Can we talk about the minutiae of Westworld?

Murderbear

I don't know if this will be interesting to anyone else but I'm really intrigued by the little details of the world. I know this can't go too far since they've only shown us so much but I'd love to hear thoughts on any of these or if you have other ones. Things like:


Is there any money in the park? I've never seen anyone pay money for a drink or anything.And are food and drinks included in that $40,000/day or does it get charged to an account?

Are there stores where you could buy things like new guns or exploding cigars?

Do hosts drink alcohol? I'm sure it doesn't affect them but are they drinking the same whiskey I'd drink?

Is it the gun that knows who you're aiming at or the bullet?

Hatorian

We haven't seen cash but it sounds like it's there. The pro's are always giving prices.

I'm pretty sure they have shown hosts and humans drink alcohol together but I may be wrong.

With guns. It has to be magic. Seriously though. Let's say someone shoots at a host but the host ducks and there's a human right behind it. If it's the gun that does the work then that human is dead. If it's the bullet then how does it switch from deadly to harmless? Especially cuz we see that it's a real bullet in the hosts stomach. I think this is a standard case of suspension of disbelief. If you really think about this there is no practical way this works. Unless it's not a physical place. Also when we see William take that shot and get blasted to the ground. What happens if he took that in the eye? His eye would be gone.

Hatorian

Personally I find the minor details Super interesting but I also think that it's better to just suspend belief and not think about it too much cuz the more you think about it the more implausible the world becomes

KingKobra

For the bullets we know there is tech behind the scenes. The guns are "real enough" and it may be more than the guns that are modified (ammunition as well). We know that the control room can allow/disallow certain discharge/detonations as well. We already know the hosts wouldn't duck if there is a guest behind them (they would take the bullet for the guest).

Hatorian

Ok instead of ducking on purpose lets say the human in an act of bravery pushes a woman host out of the way and takes the bullet.

KingKobra

i think the show/podcast touched on this briefly. That the guides/hosts would prevent the guest from dying at all costs. We've always known that the bullets are "real" else they wouldn't hurt when they hit a guest. We jus don't know the intricacies of the monitoring/control. I'm sure much of it is controlled via the tablet devices and built in safety mechanisms. It could be clothes, it could be something else which "marks" them. It would have to be something "hidden" though to keep up the facade of the world.

bsmither

Someone gives Maeve a "consideration" for having shackled a dead body outside the saloon.

I have to suppose there is money being played at Kissey's table.

But whether it's real money or "complementary casino chips" type of entertainment currency?

Murderbear

The gunshots feel like a mix of paintball and lazer tag. It's paintball for us in that you're going to get hit with something physical but it's not that bad. And the hosts must have a lazer tag type sensor so when they are shot, they explode accordingly.

Stackpile

I do agree that discussing the mechanics of the guns is a fool's errand, but here are my thoughts!  If the bullet's velocity is being adjusted for hosts/humans, what happens at range? Slowing the bullet to the speed of a paintball works in the saloon or close range standoffs, but what about encounters in the hills like Teddy's encounter with Wyatt's men?  They were well out of range of a projectile flying at paintball speed. Can guests just not get hit at all when their opponent is more than a couple hundred feet away?

We also know that when shooting at a host, its gotta be a real bullet with real bullet velocity, not paintball velocity accompanied by simulated wounds. We see that they can fire long distances and penetrate hard surfaces like the cover William and Logan were using in the farmhouse and the sandstone wall the MiB shoots through.  For this reason I think hosts using themselves as human shields to protect guests is actually extremely dangerous - a bullet could pass through the host and hit the guest.  The only way to ensure a guest survives something like that, and to ensure that a guest's immersion isn't broken when shooting at someone far away, the safety features have to be in the bullets, not the gun.  I think the bullets travel at bullet velocity, and then something happens just before impacting a guest that makes the impact non-lethal.  How THAT works who knows, but "any sufficiently advanced technology" and all that.

Also, if Westworld were real, all guest would wear eye protection, full stop.

EMAW42

Hatorian said:

We haven't seen cash but it sounds like it's there. The pro's are always giving prices.

I'm pretty sure they have shown hosts and humans drink alcohol together but I may be wrong.

With guns. It has to be magic. Seriously though. Let's say someone shoots at a host but the host ducks and there's a human right behind it. If it's the gun that does the work then that human is dead. If it's the bullet then how does it switch from deadly to harmless? Especially cuz we see that it's a real bullet in the hosts stomach. I think this is a standard case of suspension of disbelief. If you really think about this there is no practical way this works. Unless it's not a physical place. Also when we see William take that shot and get blasted to the ground. What happens if he took that in the eye? His eye would be gone.

I have a theory that all of the bullets go the same velocity, but there is a chemical reaction between the bullet and the hosts' skin that causes an explosive effect. 

Travis

I can speak to the money issue (at least from what I've learned by messing with DiscoverWestworld.com). Apparently, when you get into the park you get a good amount of money (which I assume is specific to WW) and you get opportunities to earn more money by gambling or earning it by completing quests, or stealing it, etc. 

EDIT: Copied from DiscoverWestworld where I asked Aeden about money: "You will begin your stay in Westworld with a sizeable amount of money. Once it runs out, you will need to find a way to sustain yourself—be it through lawful or unconventional means.

Travis

On weapons: Westworld wouldn’t be as thrilling if the guns weren’t loaded. Humans can be shot, but you are under no serious risk of injury or death; our guns feature low-velocity technology which feels closer to paintballs than bullets. You will either get better at ducking or grow accustomed to the impact.

not terribly insightful, but that's what they say.

• There are a number of tools available for all park guests to handle however they please. Initial weapon selection will be catered to your proclivities upon arrival and any period-appropriate device found in the park will be available for your use.
• AEDEN
  Note that you cannot bring outside weapons into Westworld.

• There are a number of tools available for all park guests to handle however they please. Initial weapon selection will be catered to your proclivities upon arrival and any period-appropriate device found in the park will be available for your use.
• AEDEN
  Note that you cannot bring outside weapons into Westworld.

• There are a number of tools available for all park guests to handle however they please. Initial weapon selection will be catered to your proclivities upon arrival and any period-appropriate device found in the park will be available for your use.
• AEDEN
  Note that you cannot bring outside weapons into Westworld.

Doctor_Nick

The guns don't make any sense as powder weapons, except for the fact that the Westworld HQ seems to be able to control explosives given the scene with the MiB in jail.  I guess through their magic it's possible that the gunpowder charge is lessened or increased depending on who the gun is pointed at, and possibly the bullet deformation is similarly affected. 

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Doctor_Nick

akritenbrink said:

The gun thing was explained as "simunitions." I doubt I could explain it well but that's the word if anyone wants to google it. 

This explanation wasn't the greatest when the MiB was blasting through adobe walls to hit his targets, and it really fell apart when Maeve dug a bullet fragment out of her abdomen.

ken hale

Murderbear said:

 Do hosts drink alcohol? I'm sure it doesn't affect them but are they drinking the same whiskey I'd drink?

I thought it was a well-known fact that robots of the future are powered by alcohol.

Murderbear

Bite my shiny metal ass you're right!

Ajas

Alternatively we can explore when guns DIDN'T work against robots.

The one instance I can think of : Teddy trying to blast Wyatts costumed men point blank to no effect. There are 4 reasons I can think of - -

1) Wyatts men are actual humans / guests
2) Wyatts men are robots protected against guns
2b) they are mechanical robots, immune to bullets because their substance isn't reactive to it.
2c) they are armored.
2d) Teddy is firing blanks

Teddy blasts em each twice point blank.

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Doctor_Nick

Ajas said:

Alternatively we can explore when guns DIDN'T work against robots.

The one instance I can think of : Teddy trying to blast Wyatts costumed men point blank to no effect. There are 4 reasons I can think of - -

1) Wyatts men are actual humans / guests
2) Wyatts men are robots protected against guns
2b) they are mechanical robots, immune to bullets because their substance isn't reactive to it.
2c) they are armored.
2d) Teddy is firing blanks

Teddy blasts em each twice point blank.

Or they're just programmed not to react to gunshots; judging by Teddy's reaction to Dr. Ford during the conversation with the MiB,  host illness is a state of mind

Ajas

That was a sir Walter Scott quote.. "Look back and smile at perils past.".. No doubt more of "Arnold's " programming.

Still consider a piece of dialog between Ford and Teddy :

Would you like that, Teddy? A small part of my new narrative? A fiction which, like all great stories, is rooted in truth?

Then suddenly simunitions don't affect them.

(btw for W=MiBers, consider that THIS is the dialog where "war" is introduced, and that is why the recruiters in the William's train exit sequence switch to war)