Re: JUNGLE PATROL

--- "K.H.Ranitzsch" <KH.Ranitzsch@t-online.de> wrote:

> > Given a hunter-gatherer society (with the usual
> low
> > population density), there probably wouldn't be
> any
> > traces that were not indistinguishable from
> wildfires
> > and other natural sources.
> 
> Campfires would be small, locally contained and
> usually only lit at certain
> times (at night, mostly). Not really a natural
> pattern.

What resolution are you doing your survey in?  You've
got millions of square km to cover and if you do it
all in 2m resolution you're going to take forever to
collect the data, analyze the data, and it will take
huge damn computers to just store the data.

And believe me, satellite analysis is NOT very easy. 
I've seen some imagery of resolution good enough to
distinguish machine gun nests and there were some
things on there I had no idea what they were.
 
> Right, for a 'normal' planet. There might also be
> searches for changes to
> athmosperic chemistry unlikely to belong to natural
> causes.

Like what?
 
> But note that the original - non GZG-verse- scenario
> had ancient cities that
> had been discovered and were being explored. This
> certainly would have
> prompted a rather more thorough search ?

In MY universe, locating ruins would call for a series
of responses, starting with an Imperial Naval
quarantine of the planet to keep other claim jumpers
off.  Then a far more detailed satellite survey, and a
decent guard detachment when we do land explorers.
 
> > After all, with an impact of d4 and the limited
> effective range of self
> bows, they aren't that much of
> > a threat to fully-armored or power-armored troops.
> 
> And to archeologists ?

Depends on the archeologist.  

I believe the quintessential statement on the
superiority of firearms vs. swords was made by one Dr.
Jones. . .   :)

John

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