my nine lives, but fortunately I fly attack helicopters so people tend to be on their best behavior or on the receiving end when I'm overhead. Usually--the guys gunning for us in Afghanistan don't always rate very high with the self-preservation instincts, so you can't always count on them to exercise discretion over valor.

In the situation I mentioned with the Chinooks, they were pulling the ground force out at the end of a raid mission and did not have armed helo escort. They had fixed-wing CAS overhead, but with the JTACS blind in the back of the helos they were somewhat limited in the coverage they could provide to the assault force. The door gunners expended a ton of ammo providing suppressive fire and the pilots pulled evasive maneuvers, but it was probably flying blacked out in low illumination that saved them. Against that kind of volley fire luck (for lack of a better term) is a big factor. I'll take lucky over good any day!

Agreed. You have gift for parsing directly to the heart of the matter, my friend.

In Nam they did have rpg rounds that were designed for use against helicopters to explode at a specific time based on expected distance and to throw shrapnel fo basicalyy thesame cheap price why wouldthe not have that 30+ years later

This is still a popular technique! RPG-7 projectiles have a time-out fuze that will self-detonate the warhead at a fixed range around 900 meters, and there are fragmentation warheads in addition to HEAT and thermobaric types. One technique to turn an RPG from a point-detonating to an airburst weapon is to engage from the max range--you are gauranteed a detonation even without a direct hit. On some hairy air assaults in the 'Stan we've had -47 crews calling out 15+ incoming rocket shots on exfil. Suppressive fire probably kept many of those shots erratic, but with that many incoming projectiles it is down to blind luck whether an aircraft makes it through without taking a hit... Volley-fired RPGs are scary. As much as attack drivers like to bash on the wide-body crews, we have nothing but respect for the assault helo crews going into the LZ.

I find the real drawback to the AVs over helos is one thing downthrust...

The other unforseen problem with the massive downthrust generated by the Osprey is the impact on fast-rope insertion.

First, the rotor downthrust is so significant, it is forcing guys down the rope. Imagine strapping on 90 pounds+ of kit and trying to make a controlled descent down a whipping cable using simple friction as your sole braking mechanism. Challenging! Now imagine doing that with another 200 pounds of pressure shoving your toward the ground. The propensity for frapping in lick a sack of protoplasm goes way up.

Second, that same downwash turns sideways and upwards when it collides with the ground, so tossing an untethered rope out the back of the V-22 risks getting the end of the rope whipped up by the rotor wash and possibly even sucked back up into the rotor. Not good. The solution? Strap two 45-pound weight plates to the rope before pitching it out the back of the aircraft just to keep that rope on the ground. The first guy down the rope is your guinea pig, and better use his entire body weight to keep that rope stable while the next guys come burning down the rope on top of him.

Consider that the aircraft is stuck at a high hover during this entire circus act inviting pot shots from random passers by, and the cool factor dwindles. Remember how the whole comedy of errors started in Blackhawk Down? Fastrope from any VTOL platform sounds sexy, but has a very limited mission set (primarily urban terrain) where the pay-off makes the cost worthwhile. Trying it from a V-22 or a vectored thrust vehicle would seem to compound the disadvantages.