Re: (TFT) Math of Demon Towers --> Too expensive!

[srydzews@ix.netcom.com]

Too expensive?  For a goal as worthy as firing demon 
astronaut-wannabes out of towers at orbital velocity 
NO EXPENSE IS TOO GREAT!

However, I agree that trying to stabilize the gates as 
they fail is a losing proposition.  Here's what you do.
If the total number of transits is 6501 and the failure
rate is 1.85% that means you can expect about 120 failures
during the entire process.  You put up 130 pairs of gates,
arranged as so:

------ gates 4a through 130a
------ gate 3a
------ gate 2a
------ gate 1a
.
.
.  1000 meter drop
.
. 
------ gate 1b
------ gate 2b
------ gate 3b
------ gate 4b through 130b

Basically as each gate-pair fails the next one takes
over.  (This also has the advantage of unattended 
operation for when it blows up.  Er, I mean, *if* it
blows up.)  True, 130 gates is no small investment, 
but we're talking Big Science here--demons in space 
and all.

Now I'll grant you that if you cut people in half on 
a failure-when-flickering that makes the whole thing 
impossible, or at least kills the demon, but such a 
condition was was never part of the original scenario
(as well as just a rotten thing to do :) ).   A variant
gate spell that simply failed instantly upon instability
would solve that problem though.

The 'keep the demon from hitting the side of the tube' 
problem is quite an interesting one.  Evacuating all 
the air from the tube should certainly help him fall 
straight down, but probably wouldn't be enough.  A 
thorny problem.  Sadly, AW does not have an Antipathy 
spell, or you could ring the tube with equi-distant 
antipathy effects, forcing the demon to stay in the 
center of the tube.

Hm...if the tube is instead a cone, one hex wide at 
the top and one MH wide at the bottom, you could 
perhaps surround the main 'target' gate in the center
hex with a ring of 'corrector' gates that re-orient the
demon back in the center if he strays too far.  The 
feasibility depends on the details of how you work gates,
whether they need to be bordered by something solid, etc.

This whole business is just too insane.  I love thinking 
about it.

I still think the real problem will occur when the demon 
leaves the vaccuum tube and hits atmosphere at 11 km/sec.
Friction or no friction, that's a lot of air being displaced
awfully fast.  I think a wizard with a flying carpet will
need to place the final gate several thousand feet up.

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