11-11-2019, 12:19 PM | #11 |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: FTL 'Fuel' [Space]
The insane power requirement issue is why I went with the sundivers. Somehow by flying at suns at high speed and skimming the sun's corona the starships draw the needed power since I can't really see them holding enough "fuel" internally to do it.
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11-11-2019, 12:32 PM | #12 |
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Re: FTL 'Fuel' [Space]
Specific FTL fuel never really makes sense to me. I can't really imagine an FTL process being directly concerned with chemistry, and have little patience with the fantasy minerals that softer SF often will invent. FTL fuel that you mine is right out.
I could possibly see antimatter (as the best available way of generating an intense gamma flux perhaps?), or some type of FTL 'charges' that contain one use machinery or 'machinery' for an FTL operation. Mostly I just lean to no FTL-specific consumables (aside from maybe specific spares).
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11-11-2019, 01:06 PM | #13 |
Join Date: Feb 2011
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Re: FTL 'Fuel' [Space]
The hardest-science FTL fuel I can imagine using is something like exotic matter. It could be that establishing any wormhole requires the consumption of EM, and the equipment for manufacturing or creating more of it cannot feasibly be moved. Maybe it's only made on Io by an ancient alien manufacturing complex drawing antimatter out of the Io-Jove flux tube.
Alternatively, it could be that it requires a packet of entangled particles kept at absolute zero and manufactured at the destination system. Then it's an interesting twist on fuel, as you would need to obtain more of these particles if you wish to return there without paying someone else to get you more. |
11-11-2019, 01:51 PM | #14 |
Join Date: Sep 2018
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Re: FTL 'Fuel' [Space]
Jump Gates in Fading Suns require a purchased fuel but the original books were very vague about the mechanics of that other than the amount of jumps each ship had capacity for. We interpreted it as vessels requiring reaction mass to fly through the gates as reactionless drives cause insanity or attract things from the dark of the voide! We made the jump fuel essentially a treated heavy water that allowed ships to push themselves through the gate to the other side.
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11-11-2019, 05:43 PM | #15 | |
Join Date: Jan 2014
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Re: FTL 'Fuel' [Space]
Quote:
The Starship Example: "Reactionless" Drive? The Starship Example: FTL, Stargates, and Rabbitholes Building A Space Navy in the Gentleman Abroad Series 1
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Last edited by warellis; 11-12-2019 at 02:40 PM. |
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11-11-2019, 09:59 PM | #16 |
Join Date: Feb 2007
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Re: FTL 'Fuel' [Space]
In my world, FTL is semi-dependent on an extra-dimensional form of exotic matter that was the basis of the legendary orichalcum of Plato. It's not indispensable, but it's far, far harder without it. It's not a fuel as such, though, it's a component. It doesn't get used up. FTL isn't its only application, and it's super-rare and awesomely expensive, though, which shapes the entire setting.
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11-12-2019, 05:54 PM | #17 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: FTL 'Fuel' [Space]
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11-12-2019, 06:26 PM | #18 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: FTL 'Fuel' [Space]
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Fred Brackin |
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11-13-2019, 05:37 AM | #19 |
Join Date: Dec 2012
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Re: FTL 'Fuel' [Space]
Psionic, chi-based, or other 'pretty much magical' FTL drives can potentially have some pretty disturbing 'fuels.' On the safe end, 'you have to sacrifice a live chicken to Damballa every jump' isn't too onerous, and wouldn't be morally problematic for most people, you just need to keep a good supply of live chickens onboard (and white rum, which apparently he really likes). On the other end, sacrifices of sapient beings, or vessels that are somehow powered by a forsaken child (who might die from the strain, or become useless when they grow up, or something like that) would be really hard to justify a non-evil society going along with (unless they don't know about it).
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11-13-2019, 07:03 AM | #20 | |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: FTL 'Fuel' [Space]
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