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This topic has moved here: Subject: Forerunner tech
  • Subject: Forerunner tech
Subject: Forerunner tech

"Wort wort wort!"

I have two questions that I have thought of for canon experts that I have pondering for a while:
Why is there life on the Halo rings? I understand the Ark was to preserve life in the Galaxy, but on the rings it seems pointless.
Forerunner artificial gravity? On the rings, they needed to make them giant centrifuges, but the Ark is dish-shaped so they couldn't do that.

  • 04.19.2011 4:48 PM PDT
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Semper Fictor

Its likely that life was put on the rings as decoration, like flowers in a lobby.

  • 04.19.2011 5:01 PM PDT

If you're passionate about the thing you're talking about, I'll always lend an ear.

Posted by: Dustin 6047
As for why life is on the rings... well they were made, i think, before the flood was a known threat. There were 12 rings that circled the forerunner capital. 5 of the rings and the capital were destroyed on the attack on the forerunner capital by the flood and medicant bias.

I'm pretty sure the rings and the Ark were made to counter-act the flood as a last resort. This was after not before the flood was known as a threat.

  • 04.19.2011 5:03 PM PDT

"Wort wort wort!"

all you need to do is compress lots of material into a thin sheet

Then why are the rings the spinning rings?

[Edited on 04.19.2011 6:30 PM PDT]

  • 04.19.2011 6:30 PM PDT

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

The Forerunner loved making their technology blend with nature.

  • 04.19.2011 6:32 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: Jjaro King
all you need to do is compress lots of material into a thin sheet

Then why are the rings the spinning rings?

The rings use centripetal force to create gravity, probably because it was easier, or cheaper, or made sense with a ring.

As for the compressed materials, it is shown that the Covenant (and by the transitive property the Forerunners) have a better understanding and control over gravity than simply creating dense objects. After all, in order to create a ship with earth-like gravity (9.8 m/s) it would require a massive amount of materials, and would weigh so much that it would be nearly impossible to move.

  • 04.19.2011 6:35 PM PDT

"Find where the liar hides, so that I may place my boot between his gums!" - Rtas 'Vadum

Posted by: CTN 0452 9
Posted by: Jjaro King
all you need to do is compress lots of material into a thin sheet

Then why are the rings the spinning rings?

The rings use centripetal force to create gravity, probably because it was easier, or cheaper, or made sense with a ring.

As for the compressed materials, it is shown that the Covenant (and by the transitive property the Forerunners) have a better understanding and control over gravity than simply creating dense objects. After all, in order to create a ship with earth-like gravity (9.8 m/s) it would require a massive amount of materials, and would weigh so much that it would be nearly impossible to move.

It would need to be the mass of the earth compressed to neutron star density, which is absurd.

  • 04.19.2011 6:54 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: anton1792
Posted by: CTN 0452 9
Posted by: Jjaro King
all you need to do is compress lots of material into a thin sheet

Then why are the rings the spinning rings?

The rings use centripetal force to create gravity, probably because it was easier, or cheaper, or made sense with a ring.

As for the compressed materials, it is shown that the Covenant (and by the transitive property the Forerunners) have a better understanding and control over gravity than simply creating dense objects. After all, in order to create a ship with earth-like gravity (9.8 m/s) it would require a massive amount of materials, and would weigh so much that it would be nearly impossible to move.

It would need to be the mass of the earth compressed to neutron star density, which is absurd.

It wouldn't need to be quite as massive as Earth, since F(g)=G*M1*M2/r^2 where r=radius. Smaller radius would mean that you need a smaller mass on top. It would still have an absurdly huge mass.

  • 04.19.2011 7:11 PM PDT

Didact's Reprisal -
Now is the time of our unworlding
One final effort is all that remains
And I am not afraid
We shall fulfill our promise
We fight for the grace of the Mantle
And this time none of you will be left behind

Well, being on the Halo seems to be one of the few safe zones for life to inhabit during the firing of such a device. The Halos themselves were protected by Sentinels meant to attack anyone or anything in sight, no matter what. The Librarian hoped to expand the amount of species to preserve by using the Halos as well as the Ark.

But then one wonders about the Flood and how they obviously got on the Halos. I can think of a few possible reasons this didn't work for the Halos/Installation 04:

343 mentioned studying the Flood; perhaps they attempted this on that installation.

One would imagine that the Halos were meant to be activated long before the Flood could physically reach the devices, and that Didact's reluctance to go against the Mantle allowed the time and resources for the Flood to land on the Halo.

Perhaps 343 is just freakin' crazy. Wasn't it stated that the Sentinels were initially designed to attack every organism the attempts to land on Halo? So why are the humans and Covenant allowed to land on both Halos?

So maybe something we do not yet know happens in the rest of the Forerunner trilogy to explain this. Eh. It's late. I'm tired. And I'm definitely getting off-topic.

  • 04.19.2011 9:21 PM PDT

Posted by: Im SteelAssassn

Perhaps 343 is just freakin' crazy. Wasn't it stated that the Sentinels were initially designed to attack every organism the attempts to land on Halo? So why are the humans and Covenant allowed to land on both Halos?


Maybe I was misreading it but I thought that the sentinels only attacked if the Halo was under attack or that it was going to be destroyed. ex: 343 guilty spark learns of Master Chiefs plan on blowing up the ring, all sentinels get pissed and attacked. AND when the Forerunner fleet started attack MB and his rings, then the sentinels came out and started causing havoc.

  • 04.19.2011 11:19 PM PDT

In memory of those fallen in the defense of Earth and her colonies.

March 3, 2553

The forerunners had a bigger plan. As we know something went wrong and what they had planned failed.

All i can guess is that they were used for transportation of species, which from memory i think is correct.

  • 04.19.2011 11:27 PM PDT
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Deva Path


Posted by: DecepticonCobra

We are all going to get banned aren't we?

The halo was a dual project- It was meant to stop the flood as a last resort but also study the flood and transport life to the ark.

Life would be gather from planets from the halo and placed around the ring. when enough life was collected it would then transport to the ark and unload and go collect more life.

It also infected life on the ring with flood to study them and see if it was resistant. The ring would then fire to remove itself of the flood.

  • 04.20.2011 5:19 AM PDT


Posted by: ninjakenzen
Posted by: Dustin 6047
As for why life is on the rings... well they were made, i think, before the flood was a known threat. There were 12 rings that circled the forerunner capital. 5 of the rings and the capital were destroyed on the attack on the forerunner capital by the flood and medicant bias.

I'm pretty sure the rings and the Ark were made to counter-act the flood as a last resort. This was after not before the flood was known as a threat.


No, they were built (or in the process of being built/planned) 10,000 years before the Flood war against the Forerunners. They were planned to be used against the Flood should they return, but I don't think on the scale they ended up being used (they could focus a blast on a single planet if they wanted).

As for why there's life, its implied in Cryptum that being on the Ring when it fires doesn't kill you.

[Edited on 04.20.2011 5:28 AM PDT]

  • 04.20.2011 5:27 AM PDT
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Deva Path


Posted by: DecepticonCobra

We are all going to get banned aren't we?


Posted by: ROBERTO jh

Posted by: ninjakenzen
Posted by: Dustin 6047
As for why life is on the rings... well they were made, i think, before the flood was a known threat. There were 12 rings that circled the forerunner capital. 5 of the rings and the capital were destroyed on the attack on the forerunner capital by the flood and medicant bias.

I'm pretty sure the rings and the Ark were made to counter-act the flood as a last resort. This was after not before the flood was known as a threat.




As for why there's life, its implied in Cryptum that being on the Ring when it fires doesn't kill you.


Well those are the original rings though, though i suppose you could mess with the settings to get that affect with the current rings.

  • 04.20.2011 5:30 AM PDT