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Subject: MAC Rounds? In atmosphere?

I love the entire Halo series, Halo 2 being my favorite of the games. I think that the universe is compelling and the story is deep, sweeping, and powerful. The hidden layers in the Halo trilogy and rich details of the backstory in the novels are something I love to be lost in, and im greatly looking forward to the story that Halo: Reach will weave. Bungie has carefully and lovingly crafted a mythic tale that will stay etched in my mind until the end.

After completing the level "Tip of the Spear", you are treated to cutscene where over the radio someone says they are about to use a MAC round on the Spire.

In response, Jorge says "MAC rounds? In atmosphere?". He seems shocked at the idea of using a MAC gun in the planet's atmosphere rather than use it in space.

At the end of the level "The Pillar of Autumn", there is a stationary MAC gun mounted in the base that Noble six uses to destroy a Covenant supercarrier.

Soooo, why is Jorge shocked at the use of MAC rounds in atmosphere when the apparently the UNSC does it pretty often? Is this an error in story or am i overlooking something? I didnt even have to think about this for long, just something i noticed.

  • 12.18.2010 6:51 PM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

The Onager isn't the same as a MAC ships have.

[Edited on 12.18.2010 6:54 PM PST]

  • 12.18.2010 6:53 PM PDT

Don't worry, you're still your mom's favorite Bnet member.

The MAC of a frigate is very different from a stationary, on-planet Mass Driver in that the MAC's on a Frigate are much more powerful.

  • 12.18.2010 6:55 PM PDT

Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man.
But sooner or later, the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

^More or less.^ The gun that you use is a lot less powerful than those that some UNSC ships are equipped with.

  • 12.18.2010 6:56 PM PDT

I love the entire Halo series, Halo 2 being my favorite of the games. I think that the universe is compelling and the story is deep, sweeping, and powerful. The hidden layers in the Halo trilogy and rich details of the backstory in the novels are something I love to be lost in, and im greatly looking forward to the story that Halo: Reach will weave. Bungie has carefully and lovingly crafted a mythic tale that will stay etched in my mind until the end.

I guess that makes sense. The story didnt do a great job at explaining the difference. I figured it was a regular MAC gun since you were using to take down Phantoms in one shot and a Supercarrier.

  • 12.18.2010 7:00 PM PDT
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A bigger problem that I had was why it had to get so close to use a MAC blast. The damn thing could have been in space a still took out the spire.

  • 12.18.2010 7:23 PM PDT

Have you seen my mind anywhere? I seem to have lost it...

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I have seen you future

Posted by: nightspark
A bigger problem that I had was why it had to get so close to use a MAC blast. The damn thing could have been in space a still took out the spire.

Good point, if the orbital platform can take out a corvette from high orbit then a frigate should be able to hit the spire from outer space.

  • 12.18.2010 7:34 PM PDT

Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man.
But sooner or later, the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

Canon hole ahoy!

  • 12.18.2010 7:38 PM PDT

What a waste....

If it was weaker, why can it one-shot a cruiser?

  • 12.18.2010 7:40 PM PDT

Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man.
But sooner or later, the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

You shot the glassing port, which isn't normally exposed as far as I'm aware.

  • 12.18.2010 7:44 PM PDT

You shot the Supercarrier right in it's gut, at the weakest point though.

  • 12.18.2010 7:46 PM PDT


Posted by: Nocbl2
If it was weaker, why can it one-shot a cruiser?


I'm pretty sure it's because the cruiser had to temporarily deactivate its sheild to fire the glassing beam, plus i assume that the part spewing deadly plasma wouldn't be super reinforced, because whose gonna be aiming there anyway.

Also, UNSC frigates are basically built built around their MAC cannons. The things are massive, and they fire really big things really fast (a decent percent the speed of light). So yeah, i agree with Jorge on this one: bad idea.

  • 12.18.2010 7:48 PM PDT

Have you seen my mind anywhere? I seem to have lost it...

0x0 x0x 0x0 000 000 x0x 000
x0x 0x0 0x0 0xx 000 0x0 000
x0x x0x x00 0xx 0x0 x0x 0x0

I have seen you future

Posted by: Gruntpocalypto
You shot the Supercarrier right in it's gut, at the weakest point though.

That wasn't a supercarrier. A spuercarrier is 27 kilometers long. That was a CCS class battlecrusier. It was shot in the weakest point while the shields were down, that's how you killed it.

  • 12.18.2010 7:49 PM PDT

He was probably questioning the fact that it's a bad idea to use mac rounds in atmosphere as they would have a lot of Kinetic energy some of which would be lost to friction which would generate alot of heat and it would also create a very loud sonic boom.

  • 12.19.2010 12:51 AM PDT

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Posted by: Mr Owen L
He was probably questioning the fact that it's a bad idea to use mac rounds in atmosphere as they would have a lot of Kinetic energy some of which would be lost to friction which would generate alot of heat and it would also create a very loud sonic boom.
]

also creating a temporary vacuum

  • 12.19.2010 1:44 AM PDT
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"Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute. " ~Gil Stern

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He was most likely surprised because of the amount of damage one round can do. Not only does it release a ridiculous amount of energy on the impact, but some of that energy turns into heat and sound as well.

  • 12.19.2010 2:10 AM PDT
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but whats so bad about mac rounds

  • 12.19.2010 2:58 AM PDT

[As of October 2012]
2013 ADFA Officer Cadet of the RAAF (Aerospace Engineer Electronics Officer).


Posted by: Mini Spartan
but whats so bad about mac rounds


Anything close by would be deafened or destroyed by the intense heat and pressure waves generated.

  • 12.19.2010 3:33 AM PDT

On hiding dead bodies:
Posted by: Psuedo
Posted by: teh Chaz
Inside another dead body. It's the last place they'll look
A corpse within a corpse.
CORPSEPTION.
Win.

Posted by: Nocbl2
If it was weaker, why can it one-shot a cruiser?
Struck bare hull in an unshielded point, directly into the power coil of a major weapons system.

Plus - ship MAC fires a 600ton round at something like Mach 43, with a closing impact force roughly equivalent to a 71 kiloton detonation. The Onager[sp?] fires a round weighing no more than a few kilos with an energy of 1.1GJ - this is equivalent to 'just' 234kg of TNT. Slightly less than a quarter ton, and 1kg of explosive is generally enough to obliterate a car.

The main reason for concern with a ship MAC is its vacuum trail, in atmosphere.
A 5-inch long kinetic dart used in Flechette rocket systems aboard Apache gunships travels at Mach 3.3, and can strip muscle from bone by passing within a few feet of a person. A MAC round is 10 metres long at travels at over ten times that speed. If the Falcon had been between the Spire and Grafton (though as far away horizontally as you'd like), they'd probably have been knocked out of the sky, if not been shredded.

[Edited on 12.19.2010 5:43 AM PST]

  • 12.19.2010 5:41 AM PDT

The MAC blast felt very anti-climatic. It shot right through the tower as if it just cut through it. I was expecting blackened earth for at least 2km.

  • 12.19.2010 8:19 AM PDT
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Posted by: chotato
smart, interesting, seems out of place.


Official fan of Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, (Problem with that?) Halo, and Bungie, also a total gaming junkie.

Well, I don't know why.

@ People who say the Onager isn't the same as the MACs on a Reach Frigate, they are. And they do the same thing in Halo 3, with even more MACs.

  • 12.19.2010 8:39 AM PDT

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Posted by: oQ Nil Qo
The MAC blast felt very anti-climatic. It shot right through the tower as if it just cut through it. I was expecting blackened earth for at least 2km.
Same here.

  • 12.19.2010 8:45 AM PDT

On hiding dead bodies:
Posted by: Psuedo
Posted by: teh Chaz
Inside another dead body. It's the last place they'll look
A corpse within a corpse.
CORPSEPTION.
Win.

Posted by: Ktan Dantaktee
Well, I don't know why.

@ People who say the Onager isn't the same as the MACs on a Reach Frigate, they are. And they do the same thing in Halo 3, with even more MACs.
You failed to read my post didn't you? There is a difference in round impact by a factor of over 303,000. Yes they are different. Very different.

You basically just said that an M16 is the same as a 16-inch gun on a Battleship.

  • 12.19.2010 8:49 AM PDT
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Posted by: chotato
smart, interesting, seems out of place.


Official fan of Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, (Problem with that?) Halo, and Bungie, also a total gaming junkie.


Posted by: JDYeash937 MkII
Posted by: Ktan Dantaktee
Well, I don't know why.

@ People who say the Onager isn't the same as the MACs on a Reach Frigate, they are. And they do the same thing in Halo 3, with even more MACs.
You failed to read my post didn't you? There is a difference in round impact by a factor of over 303,000. Yes they are different. Very different.

The Reach Onager and the Reach Frigate MAC are the same.

You basically just said that an M16 is the same as a 16-inch gun on a Battleship.

  • 12.19.2010 9:40 AM PDT

On hiding dead bodies:
Posted by: Psuedo
Posted by: teh Chaz
Inside another dead body. It's the last place they'll look
A corpse within a corpse.
CORPSEPTION.
Win.

Posted by: Ktan Dantaktee
Posted by: JDYeash937 MkII
Posted by: Ktan Dantaktee
Well, I don't know why.

@ People who say the Onager isn't the same as the MACs on a Reach Frigate, they are. And they do the same thing in Halo 3, with even more MACs.
You failed to read my post didn't you? There is a difference in round impact by a factor of over 303,000. Yes they are different. Very different.

You basically just said that an M16 is the same as a 16-inch gun on a Battleship.

The Reach Onager and the Reach Frigate MAC are the same.
Fix'd.

No, they aren't. This is exactly like saying an M16 and 16-inch artillery piece are the same, as I've already said.
Sure, they both use electromagnets to pull a heavy slug up their barrel, but the differences in scale between the two are just so extraordinary that you cannot call them the same.

  • 12.19.2010 9:45 AM PDT

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