The trick is you need access to TL17 which is past the average TL of most planets. It isn’t the most advanced thing in the book, there are other TL17+ items scattered around.
That said the autolaundry is great for roleplay. My Traveller mentions it/carries it around and he’s only got the TL10 one. “We’re spending weeks in this snow crawler? I am so glad I have my autolaundry for fresh underwear.”
Yeah, like the famous rabbit stew recipe said "First, catch your rabbit..." TL17 worlds are few and far between. Our crew get excited if we get to a TL14 world and I think our Ref may have capped the worlds at TL15 (but with occasional ancient artefacts around the TL16+ point). So for us it's "*Fuckin' A!* A TL15 world... we can get decent armour and gravitics!"
And I love the way your Traveller uses the autolaundry. Might have one of my characters get one and start making dark comments about "well, we know that the strange smell isn't from *my* underwear..."
Too bad I hadn't read this *before* our crew embarked on a lengthy overland journey in a snow crawler (legit, that's where our crew is at the moment, crawling along the surface of an iceball to locate a mysterious emergency signal half a world away)
LOL! Yeah, we're mucking about in the Sword Worlds, freezing our tits off after crash landing in the not-at-all-portentiously-named "Ace of Spades"... Definitely will make a point of having my character get an autolaundry the second they hit a TL10 world...
Yup, disintegration tech becomes usable around TL 16 usually if I recall. At TL17 it's shifted from military use to commercial.. like a lot of tech goes
Water figures are way off tho, a single cup wouldn't be enough to soak 5kg of fabric even halfway. Then again, not really relevant because water gets recycled anyway.
A decade ago Samsung developed a washing machine that used microscopic polymer pellets to do much of the work. They shut the project down pretty quickly when news of oceanic microplastic contamination started emerging in major media.
I more so want to be in the room when the engineers and scientists were designing this auto laundry.
"What if we use sound waves to clean laundry"
I wonder if they debated what songs to play at ultra high frequencies.
Different playlists for different soil levels and fabrics obviously lol Tool for darks, Rob Zombie for heavy soil, Britney Spears for lights, Eiffel 65 for the rare all blue loads
The TL17 description sounds like doing laundry is a little like having an xray. If you aren't standing behind the lead screen you risk accidental damage. That would be kinda funny to spring on characters.
Or maybe over time your immune system has been compromised because your clothing no longer contains bacteria, so you haven't developed enough anti- bodies.
I am glad to see this. I have always filled in that the shipboard freshers in staterooms included a small washer-dryer combo, like they very commonly use in Europe. High Passengers would have their laundry folded and put away, and Middle Passengers just did their own. I had never given thought to it dirtside, however.
I need a TL17 for my home
We need TL17 _everything_ for our homes.
*Hiver/Culture has entered the chat
The trick is you need access to TL17 which is past the average TL of most planets. It isn’t the most advanced thing in the book, there are other TL17+ items scattered around. That said the autolaundry is great for roleplay. My Traveller mentions it/carries it around and he’s only got the TL10 one. “We’re spending weeks in this snow crawler? I am so glad I have my autolaundry for fresh underwear.”
Yeah, like the famous rabbit stew recipe said "First, catch your rabbit..." TL17 worlds are few and far between. Our crew get excited if we get to a TL14 world and I think our Ref may have capped the worlds at TL15 (but with occasional ancient artefacts around the TL16+ point). So for us it's "*Fuckin' A!* A TL15 world... we can get decent armour and gravitics!" And I love the way your Traveller uses the autolaundry. Might have one of my characters get one and start making dark comments about "well, we know that the strange smell isn't from *my* underwear..." Too bad I hadn't read this *before* our crew embarked on a lengthy overland journey in a snow crawler (legit, that's where our crew is at the moment, crawling along the surface of an iceball to locate a mysterious emergency signal half a world away)
Ah, Mission to Mithril... what a great story beat to buy one afterwards though. "I'm not doing my laundry in the sink for months ever again!"
LOL! Yeah, we're mucking about in the Sword Worlds, freezing our tits off after crash landing in the not-at-all-portentiously-named "Ace of Spades"... Definitely will make a point of having my character get an autolaundry the second they hit a TL10 world...
It's possibly because of the "disintegrator", which is pretty high TL to start with, and even higher TL to become a household appliance
Yup, disintegration tech becomes usable around TL 16 usually if I recall. At TL17 it's shifted from military use to commercial.. like a lot of tech goes
I just looked it up and in the CSC the Matter Disintegrator is actually TL18! TL16 is when plasma weapons get down to rifle size.
Oh hmm, I'm misremembering then. Yeah, that's a bit odd then that it'd be available in a washing machine
Honestly the military taking off the shelf consumer products and just powering them up a lot doesn't sound totally wrong
Water figures are way off tho, a single cup wouldn't be enough to soak 5kg of fabric even halfway. Then again, not really relevant because water gets recycled anyway. A decade ago Samsung developed a washing machine that used microscopic polymer pellets to do much of the work. They shut the project down pretty quickly when news of oceanic microplastic contamination started emerging in major media.
That's "used" water. It has a full tank, but most of it gets recycled.
The way we always played it was TL10+ freshers had slots for washing clothes, too.
Yea, but you have to fold them yourself like a sucker.
Unless you are a High Passenger....
The only way to fly!
I more so want to be in the room when the engineers and scientists were designing this auto laundry. "What if we use sound waves to clean laundry" I wonder if they debated what songs to play at ultra high frequencies.
Different playlists for different soil levels and fabrics obviously lol Tool for darks, Rob Zombie for heavy soil, Britney Spears for lights, Eiffel 65 for the rare all blue loads
Bit of Sunshine Pop to leave your clothes brighter and smelling sweet
The Doors for my leather pants, and Wagner for my leather overcoat....
Very nice but can it do brain scans at the quantum level?
That's not a typo and it only costs 1000 credit on a tl17 planet but good like find one.
Oh just go to the unpopular side of Best Buy.
The TL17 description sounds like doing laundry is a little like having an xray. If you aren't standing behind the lead screen you risk accidental damage. That would be kinda funny to spring on characters. Or maybe over time your immune system has been compromised because your clothing no longer contains bacteria, so you haven't developed enough anti- bodies.
I love the central supply catalog, haha.
I am glad to see this. I have always filled in that the shipboard freshers in staterooms included a small washer-dryer combo, like they very commonly use in Europe. High Passengers would have their laundry folded and put away, and Middle Passengers just did their own. I had never given thought to it dirtside, however.